When it comes to the cast of Taskmaster, it’s no huge surprise that funnyman Wil Anderson was tapped on the shoulder to take part.
For years, the 50-year-old has graced Aussie screens on the likes of Good News Week, Have You Been Paying Attention?, Gruen, The Project, and more, but nothing has quite compared to his time on season two of Taskmaster Australia.
“I have never been involved as a cast member of a show that wasn’t [my own],” Wil shares New Idea ahead of the season premiere.
“I loved just being able to come in and have fun and leave all the making of the show to other people. The tasks were done over five days, and then the studio records were five days. I was only involved for 10 days to make 10 episodes of television. Normally, it takes me five months to do that.”
While he’s not above poking fun at himself on national TV, in his chart-topping podcast, or in one of his sell-out stand-up comedy shows, he does admit that the Taskmaster challenges do take silliness to an entirely new level.
“I don’t think I have laughed more in my life.”
“I [think] that the [first Taskmaster Australia series] did a great job of taking what makes the other versions great, but [gave] it a distinctly Australian (and original identity),” he added.
As a self-confessed “super-fan” of the series, Wil says he expected to be “surprised, challenged, and taken out of his comfort zone”, Despite this, and the countless hours he has spent tuning into various international iterations of this series, he admits that he believes there is no true way you can prepare to take part in the show.
“There are so many challenges, mental, physical, creative, comedic and so much more. Plus, most of the challenges are things that you have never done before, and you will probably never do again.
“Most of the time I didn’t really know what was going on enough to complete the tasks, let alone come up with a way to cheat!” he joked.
As for what fans can expect from the rest of the series, Wil was full of praise for his fellow comedian contestants.
“Anne Edmonds and Josh Thomas are creative geniuses, Lloyd Langford has the driest and sharpest wit going around, and Jenny Tian shows everyone just what the next generation of comedy has to offer.”
Taskmaster Australia airs Thursday evenings on Channel Nine and 9NOW on demand.
