Pop the balloon was a task featured on Series 12 of Taskmaster, as the fourth task in An imbalance in the poppability. The task was won by Alan Davies.
Setup[]
| Location | All Saints Pastoral Centre and Chapel |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Balloon, slingshot, stones, pebbles, darts, forks, rubber ducks, scissors, portcullis and string |
| Measurement | Fastest wins |
Summary[]
The task was presented on a table next to Alex's Balloon Pop Shop. The contestants had to pop the balloon whilst standing behind the rope at all times, and they could not move the rope. They could not touch the rope unless using the portcullis scissors. They were allowed to buy tools from Alex's shop with time:
- Slingshot and a bucket of stones = 1 minute
- Pebble - 1 minute and 30 seconds per pebble
- Fork - 2 minutes per fork
- Dart - 2 minutes and 30 second per dart
- Rubber ducks - Free
- Portcullis scissors - 8 minutes
- Bucket of forks - 1 hour
Performance[]
Alan Davies: Alan immediately decided to use the portcullis scissors, believing he'd never hit it with a dart. He popped the balloon in a total time of 9 minutes, receiving 5 points.
Desiree Burch: Desiree fired stones with a slingshot, threw rubber ducks, threw darts, threw forks, fired stones with a slingshot, threw darts, threw a fork and ducks, threw a bucket of forks, threw the bucket, and ended up using the portcullis scissors which initially failed to work properly, causing her to throw the scissors. She popped the balloon in a total time of 2 hours and 57 minutes, receiving 1 point.
Guz Khan: Guz tried throwing several darts, fired stones with a slingshot, breaking the slingshot when he tried to fire a duck, before using the portcullis scissors. He popped the balloon in 8 minutes, with a total time of 36 minutes and 58 seconds, receiving 3 points.
Morgana Robinson: Morgana tried throwing several darts, threw rubber ducks and eventually used the portcullis scissors. She popped the balloon in a total time of 56 minutes, receiving 2 points.
Victoria Coren Mitchell: Victoria initially threw darts, then after throwing some ducks for practice, managed to pop the balloon with a dart. She popped the balloon in a total time of 25 minutes and 30 seconds, receiving 4 points.
Other Appearances[]
Bast i Test[]
The task was featured on Season 4 of Bäst i Test.
Stormester[]
The task was featured on Season 7 of Stormester.
Taskmaster (Portugal)[]
This task was featured on Season 4 of Taskmaster (Portugal).
Trivia[]
Behind the Scenes[]
- After hitting the balloon with a stone and it not popping, Guz claimed there was "An imbalance in the poppability", the episode's name.
Videos[]
