I was lucky enough to take part in Taskmaster in its early days, which you can read about here. But now everybody can have a slice of the Taskmaster pie by buying a ticket for Taskmaster The Live Experience. The team behind the mega-successful hit show have now opened a venue where there is an exhibition of bits from shows you have seen (and, of course buy some merch) and also, most excitingly, an opportunity to do tasks and be crowned Taskmaster champion yourself.

This is not your typical comedy review then. I don’t often review shows that I’m part of and I’m not quite sure how much I should reveal anyway. If you want to avoid all spoilers don’t read on, just go to this link and buy a ticket. As has been noted elsewhere, tickets are not cheap, but there are deals and cut price offers if you choose carefully.

The Live Experience might be a massive converted warehouse in Canada Water near the Isle of Dogs rather than the actual West London location, but the creators have done a pretty good job at making you feel as if you are in the real house once you step through the internal doors. Ten of us – all strangers, but we soon bonded – were set to take part in five rounds of the ‘Melon Buffet’ game. There’s also a different  ‘Absolutely Casserole’ game so if you really want a blow-out you could splash out and do both. 

The games take about 60 minutes to do, roughly just like the TV show running time, though of course the Channel 4 version is recorded over a number of days - and you get paid if you are a celebrity, you don’t pay them. Plastic ducks and pineapples are involved, but no melons as far as I could tell, but I could be wrong.

It would be asking a bit much for Greg Davies and Alex Horne to be present every day, but through some cleverly put together film they do put in an appearance. Instead competitors are guided through their tasks by a ‘Little Little Alex Horne’ who does a very good job of running through the rules and improvising when contestants have questions or are confused.

And so to the tasks. I won’t say too much but they do feel a lot like tasks that might be or have been on the show. Maybe slightly slimmed down as they aren’t the kind of tasks where props are used or destroyed. And, good news for Joe Wilkinson fans, before you even start you get a chance to lob a potato into a golf hole just like him. Once you start the game for real there are tasks that test your mental agility and physical agility. One task was a kind of hide and seek variant. Another involved a lot of energetic throwing. 

There is also a task where you team up with someone. Obviously if you go with a friend/family member you can pair with them. At this stage I was in with a chance of making the top five and getting into the final. I thought we’d done really well in the task, which involved guessing the weight of something. It turned out we had come last – I blame my teammate, but I guess they blame me – and I slipped right down the leaderboard.

The process is all very slickly put together. I’ve heard there were some technical hitches on the launch night but there were none when I did it and I’m sure they will be ironed out anyway. Everything ran smoothly and when it came to the showdown round for the finalists there was a chance for those plucky losers who missed out to win something too. I don’t know if it was a fix but somehow I won that prize and took home a little plastic souvenir (not a little plastic Alex Horne, though they might be a nice idea if they are doing any tweaks).

One thing I've often heard said about Taskmaster is that it is one of the few TV shows that families sit down and watch together. Similarly this is an interactive version that would be fantastic fun for all the family. Maybe even a bonding experience. Or a humiliating one if your kids beat you. 

I’ve not really done anything like this before. Oh, actually I’ve got a vague memory of doing a Crystal Maze immersive game on holiday in somewhere like Devon about twenty years ago, but it couldn’t have been that good because I can’t remember anything about it. 

The Taskmaster Live Experience, on the other hand, is very enjoyable and very memorable. There must be lots of viewers out there who would love to take part in the show and now they really can do that. It’s not quite the same as being up against the brilliant Bob Mortimer, the madcap Sam Campbell or the hapless David Baddiel, but it’s definitely an experience you won’t regret.

The Taskmaster Live Experience currently runs until January 25. Buy tickets here and watch a video that gives you a bit more idea of what it's like here.