Hard taskmaster
HE’S LEAPT FROM ABC KIDS FAME INTO VIRAL VIDEOS, BUT THIS LATEST VENTURE THROWS JIMMY REES IN THE DEEP END
He ignored the old adage of never working with children and animals and emerged relatively unscathed as he entertained legions of kids while in his pyjamas with his owl offsider Hoot for a decade. But some of Taskmaster Australia’s crazy missions truly tested Jimmy Rees.
The BAFTA-winning show, Taskmaster, gets an Aussie twist this week as local comics go headto-head in a series of hilarious hijinks. Each week tough-love Taskmaster Tom Gleeson and his trusty sidekick (Lesser) Tom Cashman, set comedians Rees (although he confesses that title of comedian doesn’t sit quite right just yet, there’s a touch of impostor syndrome about it for him) , Julia Morris, Luke McGregor, Nina Oyama and Danielle Walker a series of challenges, each more mind-bending and headscratching than the last.
The cast filmed in New Zealand at the Kiwi Taskmaster Ranch (as it’s dubbed) which has The Lounge, The Lab – an all white room with plastic sheeting covering the walls, ceiling and floor – and The Kitchen, complete with stove, fridge, sink, washing machine and various kitchenware, usable by contestants in tasks.
Just like the original, there’s also The Caravan in the garden plus a small lake on the outskirts of the ranch.
Rees didn’t know who would be joining him in the cast until the first day of filming and hadn’t previously worked with them.
“The cast is fantastic and we had such a great time,” he says, adding that fans of the Brit version needn’t worry that the Aussie version will tarnish its legacy,
“For the people who do love the British one … just open your eyes. This is going to be a bit different.
“It’s Australian-ified but it’s also got all the classic elements. And if you haven’t heard of the show before – that doesn’t matter either.
“You’re not missing out on anything by not having seen the other previous versions of it.”
Rees is full of praise for the two Toms.
“They’re the perfect people for the roles,” he says. “Tom Gleeson is just on fire, he is born to be the Taskmaster. He’s the same on his other shows, that’s his shtick.
“I didn’t know too much about
Tom Cashman. But he is perfect as the assistant, They just gelled so well together. “And it’s hilarious if my wife is any barometer of how funny they are.” Turns out Rees’ wife Tori isn’t a massive fan of comedy. She won’t sit down and watch a comedy special. She’d rather settle into the sofa once their three boys – Lenny, 7, and three-year-old twin boys, Mack and Vinny – are in bed and watch a romance or a thriller. But she enjoyed her first stint in the Taskmaster studio audience so much that she organised another babysitter for the boys and went again.
“When she laughs a lot, she gets into sort of fits of laughter and she just can’t stop,” Rees says. “And the two times made her absolutely, like, almost wet herself. So that tells me just how good it is.”
So what does Tori think about Rees’ first live comedy show, which toured Australia last year?
“Look, you know, she’s probably biased,” Rees says with his infectious laugh. “But most of the time she just rolls her eyes and says, ‘You’re an idiot’ which is actually the biggest compliment.”
It’s also what a lot of his followers (2.5 million at last count across Facebook, TikTok and Instagram) say about his online videos. They started back in the depth of the pandemic with his take on the daily Covid updates.
From there, Rees started his Meanwhile In Australia series, which mocked the country’s interstate bickering (shut up, Tasmania) and contrasting, weird rules.
Rees’ success has allowed him to rent a warehouse in Mornington, which is where he’s zooming in from today. He stores sets, cameras, lights and props there as his work continues to evolve. His latest hit is “POV” (point of view), in which he plays a supermarket checkout worker scanning the typical characteristics of anybody from Gen Zs to hairdressers, office employees, and millennial parents.
“People come in online and they say, ‘Oh you’re an idiot’,” Rees says with a laugh. “And I’m
like, ‘Thank you that was the intended purpose.’
“Or they say, ‘What the hell did I just watch?’ And that is also one of the biggest compliments I could get.” He expects both for Taskmaster as well.
Rees isn’t sure what the rest of 2023 holds, apart from another live show tour in the second half. “I try to do a little bit of TV every year – pick something that’s going to be in my wheelhouse,” he says.
“When Taskmaster came up we dropped everything to make it happen.”
Rees laughs again as he admits organisation is not his strong point – to develop that skill would be his New Year’s resolution. If he made them. So what would he love to do this year? “Oh yeah, now that’s a good question,” he says, pausing.
“I guess just keep on doing what I’m doing. I’m excited for the opportunities that making videos for the internet have opened up for me post Giggle and Hoot.
“It has been amazing. I’m always excited to see what the next two months, six months, 12 months are going to bring if I keep plugging away and trying to make people laugh.”