Dock X

At some point in the early ‘90s I formed a team at my primary school and filled in the application form to enter the fantasy peril-based kids TV game show Knightmare. We were not selected, or even replied to. It was devastating. But what if you could simply pay to be a participant in your favourite game show? I don’t mean that to sound grubby: Taskmaster the Live Experience does not involve you slipping Channel 4 a bung (though it’s not cheap - more on that later). But it is a lavish immersive recreation of ‘Little’ Alex Horne’s delightful absurdist game show, currently on its 18th series, having blossomed from cult beginnings on Dave to fully fledged C4 mainstay. Or rather it’s a recreation of the fun bit - the ridiculous, clever, infuriating tasks that happen in the so-called Taskmaster House, as opposed to the bit where the season’s comedian participants sit in the court of the Taskmaster, aka Greg Davies. Given that anyone willing to pay £50-£100 for a ticket to Taskmaster the Live Experience is surely going to be familiar with the source material then it can afford to avoid bogging us down in context or rules or the undue focus on the contestants. We’re here to do some Taskmaster games because we like Taskmaster and think it looks fun. The key thing is to make it funny as well. I’m not going to spoil what any of the tasks actually involve. But while somewhat ridiculous they are not necessarily particularly hilarious in and of themselves. Unlike the show, you can’t...