Greg Davies and Alex Horne are bringing Taskmaster to Manchester

The BAFTA-winning comedy heads to AO Arena in May 2027 before making its way to The Hollywood Bowl

Manchester, prepare to be judged. Taskmaster is swapping the studio for the AO Arena on 26 May 2027, as Greg Davies and Alex Horne bring the show’s uniquely unhinged mix of pointless tasks, petty rivalries and glorious public humiliation to a UK stage for the first time.

They’ll be joined by a clutch of celebrity contestants, with more unsuspecting competitors pulled from the audience – all under the watchful eye of Davies, whose commitment to arbitrary justice remains one of British television’s great constants. A month later, the show moves to LA for a night at the famous Hollywood Bowl.

The Manchester date follows Taskmaster Live On Stage’s US debut earlier in 2026, where the format packed out theatres in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and New York. Tickets for the first run disappeared in 13 minutes, with John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Lisa Gilroy and Jason Mantzoukas among those brave enough to step up and be publicly assessed by Davies.

Manchester gets its own specially built set of live tasks, dreamed up by Alex Horne and designed to drag the whole arena into proceedings. Audience members will also have the chance to compete alongside the celebrity guests, with one eventually crowned the Mancunian Taskmaster Live On Stage Champion.

Horne seems appropriately startled by the scale of it. “For me the Hollywood Bowl means Monty Python and the Manchester Arena means Oasis,” he said of the announcement. “Now it’s our turn?! Luckily I’m with my biggest friend Greg so I’m going to be so brave.”

Davies, naturally, sounds rather more at home with the prospect. He has promised “even handed” judgement and says every effort will be made to ensure everyone enjoys themselves – “except Alex”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Taskmaster (@taskmaster)

The arena show lands during another packed chapter for Taskmaster. Series 22 arrived in 2026 with Richard Ayoade, Matt Lucas, Chloe Petts, Isy Suttie and Nina Conti facing the usual collection of baffling instructions, and the programme remains one of British comedy’s most successful exports. It won the BAFTA for Comedy Entertainment in 2020 and has also received an International Emmy nomination.