The best description of Jenny Eclair is "Jenny Eclair is Jo Brand if she had energy".

You definitely need to check out Ghosts! Not only is Kiell in it, but also Charlotte Ritchie, Katy Wix, Lolly Adefope and in later series Bridget Christie and Jessica Knappet make appearances. Plot wise the show is about Mike & Alison (Kiell & Charlotte) who inherit an old manor house. And after a near death experience Alison can now see and hear the various Ghosts around her. The Manor is inhabited by a various range of Ghosts who died in the area: a caveman, a woman burnt to death for witchcraft, a victorian lady, a boyscout leader and more. It's incredibly funny, but also has very strong emotional episodes. It's already had four series, plus a few Christmas specials. There is a US remake, which is alright. Better than some remakes, but it takes a while to separate itself from the original. And the style of humour is more American for sure.

"Why did you do that to me?" lol the sadness in her voice

I love that they brought back John Kearns' Ahoy sailor hat for this series as an easter egg.

I hope you react to Ghosts, apart from Kiell, it also stars previous Taskmaster contestants Charlotte Ritchie, Lolly Adefope and Katy Wix. Plus appearances by Jessica Knappet and Bridget Christie.

I saw an interview with Kiell at the weekend - apparently, they got 15 minutes to be taught the basics of driving the barge and to practice. Looks like they could have done with a bit longer!

Mae Martin’s show, Feel Good, also featured fellow Taskmaster star Charlotte Ritchie. Charlotte also stars with Kiell Smith-Bynoe in the show Ghosts.

You missed Frankie's "You can see what cats get out of this", arguably the best line of the evening.

Jenny Eclair was the first woman to win the Perrier award at the Edinburgh festival in the early 90s.

I assume the AHOY hats are a call back to John Kearns sailors hat

Charlotte ritchie really gave all her taskmaster skills to her on screen partners 🤣

Kiell is in a UK sitcom called Ghosts, which is great. Also has Charlotte Ritchie from 🤔 last season of TM? And Lolly Adefope from a previous season of TM.

Jenny was probably remembering the British advertising slogan "Go to work on an egg!" which was used back in the 1960s to say that eggs were a very dependable way to get energy for a full working day. The adverts starred Tony Hancock who was a very famous comic actor in the UK. The slogan was created by Salman Rushdie, the famous author.

I feel Alex is very knowledgeable on human behaviour. Knowing it was tempting for the contestants who managed to not say his name would say it when they thought they'd finished the task to throw thinking they'd got one over on Alex. As has happened so many times, it being a timed task tends to make contestants panic and not read anything hidden, which is double galling for the ones that didn't say 'Alex' at the start as they could have taken their time.

Mae Martin's 'Feel Good' is absolutely great. Not sure it's suitable for a reaction, but well worth watching. In a sort of strange 'Six Degress of Bacon' Taskmaster meta-connection way, it may be worth mentioning that 'Dizzy' by The Wonder Stuff (one of Greg's favourite songs) used by Ivo for his dance had a music video video featuring everbody's favourite - Bob Mortimer. (in a minor role, basically dancing at the back like Bez) Kiell is probably best known for the UK (original) version of 'Ghosts' where he stars alongside Taskmaster alum Charlotte Ritchie - which is actually a series that may be worth a reaction, if it's available. Jenny is, just Jenny. She's never really been hugely mainstream, but is one of those comedians that has always just been there. A real eccentric, but always good value.

Serves Ivo right for throwing that ball.

The Frankie Boyle hype has nothing really to do with his ability to win, it’s more about how his miserable and caustic persona would play on the show.

Vic Reeves (comedy partner of Bob Mortimer) sang on the Dizzy song by The Wonder Stuff, Bob is also in the video too. I’d love Vic to be on Taskmaster!

Kiell is in Stath Lets Flats, a very silly but highly enjoyable sitcom about an estate (realty) agency.

Not sure if anyone mentioned it on here before, but Channel 4 who make Taskmaster, recently announced that they were renewing it for another 6 series!!! Great news!

It’s a strong first episode to this season. The dancing task was clever way to avoid copyright issues, it reminded me of some music vids that have had the music stripped and breathing dubbed over it. Good to hear you’re dipping into TMA, I’m looking forward to your vids on it. I think they’ve nailed the Taskmaster & Taskmaster’s Assistant casting.

Fun fact. They tried to introduce drink driving laws on canal boats. I think they actually got the law passed. But it was a total waste of time and money because there is no way to police the canal system and even if they could, most people go out on their boat/barge with their families. So if you are caught over the limit you can just say that your child was operating the boat/barge as there is no age restrictions on who is allowed to operate it. Also there is plenty of unused parts of the canal system that still exist today. Branches off the main route leading to a factory that no longer exists. They are kept open by the Angling Association or by other companies who still own that small branch off and get a few extra quid of income by leasing it out for people who live on the canal and want to moore up for a couple of weeks/months or for local fishermen to pay around £5 for a days fishing on them.

Oh, you don't known Kiell? He's Mike from Ghosts. Ghosts has thus far fielded every actor they have who is not one of the Six Idiots (the name of the creative group, this is not an insult). Lolly, Charlotte, Katie Wix, and Kiell are all from the show, and Jessica Knappet guest starred one season after her appearance on the show. If Mike doesn't bring the trophy home, I wonder if the Six Idiots will try for it. Well, I liked Ivo well enough until the end. Very disappointed and pissed. Glad Kiell knocked him off. Not going to be happy if that continues. Loved Jenny. She seems sweet and pretty smart when she purposely missed the last throw and made the small ball of thread. She may be a real competitor. Loved how Mae got swept up in the moment after the dance. I'd be happy to see her win.

Stopping a barge is not easy. There is a lot of momentum and slamming it into reverse will take a long time to work.. And steering takes a while to respond too. But great fun.

First episode of a new series is like a new Doctor Who. You think that the new cast can't possibly be any good, but they always come through. I'm not crazy about Frankie normally (I think he's a cool guy, but his acidic comedy style doesn't gel for me) yet he was my favourite this episode. He seems to have genuine comedic chemistry with Alex.

Check out Frankie's stand up. You'll definitely see he's in a league of his own. Also, don't expect Frankie to be good. But yeah, you're right about national words, but we'd say "do'or" Scotsman, but it's what Frankie is in a nutshell.

For the barge task, you could just do that on any canal really in the UK. I doubt you would need any permissions over and above the normal location shooting requirements.

Just finished watching Mae's show 'Feel Good' a couple of days ago in anticipation to this series as they're the only one I didn't know anything about. Thoroughly enjoyed it.👍 Also, Kiell was wrong. I've seen an untoaster. Everyone that tried the untoasted toast just thought it was regular bread.

I love that you were able to predict the Meatloaf quote lol

If James Acaster had done the string task, he time would have never started, because he never said hello to alex

Yay for Mae!

I have absolutely ragged a few canal barges up and down England and had some spectacular crashes, but I have never, ever managed to pull the tiller off like Ivo did. That thing must have been a wreck

During the live task I was thinking that they could throw something to knock their opponents' buckets off, but you don't want to do it too early since you'd be painting a target on yourself, and lo and behold it ended up happening.

I’m honestly just as excited to watch you react to taskmaster as I am about watching it myself 😁

I think I know why Alex can pick up these dance tasks so easily. There is an Alex Horne and The Horne Section (his backing band) live comedy/music show. One segment of that show is a choreographed routine of the song Macarana. But Alex and his partner are blind folded and do some very risky dance moves that could even go horribly wrong even if they had their sight, so blindfolded is really impressive..

I’d be interested to know where the canal was too. The lack of algae shows that it’s a frequently used route.

I did think it was low energy but I agree Ivo could be the crazy one and have a total breakdown by the end

FYI, Jenny Eclair has been doing standup for ages, and beyond co-hosting LOOSE WOMEN (think a British variation on something like THE VIEW), she's probably best known now for her being one of the few women to have been a semi-regular panelist on JUST A MINUTE. (Others include Josie Lawrence and Sheila Hancock.) If you're waiting for contestants to go a bit mad on the show, Jenny and Ivo are your ones to watch.

Alex's eyes are circles

"Pricktionary" corner though👀👏👏👏😂😂😂😂 Love Frankies anti English jibes the whole time too🤷‍♂️😂😂 And yeh Mae Smashed it 👊🏻👏👏💜

I had a big goofy grin on my face the entire episode

Apparently Mae has an uncle who married princess Margaret's daughter. And somehow that didn't surprise me at all

Ooh very early. Nice to be back for a new series. Not a dramatic start for the first few tasks but barge task onwards it really came to life. Looking forward to loving a new group of contestants (:

I can't quite put my finger on it but Jenny Eclair reminds me of David Baddiel

Kiell is probably most well-known for the bbc show Ghosts, a very funny comedy about a lady who inherits a haunted house - he plays the lady's husband (I really recommend Ghosts btw, it's brilliant (though maybe not to react to - bbc shows are kind of a nightmare to get through copyright bots haha)) Ironically, that lady is played by Charlotte Ritchie, who was previously in taskmaster s11. And she also played Mae Martin's love intrest in a show they created recently, a sort of semi-autobiographical show called "Feel Good" The Ghosts cast also features Lolly Adefope and Katy Wix, from Taskmaster s4 and s9 respectively

There's a short lived series with David Mitchell called "The Bubble". I think you might like it. Even if just for personal watch rather than reaction. I really liked that show and 'Ultimate Worrier' with Jon Richardson.

How in the hell do you have this video up already? 😁

Frankie was a mainstay at the start of Mock The Week and was credited with a lot of the borderline non-pc banter. He was never afraid to push the boundaries for comedic effect when it came to celebrities or the royal family in particular. Very sharp wit, acerbic at times, which the viewers loved. Sadly the Beeb deemed his brand of humour too risqué and he was gone from the show. Many viewers and commentators felt the show went downhill from there and trod too gently for a satirical news show. I still enjoyed it throughout, but there was a little edge missing. I did like it as a platform for rising comics though. His own show, Frankie Boyle's New World Order is great. Taking on social and topical issues with comedians and commentators, on series 6 currently, I think. As for wild cards...my money is on Jenny! She's fab.

Jenny Eclair was in any amount of TV and radio shows from mb mid 80s onward but also a regular stand up comic. I always think of her as a kind of British Ruby Wax, although that probably isn't accurate or much help.

Any and all hype around Frankie is related to his comedic ability and style, not to him taking the competition seriously. I also think he was the most entertaining contestant on this episode, though I bet they all have a lot more to offer there (and usually in-studio chemistry only truly develops by the third or so episode). I love Dara, and he was good craic, but there's something to be said for having the funniest guys not performing well points-wise. I feel most of the funny moments of his I remember relate to when he didn't do so well. Similarly, I can't remember much of Mae's first episode that wasn't related to their performing well (albeit not entertainingly, at least to me).

Definitely check out Ghosts UK version or US

PS - As I think you realize, Mae is our first Canadian contestant since Katherine Ryan! I think she might *also turn out to be a champion! I care more about this than any Olympics!

Ivo was at Eton with the kings, presidents and prime ministers so he'll not necessarily be any good at any of these games 😅. It is a canal boat so Ivo was probably driving these and aged 10.

I didn't notice the camera with frankies interview but I noticed it on ivos it was pretty cool

Jenny is a stalwart of British TV and comedy, she is one of those faces that has been popping up since the early 90's. Not famous for any one thing really, she was in one episode of Qi, series M Merriment, the Christmas special

Watch Taskmaster Australia! I wasn’t sure the first episode, but there is a couple of wild cards - one in particular - which is proving very interesting.

Frankie said he's bad at the tasks in his interview with Alex, so I'm expecting him to be like...John Kerns in that he'll try and do well but just fail. I dont expect him to be Baddiel levels of terrible and not caring.

Mae's piece of piss is so funny, especially when Greg says it. I've got to apply for 🍁 citizenship now, after my experiences in Canada. I love it. The hidden instructions is such a sneaky thing to add to the task envelope. Evil, Evil, Evil

Frankie Boyle was on early Mock The Week, Ivo Graham was on the later series. Mae Martin has a small role on HBOMax's The Flight Attendant.

yeah, as a constantly single person who recently turned 32, Greg's link about looking at your partner didn't hit nice lol

Wasn't the prize task "dependable" ...? Ivo's a stand up and panellist who attended Eton college(same as Boris if you're not familiar),I think this is the only time I've seen him and no one's mentioned it...🤔😂💜

The theme this season seems to be Flower Power / 60s psychedelia.

A new series of ‘The Cleaner’ starring Greg has just started. Very funny.

ohhh! Hark at you and your use of 'bog roll'

There are lots of canals here in the UK but I would also like to know where that was filmed.

Great stuff man. I was gonna pick you up on Mae's pronouns but you've picked yourself up, which is a beautiful thing and I thank you for it. Jenny is definitely one of the great stalwarts of UK stand-up. Been on the scene for 40 years. Kiell is probably most famous for Ghosts, which is a fantastic sit-com that also stars previous Taskmaster contestants Charlotte Ritchie and Lolly Adefope. I don't know how Frankie Boyle's going to do on this. He's hugely popular as a searingly foul-mouthed stand-up, but in real life I feel like he's quite a mild-mannered guy. Ivo's the wild-card here. He's of a similar type to (and good friend of) Ed Gamble, who was one of the most competitive contestants we've seen. That can work out or it can blow up in your face...

You can make a pretty banging vegan full english tbf.

Jenny eclair was the first female winner of the Edinburgh Fringe prize of all time ... (Other Taskmaster alumni who have won this include Tim Key, John Kearns and Bridget Christie)

I thought Ivo's dance was going to be cotton eye joe aswell

Late, I know but; 35:27 “not a task that had a workaround, you just had to do the task”. The task said “get all the rubber rings on your barge pole, you can’t touch the rings or the barge pole.” Not only was Alex aboard amidship, but he had free roam of the barge. If I remember rightly it didn’t say anything about _him_ touching the rings…

"Go Canada!" Well we know who your favourite is!

Jenny was in a series with Frank Skinner in the very early nineties. It was called ‘Packet of Three” and was set in an old theatre. I don’t remember much about it and I don’t think it lasted long.

just a heads up, give Taskmaster Australia a watch, well worth it. also TM Denmark and Sweden (subtitled for the non Scandinavian speakers)

Oh, they've apparently taken the second episode reaction down.

Frankie Boyle's show is pretty top

The wrath of Alex has begun, one cheeky lad

I wouldn't really equate Frankie Boyle with Dara O'Briain. I don't think Frankie is know as much for his intelligence as for his cynicism and his I don't care attitude. Having said that, I am pleasantly surprised by his participation in this show. He seems much more interested in taking part than I expected.

Frankie is the great misanthrope who is cynical about everything. Be amazed every time he laughs. Jenny is a veteran stand-up and 'grande dame'. Kiell is primarily an actor. Stath Lets Flats is something you might enjoy with also Natasia Demetriou in it. Ghosts is his real acme. A wonderful slow burn that gets better and better. Lots of intricate canal stuff around Brentford and les environs de Chiswick.

I don't think the writing on the back was fair. It's fine to have a shortcut somewhere in tiny print; to literally completely change the task to something contradictory to what was written on the front feels wrong. Alex claims he "genuinely thought everyone would look at the back", but that's nonsense, and he knows it. The whole intro of the task is designed to get them in a panic by fishing for an "Alex" and then starting the timer so that they don't have time to think about things and have to start immediately. The fact that he had to actively prompt the contestants to get several of them to notice the text speaks for itself.

Many years ago there was a late night show "Packet of Three" and it seemed very rude for its time. Funny though - but I suspect it has dated badly. The three standups were Jennie Eclair, Henry Normal and some guy called Frank Skinner. 😅 As for Frankie Boyle, he used to be a regular panellist on "Mock the Week". He was renowned for tasteless but often hilarious comments. He moved onto other work and shows, retaining his cringeworthy acerbic humour.

19:33 The hats are more a reference to John Kearns' prize task from series 14, episode 7

Frankie is the best comedian there, doesnt mean hes the best at tasks

OMG. I have the absolutely biggest crush on Mae... and that's a problem.

Frankie won't be a Dara 2.0 - they have Mock the Week in common, Frankie having been one of the original standard panel members (but he had to move on after a joke about Liz II's lady garden and cobwebs) and are both of Irish extraction, Dara Gaeilge speaking from Eire, and Frankie's parents are Irish Catholics from occupied Ulster who moved to Scotland, but otherwise are very different. Dara went to UC Dublin doing maths and theoretical physics (like he's a proper hardcore nerd) whereas Frankie went to a polytechnic, dropped out and then went to Sussex (good uni, but not like global top tier) for English and then teacher training. Frankie's style is vicious (bordering on deliciously disturbing) political and social commentary where Dara's work is more mainstream stand-up (he's clearly very politically aware and socially concerned, but its not his comedy MO) Different types of smarts and different sorts of priorities.

Im not sure how I fee about the fact that half the task is hidden. Instead of a big reward its a straight up DQ. Alex himself had to keep telling the contestants “are you sure youve done everything” because noone would check it. Also what Ivo did happened “successfully” in Taskmaster Denmark and the Task Master straight up gave the win to the guy who got sabotaged and DQd the saboteur (despite him technically winning and technically not breaking the rules). Feels like the right thing because if you could sabotage each other all the live tasks fall apart instantly.

where do you find the full episodes to watch? Im from canada and none of the youtube videos work. love watching the reactions but want to see the full thing too so i dont miss anything. any help would be much appreciated!

To get a feel for Frankie Boyle, you Need to watch his "Audience Annihilation"s on here....👀🤷‍♂️👏👏😂😂😂💜 Kiell is in "Ghosts",and the brilliant "Stath lets flats",that also stars Natasia Demetriou (from What We Do in The Shadows),and Katy Wix from series 9,which is Well worth a watch 👀😂👌💜

I agree with your conclusions about the show , wasn't optimistic about the cast , but as usual it came through and the youngsters shone , especially Mae . Jenny has had a long career in comedy and is totally bonkers , which can be annoying but she can also show a sensible endearing side , especially on the sort of radio panel games which Ivo was teased about at the beginning . Frankie is the biggest name , but as usual this show can be a big help to early careers . The tasks were pretty good , nothing too memorable or clever but maybe we have been spoiled over the last couple of series . As always I'm looking forward to next week .

I really liked “pricktionary corner” joke

Good on you for the pronoun comment. The effort is important at this social stage, even if honest mistakes slip out. Ivo Graham has totally changed the trajectory of Taskmaster on the whole with his shot at Kiell. Absolutely incredible gall and the purest form of gamesmanship to go kamikaze at his competition. And if he hadn't been so impatient as to not only throw first, but throw in the penultimate round instead of the final, it would have been an unambiguous triumph. As of this moment, the floor is WIDE open. Ivo has brought Thunderdome to the stage. I did expect Horne Section music to come in replacing the copyright music, but obviously, the silence allows people at home to pull up the music on YT and sync it up. Though Mae did benefit a lot from Alex saying Zorba The Greek in advance, because you can't not hear it once that seed has been planted. The barge task, I hate to note it, it said you cannot touch the pole or rings. Not just with your hands, but at all. And we clearly saw Ivo get a ring in the face. Far as I can tell, that's a DQ, he should have ducked.

I really suggest "FRANKIE BOYLE AUDIENCE ANNIHILATION".

You say that, but Tesco do some gorgeous pork and apple sausages....👀👌🤷‍♂️😂💜

So many hate crimes in the introduction.

I’m pretty sure Mae uses they/them pronouns 👍🏼 just a heads up for next episode

I don’t want to stir any pot, but Greg refers to Mae as ‘them’, or ‘they’, as that’s how they identify. Not ‘she’.

Great first episode. I was very amused to hear you describe Frankie Boyle as "laid back". I can see how you would have pegged him as the Scottish Dara, based on your exposure to UK TV so far, but (while certainly very smart) he's not an intellectual performer. I'd describe his persona as very angry, very left-wing, and often controversial. Earlier in his career he was often in trouble with the BBC or the press for having said something deemed too offensive. Sort of a combination of Lewis Black, Penn Jillette, and Ricky Gervais? I think everyone is looking forward to seeing how his irreverent anger will play out in tasks. Although based on this first episode, we might be seeing the "befuddled uncle" side of his personality!

When you say you're half Scottish from generations back... What do you mean?

Has Ivo appeared in anything with Richard Ayoade? I feel like they'd be hilarious together

This could be Rotterdam "or anywhere",Liverpool or Rome....🎶👀🤔😂😂🤷‍♂️💜

You should watch Frankie Boyles out takes on Mock the Week and his stand up