Hugh Dennis' Best Taskmaster Moments

Some of Hugh Dennis' best moments from Taskmaster series 5.
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In this Broadcast Award-winning, BAFTA and Emmy Award-nominated entertainment show, Taskmaster tyrant Greg Davies (Man Down, Cuckoo), with the help of his loyal assistant Alex Horne (The Horne Section and the show’s creator), sets out to test the wiles, wit and wisdom of five hyper-competitive comedians.
Comedians that have risked life, limb, and dignity in the hope of making the Taskmaster proud so far include: Frank Skinner (The Frank Skinner Show), Mel Giedroyc (The Great British Bake Off), Romesh Ranganathan (Asian Provocateur), Hugh Dennis (Outnumbered), Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones’ Diary), Rose Matafeo (Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner 2018), and Russell Howard (The Russell Howard Hour). Unaware of what awaits them in each wax-sealed envelope, only one competitor can become the victorious owner of His Royal Task-ness’ golden head and be crowned the next Taskmaster Champion.

[@KBJade39]

One of my favorite descriptions of Hugh from another video someone described him as 'Terribly cunning yet horribly inept' and it creates a level of comedy that is just so good.

[@MisterAppleEsq]

The best kind of contestant, arguably.

[@titanuranus3095]

The Dick Dastardly formula

[@nicosmind3]

@@titanuranus3095 Lol

[@harveyhodgson8782]

Reminds me of the coyote off loony tunes

[@bugbear2357]

Like a cartoon villain who comes up with these elaborate plans only for it to all go to shit

[@kitkat1595]

hugh on tricky tasks: finding excellent loopholes at every turn, doing great hugh on ANY creative task: gets absolutely drawn and quartered EVERY TIME

[@lowhp_comic]

I think his fat bald white man could rival Banksy any day 😂

[@Droooooo0]

me

[@AsbestosMuffins]

the enemy of creativity is laziness, but the ally to productivity is laziness

[@Jayk-kz7sh]

Hugh is arguably one of the most clever contestants to appear on the show, but then I remember that he genuinely pays to be part of that Cloud Appreciation Society, so I’m not sure where that puts him in the terms of cleverness

[@tallulahtoms4980]

What on earth is the cloud appreciation spciety

[@Jayk-kz7sh]

Tallulah Toms basically Hugh pays 15 pounds a year to be emailed pictures of clouds every day. Even though he can easily look up pictures of clouds, or just look up into the sky for free. For a prize task he bought the winner a year subscription to the Society, which was easily the worst prize to win ever

[@tallulahtoms4980]

@@Jayk-kz7sh man that sounds sick

[@sparo_splat]

Honestly with how shit the weather is at Britain, having a new cloud to see everyday sounds like a treat. I mean, clouds are pretty.

[@milkmaninastonetent436]

@@Jayk-kz7sh he's paying for that sweet sweet curation though. Curated clouds.

[@yaya-mk3nn]

greg’s ruling on hugh’s ringtone dance genuinely breaks my heart

[@Dima-jc7fx]

One of the most unfair humiliations across all seasons. It was creative, physical and even quite symmetrical :)

[@greggstomlettes]

Hugh looked like he was genuinely hurt by it too, Greg was an asshole for that one.

[@rishsinha9646]

Also proved phil wang's point that greg punishes "bad" contestants more out of tradition than out of fair judgement

[@sagatious6435]

8:32 Alex facepalm after Greg's ruling

[@hayreddinbarbarossa661]

Bad, but still not as bad as the decision he made on Joe Wilkinson landing a spud directly in the golf hole in one throw.

[@sophiaredwood5825]

Who else agrees that Hugh was robbed during the ringtone sequence??

[@EngineerLume]

Greg has said that, in retrospect, he was a bit TOO hard on Hugh

[@kisbie]

Yes, there was an authenticity and honesty to his dance that was lacking in the others.

[@dominicaustin6016]

Greg prefer's the laughs,

[@MrShenhai]

@@dominicaustin6016 I actually laughed harder at Hugh's dance than at all of the others combined.

[@babalonkie]

The point of the show is not to compete... it's to look stupid and make laughs... there are no real winners or losers.

[@meatballYF]

If you were to tell me that Hugh is James Acaster’s uncle I’d believe you

[@kisbie]

Well, they are both from Kettering, so...

[@kisbie]

Ian Thompson Born and bred Northamptonian myself. It ain’t perfect, but I wouldn’t swap it for anywhere else. (Besides, that’d be pointless. Everything’s already here.)

[@jayb8321]

@@kisbie born and bred Kettering. I've moved to another average town and it just doesn't have the same rugged charm

[@Tkieron]

Hugh Dennis is James Acaster's uncle.

[@meatballYF]

@@Tkieron knew it

[@MrPatoPotato]

Who's that man in the thumbnail? It can't be Hugh Dennis, why would he wear a mask of his own face.

[@MadPotty01]

Haha

[@dmw13]

Did you not watch the video??!??

[@chelseawildflowerloftinwey1945]

@@dmw13 it was a joke, dearie

[@joannaburrell5460]

D M W Did you not watch the show??!??

[@guyincognito5663]

D M W what video?

[@lizzybridge2607]

He embodies: “think smart not hard” and I love it

[@teddabear8890]

Strangely one of my other favourite contestants Kerry does the exact opposite- Bosh!

[@gutar5675]

I thought it was "work smarter, not harder". What does it mean to think hard?

[@peterthirdandthebridges]

@@gutar5675 it’s a play on the original line. Think smart not hard means Thinks of something smart but doesn’t give a lot of thought to it first, which leads to sometimes utter failure

[@frasierfreak92]

This is exactly it, his objective is to do the task with the minimum fuss, in the hope just doing it successfully will get him points when others fail 😂

[@panicatthegasstation]

The sheer brilliance of the man is only dragged down by the baffling display of ineptitude we've all come to love. Desky, in a way, is all of us. Forever in our hearts.

[@skfgdgsjhfsk7618]

the way you worded this made me think he died😅😅

[@panicatthegasstation]

@@skfgdgsjhfsk7618 I did give myself the same impression. I must make it very clear that Hugh Dennis is very much alive, probably entertaining the locals by whipping his belt off and rotating it through the air like a discount ninja. I repeat: Desky is alive.

[@HunterofArtemis234]

"forever in our hearts" Reminding me of the tribute to Greg video

[@iainhewitt]

"How long did the basketball stay on the treadmill?" "4 months before storm Doris took it off..." Goddamn.

[@AbhiTek_]

If only it had been Storm Dennis 😂

[@DeliriousGnome]

The best part of that drawing task is, after Alex brings up the Michael Jackson Man In The Mirror story, Greg says that Hugh turned a black woman into a fat, bald, white man and then finishes with "and in many ways, that IS the Michael Jackson story".

[@Rozza2k]

The Simpsons had a tall bald white man in a insane asylum because he thought he was Michael Jackson, pretty sure he was actually voiced by him to 🤣

[@tealstorn8921]

Greg' treatment of Alex seems extremely kind and fair when compared to his treatment of Hugh.

[@nommyyt]

Now that's saying something.

[@xander1052]

the difference is Greg and Hugh are friends

[@djpunyer8762]

​@@xander1052Greg and Alex are also friends

[@JossieMimo]

Hugh seemed genuinely insulted for a second when Greg insulted his dance lol

[@autorobot8240]

And understandably so!

[@RawBerserker]

I had a wishlist of contestants, and Hugh was very high on that list. He certainly met and exceeded my expectations.

[@smartprick.7374]

@They_Call_Me_ Pebbles It's simple. It's something called the past. There were three series before he was a contestant.

[@insidejoke9076]

@AbbasRB7 who else was on you're list?

[@RawBerserker]

@@insidejoke9076 A lot of the comedians I wanted to be on there became participants. Though my top 5 right now for the future (despite some being really unlikely) are Kevin Bridges, Vic Reeves, Frankie Boyle, Tommy Tiernan and Jessica Hynes, but of course there's plenty more I'd like to see.

[@bengleiss9416]

David Mitchell or Stephen fry being all logical and serious. I'd also like to see Jack Dee or Dylan Moran would be hilariously grumpy, or Ross Nobel for giggles

[@imid3440]

i high-key want dawn french

[@Lones555]

still think the carrier bag saying "Tasko" is an underrated gag on Tesco.

[@michaelcolbourn6719]

Underrated how? What more does it deserve other than "ha, I see what they did there."?

[@DeathnoteBB]

@@michaelcolbourn6719 It’s very clever

[@michaelcolbourn6719]

@@DeathnoteBB it's not that clever... it's just a pun

[@lionguardant5468]

for the effort that it must have taken to make the bag - and i’m not saying it was a herculean effort, mind - the appreciation it got was lacklustre

[@just-tess]

as a non-Brit I did not recognize the branding but now I can appreciate it so thank you!

[@kj23000]

Hugh is relatable in the sense that he has really smart ways to do the task but then he also has really dumb ways to do it. An icon, a role model and a genius, truly!

[@caliaguilar4]

Greg was always biased against Hugh (for the laughs, I know) but Hugh was brilliant and when he got first, he always deserved it

[@mmgmagic]

Well, never expected Hugh to be the "Loophole" contestant but it was still very entertaining

[@georgiaw8944]

I never realised that the mirror says “do not take”. I guess he didn’t notice either 😂😂

[@manstonhisk667]

Do not remove from set.

[@awesomefrankrapid]

Hugh Dennis is my favourite taskmaster contestant they’ve had, perfect mix of being genuinely good and utterly terrible, and hilarious throughout

[@valcant940]

How can this not include his contribution for "best chair" with the picture of his son on him ?? That was so genuinely sweet and heart warming

[@cordialman1188]

Is it just me who thought Hugh was definitely tearing up when Greg broke the news about his dance sequence...funny but painful at the same time

[@no_peace]

I honestly hate it

[@GordonHugenay]

I hadn't realized that Hugh actually had quite a few genius moments. And they didn't even include the duck-felling-task.

[@hop-skip-ouch8798]

Whoever made this compilation made a horrible judgement by not including Hugh's cake destruction task.

[@victoriamk6693]

“This is my showstopper” 😂😂😂

[@del_eris]

Hugh's somersaults in this series, that balance while hopping - I am always impressed with dear Desky's athleticism. 😆

[@givrally7634]

8:20 Look at this genuine expression of sadness. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but he's holding back tears so much his eyes are like british windows in fall.

[@MuscleFlexChris]

Hugh's ringtone dance is the greatest thing ever

[@sunshinesolace3540]

Jesus christ them dancing to the ring tone has me crying.

[@heikothedwarf]

It is an absolute sin his belt moment isn’t on here.

[@Jayk-kz7sh]

When everyone started cheering for Deskie during that I genuinely joined in. I felt ridiculous shouting “go deskie!” at my computer but it was very satisfying

[@44almm]

@Aslan T Vorlon it was in one of the end tasks and i think it was something to do with making the longest continuous noise (maybe) , and he took his belt of and just swung it around

[@heikothedwarf]

Aslan T Vorlon series 4, episode 5 live task

[@swanningabout]

@@Jayk-kz7sh On today's list of things that didn't happen...

[@youngwang97]

It would be flagged under 'sexual content'

[@sophiazmarsh]

I love Hugh, him and my dad actually happen to be friends, sometimes he comes over for a cup of tea and I can confidently confirm that this is in fact not a character, but just how hugh is

[@JM-fu6vy]

Tell Hugh we all think he did grear

[@just-tess]

and also great (and he just is great!)

[@henrietta9206]

Appreciate Hugh so much (a hoot in Not Going Out) pls let him know, he was my FAV on Taskmaster!!

[@burnbobquist8999]

Desky was pretty smart through all of the series and his friendship with Mel was a joy to the heart

[@rustkarl]

I can’t help but like Hugh. He’s such a clever yet somehow genteel dork.

[@red.gem_]

justice for hugh's spectacular dance routine

[@willemboele2079]

“It stayed there for four months” hahahahaha

[@CodeCraftCouture]

The pain in his eyes at the ringtone verdict

[@ciscoortega9789]

Hugh Dennis, the people's champion

[@enderbrightrubysheen]

You know he is the newest Bond film? I saw the film today and I nearly had a laughing fit in the theater, because all I could think of was him throwing toasted bread at a toaster.

[@themunkenswe]

same haha

[@michaelritchie2968]

"That's the twelfth time he's used a blade this series..."

[@nadirabridgelal881]

He was unfairly judged. Many times he performed better than the other contestants but was placed last

[@manasim.9936]

Greg was really unfair to Hugh throughout, James rightly accused him of being partial to his friends!

[@djpunyer8762]

Greg and Hugh are actually good friends, so that contradicts that statement. He also treated Rhod fairly, and while Hugh was definitely robbed on a few occasions (the dance especially), he was also treated fairly most of the time, as his prize tasks were hilariously terrible.

[@Demothones]

Genuinely one of the funniest people alive.

[@holdenbarnes9559]

Been hooked on this show, and was shocked to see Hugh in "No Time To Die." Such a good contestant

[@charlottewheat6916]

He may not have been the most hilarious in some tasks but he’s bloody logical about them. Honestly one of the best contestants and the best series in my opinion x

[@iliketrains3495]

Ironically, despite being put in last place quite a lot, Hugh was the only contestant in his series to win at least one task in every episode, and he won more prize tasks than Mel and Joe

[@kdpflush]

Hugh should have won the cell phone dance, his was the best choreographed

[@unidentifieddude984]

I love how the mirror literally has a sticky note stuck onto it that says “DONT TAKE”

[@nightclyve2857]

I still don't get how Hugh could not win the series.

[@skarlath0]

he was last place in almost all of the prize tasks

[@caribstu]

Because Greg Davis has a man crush on Noel Fielding, placing him first in pretty much everything regardless of what he did.

[@caroleberreur9585]

caribstu tbf, who doesn’t have a crush on him? he’s s ledge.

[@iliketrains3495]

@@caribstu To be fair Noel only won the first episode despite being the series winner, plus with the exception of Rhod Gilbert he's always harsh to people he's good friends with

[@octavulg]

Apparently if you take out the prize tasks, he's in first. Much is explained by this.

[@just-tess]

there is nothing as pure as Mel's enthusiasm for Desky!

[@Movrings]

Finally!! It's Hugh's time to shine. He's one of my (if not THE) favourites!

[@mayredfern4593]

The dance that Hugh does is my alarm sound and now every time I wake up all I can think of is that dance

[@PortsTM]

Does anyone fancy joining the cloud appreciation society? Asking for a friend

[@charliedyson5549]

This is basically Hugh being good at taskmaster

[@kiwisponge]

That's image of you so it's not you. You are not image of you, it just image in the mirror. Look! You are seeing me in the mirror, it's not me. That's an image of me. Not me.

[@olscratch74]

"Ceci ne pas un gros homme blanc chauve."

[@hippyfriend]

@@olscratch74 😆 Donc, est-ce que une femme noire?

[@maiNmusica]

I like these compilations. I had forgotten how absolutely epic Hugh Dennis was.

[@mylahobbit1815]

at 8:10 ish - I have a fun little bingo card I made for taskmaster, stuff like "rubber ducks" and "absolute failure" and "something wild doesn't get first place", and this was the moment I added "wondering if greg davies is a morally grey person" to that card. that was such a heartbreaking moment jesus

[@no_peace]

He is unkind and I dislike him

[@JackDManheim]

Didn't almost all of them end up picking the same ringtone song? I can't remember. 11:43 - "AWOOGA!"

[@kartafla]

Hugh is a great underrated genius of our time.

[@GreenRazzles]

Was hugh a gymnast a past life? The core strength in his lift with Alex, the confidence of that forwards role. 😂💜

[@TBH_Inc]

Lol, people are complaining about moments being left out, if they included all his best moments, this video would be an hour long, and while I’m sure many people would love that (including myself), unfortunately I think they are going for shorter compilations.

[@MisaelMatute76]

"It stayed on there for 4 months" 🤣

[@DragoshHits]

All my respect goes to Hugh. A really remarkable champ.

[@sparo_splat]

I need a Hugh's blades compilation.

[@just-tess]

YES as soon as Alex said that I was like where is that video!

[@Spoot401]

Awww, they don't have the moment where Greg gets livid when Hugh dumps out the contents of the sleeping bag! That was so funny!

[@6012reasol]

he was one of my favourite contestants so far!

[@kierandean6777]

“There are no clouds that’s the whole fucking point!” Is still one of my favourite quotes of the whole show

[@watchmedo635]

An icon of our times

[@Beans360]

Hughes best moments is the items he brought in each week.

[@jessica5497]

Love him and Mel 💜

[@CyberEJ]

Hugh is absolutely born to play this game. Fucking incredible

[@DTennantsCompanion]

Hugh is one of my absolute favorite Taskmaster contestants. Top 5 definitely.

[@stealthassasin1day291]

Def one of my favorite season with this cast

[@meganpopple9100]

I liked Hugh's dance, thank you.

[@grimreaperhenrik]

1:04 the notes on the back of the mirror haha

[@lucash741]

He's just a proper dad isn't he?

[@HonzukiNoGekokujou]

The dance was so cute, though 😢

[@thomaswilkinson3241]

He handled that bag like a hero. And that scissors thing was champion.

[@carinetouma1965]

I wish the belt, the toaster and the pommel horse tasks were on there. But let's be honest.. Hugh only had great moments!

[@CognitoHazard]

The one thing i have learnt from this is loopholes

[@joemcneill1180]

for a 58 year old, Hugh is surprisingly agile

[@psychichorse]

This has to be the best series of taskmaster, what an amazing cast.

[@omadjourney]

This is heaven to me, I LOVE Hugh.... obsessively.

[@guythat779]

Every man that remotely looks like him that I know does everything in a dignified yet hilarious manner

[@Kojak.k]

He gives out creed from the office vibes

[@HolyGaia]

All around brilliant.

[@celinemet]

I really want Dara Ó Briain and Ed Byrne on the show now. Hugh was amazing.

[@hop-skip-ouch8798]

Dara needs a desk. Ed would be fantastic though.

[@Mischief157]

Dara is on Taskmaster now!!!!!

[@irenetaylor3451]

One of my all time favourite people

[@user-rj8se2yb3b]

Hugh is an amazing contestant, probably my favorite

[@sfoster.23]

I loved Hugh in his series! I felt he was a bit left out during the studio bits though, almost felt sorry for him

[@Ellie-sw1ll]

Hugh Dennis outsmarting every task on taskmaster

[@stevenicks5300]

When someone makes Noel Fielding look sane.... Hugh Dennis enters the room.

[@no_peace]

Yeah or Tim Vine

[@youngwang97]

Hugh putting on his glasses as if that was the problem XD

[@scanhan5025]

Hugh is still my favorite

[@sanesoundstudios8019]

11:39 I've never seen a man with so much pride on his face!

[@kassistwisted]

Hugh had some genius moments. The basketball on the running machine was magic!

[@Story_Yeller]

Hugh Dennis' Stats Problem Solving Skills: 100 Creative Ability: 0

[@lowhp_comic]

Lycett: I've joined the _air_ society

[@15schaa]

Who was it that misspelled scissors in the title sequence?

[@lhfirex]

I really like that Alex is totally fine with Hugh using the mirror, probably because he's seen how bad Hugh's drawing is compared to the ones who followed the spirit of the rules.

[@jayjaygoodman]

FINALLY LONG LIVE DESKY

[@pun5925]

absolutely one of the best contestants on the show