4 times Hamish Blake gave us the laugh we all needed and made isolation a little less sh*t.

When 2019 ticked over into 2020, we doubt that Sir Hamish Blake wrote a New Year’s resolution in his little notebook that read: Be a beacon of light and positivity during global pandemic while most of humanity lives in enforced quarantine. 

Four months ago that really wasn’t the… vibe.

But alas, it’s April, 2020, and a whole lot of shit went wrong.

Hamish Blake, a comedian, actor and podcast host, has been Australia’s much needed comedic relief during a time that will be remembered for its overuse of the terms ‘unprecedented’ and ‘uncertainty’.

It started with “Mr B’s Daily Curriculum” for his two kids, and peaked last night with Channel Nine’s Lego Masters, the biggest series launch of 2020 so far.

Watch the trailer for Season Two of Lego Masters. Post continues below. 

Here are four times Hamish made us laugh during the single weirdest period of our lives.

1. Mr B’s Daily Curriculum

It was mid-March when parents all over the country began coming to terms with the fact they were going to have to do some sort of homeschooling for their kids.

Some put together elaborate schedules. With meal times. And classes. And allocated times for arts and crafts as though their kids weren’t going to be writing on the walls whenever they found the most permanent pen they could get their sticky hands on.

Hamish very helpfully shared his own daily curriculum, with activities such as ‘what’s for lunch?’ and also ‘give up on today’.

 

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We may soon see schools closed and have our kids at home. Luckily I have worked from home for a few years so can utilise what I’ve learnt about daily structure to create a perfect stay at home curriculum for my son. To all mums and dads, you are free to borrow it. We can do this guys, when you break the day down into little achievable pieces it’s not too hard. Stay safe.

A post shared by Hamish Blake (@hamishblakeshotz) on Mar 15, 2020 at 2:10pm PDT

2. Zoom For One More

Well.

It’s the single most genius concept of 2020 and I won’t hear a word otherwise.

As soon as everyone jumped on Zoom, Hamish decided to start crashing meetings he wasn’t technically invited to. Some went better than others.

After more than 50 drop-ins, Hamish decided to admit that, yeah, there was a time when he was “removed by the host from the meeting”. It was an online f45 class, and we all know how seriously they take their exercise.

 

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Look after over 50 successful zoom sneak ins, I feel it’s only fair to share the one and only time I was “removed by the host from a meeting”. I got up early to do the rounds on a few workout zoom classes and share my trademark brand of low intensity exercise and high intensity chat. It cost me. Upon reviewing the tape I would like to say I fully back what that trainer did! Never got his name but he chose chin ups over chin wagging and that only highlights his professionalism. Was still an honour to be in the class for 2 mins! ????????

A post shared by Hamish Blake (@hamishblakeshotz) on Apr 5, 2020 at 3:54pm PDT

He also got into a tiny little bit of trouble from the Australian Defence Force, after he joined their video conferencing meeting which was definitely meant to be confidential. They no longer use Zoom for security reasons.

It was definitely worth it for the lols though.

 

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If you’ve DM’d me your zoom login details this week, I have lucky dipped in that big ol digital bucket and tried to be a surprise yet vital asset to your small group meeting, whatever it may be. Thank you legends as always for having me, here’s but a few more small snippets from my last couple of days of letting myself quietly in the back door. We laughed, we learned, we said goodbye to Paula. Hope you’re safe my friends and you never know, I may see you zoon. ????????

A post shared by Hamish Blake (@hamishblakeshotz) on Apr 4, 2020 at 1:51am PDT

 

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It’s been a big week of quietly jumping the virtual back fence into random peoples zoom yards. Another wonderful cross section of society visited this week. In this selection we have elite athletes, professors drinking and @zotheysay makes her first guest appearance to cut my night with the gals short. Thanks to these guys and all the others I zoomed with this week (big shout out to all the Passover Seders on Wednesday). As always, DM me just 3 ingredients: time, passcode, and password if there is one. There’s no system, my inbox looks like Bondi a few weekends ago, so it’s just a lucky dip from there! Thanks secret squirrels for another fun week. ❤️ ????

A post shared by Hamish Blake (@hamishblakeshotz) on Apr 10, 2020 at 2:14am PDT

3. Made an elaborate egg race

The battle for Easter egg supremacy was a game invented by Hamish that was played by families all over Australia.

 

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The eggs made you find them, now you make THEM battle for Egg Race Supremacy™️!! (Must be said in a Hot Wheels ad voice). In the race shown we see an amazing passing move by the Dream egg over Kinder, and Caramello is way behind although I think that is an unfair portrayal of Caramello’s racing skills as he got hung up a bit on the start. Track fly through included as bonus content at the end. (I guess the bunny DID come ????)

A post shared by Hamish Blake (@hamishblakeshotz) on Apr 11, 2020 at 4:06pm PDT

There was cardboard but also textas and makeshift obstacles, and it was all about seeing which Easter egg would win, which might sound king of boring if we weren’t all confined to our own houses indefinitely. 

4. Lego Masters

On Sunday night, more than 1.2 million Australians tuned in to watch the second season of Lego Masters. 

When social isolation first began, the show most of us were watching was Married at First Sight, which isn’t that appropriate for children given everyone keeps having sex with each other’s husbands etc.

But in Lego Masters, there are no extramarital affairs (yet). Only Lego. And adults who are really excited about building things with blocks. Oh, and also Ryan ‘The Brickman’ McNaught, Australia’s only Lego Certified Professional.

Just like Gogglebox, the concept itself sounds appalling.

“Who would want to watch grown adults build stuff from colourful blocks several times a week?” apprehensive viewers asked when the ads first started airing before last season.

“How interesting can Lego really be?”

Well let me tell you. 

It’s about creativity and team work and Hamish clapping at the wrong time and imagination and The Brickman crying when he has to eliminate someone because he doesn’t like hurting people’s feelings.

Even Hamish’s two-year-old daughter Rudy reckons the show isn’t too bad, giving him an apprehensive thumbs up when she visited the set.

 

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LEGO Masters Season 2 starts TONIGHT!!! If you need a solid testimonial, when my daughter visited me one day on set she gave the show (or possibly me) One Very Reluctant And Half Hearted Thumbs Up!!! If that doesn’t get you to the TV at 7pm tonight on Ch 9 I don’t know what will. Seriously though, this season is a cracker, we had a blast making it, I’m really excited it’s on, we hope you and the fam enjoy. ????

A post shared by Hamish Blake (@hamishblakeshotz) on Apr 18, 2020 at 10:28pm PDT

Hamish deserves a goddamn Order of Australia medal for his service during the global pandemic of 2020.

Lego Masters is on Channel Nine at 7pm on Sunday nights, and 7:30pm on Monday and Tuesday nights.