Phil Wang: The Taskmaster Jumpsuit

Summary

Sort Your Life Out Unpacked

Episode: Phil Wang – The Taskmaster Jumpsuit

Host: Dilly Carter
Guest: Phil Wang (Comedian and Writer)
Date: April 7, 2026
Podcast Platform: BBC Sounds

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Overview

In this engaging episode, tidying expert Dilly Carter welcomes comedian Phil Wang to unbox three mystery items from his home, each opening a window into his personal life, heritage, and approach to organization. The conversation blends humor, home organization tips, and reflections on identity, family, and accidental overstocking. Memorable moments include Phil’s legendary Taskmaster jumpsuit, musings on subscription overload, and a heartfelt look at his roots in Borneo.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Phil’s Approach to Home Organization & Minimalism

• Dishwasher Politics:
  • Phil, trained as an engineer, treats stacking the dishwasher with calculated logic: “Where’s the water coming from? ...The parts that need cleaning most desperately should be facing the nozzles so that we’re talking inside of the cups and all with enough space in between.” (02:04)
  • He critiques “zero spatial awareness” in others: “It really shows in the dishwashing.” (02:18)
• Minimalist Mindset:
  • Describes himself as a minimalist due to lack of trust in his ability to keep things tidy: “Nip the problem in the bud and don’t get the stuff in the first place.” (03:00)
• Quickfire ‘Home Truths’:
  • Phil’s home is described as “Millennial. Mid-century...fell hook, line and sinker for the millennial obsession with mid-century stuff. Feeling like I’m a Danish architect.” (03:24)
  • Emphasizes green in his home decor – “a green through line all the way from the entrance to the garden.” (04:14)

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2. Mystery Item 1: The Subscription Toilet Roll (05:06–11:25)

Object: Subscription bulk toilet roll

• Why bulk-buy? Phil describes falling prey to marketing and social cues: “I used to be a professional comedian. Now I work as a toilet roll warehouse, apparently.” (05:28)
• He overestimates his needs: “A lot of the time, I have more rolls of toilet paper in my house than pictures on the wall.” (06:02)

Problems with Subscriptions:

• Dilly raises a core organizing principle: “Do you really need to subscribe to this product?...If you haven’t got the space to store these loo rolls...it ends up doing is then causing you a problem.” (07:07)
• Phil’s self-reflection: “Every time I get an email...like, you got more toilet roll coming? I go postpone, postpone. And I start to feel self-conscious about how often I’m going to the toilet.” (07:28)

Subscription Overload Anecdotes:

• Phil humorously mentions a “beef subscription” – large slabs of meat arriving weekly, but quickly realizing the excess: “No one eats as much beef.” (08:17)

Storage Solutions and Decluttering Advice:

• Dilly’s advice: Only bulk buy if you have the space and genuine need. “Everything in our homes is about space.” (07:07)
• Phil agrees to unpack and store efficiently: "We are going to unpack the box as soon as it arrives so it’s not a constant reminder every time I come home..." (11:05)
• Dilly: “Remove it from our lovely green hallway.” (11:12)

Notable Quote:

• “The regularity of the loo...that’s how you remember. It’s a mnemonic.” – Phil Wang (09:13)

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3. Mystery Item 2: Embroidered Mount Kinabalu Artwork (11:33–16:23)

Object: Silk-embroidered landscape crafted by his sister, depicting Mount Kinabalu

• “That’s Mount Kinabalu, which is...the mountain where I’m from. Kota Kinabalu in Sabah in Borneo. My sister made this for me as a gift. She’s very crafty.” (12:00)

Personal Connection and Reflections:

• Phil discusses his Borneo roots, missing the beauty until returning as an adult: “It wasn’t until I flew back...I could see the mountain...Just suddenly I could notice this thing that I completely took for granted every day.” (12:47)
• Explains his father designed their house in Borneo to blend with the jungle: “He built this big bungalow...with wooden pillars and then a green tiled roof.” (13:48)

Display at Home:

• The artwork hangs “at the bottom of the staircase...my little Malaysia corner.” (15:21)
• On sibling dynamics: “I’m a comedian and they’ve got proper jobs, so if anything, I need them.” (16:18)

Notable Moment:

• “A little box makes a huge difference.” – Phil Wang, attributing his (sometimes inherited) sense of organization to ex-girlfriends and family. (09:53)
• “We frame things that bring us joy, so that when we look at them, we think, I like that and I like me.” – Dilly Carter (26:39)

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4. Mystery Item 3: The Taskmaster Jumpsuit (17:25–24:14)

Object: Bright yellow jumpsuit from his appearance on Taskmaster

• Inspired by Bruce Lee’s iconic suit: “It struck me just how sexy he was as well. Sexy and confident...so I thought, I’ll wear it on Taskmaster as an homage to Bruce Lee.” (18:29)
• “Turns out a lot of fitness is required to really carry this outfit off...I became known for not sort of covering my nether region, sensitive, politically sensitive area of my form.” (19:01)
• The jumpsuit had practical drawbacks: “There’s no pockets. Anytime I had stuff in my hands…no way to carry them.” (19:56)

Taskmaster Memories:

• Phil recalls a notorious challenge: “The one where I had to measure the circumference of the caravan with beans...which should have lent right into my skills and training as an engineer. And so I just kind of like...did, I don’t know, five beans. And it wasn’t a good answer.” (20:37)

Storage Confession & Solutions:

• Currently: “Thrown onto the ground of a wardrobe.” (21:04)
• Dilly’s tough love: “Rather than being scrunched up at the bottom of our wardrobe, which is where no clothes belong...switch all your hangers to slimline...then you can hang that outfit.” (23:18)
• Advice on optimizing wardrobe and under-bed space, recommending stackable drawers and identical under-bed storage, but “only use the under bed storage if we absolutely need it.” (25:18)

Notable Exchange:

• Phil: “Am I in trouble?”
  Dilly: “You’re not angry with me. You’re just disappointed.” (23:12)

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5. Decisions: Keep, Donote, or Sell? (27:01–27:29)

• Sell: The surplus loo roll: “I would sell the loo roll, especially because you got a Lot of it.” (27:01)
• Donate: The jumpsuit, possibly to a Taskmaster charity auction: “I would donate maybe if there’s a Taskmaster charity auction.” (27:13)
• Keep: The embroidered artwork from his sister: “I’d have to keep the picture of Mount Kinabalu by my sister.” (27:19)

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6. Final Reflections and Happy Place (27:35–27:55)

• Phil’s happy place: “On my sofa next to the garden. Looking at my mid-century sideboard...and my big TV.” (27:35)
• What he watches for comfort: “BBC documentaries from the early 70s. So Civilization, Ascent of Man, and the Ways of Seeing.” (27:46)

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Memorable Quotes

• “I used to be a professional comedian. Now I work as a toilet roll warehouse, apparently.” – Phil Wang (05:28)
• “Nip the problem in the bud and don’t get the stuff in the first place.” – Phil Wang (03:00)
• “You want your room to feel lighter...If you can keep your under the bed clear, keep it clear.” – Dilly Carter (25:20)
• “We frame things that bring us joy, so that when we look at them, we think, I like that and I like me.” – Dilly Carter (26:39)
• “The jumpsuit has got a legacy of its own…mostly positive. Maybe 51%.” – Phil Wang (20:24)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:04 – Phil’s engineer’s approach to dishwasher stacking
• 03:24 – Description of his home and green interior design
• 05:06 – Unboxing the toilet roll subscription and subscription anxiety
• 07:07 – Dilly’s decluttering rules on subscriptions
• 12:00 – Unboxing the embroidered Mount Kinabalu and family stories
• 18:08 – Unboxing the Taskmaster jumpsuit, Bruce Lee homage
• 20:37 – Taskmaster anecdotes and wardrobe confessions
• 23:18 – Dilly’s organizational advice for clothes and storage
• 25:20 – Philosophy on under-bed storage
• 27:01 – Keep, donate, or sell decisions

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Tone and Style

The episode blends Dilly’s practical, sometimes tough-love approach with Phil’s unconventional, self-deprecating humor. Both share personal insights and practical organizing strategies with genuine warmth, playfulness, and wit.

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For Listeners

This episode offers not only laughs and celebrity anecdotes but also actionable organizing tips—particularly for handling bulk purchases, making space in your home, and displaying sentimental items. It’s an energetic, relatable conversation about making space (literally and emotionally) for the things—and memories—that matter most.

Transcript

[BBC Podcast Announcer]

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[Dilly Carter]

This Is Sort yout Life Out Unpacked with Me, Dilly Carter. Every episode, a celebrity guest will hand over three boxes, each containing an item from their own home. We'll unbox them together and hear plenty of memories and stories too. Along the way, there'll be simple tips to help you sort your own life out. This episode, my guest is comedian and writer who, having studied engineering, take stacking the dishwasher very seriously. We've adored him on Taskmaster, cackled at his Netflix specials, and loved him on podcasts and panels. He grew up in Borneo and lives in southeast London, where he describes himself as better than the average man when it comes to organisation, but with room for improvement. Welcome to the hilarious Phil Wang.

[Phil Wang]

Oh, hello. Hi, Dilly.

[Dilly Carter]

What does an engineer think about when stacking the dishwasher? Because let me tell you, stacking the dishwasher is a big topic of conversation

[Phil Wang]

on the highly political. Yes, yes, some people are quite anarchic. Correct. People are methodical about it. I'm just thinking, where's the water coming from? Right? And there are clues, aren't there?

[Dilly Carter]

Yes, there are nozzles.

[Phil Wang]

Ergo, the things, the parts that need cleaning most desperately should be facing the nozzles so that we're talking inside of the cups and all with enough space in between.

[Dilly Carter]

Space is very important. I mean, some people literally throw their stuff into the dishwasher.

[Phil Wang]

Some people have zero spatial awareness and it really shows in the dishwashing.

[Dilly Carter]

I mean, do we need to hire you for sort your life out? Because I feel like you'd be great

[Phil Wang]

for tips if you don't have a dishwasher correspondent yet.

[Dilly Carter]

Then yes, a dishwasher correspondent. So if I came to your house, then I opened your dishwasher unexpectedly and unannounced.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

You would not be afraid?

[Phil Wang]

No, no, no. Absolutely not. I mean, right now you'd find it holding half a clean load. And I've saved the bottom shelf for when I get home.

[Dilly Carter]

Why?

[Phil Wang]

Just a little treat.

[Dilly Carter]

Just a treat. Something to look forward to. And how do you live? Are you a minimalist or a maximalist?

[Phil Wang]

I've got a big question. How do I live?

[Dilly Carter]

Are you a minimalist or a maximalist?

[Phil Wang]

I am a minimalist.

[Dilly Carter]

Minimalist.

[Phil Wang]

Mainly because I don't trust myself with physical objects and keeping them tidy. So I feel like, you know, nip the problem in the bud and don't get the stuff in the first place.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, my gosh. Music to my ears. Just don't over buy.

[Phil Wang]

Don't over buy.

[Dilly Carter]

Before we start unboxing your items, I just want to ask you a few quick fire home truths.

[Phil Wang]

Okay.

[Dilly Carter]

How would you describe your home in a sentence?

[Phil Wang]

Millennial.

[Dilly Carter]

Millennial.

[Phil Wang]

Mid century.

[Dilly Carter]

Mid century.

[Phil Wang]

Well, furnishing wise, I felt hook, line and sinker for the whole millennial obsession with. With mid century stuff. Feeling like I'm a Danish architect.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, lovely.

[Phil Wang]

In a word, I would call my house a new build. There's no back wall in the ground floor. It's just big glass windows.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, okay. Nice.

[Phil Wang]

And big glass doors, and they open up straight onto the garden, so.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, lovely.

[Phil Wang]

I can see every time a squirrel or a fox comes in and then I have to go and bang on the door. Yeah, like an old farmer in a fairy tale.

[Dilly Carter]

What about your home?

[Phil Wang]

Are you most proud of my hallway when you enter? The color of the entrance is the first big, bold choice I made with the place when I moved in. And it was to paint it a forest green. A deep green.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, lovely.

[Phil Wang]

So you open the door and the way the house is oriented, you open the door and then there's hallway and then this living room and then the window onto the garden. So you have the. You have a straight through line. So I also had a green sofa, so I wanted, like a green through line all the way from the entrance to the garden.

[Dilly Carter]

Sounds beautiful.

[Phil Wang]

It's so nice. It's so calming.

[Dilly Carter]

I've got green.

[Phil Wang]

You've got greenware.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. In my. As you walk into my house.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, it's the best.

[Dilly Carter]

Deep green. And you can see my garden from my front door.

[Phil Wang]

I'm doing what the pros are doing. I didn't even know.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay. Should we have a look at your first box.

[Phil Wang]

Oh, yeah, I forgot about the box.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah, let's. Let's look at your first box. I'm very excited. What could it be?

[Phil Wang]

I'm handing you the box.

[Dilly Carter]

You're handing me the box?

[Phil Wang]

Merry Christmas, Dilly.

[Dilly Carter]

Thank you. Thank you so much.

[Phil Wang]

It's an item from my home.

[Dilly Carter]

This is so lovely. And we've only just met. Thank you. Right, in this first box, which is small,

[Phil Wang]

that's exactly the response I was hoping for.

[Dilly Carter]

Really?

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

I was like, okay, so in this box there is a toilet roll.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah. But not just any toilet roll, because that would be rude.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay, well, it's a toilet roll that is like a subscription toilet roll.

[Phil Wang]

Exactly.

[Dilly Carter]

Subscription.

[Phil Wang]

A subscription to. And I can't believe I've been fooled into doing this by excellent marketing and peer pressure.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay.

[Phil Wang]

I used to be a professional comedian. Now I work as a toilet roll warehouse, apparently, because I take in industrial amounts.

[Dilly Carter]

Industrial amounts of toilet roll in a massive cardboard box. This is something that I talk about a lot.

[Phil Wang]

Interesting.

[Dilly Carter]

So, number one, why are you bulk buying toilet roll?

[Phil Wang]

I was told it was good for the planet. And I was convinced somehow that buying loo roll at the supermarket was an unbearable burden, which I'm finally free from. But one of these boxes is so big, I don't have to think about buying loo roll.

[Dilly Carter]

This is the idea.

[Phil Wang]

For two years, a lot of the time, I have more rolls of toilet paper in my house than pictures on the wall.

[Dilly Carter]

You feel like they've taken over your life, the toilet paper.

[Phil Wang]

They've taken over my home space.

[Dilly Carter]

Now, why is that? Is it because you haven't got the right place to store them? Where are you storing your toilet rolls?

[Phil Wang]

Well, the house didn't come with a toilet roll cupboard.

[Dilly Carter]

It didn't come with one. That's why we create one. We have to create one.

[Phil Wang]

But what I do is I stack them up in each toilet.

[Dilly Carter]

In each toilet. So do you split them evenly between each toilet?

[Phil Wang]

Well, you know the old communist mantra. To each according to his needs. Yeah. The thing is, I just feel insane because now I'm like, where am I going to stack a professional what can only be described as a professional amount of toilet roll?

[Dilly Carter]

Yes, I agree with that. The issue with subscriptions is, number one, do you really need to subscribe to this product? That is, are you going through 208 loo rolls a month? If not, you do not need to subscribe.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Number two, have you got the space for said subscription?

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Because if you have not Got the space to store these loo rolls. And you should not be buying the loo rolls. Everything in our homes is about space. Great to bulk buy if you're saving money. Great to save the planet. But if you haven't got the space in your home, what it ends up doing is then causing you a problem like thinking, have I actually got bowel issues because I'm not using all my toilet roll.

[Phil Wang]

Every time I get an email from the service like, you got more toilet roll coming? I go, postpone, postpone. And I start to feel self conscious about how often I'm going to the toilet. I'm like, am I going to irregularly to the bathroom?

[Dilly Carter]

Maybe you need to go to the.

[Phil Wang]

Do the. Go to the toilet more. Am I being toilet shamed?

[Dilly Carter]

You're not going to the toilet enough. That's why I'm building up.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

You did say that you weren't feeling great when you came here. I mean, you can get pants on subscriptions, you know. In fact, one of our sort, your Life out series, we had a guy that had a pant subscription. He had so many pants every month being delivered. It's like, why would you need pants every month?

[Phil Wang]

How regularly was he throwing away pants?

[Dilly Carter]

I mean, I don't know.

[Phil Wang]

How many wears was each pair getting?

[Dilly Carter]

I don't know. These are all the questions that I was asking. Actually.

[Phil Wang]

I once got gifted a beef subscription. A beef subscription. It's a steak subscription.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay. And like, actual meat coming through your door.

[Phil Wang]

Big hunks of meat would come to me once a week.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay.

[Phil Wang]

And I first like, oh, amazing. And then I learned quite quickly I don't need. No one eats as much beef.

[Dilly Carter]

You're gonna get meat sweats.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, yeah. And also made me self conscious because, like, oh, this subscription thinks I like, have a family or a partner to share all the beef with. It's just me.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, wow.

[Phil Wang]

So I'm just making myself a full sir. Like a full long sirloin thing.

[Dilly Carter]

I think we really need to unpack the subscription issue because there's obviously there's a lot of subscriptions that are affecting you. I don't know if this is positive.

[Phil Wang]

The beef days are done now. The beef days are done. And they were good. They were good.

[Dilly Carter]

So we're just down to toilet rolls. You're not going to waste toilet rolls. You're always going to be used. You're always going to need it.

[Phil Wang]

But I need to do. I just need to dial down the regularity.

[Dilly Carter]

You need to dial down the regularity. You need to red that you're getting and you need to make sure that it fits into the space.

[Phil Wang]

I'm not regular enough.

[Dilly Carter]

You're not regular.

[Phil Wang]

Regularity of the lure. That's how you remember. That's a mnemonic.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes. Oh, my gosh.

[Phil Wang]

Is a lure.

[Dilly Carter]

What is the rest of your bathroom storage like?

[Phil Wang]

Although it's pretty neat. Yeah, pretty fine.

[Dilly Carter]

Like you're a man that's got everything in nice containers in the bathroom cabinets. Everything's organized. Your toothbrush is on the first shelf. You know, your face creams on the.

[Phil Wang]

I wish. No, no, I. I'm the kind of guy who's like, had girlfriends who are very good at that sort of thing and put things in a, like, little

[Dilly Carter]

box and you're not containing.

[Phil Wang]

Benefit from that legacy.

[Dilly Carter]

I like that. I benefit from the legacy.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

This is great. So actually you've learned from those past relationships.

[Phil Wang]

Absolutely. A little box makes a huge difference.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes, it does. And did you find that helpful, that organization?

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[Dilly Carter]

Otherwise, the girlfriend wasn't. But the organization was.

[Phil Wang]

What it is is because guys don't start off with a lot of accoutrements in the. In the bathroom. We pick it up as we become older. Now I've got. Now I've got some creams. Now I've got some blobs. Now I've got some blips. Now I've got some little, you know, drips and drops.

[Dilly Carter]

You're glowing.

[Phil Wang]

You too.

[Dilly Carter]

So do you have a morning routine?

[Phil Wang]

Yeah. Wash, brush teeth.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. Basic clean face.

[Phil Wang]

And then I go in and I moisturize with like a double, like double concentrate.

[Dilly Carter]

Do you bulk buy your beauty products?

[Phil Wang]

No. I should do that.

[Dilly Carter]

No, no, you shouldn't do that. We use what we have before we buy more.

[Phil Wang]

Okay, but what if it's like a little cheaper? If you buy three?

[Dilly Carter]

Have you got space for three? We've just talked about this. Have you got space for three?

[Phil Wang]

This is proof exactly.

[Dilly Carter]

Have you got space for three in your bathroom cupboard?

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, well, I've got space for three little moisturizer things.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay, great. Buy three only if it's on offer, but otherwise don't.

[Phil Wang]

Okay, thank you.

[Dilly Carter]

Thank you. Okay.

[Phil Wang]

Okay.

[Dilly Carter]

Did you hear that?

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, that's handy. This is the tough love I need. Yes, silly. Don't hold back.

[Dilly Carter]

What are our thoughts on going forward and storing the toilet roll? What are we going to do?

[Phil Wang]

We are going to unpack the box as soon as it arrives so it's not a constant reminder every time I come home that I need to do that.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes. We're going to remove it from our hallway. From our lovely green hallway. Yes.

[Phil Wang]

And we're going to get on the phone to Big Mr. Toilet Roll and say, slow the heck

[Dilly Carter]

down and reduce the quantity.

[Phil Wang]

Okay. Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

All right. And you're not regular. Okay. Shall we move on to our second box?

[Phil Wang]

Yes, please.

[Dilly Carter]

Right.

[Phil Wang]

Okay.

[Dilly Carter]

Pass me your second box. I mean, if the first one was a loo roll, God knows what the second one is.

[Phil Wang]

Okay.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay. This is a medium sized box. Yeah, we're getting there because it's so exciting. Oh, okay. So I have pulled out a beautiful round silk screen which has this lovely embroidered tapestry. And it looks to me like it is a mountain with the sea underneath it and a beautiful red sky.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, that's Mount Kinabalu, which is the mountain where I'm from. Kota Kinabalu in Sabah in Borneo.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay.

[Phil Wang]

And my sister made this for me as a gift. She's very crafty.

[Dilly Carter]

That is. I mean, it's good with crafts.

[Phil Wang]

Not sort of sneaky.

[Dilly Carter]

She's not sneaky. I mean, yeah, she's good at crafts,

[Phil Wang]

but she's mainly good at crafts. And she made this as a gift. And Saba is known for it's beautiful natural beauty and also the loveliest sunsets in the world. So I hang this up. It reminds me of Malaysia, reminds me of Borneo, and it reminds me of the mountain which. Which I climbed once. Very hard, but very beautiful.

[Dilly Carter]

And was this your view growing up?

[Phil Wang]

This? You can actually see it from. From the house in Sabah if it's a very, very clear day.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Phil Wang]

It's funny, you know, growing up, I never noticed the mountain. I never noticed the mountain range. I never noticed any of that stuff then. It wasn't until I flew back with an ex girlfriend after I lived in the UK for a while. And I came in and I could see the mountain outside the window. I was like, wow. And then when I was in the car driving around, I was like, oh, the mountains are here all the time.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Phil Wang]

Just suddenly I could notice this thing that I completely took for granted every day. It's funny. Yeah. It's like I never saw it as a kid.

[Dilly Carter]

It's amazing how your perception changes. And as you get older, going back to such a beautiful country, you realize, oh, my gosh, this is amazing. I mean, I'm from Sri Lanka and I don't get to go back very often, but when I do, I'm like, wow, this is amazing. How lucky we are to have been brought up in such a beautiful country.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, yeah. But. Yeah, but you also feel silly for having sort of taken it for granted when you. Grant.

[Dilly Carter]

And your dad was. Your dad designed your house, didn't he?

[Phil Wang]

Yes.

[Dilly Carter]

And am I right in saying that your house was built like a tree, so the roof was green?

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, my dad's a very clever guy. He's an engineer. He designed our house in Malaysia and he wanted it to. To blend into the, like, the jungle bits around it and.

[Dilly Carter]

Which is amazing.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah. And he built this big bungalow kind of house with wooden pillars and then a green tiled roof.

[Dilly Carter]

Wow.

[Phil Wang]

So maybe actually by painting the hallway green is actually.

[Dilly Carter]

It reminded you of being at home.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah. But we were also next to a massive technically drain, but kind of river. But there were lots of animals and egrets and stuff, and little crocodiles from time to time.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, my goodness. I mean, how does the wildlife in the UK compare to the wildlife in Malaysia?

[Phil Wang]

It's so safe here. I mean, you can just like, waltz around in the forest and you'll be absolutely fine.

[Dilly Carter]

I mean, the squirrels feel like quite insignificant compared to crocodiles in the river. What were your favorite things to do as a kid?

[Phil Wang]

I would walk around the garden watering the plants in quite a creepy way. I was quite a creepy kid.

[Dilly Carter]

Well, you can tell already that you obviously love outdoors. Yeah.

[Phil Wang]

Oh, all right. Yeah, I can tell straight away.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah, that you're creepy kid.

[Phil Wang]

I don't like the outdoors so much now, by the time. Yeah. I just like running around and playing and figuring stuff out.

[Dilly Carter]

How do you feel about Borneo now?

[Phil Wang]

I like going back. The food is incredible, marvelous food. Having lived in the uk, and I appreciate the. The upsides of Saba, just how beautiful it is, how lovely the weather is.

[Dilly Carter]

Where is your picture hung in your house?

[Phil Wang]

It's just at the bottom of the staircase. So as I go up, I've got a little Malaysia corner where I've hung, like, you know, maps or I've got another thing about the indigenous peoples of Sabah. I've got that. So that's any time I. And I've got an old photograph of Kota Kinabalu hung up there. So. And if I get a Malaysian anything, I try and keep it there.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, so it's all grouped together.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah. Try and theme my wall hangings if I can.

[Dilly Carter]

And when did your sister make that for you?

[Phil Wang]

A year ago.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, so it's not. She's not had it. You've not had it that long?

[Phil Wang]

No, no.

[Dilly Carter]

So that. I mean, that's very special that you bought that in.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, yeah. Big Time. Yeah, I like it a lot.

[Dilly Carter]

And are you close to your sister?

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, both. I've got two sisters. Yeah, Anna made that. She's very good at crafts and then.

[Dilly Carter]

And she old or younger?

[Phil Wang]

She's younger. They're both younger brother.

[Dilly Carter]

So you're the big brother.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

So they look to you for everything?

[Phil Wang]

No, no, no, not anymore. Well, I mean, they're just both capable adult women now.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. They don't need you for anything?

[Phil Wang]

No, not really. Also, like, I'm a comedian and they've got proper jobs, so if anything, I need them.

[Dilly Carter]

You have a very proper job.

[Phil Wang]

Thank you. Thank you. I bring toilet rolls into recording studios.

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[Dilly Carter]

Shall we have a look at your third box?

[Phil Wang]

Oh, yeah. What's in the box?

[Dilly Carter]

This is the biggest, largest box. So what have we got in this last box?

[Phil Wang]

Have you seen seven?

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, God.

[Phil Wang]

Have you seen seven? Do you ever think about that? Really?

[Dilly Carter]

Well, anything with Brad Pitt. Come on.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah. Do you think about that when you open these boxes?

[Dilly Carter]

I don't think about that, but now I am. Thank you for that. Thank you for that.

[Phil Wang]

Especially after this.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Phil Wang]

Just kidding. Here you go.

[Dilly Carter]

Thank you for that, Phil. So in this large box, it is no reference to 7, if anyone has watched that film. I'm hoping. Anyway, it doesn't feel that weight. I'm taking off this lid and in. Oh, my gosh. And I know what this is. In this box is a yellow boiler suit jumpsuit.

[Phil Wang]

Call it a jumpsuit.

[Dilly Carter]

It's a bright yellow jumpsuit with black piping. Let me pass it to you. Why? Are you going to put it on?

[Phil Wang]

No, I just wanted so everyone can appreciate the form. I mean, it looks so much like something a baby would wear.

[Dilly Carter]

It is like a big baby grow.

[Phil Wang]

That's it. Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Tell me about this jumpsuit.

[Phil Wang]

So this is what I wore for my series of Taskmaster, which was in 2018.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Phil Wang]

And I had recently, like a year or two years beforehand, done a little comedy tour of Asia and I'd gone to Hong Kong, and there was an exhibit on Bruce Lee. It was a really good exhibit. And it struck me just how sexy he was as well. Sexy and confident. And it was like. It went completely against a lot of assumptions of East Asian men in the west. And I thought that was so valuable, and it really struck a chord with me. And so I thought, I'll wear it on Taskmaster as an homage to Bruce Lee.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay.

[Phil Wang]

And it turns out Bruce Lee looks good in it because he's Bruce Lee. Turns out a lot of fitness is required to really carry this outfit off. And I didn't completely. And I became known for not sort of covering my nether region, sensitive, politically sensitive area of my form. And I didn't think it would pop as much as it did on screen, but it did.

[Dilly Carter]

It popped.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah. To the extent that apparently there's a family cut of all the Taskmaster series, and in mine, they've had to cut me out of some. Some screens, like, they've had to sort

[Dilly Carter]

of crop because it's not family suitable.

[Phil Wang]

It's not family friendly. Yeah. It would raise too many difficult questions for Mum and Dad. I guess I chose it because I wanted to represent East Asians as the first East Asian on that show.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Phil Wang]

But it kind of backfired because there's no pockets. Anytime I had stuff in my hands during a task that I had to carry somewhere, I just had to, like, hold it all in my arms.

[Dilly Carter]

It was basically the worst outfit you could have chosen.

[Phil Wang]

Pretty much, yeah. Pretty much. It did leave me quite limber.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Phil Wang]

It did keep me quite lithe. I didn't have to worry about things falling out of my pockets if I wanted to do, say, handstand or a cartwheel. To this day, it's the thing people still say to me the most.

[Dilly Carter]

It has got a legacy of its own.

[Phil Wang]

Yes, exactly. Mostly positive.

[Dilly Carter]

Mostly.

[Phil Wang]

Mostly positive. Maybe 51%.

[Dilly Carter]

I mean, what moment on Taskmaster, do you think? I cannot believe I did that.

[Phil Wang]

I think the ones where I had to. The one where I had to measure the circumference of the caravan with beans, which should have lent right into my skills and training as an engineer. And so I just kind of like. And did. I don't know, five beans. And it wasn't. It wasn't a good answer.

[Dilly Carter]

Where is this kept in your house?

[Phil Wang]

This is in a wardrobe. This is like this thrown into, like, on the ground floor of a wardrobe.

[Dilly Carter]

Sorry, sorry, say it again.

[Phil Wang]

Thrown onto the ground.

[Dilly Carter]

Thrown onto the ground of a wardrobe.

[Phil Wang]

What do you call the bottom Part of a wardrobe. The ground, the bottom of the wardrobe.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah, but still the ground where things don't live unless they're shoes.

[Phil Wang]

I know, I know. And I don't have any shelf for some. I've got these inbuilt wardrobes that came with the house.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay.

[Phil Wang]

And I don't have shelves in them. And then I've got ground. Hang it.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Phil Wang]

Because that, that real estate is already at a premium with things I wear regularly. And it might surprise you to hear I don't wear this very regularly in my day to day life.

[Dilly Carter]

It's not like your Sunday outfit.

[Phil Wang]

No. I feel like I should get it framed, frame it.

[Dilly Carter]

I mean that'd be a big frame.

[Phil Wang]

It's a big frame. But I've got.

[Dilly Carter]

Not to say that you're big, but I'm just saying it's like you're tall.

[Phil Wang]

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. But I do have a big patch of wall outside the bedroom that is weirdly high. So I could, I could put it there. But then I'd be thinking about it every time I went to bed and every time I woke up in the morning and I'd be thinking about the beans. Dilly.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Phil Wang]

I'd wake up and go, another new day, a new world. And I'd leave the bedroom and I'd go, beans. Why didn't I measure the beans properly? And that'd be how I started my day every day. So maybe I don't want that.

[Dilly Carter]

Well, you could, you don't even have to frame it. You could like have it on a nice metal gold hanger that just hangs on a hook on your wall. That looks quite nice.

[Phil Wang]

Oh, okay.

[Dilly Carter]

It's a memento that you want to keep that reminds you of a great time. Even though, you know, you might have had to measure a caravan been. It was still a very positive impact on your life.

[Phil Wang]

Sure.

[Dilly Carter]

So rather than being scrunched up at the bottom of our wardrobe, which is where no clothes belong.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, I know.

[Dilly Carter]

Hang things. And like you said, our wardrobe is prime real estate. And I love that you said that because our kitchen cupboards are prime real estate. Our wardrobe has prime real estate. Have you got wooden hangers?

[Phil Wang]

Wooden hangers? A couple.

[Dilly Carter]

So you've got mixed match hangers?

[Phil Wang]

I've got mostly velvet ones.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay.

[Phil Wang]

And then a couple of wooden ones. But I never buy wooden ones. They tend to come with something.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Because I feel like I'm in trouble.

[Phil Wang]

Am I in trouble?

[Dilly Carter]

What have I done? I just can see your face and I can't Keep saying that.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah, right. From time to time I say something and I feel I've really let you down.

[Dilly Carter]

Look, you're not letting me down. I'm just trying to help you.

[Phil Wang]

Okay?

[Dilly Carter]

Okay.

[Phil Wang]

You're not angry with me. You're just disappointed.

[Dilly Carter]

So what I'm thinking is, as I'm picturing your wardrobe and I'm picturing this at the bottom of the wardrobe, and I'm feeling sad about that. I'm thinking, how can. Can I help you? And I'm thinking what you can do is you can switch all your hangers to slimline. So you've got no odd hangers, no metal, no wooden. And then even by removing that one hanger, you've got some more space for slimline. So then you can hang that outfit.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

So if you didn't want to be reminded about it every day in your office, then you can hang it in your wardrobe because it's going to take up minimal space.

[Phil Wang]

That's a good idea. That's a good idea. Also, I need to get some shelves into those wardrobes.

[Dilly Carter]

So you're saying that that space is not being utilized?

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay. You know, you can just get stackable drawers. Stackable drawers. So the stackable drawers will just slide into the bottom of that dead space at the bottom of your wardrobe. And then you could fold your stuff into there. So you could have a memory drawer. You know, you could have a sock drawer, you could have a pant drawer.

[Phil Wang]

That's great.

[Dilly Carter]

Add them into the dead space. And I'm getting a little shelf on the top. Huh?

[Phil Wang]

Am I getting a little shelf on the top?

[Dilly Carter]

Why are we testing about shelves?

[Phil Wang]

I just feel like I need some shelves.

[Dilly Carter]

I just told you what to do.

[Phil Wang]

But some things you don't want to put in a drawer, some things you want to put on another shelf.

[Dilly Carter]

What do you want to put on the shelf again?

[Phil Wang]

I feel like you're really angry.

[Dilly Carter]

I wasn't having a guy at you. I'm just trying to help you.

[Phil Wang]

You were a little bit. No. This is what I need, this tough love.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. Thank you.

[Phil Wang]

Can I ask. I've got a bed.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah, talk to me through the bed. Is it a storage bed?

[Phil Wang]

It is not. But under the bed. It has to be. Specifically storage bed.

[Dilly Carter]

Well, I'm just saying, you know, you've already failed because you haven't got storage bed.

[Phil Wang]

Again, the judgment is very strong from you. I need solutions, not problems.

[Dilly Carter]

Dilly, what have you got underneath there?

[Phil Wang]

At the moment, I have one step ladder.

[Dilly Carter]

Under the bed.

[Phil Wang]

Under the Bed.

[Dilly Carter]

Is that to get into the bed?

[Phil Wang]

It's a very high bed. That's all I have under there now.

[Dilly Carter]

Just the ladder.

[Phil Wang]

Just a little ladder.

[Dilly Carter]

So what was your question?

[Phil Wang]

How do I. That doesn't feel like maximizing the space under the Super King.

[Dilly Carter]

But what do you need to put under there?

[Phil Wang]

I don't know. Clearly I've got a lot of stuff that needs to go somewhere.

[Dilly Carter]

Number one, we only use the under bed storage if we absolutely need it.

[Phil Wang]

Oh, so it's a last resort.

[Dilly Carter]

It's a last resort.

[Phil Wang]

Why?

[Dilly Carter]

Because it's nice to have that space, isn't it, under the bed? Well, just to breathe.

[Phil Wang]

To breathe. You go under there to breathe.

[Dilly Carter]

You want your room to feel lighter.

[Phil Wang]

Like if you had a. You want your day, you fall under

[Dilly Carter]

the bed for like a part of meditation.

[Phil Wang]

Okay. Right, okay.

[Dilly Carter]

What I mean is if you can keep your under the bed clear. Keep it clear. But if you find that you have excessive things in other parts of your home that could be stored under your bed, then make sure that you use identical storage under the bed. Okay. So for example, if you've got an under bed storage, then you might use, say, false drawers that look like drawers that come out on rollers. And you could fit, say, four of those drawers under your bed, so then you can roll them out. The key to under bed storage is always have an identical storage. So if you are looking from a distance, you don't want to be able to see that storage looking messy.

[Phil Wang]

Very good.

[Dilly Carter]

So if you are using that space, great.

[Phil Wang]

Okay.

[Dilly Carter]

But you're only using it for a ladder. So great. A dirty plaster ladder.

[Phil Wang]

Just a ladder. Thanks.

[Dilly Carter]

Has this helped you?

[Phil Wang]

It really has. I wasn't expecting it to. This has changed my life.

[Dilly Carter]

Thank you. And are you gonna wear that jumpsuit for wrestling at the weekend?

[Phil Wang]

My wrestling career is done now, I'm afraid. But I wore one outfit inspired by that. But we added like the added sequins and frills.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, fancy one.

[Phil Wang]

Beautiful. I might hang. I might frame that one.

[Dilly Carter]

You know, we frame things that bring us joy.

[Phil Wang]

That's it.

[Dilly Carter]

So that when we look at them, we think, I like that.

[Phil Wang]

I like that and I like me.

[Dilly Carter]

And you like you. That's the most important thing.

[Phil Wang]

I like that and I like me.

[Dilly Carter]

I'm glad you like me.

[Phil Wang]

Absolutely.

[Dilly Carter]

We have seen and heard about all your items. Thank you.

[Phil Wang]

Thank you.

[Dilly Carter]

They were so different and so interesting.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

If you had to, which would you sell, donate or keep?

[Phil Wang]

I would sell the loo roll, especially

[Dilly Carter]

because you got a Lot of it.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah. Yeah. I've got. I've got supply. Let's go find the demand.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes.

[Phil Wang]

This is classic economics.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Phil Wang]

And jumpsuit. I would donate maybe if there's a taskmaster charity.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes, yeah.

[Phil Wang]

Auction or something. I think that work really nicely. And I'd have to keep the picture of monkey nebala by my sister.

[Dilly Carter]

Absolutely.

[Phil Wang]

Yeah. I think that's the easy one.

[Dilly Carter]

Very good choices. And my last question to you, where in your home is your happy place?

[Phil Wang]

I think on my sofa next to the garden. Looking at my mid century sideboard. Beautiful teak and my big TV.

[Dilly Carter]

What are you watching?

[Phil Wang]

The BBC documentaries from the early 70s. So civilization, ascent of man and the Ways of Seeing.

[Dilly Carter]

Thank you so, so much for your time, for bringing in your items and for sitting here with me. It's been such a. A pleasure.

[Phil Wang]

It's been fun deli and educational.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes.

[Phil Wang]

Thank you so much for saving my life.

[Dilly Carter]

Thank you. I can't wait to be back with you. For more revealing home truths, organizational hacks and celeb unboxings, sort your life out. Unpacked is presented by me, Diddy Carter. You can watch us on iplayer and listen on BBC Sounds. And don't forget to subscribe on BBC Sounds and have push notifications turned on to make sure you don't miss any.

[BBC Podcast Announcer]

Political language can seem archaic.

[Dilly Carter]

It's like the light from one of those stars that actually died.

[BBC Podcast Announcer]

Sometimes bamboozly, it's a theme park with

[Dilly Carter]

a five foot log flume.

[BBC Podcast Announcer]

From one thought to another and very often beyond words. I don't know how to describe the language I use. I'm Amanda Yannucci. I'm all reset and turbocharged to stress test to destruction, used and abused buzzwords and phrases from the world of politics. I come with a dazzling array of guest presenters and I'll be exploring the verbal tricks of the political trade, the intentions behind them and the effect they have on all of us. The new series of Strong Message. Here with me, Amanda Iannucci from BBC Radio 4. Listen now on BBC Sounds.

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