Jason Mantzoukas Is (Unsurprisingly) Killing It Once Again
ALSO: When trying out new slang goes wrong and a new show from some old favorites.
The Five Spot is a weekly Friday roundup where I rank and riff on my five favorite things from the week. Most of the entries will be about film and TV, but there might also be ones about weird local news or sandwiches I ate or anything else, really. The opening section is free but the rest is an exclusive for paid subscribers, so if you want to read the top four entries, you can do that by upgrading…
… riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight here.
Off we go.
FIVE: Let Zouks cook
The new series of Taskmaster, its 19th, debuted last week. You may be aware of it if you’ve been reading this website because I’ve been yammering about it for weeks, or at least for however long it’s been since I learned Jason Mantzoukas would be a contestant this time. What a perfect match of talent and format that looked like. You’ve got a British panel show, Taskmaster, where comedians are given outlandish challenges to complete within very limited amounts of time. You’ve got a guy, Mantzoukas, who is one of American entertainment’s preeminent masters of improvisation and chaos. There was potential here for television magic, especially for a viewer like me, a person who recently binged a whole lot of Taskmaster and who has never once seen Jason Mantzoukas pop up on a show and been disappointed by it. It’s nice when things work out like this.
And so far, after watching just one episode, it really does appear to be working out. The whole panel of contestants is fun, with Mantzoukas joined by Fatiha El-Ghorri, Mathew Baynton, Rosie Ramsey, and Stevie Martin (note the letter “i” in “Stevie,” in case you go in looking for a white-haired American comedy legend and see a blond British woman). Fatiha especially looks to be a cranky good time.
But I’m going to focus on Mantzoukas for now. And one particular task from the episode, in which the contestants were told to do something cool and then do it in reverse. And how Jason Mantzoukas proceeded to grab a lock-pick set and pick open a door in the house.
Which, fine. It is kind of cool, just as far as a skill to have and get to show off. But the real fun came in the aftermath of the task, when we learned the following:
- It was his own personal lock-pick set
- He bought it and learned how to use it because he saw Magnum P.I. do it on television as a child and thought it looked cool
- He brought it with him to England and had it in his bag while filming for reasons that were never explained but were met with laughs and exasperation from the hosts and co-panelists
Later in the episode, he pulled out a knife during a task. Also his own. Also that he brought with him on the plane to England, apparently. It would have made for a heck of a story if they had checked the man’s bag at the airport.
“Sir, why do you have a lock-pick kit and a knife with you?”
“I am going on a game show.”
I can’t wait to find out what else he has with him. And to watch the rest of the season. The first episode is on YouTube. I strongly recommend you embrace the chaos and get involved.
