Matt Lucas has called himself “inept” while previewing his appearance in the new series of Taskmaster. He said he was stumped most of the time and that Greg Davies called him Grandad, a neat snapshot of how little control he felt in the format.
“I’m inept,” Lucas said in the Radio Times interview about the show. He added that if he gets anything right, it is by luck, not design, which is about as blunt a way as a comic can describe stepping into a competition built around pressure and improvisation.
Taskmaster and Greg Davies
Lucas said he is in the new series of Taskmaster even though he usually does not go near competitive TV shows and had never watched it before. He also said it was nice to get out of the house, which is the practical upside here: a familiar performer entering a format he did not prepare for by studying the show first.
That matters because his own description suggests the appearance will rely less on prior fandom and more on instinct. He said he had met all of his fellow contestants beforehand, but the decisive part of the story is still the same: he went in cold, then found himself stumped most of the time.
Football, not comedy TV
Lucas said he does not turn on the TV in search of laughs. He mainly watches football, occasionally catches a TV series, and said weeks can go by when he watches nothing else.
He also said he likes Cobra Kai on Netflix, loved Jury Duty on Prime Video and enjoyed The Studio on Apple TV, while his Sky box sometimes records a random show he definitely did not choose. The viewing habit is a lot more selective than the old idea of a comic sitting in front of comedy television all night.
Instead, Lucas said he likes old documentaries on YouTube more than comedy, and that most of the comedy he enjoys now is filmed in people’s living rooms and posted online. “If you have a mobile phone, you can be a star,” he said, then named Limmy as a complete one-off and said a Canadian comedian called Mitch Wood on Instagram makes him howl.
From Kevin McGee to Milo
Lucas also reached back to the source of his taste, saying he remembers being four and watching Are You Being Served? with his family laughing. Asked which comedian had the biggest impact on him, he said, “My late husband Kevin [McGee] was the funniest person I’ve ever met.”
He said they had a chocolate labrador called Milo who was hilarious and stubborn, and he linked that same memory-driven view of comedy to the people he works with now, including Chloe Petts on Fantasy Football League and Richard Ayoade on Travel Man. He also said he knows Isy Suttie through her husband Elis James and is in awe of Nina Conti’s skills and invention.
For now, Lucas has given Taskmaster what viewers need most before a new series starts: a clear warning that he walked in underprepared, and a better reason to watch than any polished confidence would have provided. The only open point left inside the show itself is how often luck, rather than design, will carry him through.
