Taskmaster's Maisie Adam: "You look at early series of Mock the Week and it was all the same kind of male"

My husband [businessman Mike Dobinson] and I live in a small flat in Brighton, so we’ve got the telly in the corner and then we’ve got our little sofa on the opposite side. I got a sore neck last night because there’s a good and a bad seat on it and I was in the bad seat… but it’s lovely and it’s ours, so it’s all right!

What have you been watching?

We’re bingeing The White Lotus, which is so good. It seems like the best job ever: to be taken to these gorgeous destinations and deliver great dialogue about being the worst people in the world.

Who controls the TV remote?

Me! I’m terrible for chipping in with my own personal thoughts about what we would do in that scenario. I do my husband’s head in by constantly pressing pause and going, “Can you imagine if I did that?” And he’s always like, “Yeah... Should we carry on watching?”

How big a deal was it when you got the call from Taskmaster?

It’s the show that everybody wants to do. When the offer came in, I felt like I’d won the lottery! I’ve been waiting and hoping that I might get asked. It’s a bit like when your parents go, “Why don’t you just hand in a CV and ask if they’re hiring?” It’s not for lack of wanting, believe me! I haven’t turned it down these past five years.

Did anything surprise you about being on the show?

My temper! I’ve watched the show so many times and thought, “You just need to stay calm and think laterally; take a step back.” When you’re there, you’re filming back-to-back tasks from early in the morning to late at night and it’s filmed in real time. You’re also not given any information, so you do feel quite exposed. I’ve learnt that I’m not great under pressure!

What have you learnt from being on panel shows?

When I started doing them, there was definitely a style that was very “elbows out”. Five people would start talking at once and whoever kept talking would get the gag in the edit, and that is tiring across a three-hour record! Maybe it’s to do with podcasts, but a big change is that people now want more natural chat. They want a bunch of comedians getting together and having an authentic conversation that ends up wittier than the average dinner party.

The gender balance of British panel shows is a recurring conversation…

You look at early series of Mock the Week and it was all the same kind of male. I was lucky that my breakthrough into panel shows was on the tail end of people clocking on to that. Just look at this series of Taskmaster. There’s such a wide breadth of humour and age that’s hilarious to blend. It makes a better show. Don’t get me wrong, talent always comes first, but if you book five similar comics, it’s five people making the same type of jokes. That wears thin.

Your mum runs Louder than Words, a literary festival in Manchester. Was that creative background helpful for a comedian?

She started that festival on her own ten years ago and it’s still going. I’m really proud of her! I think that’s helped inspire the gung-ho “just give it a go” attitude you need for stand-up. My dad is the quiet one.

Did growing up in Yorkshire shape your sense of humour?

Yorkshire has a reputation for being somehow both blunt and friendly and I think that’s a massive testament to its sense of humour! It can get misconstrued by a lot of academic, London-based people as being basic, entry-level comedy. But it’s mass appeal and just as valid as any Oxbridge Footlights-style comedy.

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