Tara Ward watches the return of Taskmaster NZ and experiences an unexpected surge of patriotic pride. Originally published by The Spinoff . Ben Hurley is standing barefoot on the grass, about to make sporting history.
Half a world away, the nation’s most elite athletes are fighting for sporting glory at the Paris Olympics, but this New Zealand comedian is about to remind us that not all heroes wear lycra. Midway through a Taskmaster NZ challenge, Hurley is tasked with pushing a single block of wood out of a tall, shaky Jenga-style tower from a distance of at least 2m. If he knocks the tower down, the challenge is over, but Hurley knows fortune favours the brave.
Against all common sense and logic, Hurley decides to launch a tennis ball at the tower, in the hope of pushing out one tiny block. It’s a wild choice. It’s extremely reckless.
“Imagine if it just flies out,” Hurley jokes to Taskmaster assistant Paul Williams, as he launches the ball into the air. The ball floats towards the tower and quickly bounces off. Before our very eyes, a single yellow block slides smoothly out of the tower, and falls silently onto the grass below.
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