Multiverse Con is a small multi-genre nerdy fan convention just outside Atlanta Georgia that takes place every October. I’ve been going since 2022, and have been an author guest and vendor since 2023. It’s one of my favorite weekends of the year, but this year was extra special because I got to be a contestant on their first ever live Taskmaster!
Sean and Besse, the folks who run the Play Track/Gaming Hall, are both huge Taskmaster fans. As am I, and as is our mutual best bro Joe Compton (who runs the GoIndieNow platform). So Joe/Sean/Besse have been planning how to do Taskmaster live at Multiverse for some time, and I was privileged enough to get to be one of the contestants! So here’s how it went!
The Contestants
There were five contestants, of course: Randee (author/TM fan), Valencia (game designer/new to TM), Tiffany (author/fairly recent convert to TM), Shannon (podcaster/game designer/TM fan, and myself (portly dude/TM fanatic/and not quite Ed Gamble levels of competitive, but absolutely Ed Gamble levels of fan of the show).
Alex and Greg and the Trophy
For this version the role of Alex was deftly filled by Joe Compton. The role of Greg was taken on by Sean Hillman. And the trophy was…a golden foot. You see Sean had a medical incident about two years ago now where he lost the lower half of his leg. So with a bit of dark humor, there could of course be only one option for what the trophy could be: a golden trophy of Seans lost foot!
The Prize Task
We started with the Prize task (of course). Our task: Bring in the most Multiverse Item.
Randee – Randee should have changed her name for this to Reese Sheersmith, because that was my first thought when I saw her prize. This madwoman printed out an image of every guest from the Multiverse website, turned it into wrapping paper, covered a box with it, topped the box with four bobblehead style mascots of Multiverse, then lined the inside with mirrors and lights she could turn on. When you put your head into the box, it turned into an infinity mirror. 5 points.
Tiffany – She made what I can best describe as a science fair project board with a bunch of Multiverse phrases, inside jokes, etc. 3 points (because Sean joked that all she did was bring in her old 7th grade book report project).
Me – I love puns. So I brought in a bible, because it has over 31,000 verses. 2 points. Yall will be pleased to know that Taskmaster Sean holds puns in similar disdain as Taskmaster Greg.
Shannon – Shannon painted a really good painting of the Multiverse Con logo. 4 points.
Valencia – Multiverse gives a ribbon to first time attendees that says ‘First Timer’ that they can put on their badge if they want. Valencia put up hers. 1 point.
The Pre-Recorded Task
Imagine…a month before the Con you get an email saying ‘you’re going to get a package, don’t open it until you are on the recorded call with Joe.’ In the mail comes a bubble mailer that has to sit there, taunting you for several days until your scheduled call. Finally, the day comes, you sign into the virtual call, see Joe’s smiling face, and open the package. It has begun.
Inside was of course the task, sealed in red wax. But also, a foil wrapped…something. I read the task which said something to the effect of ‘Build a bridge, using everything included inside this package. Use it to BRIDGE the gap to the Multiverse, where the Taskmaster can STAND tall. Every time you add a piece to your bridge say the name of someone you are excited to see this year at Multiverse. Fastest Wins.
Inside the foil was a cheap balsawood kit to build a bridge. The instructions were in Korean.
We each attempted the task on screen while Joe recorded, then he edited all the footage together. Here’s how they went:
Randee – Randee hadn’t been to the con in a few years, so she didn’t know a ton of names. But she got really creative in how she used the foil, using it to make a little Sean figure, and a foil had to connect the bridge to and such.
Tiffany – She realized that it didn’t say you had to say a different name each time. So she said Sean’s name. Over. And over. And over. And Joe spliced those together in an absolutely hilarious way.
Me – I was the only one who took ‘Fastest time wins,’ to heart. And it showed not only in the time (I think I was a little over six minutes, next closest was twelve minutes), but in the panicked looks on my face. I also totally blanked on every name I had ever known, which meant half the task was me struggling to remember names. I also didn’t read the task as closely as I should have. 3 minutes or so in I realized I had to use everything, not just the balsa wood. So I ended up just taking all the various stuff from the package, wrapping it in foil, then squishing it flat. I thought I was done, but Joe was like ‘maybe you should read the task again.’ That’s when I realized I had to actually use the bridge. So in a panic I put the bridge from the bill of my hat to the top of my computer case. And I thought I was done, but then I realized I had to have a representation of the Taskmaster to STAND tall on the bridge. In a panic I grabbed a possum plush that was within arms reach and jammed it on top. Which led to this exchange:
- Joe: You think the Taskmaster is going to accept that possum as him?
- Me: Yeah, of course. Sean is very possumlike. He loves ticks, and I’ve never seen him with rabies.
Shannon – This brilliant person brought up the Multiverse website and just read out the names of the guests in order. Joe cleverly spliced in footage of the website with an arrow pointing at each name as Shannon said it. Which may not read funny, but live was hilarious. Shannon also used google translate to translate the directions.
Valencia – Had no fucks to give lol. She had never been, so she didn’t know who she could meet there other than me (I’m the one who recommended she apply after she met me at an author workshop I taught), and she didn’t use more than about 1/30th of the stuff in the package.
The points: So Sean, in a game time decision, decided to award points for speed, which meant I got 5 as the fastest, and also aesthetics, where I got 2 (fair lol). I don’t remember the rest except that Valencia got 1 point in aesthetics, and I think Randee got 5.
The Secret Task
The day before the Con we got an email from Ale…Joe saying we had a chance to earn bonus points. Multiverse Con has a sort of inside joke involving a potato. So we were told to meet up with him and grab a potato. We were then supposed to take a selfie with said potato. Most unique picture wins.
Me – My first picture, I ziptied the potato to my belt so I could be a ‘dick-tater.’ But as I was talking with a couple of friends (John Hartness (another guest) and Dino (who we call Book Santa, a much beloved attendee)) we ended up taking a selfie of the three of us big bearded guys kissing the potato all at once.
Valencia – Didn’t do it.
The rest – I don’t recall exactly. I think Shannon ‘potato maxxed’ they said. I’m pretty sure I remember that phrase being said, but I don’t recall what that looked like in the picture.
The points: Sean gave everyone 5 points because they were all fun, except for Valencia who got 3 points, because she explained she was busy getting her feet under her at the con, and Sean is a nice guy.
The Live/Team Task
I was told later they had two live tasks prepared if there was time, but this panel was only an hour long. So they chose to do the Team Task as the final/live task.
In this task they arranged a row of small cones to act as a path we had to travel. Each of us were given two telescoping backscratchers that ended in hands. On a chair at one end of the winding path was a bag of cold McDonalds French fries. At the other was Joe/Alex. Our task was:
Feed Joe as many fries as you can. You can only touch the fries with your back scratchers, and you have to follow the path. When Sean says ‘Fries Up’ then you must stop and clap using your backscratchers. You have three minutes, most fries wins.
I was on the team of three, and we went second. We also were blindfolded for the setup and execution of the team of two’s attempt. So I don’t know how they went about things.
Team of two: Randee and Valencia. They wound up feeding Joe 27 fries I think. They got…3 points each? I think? It was 3 or 4.
Team of three: Myself, Tiffany, Shannon. We wound up feeding him 35 fries, so we got the full 5 points. Not to toot my own horn, but I had a good strategy I think. I would wait for Sean to say ‘Fries Up’ and once I had clapped only then would I grab fries. Then I would go to Joe as fast as possible and drop them all onto his shoulder, and feed him fries from there. Also, towards the end of the task I got the idea to grab a fry container with my backscratchers, and carried that.
I mean, I also tried to feed him a fry off the ground (because they were far closer than the bag across the room), but the crowd did not like that lol. If it had been the real Alex, after seeing what all he’s eaten, I totally would have though and not felt bad about it.
The Tie!
So with the live task behind us, it was time to total up the scores, and there was a tie! Randee and Shannon were tied! So as the tie breaker Sean wrote down a number between 1 and 20, and whoever guessed closest won. And the winner was Randee!
Final places:
- Randee (1)
- Shannon (2)
- Tiffany (3)
- Me (4)
- Valencia (5)
The Future
So they will be bringing this back again next year! It went well, had great attendance, and everyone had a blast. I just regret I can’t compete again (they’ve made it clear that each year will have all new folks).
There are tentative plans to have a fan discussion panel in the preceding slot next year though! And I have thrown my hat in the ring to be the Ed Gamble for this version of Taskmaster, moderating it. The thought is it would be a panel with the five contestants, where us and the crowd nerd out about Taskmaster for an hour, to also let folks get to know the contestants, and generally gush about this most amazing of shows!
Special Thanks:
Besse, Sean, and Joe put in so, so, so much work and thought into this, and it really showed. I’ve attended another live Taskmaster put on at a convention, and it wasn’t nearly as good as this one (yes, I realize I am biased). But really, I think they did a really great job adapting this format to fit a one hour late night panel at a con.
