WhenJason Mantzoukaswas announced as a competitor for Season 19 ofTaskmaster, I knew hed be a perfect fit.
I want to beinsidethe show,he tells me, a statement any diehard fan can relate to.
Is It Possible to Forget You’re on TV?
Image by Zanda Rice
I suddenly just become a viewer, and I’m just like…[laughs].
And then I’m like, I’m on camera right now.
I’m still on a stage being filmed.
So, you kind of forget, because I’m so conditioned to just enjoy the show.
I didn’t want to be the odd man out on stage.
What a great group of people.
We all just immediately started hanging out.
We started eating our lunches together…
So, we got on very well, which I was really happy about.
His only regret, though?
That I truly didn’t cause any grievous personal harm to Alex Horne.
COLLIDER: I’m so excited to talk to you.
JASON MANTZOUKAS: Oh, that’s so good!
I’m so glad.
Have you seen the episodes yet?
Ive only watched a couple because I wanted to watch the rest with my friends.
They really started to anticipate that I was going to try.
That’s theTaskmasterway, isn’t it?
You have to go as far as you’re willing to.
I wasn’t there to make friends, Maggie.
I was there to cause chaos.
As you should, honestly, because that’s where the bestTaskmastertasks come from.
Rhod Gilbert threw a javelin at him at one point.
MANTZOUKAS: I agree!
or, How did you get that injury?he wouldhaveto say, Jason Mantzoukas did this to me.
[laughs]I feel like that would have gotten you points from Greg, too.
MANTZOUKAS: I agree!
But he’s squirrelly.
He can dodge projectiles.
But youre also deathly allergic to eggs, and there are often egg-related tasks in this show, too.
How do you feel about being responsible for an egglessTaskmasterseason?
Because, as you just alluded to, eggs are so integral to so many of the tasks.
So, no grievous bodily harm to the contestants, but we can cause grievous bodily harm to Alex.
MANTZOUKAS: We can at leastattemptit, Maggie.
We can at least attempt.
When that exchange started, what was your initial reaction to getting to go and be on the set?
MANTZOUKAS: Beyond excited, especially because I was a fan.
I want to beinsidethe show.
Because I knew that theyd never flown people out for the show.
They’ve never had American-based contestants.
It was so much so that I was like, Oh, maybe that’s not their interest.
I was like, Guys, I love this show.Taskmasterin the UK is massive.
I’m like, Guys, I’ve watched everything.
Do you have a favorite task from prior seasons?
MANTZOUKAS: That’s a good question.
I should think about that because that came up recently, too.
There are so many tasks that I love because the tasks themselves are quite funny or clever.
But really, it is just players.
It is just watching players go through it.
Here’s chaos unfettered.
Or, Here’s the 10 best times people failed.
Oh, here’s 10 minutes of uninterrupted James Acaster brilliance.
So, it’s specific casts, it’s players, it’s anything Bob Mortimer.
I’ll watch Bob Mortimer tasks all the time just because I just find him so delightful and funny.
That whole season, I think, is incredible.
MANTZOUKAS: Oh, yeah.
That’s the one I pitch people on the show.
Im like, Start with that episode.
If you don’t like it, I don’t mind, but you will love it.
MANTZOUKAS: It’s the best.
Are you cringing the whole time you’re watching the VT?
Are you going, Damn it, I should have done something different?
What is that experience like?
MANTZOUKAS: It depends on what the task is.
It’s really interesting.
So, it’s a long day.
But the magic trick of it is you’re sitting there, and it’s a live comedy show.
I’m doing a comedy show for a live audience.
I’m still on a stage being filmed.
So, you kind of forget, because I’m so conditioned to just enjoy the show.
Because it was eight months ago, and it was brief.
Then it’ll come up and I’ll be like, Oh, fuck, this dumb thing.
It’s a large overlap.
So, I was like, Well, I think I could do that.
I’mwayout of my element.
So, that’s what’s fun about the show.
I couldn’t believe I was there.
I couldn’t believe I was in the house.
I couldn’t believe it was all happening.
I couldn’t believe I was walking out.
I couldn’t believe I was opening a task.
I have to reread it again.
That’s a good way to go in, I guess.
I’m just going to go in and do what I can"?
MANTZOUKAS: A little bit the latter.
I was very excited and confident to go in and do my thing.
I talked to Alex.
I talked to the Andys, the producers.
But I did talk to Nish.
I don’t know Alex.
These were all new people to me.
I also want to be like, I’m here to play in your world.
Would He Fit In With the Brits on ‘Taskmaster’?
Were you nervous about that at all?
Were you nervous about the reception of it?
MANTZOUKAS: No, I wasn’t nervous about the reception of it.
I didn’t want to be the odd man out on stage.
I didn’t want them to feel like, This guy’s a stranger.
We all just immediately started hanging out.
We started eating our lunches together.
I was just texting with them we’re all on a text chain together.
I was like, I just don’t want to be the odd man out.
So, that was really it.
That absolutely comes across.
We know it’s going to be great.
MANTZOUKAS: Oh, good!
And largely the reaction I’ve seen has been, Oh, shit, they gothim?
Everybody’s excited about it.
I’m so glad.
I’m so glad because, genuinely, it’s such a beloved show.
What do you think is more difficult, aPercy Jacksonquest or competing onTaskmaster?
You know, aPercy Jacksonquest is difficult because, I’ll be honest, it can be life-threatening.
But I would take that any day over having to spend one more minute with Alex Horne.
You know what he is?
He’s kind of like the energy vampire onWhat We Do in the Shadows.
I feel like after a day spent with Alex Horne, somehow I’m older and he’s younger.
There’s something there.
We should look into it.
MANTZOUKAS: How have they done 19 seasons in 10 years?
That doesn’t add up.
