JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (15)
Taskmaster’s ‘little’ Alex Horne talks to MARION MCMULLEN about his lockdown challenges going global and sacrificing his dignity for the show
ANCHORED by scintillating performances from Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield, Judas And The Black Messiah is a gripping dramatisation of an FBI counterintelligence operation to infiltrate the Black Panther Party in 1960s Chicago.
Themes of racial injustice, betrayal and collusion strike discomfiting chords in the current climate and underline the short distance travelled since the shooting of 21-year-old party chairman Fred Hampton during a predawn raid on December 4, 1969.
London-born actor Kaluuya scorches every pixel of the screen as he delivers Hampton’s ferocious oratory.
Black and white stock footage of clashes between white police officers and black citizens lights a fuse on tension between the two communities, which detonates with full force in the film’s suspenseful second act.
In 1968 Chicago, 18-year-old petty criminal William “Bill” O’neal (Stanfield) confidently wields a fake FBI badge to compel a group of black men to give him the keys to a Pontiac, which he claims has been reported stolen.
Flashing blue lights interrupt his frantic getaway.
At Cook County Jail, FBI special agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) coolly informs O’neal that he is facing 18 months in prison for stealing a car and five years for impersonating a federal officer.
Mitchell offers to dismiss the charges if O’neal is willing to turn informant and infiltrate the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party commanded by charismatic chairman Fred Hampton (Kaluuya).
O’neal reluctantly agrees and he wins the confidence of Hampton’s girlfriend Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback) and Black Panther members Judy Harmon (Dominique Thorne), Bobby Rush (Darrell Britt-gibson) and Jake Winters (Algee Smith).
Hampton’s rising popularity is a thorn in the side of FBI director J Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen) and he orders Mitchell to apply intolerable pressure to O’neal to “neutralise” the threat.
Judas And The Black Messiah is a stylish and engrossing distillation of inglorious American history, which resulted in a $47m lawsuit alleging a conspiracy to assassinate Hampton.
Shaka King’s assured direction makes light work of the two-hour running time, and illuminates O’neal’s anguished odyssey under the suffocating yoke of the FBI.
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You set online Hometasking challenges during lockdowns. Were you surprised people all over the world started tackling tasks like designing the best quick-change outfit or recreating the ending of a famous film using kitchen items?
(Laughs) It’s been as much for my sanity as anyone else’s, I think. At the beginning we just did it because some parents said ‘Could you set our kids a task?’. I set one and it sort of took off and people joined in quite quickly.
We always said ‘if the schools are partially closed we’ll do it’. We’ve just done the last one for the foreseeable future, now children are going back to school but, because it’s been so much fun, I think it will come back in some form. I think people really enjoy the challenges and it’s not a lot of effort for me.
What have you enjoyed most about Hometasking?
I get to watch people being creative and I was surprised by how good people were. On the show, I think I’ve got used to people being often rubbish. Comedians are always funny but not always very smart. I’ve loved seeing families and people at home and people in Canada in the snow and some people in Hong Kong on the street. It’s been great.
You’ve done many odd things yourself on Taskmaster, from being a human fountain, to eating Bob Mortimer’s edible face. Do you ever say no to a challenge?
I quite liked being a human fountain, but the water was very cold.
I’ve drunk Ed Gamble’s spat-out milk, bin juice from Mawaan, and eaten dog food.
Yeah, I haven’t turned down anything yet. I’ve discovered I think I might be alright if I’m in some odd situation were I can only eat leftovers. I came to terms, very early on in Taskmaster, with the fact that my dignity is worth sacrificing because I’m the only person the contestants have got to play off.
In most comedy settings you have a stooge, and in standup it’s often the audi- ence, but on the show it’s just me and them. I’ve got them there to do things, so I have to put up with what they want me to do.
Have you missed touring with Alex Horne and The Horne Section?
The Horne Section has been a minor casualty of Covid. The live music scene is obviously decimated and the musicians themselves all play in other bands as well and have had so little work for 12 months, so that is a real shame.
It makes me feel very grateful we’ve been able to work on Taskmaster, but we’ve done the podcast and the BBC show with Peter Crouch last year [Save Our Summer] which was great. We kept busy and we’re grateful for that, but we really miss the live shows. We did a couple when we were allowed to in September and we can’t wait to get back on the road.
What have you missed most during the lockdowns?
I miss not having any sort of spontaneity. If someone drops round, you can’t invite them in for a cup of tea. That feels sad. I think I miss being in people’s homes rather than pubs. I miss pubs and theatres and cinemas, but I miss just having people in our garden.
How have you been managing with your three children?
It’s very hard to be creative when you’ve got kids needing your attention. Looking back, I think we’ll be glad to have had time with the kids... (laughs) but that’s looking back from a long distance away in the future.
I think the whole country has been struggling with wi-fi and printers as well. I have three kids and we had one laptop and had to get another one and we’re lucky that we can. Mine are young enough not to feel anxiety about everything that has happened. They see it as an adventure really.
Have you been binge-watching?
We have, although we’re pretty much run out of options now. This Is Us kept us going for the first lockdown because that involves a family with three kids and that felt like a good distraction – although sometimes it is too emotional.
We watched The Hunted as a family, which is not quite appropriate for an eight-year-old, but that kept us going and there’s been Succession and The Undoing. We really enjoyed that, but that was only six episodes. You’ve got to give us more than that these days.
Taskmaster Greg Davies calls you “little Alex Horne.” Are people surprised you are more than 6ft tall when they meet you?
(Laughs) People are really disappointed and they get a bit cross, but I do feel small next to Greg [he is 6ft 8ins tall]. The main thing people say when they meet me is ‘Oi, you’re not as short as I thought.’
How would you describe your relationship with Greg?
Genuinely, it’s a very healthy relationship but I would say we didn’t know each other very well at the beginning, so it is a relationship that has been forged on the screen and on the studio floor.
We’re actually very frustrated that we can’t see each other at the moment and we can’t hang out.
Hometasking is on Youtube, The Horne Section podcast is available on major podcast providers and the new series of Taskmaster starts on Channel 4 next Thursday.