A few weeks ago, Last One Laughing UK’s second season premiered on Prime Video.
The format? Basically the same. Ten comedians enter one room. For six hours, they must attempt to make the others laugh, while avoiding laughing themselves. At stake: glory, and a trophy (as well as the chance to scoop the rumoured fee of £250,000 twice over when they return to defend their crown the following season).
I must admit, I didn’t watch. Not immediately, at least – but I finally caved and started episode one last week, drawn in by a lineup that included returning champion Bob Mortimer, as well as comedic heavyweights Alan Carr, David Mitchell and Romesh Ranganathan.
Then I binged episodes two and three. Before I knew it, I’d watched them all, bar the finale. I was hooked.
I’m clearly not alone. With the finale due to air tomorrow, Last One Laughing has become one of Prime Video UK’s most successful TV launches ever. Its first season, which aired in March last year, shattered streaming records, drawing in more than 2 million viewers per episode. Similar figures doubtless apply for season two; it seems likely to be renewed for a third as soon as the finale airs, if not before.
It does feel like British comedy is having something of a revival at the moment. SNL UK recently launched on Sky to much fanfare, giving comedians like Ania Magliano and Hammed Animashaun the chance to flex their comic muscles with the financial backing of a major broadcast channel.
The same applies to Last One Laughing: Prime Video and its multi-million-pound budget are finally investing in Britain’s wealth of comedic talent, which can only be a good thing for the industry.
But plenty of comedy-centric game shows are on air right now. Taskmaster, 21 Cats, and Would I Like To You – all of them have been on the air for years, and all of them boast the same revolving roster of comics. What’s the secret to LOL’s runaway success?
For one thing, it’s a (mostly) new format – and in our novelty-desperate climate, that’s always a win. For another, the set-up feels uniquely suited to complement a particularly British sense of humour. That is, a sense of humour that glories in making people feel as uncomfortable as possible – which is on full form here. Ever wanted to watch Ranganathan quizzed on sex by Natasia Demetriou and Ellie White, posing as intimacy coordinators? This is where to come. And all of these chuckle-worthy moments are tailor-made to be clipped and shared on social media, the better to draw in even more curious viewers.
Plus, it’s a fascinating fly-on-the-wall watching exercise. When we see them in gameshows, they’re ‘on’ – for an hour, their job is to crack as many jokes as possible and possibly engage in a bit of light banter with the host.
Thanks to its premise, LOL is different. Nobody can really be ‘on’ for six hours at a time, so instead, we get to see more of their actual personalities. Though Jimmy Carr hosts, he only appears in the room sporadically, which means there’s no direction to the chaos, other than the occasional set piece (see: Danny Dyer doing his own unique take on Harry Potter, or Richard Madeley appearing to grill the contestants).
The result, weirdly, feels much more authentic – like we’re getting a glimpse into what goes on in the dressing room before a big show. Many of these people are friends, having spent years on the circuit together; most of them (barring Sam Campbell, whose poker face is impeccable) seem to take genuine pleasure in making their peers laugh, rather than a generic studio audience. It also requires them to be inventive to catch their fellow comedians off guard – see Mitchell’s totally off-the-wall song and dance performance, or Diane Morgan’s fart-laden reading of Dylan Thomas.
When a particularly good Joker performance winds up, the other comedians will often applaud the performer, telling them “well done” or “I was in trouble there.” There’s a lot of mutual admiration going on: Morgan confesses to being a massive fan of Mortimer, while most of the contestants actively avoid Carr because they know he’s “dangerous.”
The result is peculiarly wholesome: a comedy show made for comedians, as well as the general public. And of course, it’s wickedly funny, thanks to the excellent lineup (another thing money can buy you). Who could forget Mortimer’s little songs, or Joe Wilkinson’s reading of a speech about the RNLI? As Lou Wilson later put it, "Why am I slaving away trying to write jokes when Joe Wilkinson can literally read a bland speech about the RNLI? It's not fair!"
One thing’s for sure: when the finale airs tomorrow, I will definitely be watching. As I suspect, will most of us.
Last One Laughing UK is streaming on Prime Video
