Obey the autocue

Task notes

• Also on the table, there are: a set of eight small, white pots of paint with lids; a blank white piece of paper; a pair of marigold washing-up gloves; a pair of safety goggles; a Ziploc bag containing yeast; a glass bottle containing hydrogen peroxide, with a small plastic funnel in the top, and a toothbrush leant against it; a ceramic bowl with a spoon in it; and a small glass bowl containing silver sequins.
• On one side of the table, there is a plinth, upon which there is a plastic jug half-full of water, a box of matches, a small hourglass, two uninflated red Taskmaster-branded balloons, and a pin.
• On the other side of the table, there is a second plinth, upon which there is a glass bowl containing a variety of balls, including bouncy balls and a flying orb.
• On a shelf underneath the table, there is a plush toy elephant with wooden skewer tusks.
• The centrally-positioned camera in the lab has been set up with an autocue which the contestants must read from and obey. The autocue instructions include prompts where the contestants must improvise or make choices, including:
  • Making up a cool scientist name for themselves
  • Making up the words to the Science Today theme tune
  • Imitating their mind exploding
  • Picking two numbers between 1 and 4 to decide which experiments they will demonstrate
  • Demonstrating their chosen experiments exactly as instructed
  • Celebrating as if they’ve scored a goal, between the two experiments
  • Making up a tragic backstory
  • Attempting to sing the theme tune again, exactly as they did the first time
• Experiment 1 is the ‘Bounce’ experiment, in which the contestants must pick a ball from the glass bowl, hold it towards the camera, and then drop it after claiming that it will bounce higher than the position from which it was dropped (which is, of course, impossible). They then have to pick another ball and claim that it contains a tracker which always returns it to exactly where it was thrown from (which, of course, it does not).
• Experiment 2 is the ‘Toothpaste’ experiment, in which the contestants make ‘elephant’s toothpaste’ by mixing the sequins, yeast, and warm water into hydrogen peroxide in a bottle, causing a chemical reaction which produces sparkly hot foam, Taking the name of the substance literally, the contestants must then use the foam on a toothbrush to clean the wooden tusks of the plush toy elephant.
• Experiment 3 is the ‘Paint’ experiment, in which the contestants claim that you can tell the colour of paint by its smell, and then proceed to try to do so twice with the paints in the small white pots, while holding them behind their backs. They then dip their thumbs into the tins, before mixing together the two colours of paint on their thumbs and naming the resulting colour. They then paint something on a piece of paper with the mixed paint on their thumbs.
• Experiment 4 is the ‘Balloon popping’ experiment, in which the contestants demonstrate that a balloon filled with water will not pop like a balloon filled with air. While inflating the balloon with air, they have to make a retching sound.