Hidden in Plain Sight: Times the Answer was Right There | Taskmaster | Avalon

Times the answer was hidden in plain sight.
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Avalon is a multi-award-winning talent management, television production and live promotion group with offices in London, Los Angeles and New York.
Avalon, Artist Rights Group (ARG) and The Agency represent a prolific roster of artists including comedians, actors, presenters, writers and directors. Avalon’s numerous ground-breaking returning television shows currently in production include: Not Going Out (BBC), the UK’s longest running sitcom on air; Taskmaster (Channel 4), the BAFTA-winning hit entertainment format showing in 100 countries; multi Emmy-winner, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO); The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), the network’s most successful entertainment show launch since 2010; Starstruck, a new sitcom from the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Rose Matafeo (HBO Max/BBC); Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, from creator Josh Thomas (Freeform); Breeders, a sitcom starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard (FX/Sky); a new series of the iconic British satirical puppet show, Spitting Image (BritBox UK); and multiple comedy specials for Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Netflix.
Other landmark Avalon shows include BAFTA winning and multi Emmy nominated Catastrophe (Amazon Prime Video/Channel 4), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV), multi BAFTA-winning TV Burp (ITV), and Workaholics (Comedy Central USA). Avalon also distributes its catalogue of programmes to over 150 countries worldwide. Avalon has produced many globally successful podcasts and is at the top of the UK iTunes chart with the multi-award-winning Shagged. Married. Annoyed by Chris and Rosie Ramsey.
As a leading promoter of live comedy, Avalon produced Newman and Baddiel: Live at Wembley, the UK’s first arena comedy show; Jerry Springer: The Opera, the first West End show to win all four UK ‘Best New Musical’ awards; and has continued to produce and promote live shows globally, as well as promoting more winners and nominees of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award than any other company.
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[@excessivelyfangirlingbookw3339]

What I've learned by now (after waching wayyy too many episodes): always check your surrounding beforehand, no matter the task.

[@OPHOMO]

No such thing as "too many episodes".

[@ErzengelDesLichtes]

Also check the back of the instructions. And make sure to look from the Camera’s POV so you can see what they’ll show the audience.

[@Gr33nMamba]

Rule 1: Don't trust Alex, assume nothing.

[@PtylerBeats]

You’d think it’d be that easy, but they get creative with how and where they hide clues and hints. Occasionally people find them, but I doubt you would ever know when or where to look. You may get lucky and find a couple every now and then lol

[@michaelreid322]

That can backfire, though - Sarah Millican did it so often that the production crew left a hidden task that simply said, "Hello Sarah".

[@mushroom1212]

I love Phil's 'They're very charming, the Irish.'

[@nayrecitsuj7426]

I had never picked up on that before. I'm surprised neither Greg or Alex noticed it.🇨🇮/🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Same country basically.🤭

[@gomonkeyfly]

Ahh, but he's welsh. Didn't catch that.

[@charles5553]

@@nayrecitsuj7426 Ivory Coast flag 🇨🇮 Ireland flag 🇮🇪

[@nayrecitsuj7426]

@@charles5553 Hmm. Didn't know that. Still, the one I posted was the only OWG flag listed in my phone's emojis.

[@Sevenseasick]

@@nayrecitsuj7426 I think if you check again you'll find Irelands flag is also there 🇮🇪

[@e1icopter]

seeing james acaster get absolutely spitting mad at rhod...... classic

[@roberthoward9500]

I think James had every right to kill Rhod during that task haha.

[@Kay-dh4sb]

I don't remember if it was that task, but I love James saying, "I wanted to be on the girl's team!"

[@KJFMZ]

I genuinely have no clue how Acaster didn't legit pop off...

[@rizkyanandita8227]

@@Kay-dh4sb It was that task.

[@WeAreTheBentusi]

@@roberthoward9500 and every right to murder Rhod in the studio after seeing what he did during the task. I know Rhod was deliberately trolling the entire time but SERIOUSLY that was.... oh how do they put it.... Bad Form!

[@benmoore7990]

What I absolutely love about Mark Watson's attempt is how under the applause you can hear him muttering 'if course, everybody will do this'. It's so on brand.

[@freddier5376]

“Look under the table” is still my second favourite taskmaster moment of all time

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

Is number one slightly potato-shaped?

[@freddier5376]

@@clockworkkirlia7475 number one involves rope and boiler suits (or maybe sandwiches uhhhh can’t decide)

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

@@freddier5376 Ohhhhh the one Rhod absolutely smashed?

[@tpbloomfield]

I'm honestly kind of torn on whether it would've actually counted or not if they'd used those materials. It's great realisation when the contestants find out, but the task is specifically to build a bridge "using only items on this table". It could be argued the stuff taped to the underside isn't 'on' it as such and so using any of it could've resulted in being disqualified. Basically can't decide if it was put there to have an easy answer in plain sight or to have a massive troll thing that everyone missed.

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

@@tpbloomfield "On the table" meaning "upon the surface of the table" could also be interpreted as "attached to the object which in this case is a table". We talk about a picture hanging "on" a wall to mean "attached" to the wall, so I think it still works.

[@Becausing]

I could watch James Acaster have breakdowns all day

[@samsowden]

bon appetit!

[@BlueScreenCorp]

@@samsowden that clip is so good!

[@TheBehm08]

“I can’t believe this shit!”

[@AlwaysBolttheBird]

The best part is the first one isn't really "the answers right there" it's just James getting mad at rhod haha

[@imallergictobullets]

The answer (stuff to make an extension) was right there (in the garage that Rhod closed).

[@MrSilnev]

5:50 "...that does help." I like how blasé he is throughout the entire challenge.

[@PoxMuffin]

I love they comment on the rainbow not being a bow shape but ignore he put BROWN in the damn thing

[@MaggieLuds]

Aaw you left out the part where one gentleman guessed that it was frozen peas in the case without solving a darn thing. Hilarious!!

[@JohnTyson46]

Rob Beckett? 201 in front of the table right

[@MaggieLuds]

No. He walked in, sat down, read the task, shook the case, took a few guesses and guessed correctly within like 30 seconds.

[@crimsontranquility]

@@MaggieLuds the previous comment was right - it was the 201 task. Rob Beckett came in and guessed it by pure luck. He didn’t mean the person in this video who unlocked it was Rob.

[@CucumberpatchAddict]

I believe it was Bob Mortimer who found the "201" straight away

[@iwong3357]

The fucking pea whisperer.

[@grahamgill9685]

Al should have released all the balloons once the first one got away, thus creating a scenario where all the balloons have most likely popped, but since it's unverifiable that any have popped the timer never starts, therefore the task to this day would yet to have begun and remains unscorable. So technically he'd still be a contestant on the show and collecting pay.

[@christopherthompson5400]

Unverifiable work warrants unverifiable pay.

[@SkipperJane]

I will forever love “debajo de la mesa”.

[@mikenegaard8195]

Google translate had a button under this comment and I had to click it just to see "Under the table" in text

[@MichaelBranson6]

That was the episode that introduced me to the best series ever lol

[@blackbirb814]

I love how Jon asks half-smug 'do you know what that means?' as though he knows, but then he doesn't do anything about it.

[@CucumberpatchAddict]

Alex is actually genius bc if he said he didn't know, jon would've told him and while saying the words would've got the clue. Him not letting jon show off his spanish resulted in one of the best twists in the whole show

[@rachelstechman5959]

I hope one day to own a boat, just so I can name it Debajo de la Mesa

[@IanFay]

God, I'm still not used to Phil Wang's.....wang. Still just a shock every time.

[@rexstetson1717]

“Phil, you’re dressed like a foreman.”🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

[@gaiusjuliuspleaser]

I can already see Bob Mortimer's next tale on WILTY: "When I was 21, I had my maths removed through my anus while on the run from Italian police.", and it'll be a true stoy.

[@LordJuztice]

I've seen the first one a few times and it cracks me up every time. You got this guy who actually cares and does the task, then you got your average person, Rhod, who doesn't give a damn! And then you got your average Wang who leaves you behind to do all the work while he goofs off with the guy who doesn't give a wang about anything.

[@shinbios]

With the 'build extenstion' task they should've chosen the task from the same series where they had to locate the satsuma in on a washing line of socks and the answer was written on the door of the caravan that they had come out of before they read out the task.

[@AH-te5gs]

I will never grow tired of this video.

[@blakethornsbrough1528]

The amount of times the contestants don't look around and search for the trick is astounding.

[@rhydianbanner3590]

you cut out doc's killer line - 'you know what my eyesight is like around bridges'

[@nicosmind3]

This show really shows who has brains and who doesn't (excluding people who put it on for an act).

[@reesepettigrew3626]

I think it’s more who has common sense than brains. I think a lot of people have brains on the show don’t do well since they just don’t have any common sense it appears.

[@nicosmind3]

@@reesepettigrew3626 I wouldn't call it common sense, common sense is much more basic. There's a big difference between people who can apply knowledge, and those who can learn it. Being able to apply it suggests a deeper understanding of that knowledge. Like there's people who learn stuff and can repeat it like someone looking up information on a computer. Where others look at a complicated problem and think through solutions. They don't need to learn answers, instead they figure them out. That's the type of brains I was referring to. Knowing things doesn't make someone smart. I've unfortunately met many a stupid doctor or professor.

[@peterclarke7240]

I also think it shows how simple things can look when you're watching others perform under pressure, and the very human capacity to forget that what an observer sees is rarely what the observed sees.

[@bryanwoods3373]

@@peterclarke7240 And we forget how single-minded we get when focused. Several cases like this are due to reading just the instructions and taking them as the totality. It's outside the box thinking, but it can be very abstract as well.

[@Wandervenn]

Dear god folks, it's called critical thinking. That is what you're thinking of. Critical thinking

[@HochstartHarry]

For popping baloons use a grass trimmer and run along the line. Should work and you get awsome 2 stroke noises.

[@ThisCharmingMan1984]

I’d have either seen if there was a blowtorch in the house, or popped to the shop and bought some cigarettes, and matches/lighter; then, all you’d have to do, is light up a cig/the blowtorch, and briskly walk down the line of balloons, popping them as you go. Fire would have been my first choice…which probably says an awful lot about me haha.

[@wohlhabendermanager]

@@ThisCharmingMan1984 I was thinking about a blow torch right away as well. Maybe a soldering iron. But you'd need a pretty long extension cord for that, lol.

[@madiis18account]

if you knew morse code you only needed to pop 2 and you won sooo

[@Fyreflier]

I think we've now found two things Doc can get angry enough about to rap. 1) how to make a cup of tea _properly_ 2) signs that say "look under the table"

[@slayerrocks2]

To the fannies batching about "on the table" not meaning mounted underneath. You have how many wheels on your car?

[@michaelsorensen7567]

Seems like zero

Have you ever heard of a concept called "context"?

[@slayerrocks2]

@ what point are you making?

I've just noticed at 2:54 "They're very charming, the Irish".

[@georgielancaster1356]

But Rhod is Welsh

[@trenthawkins]

I'm just waiting for one Taskmaster contestant who knows how to 'pick' combination locks (or comes prepared with hairpins for keyed locks). Can probably only get away with it once or twice before everyone gets sick of you... but; "oh? you need me to unlock this case?" [*applies pressure to the shackle*] "first number is... 2, second is - hang on, was it 0?... and 1. Well, that was easy. frozen peas."

[@JackDManheim]

1:16 Rhod's face

[@JLF201]

"OOOoooh - I can't see the colors." 🤭

[@hfkpop]

Alex even asked if Joe wanted wood as if it was obtainable 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@byrontheusurper6505]

11:20 is this from like an all Stars thing? Because these are all ppl from different series!

[@charlottetaylor1273]

Champion of Champions!

[@byrontheusurper6505]

@@charlottetaylor1273 that's a sick concept, I gotta watch that !

[@johncameron4194]

Always look around

[@squidge903]

This would've been way better if it showed all of it

[@wallywest2360]

For the bridge one I thought the answer was the house. Plop it in the river, sit the potato on top, done. Yes, I know it said don't TOUCH the house, but there were all kinds of things sitting there you could have used to poke and prod the house over to where you wanted it without actually touching it.

[@klaythoring1326]

I was like oh I’d take the legs off the table but when they showed the underside I was like hey I would’ve accidentally found that!

[@drxela123]

I also thought maybe they meant the actual physical house they were standing in, because "everything" on the table could be used. So therefore, just pick up the house and use it.

[@dmontes133]

James is so right and so damn funny!

[@donepearce]

They couldn't have used the things under the table. The instructions said they could only use what was on the table.

[@thesecretwombat056]

why didn't he just cut each ends of the rope during the ballon task instead of taking each one off individually.

[@rappel322]

You could argue that the they had to make a bridge from items ON the table and the helpful items wasn’t ON the table.

[@josuebalderas2075]

They were taped ON the bottom of the table

[@kevinw712]

and they also covered this exact argument in the show. Alex referred to Suzie Dent (with whom he contacts on anything grammatically questionable) and that according to the proper definition of "on", it was perfectly fair to say those items were indeed on the table.

[@sparky4878]

As others have said, an example “the light on the ceiling” even though the light is not on it’s hanging from. Or “there’s something on the sole of your shoes”, meaning stuck/attached to.

[@danielleswan3602]

😂 James Acaster is such a whiny little most of the time, but I feel him on this one

[@fp6343]

7:26 'Items only on this table' so if they look under the table and use materials that are not on the table, they would be disqualified. Right? That was a trap. Good job avoiding it, everyone

[@PzMcQunn]

In the episode they actually had consulted Susie Dent, who said that "on the table" in this context means "To make physical contact/to be in physical contact with", so it would've been allowed.

[@djhalling]

"Make a bridge over the river using only items on this table." That would seem to exclude items _under_ the table.

[@TehFrenchy29]

Semantic arguments for allowing things have typically gone over fairly well on Taskmaster. "On" could mean "attached to" just as well as "sitting atop".

[@mythnk1204]

They never said on the top. Just on as in on any side of the table. Under constitutes as on as they are attached to it.

[@noissues5439]

these are always the BEST and worst

[@funwithcoding2818]

Simply eat the potato

[@Subangelis]

You took the video from the Taskmaster channel and uploaded it here.

[@juro6]

Well, the task said "items ON the table", wouldn't that exclude anything UNDER the table?

[@blakethornsbrough1528]

On could be anything attached to.

[@syaoranli7869]

@@blakethornsbrough1528 that would be "within". "On" means on the surface

[@danasherwood2457]

If you watch the whole episode the items under the table being considered "on" the table is a call back to an earlier joke. They define "on" as anything in contact with haha so technically they are on the table.

[@blakethornsbrough1528]

@@syaoranli7869 the table wasn't enclosed On is a shorter version of upon.

[@syaoranli7869]

@@blakethornsbrough1528 "up"on

[@mattstevensms60]

Aisling bea is hot

[@stevem7192]

My dude, you gotta wear a dance belt if you're gonna wear a thin jumpsuit like that. Or underwear. Both, ideally.

[@marekvisser3311]

7:00 the card clearly says only items ON the table so the stuff underneath should get you disqualified

[@diedampfbrasse98]

must be hard to not understand english that well. Something being on something is in no way saying it has to be on top of it ... thats why we extend the on with top to say "on top" whenever we want to clarify a specific surface. For as long as you dont specify your "on" a thing can make contact whereever it wants with the table to qualify for being "on the table". If its still not clear just think of your balls ... they aint on top of you while being on you, or are they?

[@dsadams17]

James is the type of person to try and put a fire out with a rock, then get mad at someone for finding an extinguisher.

[@abbiemcpartland1968]

It's more like James was trying to put a fire out with a rock and then Rhod found a fire extinguisher, destroyed it, and also picked up a rock

[@papabumba478]

@@abbiemcpartland1968 to make it worse, Rhod made a separate fire and started putting that one out instead haha

[@Rwastooshort]

@@papabumba478 the better analogy is Rhod set the extinguisher on fire

[@libby9047]

@@Rwastooshort LMAO

[@sveinstmobekken2175]

@@abbiemcpartland1968 Rhod found a fire extinguisher, and thought "hey, this could pass for a rock", and used it as if it was.

[@OverWims]

For the bridge one I would raise the table as it said highest but didn't say from what point. So logically I can choose the point myself being the ground not the table. 🤔

[@everythingamazing2379]

if u choose the point urself, u might aswell set it in china and dont raise the table

[@OverWims]

@@everythingamazing2379 true

[@Juhimuz]

Not quite, they did say over the river

[@OverWims]

@@Juhimuz oh nvm then

[@bryanwoods3373]

@@Juhimuz Next problem would be what material to use if you could lift the table. I would imagine someone would have noticed construction materials and tried to use those if they were just sitting there.

[@patrickholzer6415]

The task clearly states 'using only items on this table'... Sorry, but doesn't that mean that you aren't allowed to use the items under the table? They aren't on the table after all. So even if they found that out, it wouldn't have helped in any way

[@Discordian_23]

items attached to the bottom of the table are still on the table, the entire thing is a table not just the top

[@mythnk1204]

On can also mean attached to a surface.

[@johncameron4194]

🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@PtolemyJones]

Are things under the table on the table?

[@AdamOfNebb]

My sandals are on my feet

[@PtolemyJones]

@@AdamOfNebb Implying, I assume, that some portion is on top, unless they are glued on.

[@blackbirb814]

Yeah, they're duct-taped to the underside. Really useful tiny bridge construction material like dowel and tape.

[@lucidrose5777]

They got susie dent to clarify the definition on the show and their interpretation was valid

[@PtolemyJones]

@@lucidrose5777 Did they? Well I accept her as a expert source, certainly. It does, however, prove the point to me that my question was valid, that they would go that far to answer it.

[@gloeckle]

are you re-uploading taskmaster clips in worse quality?

[@hahartley100]

I still don't get the morse code balloons solution...

[@kevinw712]

I've always taken it as this: assuming everyone indeed misses that clue, than the scoring goes by the traditional manner, in that the person who popped the most balloons in the quickest time wins. But if you noticed and employed the clue, if you simply popped two AND ONLY two balloons, it doesn't matter if anyone else popped them all in just one second flat, you would automatically win the task and get the 5 points. That other person who got them all quickly would have to settle for 4 points. although I've only just realized now in fully spelling that out to you, technically that winds up being two different sets of instructions, which isn't quite fair. That's two different things you're being asked to do. The clue is telling you to do something differently than how the proper task is telling you. Usually the clue just tells you the most efficient way to do the assigned task, but this is significantly different, because time wouldn't have to necessarily be involved with the clue.

[@jored56]

@@kevinw712 I think it's because the instructions only tell you to pop "the balloons". Not *all* the balloons, just more than one. So if you pop two and declare you're done, you have sufficiently completed the task. This requires interpreting "the balloons" to not mean "all balloons you see before you related to this task", but instead "a select number of balloons you see before you, your choice". But there's enough of a pedantic leeway I think, similar to how "on the table" can mean "attached on the underside of the table".

@@jored56 *attached to

[@chainsaw242]

Normalize your audio, ffs.

[@Corn-Pop.]

I can not believe what he's done to his ears. Please say that's some kind of make-up prosthetic or something, it can not be real.

[@JackVermicelli]

To be fair, the instructions say "on the table," and the items below it... weren't.

[@udalix]

But the one task says make a bridge with anything ON the table, not under it. That would have been cheating. this show, the tasks must be read very carefully, the rules are VERY specific to the wording of the task.

[@craziestgolem4209]

But they were taped ON the table. The word on doesn't mean specifically on top of something. One of the definitions is simply "located somewhere in the general surface area of (a place)" so attached to the bottom of the table is still the general surface area even if you wouldn't think to look by conventional logic

@@craziestgolem4209 "On the table" specifically means "on the surface of the table". If someone told you that something is "on the table", you wouldn't normally look at the underside of the table, would you?

[@Herv_Gerv]

Nice job taking the video from the taskmaster's youtube. They have the same video with better quality, if ur gonna repost something don't make it this fkin' obvious

[@rhyanashah128]

Avalon are one of the production companies behind taskmaster :)

[@Herv_Gerv]

@@rhyanashah128 how the quality still bad then?

[@rhyanashah128]

@@Herv_Gerv i can't answer that, i don't work for them

[@EgonCom]

7:27 - Use only items ON this table - so they could not use stuff UNDER that table, even if they would find them out. Just saying...

[@seabream]

Is a cabinet mounted to a wall not on the wall because it isn't above it? Or under-cabinet lighting fixed to the cabinet? "On" can also be used to mean that something has been put in something, such as with luggage on a train. English words can have multiple meanings, and Taskmaster has used this feature multiple times.

[@loveboat]

Wow, Taskmaster used to be so much better than it is.

[@dxmajrd]

When a "male" says "I wanted to be on the girls team", you know there's a problem.