Premiering Thursday, February 2 at 7:30pm, Taskmaster is set to make its Australian debut on 10 and 10Play.
Each week, tough-love Taskmaster, Tom Gleeson, and his trusty sidekick Tom Cashman set Julia Morris, Luke McGregor, Jimmy Rees, Nina Oyama and Danielle Walker a series of challenges to discover who will master the tasks.
Adapted from the hit UK format of the same name, Taskmaster promises to be light on the seriousness and heavy on laughs.
Who are the hosts?
Tom Gleeson
Tom Gleeson is a gold-plated comedy superstar, helming ratings smashes and filling big theatres across the country.
Gleeson has been at the face end of a microphone for more than 20 years as one of the country’s best-loved stand-up comedians.
On ABC-TV’s The Weekly, Gleeson’s segment Hard Chat took aim at everyone from Karl Stefanovic to Sophie Monk, Barnesy, the Proclaimers and Albo.
Hard Chat begat Hard Quiz which one a Gold Logie, rubbing against his AACTA, ARIA and Helpmann Awards on his very crowded trophy shelf. Hard Quiz also translates to all ages and languages.
Tom Cashman
Tom Cashman is an up-and-coming stand-up comedian, performer and writer, with an analytical and comedically devastating style.
Cashman is a regular on 10’s The Project and has appeared on TV’s Question Everything, Celebrity Letters & Numbers, Planet America, Australia Debates, and Tonightly With Tom Ballard. Cashman also wrote on many of those same projects, along with ABC’s Win The Week.
Who are the Taskmaster comedians?
Julia Morris
Julia is one of Australia’s most accomplished and celebrated performers. A quadruple threat, Morris has seamlessly moved between the stage and screen for over 34 years.
Morris first appeared on Aussie television at age 17, singing on the talent show New Faces. By the mid-nineties, Morris was a household name as a headlining stand-up and actor, with starring roles in comedy sketch favourite Full Frontal, night-time talk show In Melbourne Tonight and panel show, Beauty and the Beast.
In 2022, Morris was nominated for the TV Week Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television.
Jimmy Rees
Starting his career as Jimmy Giggle on the award- winning ABC Kid’s TV series Giggle & Hoot, Rees spent a decade as the face of the iconic kid’s TV series airing seven days a week on the national broadcaster.
In 2022, Rees embarked on his first national tour for adults, what started as five shows become 35 sold-out shows in largescale venues around the country making it one of the most successful comedy tours of the year.
Luke McGregor
Luke McGregor is a writer, actor, and one of Australia’s favourite comedians. His comedy career began in Tasmania in 2007 when he entered the RAW Comedy competition after one of the contestants didn’t show up. The following year he was selected as a RAW Comedy national finalist.
McGregor is the co-creator, co-writer and co-star of the smash-hit sitcom Rosehaven with Celia Pacquola for ABC TV, for which he won Most Popular Actor at the 2019 TV Week Logie Awards.
Nina Oyama
Nina Oyama is a comedian, writer and actress who scored her first TV writing job at age 19, after a producer saw her performing stand up in a dodgy pub –
Currently, Oyama serves as a story editor for the first season of Hulu x 20th Century Fox adult animation Koala Man which is set to air in 2023.
Danielle Walker
Danielle Walker is known for her dark and twisted everyday observations and stories.
Moving from Townsville to Melbourne in 2015, Danielle started gigging and honing her craft and it was in early 2016 that she took out the prize in Australia’s biggest open mic competition and was named RAW Comedy National Champion.
See also: Tom Gleeson takes a hilarious dig at Melbourne radio shows as he welcomes Ben, Liam & Belle
Taskmaster premieres Thursday, February 2 at 7:30pm on 10 and 10Play.