Concetta gets the wrong end of the stick

After reading the task brief, Concetta immediately gets the wrong idea about how the task works, assuming that the mat contains some sort of pressure sensor which is linked to the read-out on the scale. She asks Tom Cashman if he can stand on the mat for her, which he does. She looks at the scale but finds that no weight has been registered. Confused, she asks if they can stand on the mat together but, again, the scale registers no weight.

The pair then move the bathtub onto the mat. Concetta states that it feels like they are moving in together, and asks Tom “Where should we put the bath?”. When Tom points out that baths normally go in the bathroom, Concetta says “I want it in the lounge room.” Again, the scale registers no weight, prompting Concetta to ask if it’s a dumb joke, and then to ask Tom whether the scale is even on.

Concetta, clearly quite annoyed already, jumps around moaning, then gets into the bath and, when no weight registers, asks if the scale is broken. She then replaces the bath with a wheelbarrow and tells Tom to get in it. When the scale remains on zero, Concetta asks if this is normal. She then runs off, screaming “What is heavy?”, before returning with a giraffe, which also registers no weight on the scale, when placed on the mat.

After asking “What’s the trick?”, Concetta asks if she can move the car onto the mat. Tom drives the ute onto the mat as Concetta stares at the scale, which continue to register no weight, and announces that she’s going to cry. She then climbs onto the bonnet of the ute, claiming “This is a freaking joke.” She then gets into and back out of the ute. It is then driven away, while Concetta jumps up and down on the mat in frustration.

With 30 seconds left, Concetta asks for the giraffe again, and carries it around the mat while staring intently at the scale. After Tom blows his whistle, Concetta walks off, saying “This was broken, just so you know. This whole thing is broken.”

In the studio, the other contestants give Concetta a standing ovation, before she asks “So did I win?”. She says that she now realises that was just a mat on the floor, but at the time she’d been so mad at Tom Cashman that she’d wanted to wring his neck. Tom admits that it was probably the hardest he had ever had to try not to laugh in his life.

Tom Gleeson notes how Concetta had just kept trying. He also suggests that maybe there was a generation gap factor, since he would have seen the lack of a cord connecting the mat to the scale and assumed that they were not linked, whereas Concetta must have assumed it was “Bluetooth or something”. Concetta says that she believes wholeheartedly in the Taskmaster franchise and the technology that they have to which she is not privy.

Concetta earns 1 point for registering no weight.

(Written by JoGo and proofread by Karl Craven)

(Illustrations collected by JoGo and adjusted by David Fuller)