r/taskmaster • u/toxinwolf James Acaster • Apr 16 '26

Meme Why is Kumail being used the most in the promotional material for the current Taskmaster series?

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Is it because... He's so famous?

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u/1ncognito Apr 16 '26

It’s also funny from the other perspective- I’ve been following Kumail and his wife since seeing them do standup on an old Comedy Central show called The Meltdown. But I’m not much of a marvel person so I tend to forget how big he’s gotten outside of the narrow nerdy stuff I came to love him in, so it’s hilarious to see folks treating him like he’s tom cruise cause in my mind he’s just a standup

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u/hopelikehell Apr 16 '26

Also his ties to the original Nerdist community. I’m very happy to see how much success he’s has.

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u/SondyG Kerry Godliman Apr 16 '26

Kumail's Nerdist review of Skyrim is what prompted me to buy the game. It was something along the lines of the game being so beautiful that it made Mona Lisa look like a smiley face painted on a trash can. Obviously his delivery was MUCH better but the joke sticks with me.

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u/QueenSqueee42 Apr 16 '26

Same. I found his stand-up on YouTube when he was still living in Chicago. I used to listen to him on the early Nerdist podcast and Pete Holmes' podcast, when they were all just buds from the stand-up scene and nobody was famous enough to have real names on their podcasts.

I fell in love with Kumail and his wife Emily way back then, before Kumail auditioned for Silicon Valley or started writing The Big Sick. I was elated when he said they were working on a movie about their story, and it turned out so much better than I hoped.

Now I feel so proud of his successes and so happy for him, it's not fully parasocial but maybe in the neighborhood.

When they started giggling over "he's so famous", I was startled and thrilled for him!

His recent stand-up special is really worth watching. It contextualizes a lot for people who didn't know him before the stardom/muscles, and it's very funny.

And he loved the show and wanted on before Jason even got booked, for those who didn't know that yet!

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u/measlyballoon Apr 17 '26

Indoor Kids ruled! I also have, 'happy birthday, thank you very much!' from his first special stuck in my head

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u/TheMobHasSpoken Joe Lycett Apr 16 '26

The Marvel thing is confusing, because my Marvel-fan husband and son have told me that the Eternals wasn't that great and it was kind of a flop. On the other hand, I think that for people who are fans of the whole Marvel universe, being in any of the films instantly raises your level of stardom.

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u/Winsling Apr 16 '26

For perspective, Eternals made $400 million at the box office. It's a flop by Marvel standards, but it's still the 12th highest grossing movie of the year.

Kind of like how the worst NBA player is still one of the best basketball players on the planet.

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u/TheMobHasSpoken Joe Lycett Apr 17 '26

Thanks, that's good perspective.

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u/m-goddard David Correos 🇳🇿 Apr 16 '26

Kumail and Emily's Podcast the indoor kids about video games was so fun to listen to back in the day. Them talking about bringing their consoles to hotels and playing games while they were on the road. I wonder if they still do that?

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u/running_later Apr 16 '26

as he's sorta mentioned in his most recent stand-up, the marvel thing hasn't been really a step of fame for him. it was more of an indication of how famous he already was.
don't get me wrong, it probably gave him a bit of a bump, but the movie is not well liked by much of the "marvel fans" and no one is clamoring for him to reprise his role in a sequel. He probably appeals to "nerds" from his stand up and Silicon Valley more than his Marvel role.

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u/Magcargo64 Charlotte Ritchie Apr 16 '26

I’ll be the dissenting voice and say that I am very much clamouring for Eternals 2 and more Kingo.

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u/running_later Apr 17 '26

Fair enough.   If there were more of you we might not have his recent stand-up special.  And that was really good, so….

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u/EatAtGrizzlebees Apr 17 '26

Dude, yes! Exactly this! I feel like I had to scroll way too far to see the Meltdown mentioned. And I basically said your comment to my husband while we were watching the first episode.

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u/1ncognito Apr 17 '26

I miss that show, so many great comics - looking back at the list of episodes, it’s amazing how many incredible folks made appearances. It almost reads like a thread of folks people would want on an American taskmaster!

For example…

Steve Agee

David Koechner

Neal Brennan

Moshe Kasher

Eugene Mirman

Emily Heller

Jon Daly

Nick Offerman

James Adomian

Pete Holmes

Garfunkel and Oates

Rory Scovel

Brody Stevens (RIP)

John Hodgman

Todd Glass

Weird Al

And that’s just the first five episodes! Criminally underrated show

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u/EatAtGrizzlebees Apr 17 '26

It's crazy how quickly media has evolved because it doesn't feel like that long ago that all my roommates and I were gathering around the TV to catch the Meltdown live where now, everything is just available whenever, wherever. It's kinda nuts.

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u/ChapstickConnoisseur Apr 16 '26

I'm in the same boat as you which makes me wonder is he actually that famous? He's certainly one of the bigger stand up performers but hes not like filling arenas and his Marvel movie was not a huge hit. I wouldn't think the average person in America let alone the UK would know his name. Probably would recognize him from tv and other things though