65-minute immersive experience costs up to £100 a head

Taskmaster fans are up in arms after discovering the live experience costs up to £100 a head.

More than 600,000 viewers of the show had signed up to a ballot to take part in games inspired by the series, without knowing the ticket prices.

But many of the successful applicants who were sent the advanced box office link yesterday were stunned to find  admission to the 65-minute experience was up to £100  a head for most evening and weekend slots.

Producers Avalon quickly announced a second ticket ballot, saying it was ‘to help the system cope with the exceptional demand’ – with more emails going out at midday today.

Creator Alex Horne announced the second ballot yesterday.

Some sad news... and some FANTASTIC NEWS!https://t.co/PcTWLc5DM2 pic.twitter.com/8d64o95INh

— Taskmaster Live Experience (@TMTheExperience) June 19, 2024

But judging by chatter on social media, many fans who won the ballot baulked at the cost of the tickets and decided not to go ahead.

One said: ’Won the Taskmaster Live Experience ballot! Clicked the link! Picked a time for 4 people! Saw tickets were £100! Thought that's not bad! Saw further down that it was £100 PER PERSON! Immediately closed the tab!’

Another said: ‘The #Taskmaster live thing seems a bit of a cluster fuck,  why not mention the ticket prices are £100 before you get people to enter a ballot? Cos seems a lot of people who did "win" the ballot can't afford to get tickets anyway.

And a third said: ‘We're still in a cost of living crisis and you're charging extortionate amounts for tickets. Fans like myself that have followed the show since day one deserve much better.’

Someone mimicked the way Horne sets the challenges on the Channel 4 show by posting: ‘Damage the Taskmaster brand by charging £100 per head, with a recommendation of 14 people per group, for a completely undefined, unexplained immersive experience, during a cost of living crisis. You have from September until January. Your time starts now.’

Other fans variously called the ticket pricing extortionate’, ’insane’, ‘completely inaccessible’ , ‘obscene’ and ‘absolutely shocking’ –  and one pointed out the cost was only marginally less than their daughter paid for a three-hour Taylor Swift gig, adding: ‘So. Fuck that right off’.

Taskmaster: The Live Experience deploys dynamic ticket pricing, with the first tickets for slots costing £50, rising up to £100. All children's tickets are £40.

The top rate is 50 per cent more than similar immersive events. A weekend evening ticket for Crystal Maze Live costs £70, Monopoly Lifesized is £69 and The Cube is £62.50.

The Taskmaster evebt runs from September 18 to January 25 at Dock X in Canada Water, East London, which was previously home to Macbeth starring Ralph Fiennes.

Players take part in groups of 14 and choose one of two experiences: Melon Buffet or Absolute Casserole, each containing different tasks and challenges set in the lab, living room, shed and elsewhere. The experience culminates in a final in the studio theatre where one player will win the Taskmaster’s seal of approval.

Horne has recorded   bespoke videos for the sessions, with his own team of assistants (‘Little Little Alex Hornes’) leading participants through the tasks, with each experience concluding in a final task on-stage.

The live experience came about after Horne and Taskmaster Greg Davies released a video saying it would become a reality if 100,000 fans registered their interest – a figure that was surpassed 500 per cent.

Tickets for the Taskmaster Live Experience go on general public sale at 10am on Monday here.

Published: 20 Jun 2024