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MAKE 'EM LAUGH (LOL: LAST ONE LAUGHING UK)



LOL: LAST ONE LAUGHING UK

We've been here before.

Ten comedians - five men and five women - are cooped up in a 'Big Brother' style set for six hours in a competition to see who can keep a straight face while their rivals engage in quips or antics.

Laugh once and you get a yellow card signifying you're on probation.

Do it a second time, you receive a red card and are out.

The comedian who lasts the longest without laughing wins.

As anyone who saw 'LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland' last year with Jason Byrne, Aisling Bea, Amy Huberman and Deirdre O'Kane will know, it can be sometimes surreal, surprising, crude at times but also often very funny.

Versions of the show invented in Japan have been made in France, Colombia, Canada, South Africa, Iran, Australia, Italy, Germany, Nigeria, Mexico, Russia and Brazil.

Hosted by Jimmy Carr, the British version features household names like 'This Country' star Daisy May Cooper, Joe Lycett, Bob Mortimer and Richard Ayoade of 'The IT Crowd'.

Panel show regulars like Joe Wilkinson, Sara Pascoe, Rob Beckett, Judi Love and Lou Sanders rub shoulders with a relatively new face, Harriet Kemsley whose standup career will undoubtedly be boosted by her inclusion in the lineup.

What emerges is a show that pits Ayoade's deadpan nerdiness against Mortimer and Wilkinson's surreal style of humour and Love's more direct, blue approach against Lycett's acerbic brand of comedy.

With each comic asked to put on a show at some point in the competition to make their rivals crack, we are treated to an interpretative dance about birthing, a parody of magic shows, a recreation of a rollercoaster ride using a leaf blower and lectures about life in the countryside and the RNLI lifeboat service.

Unexpected guest appearances are made by 'This Morning' host Alison Hammond and her loud throaty laugh and the actor Danny Dyer who amuses as a Cockney hardman version of Harry Potter.

Other highlights include Mortimer relentlessly pursuing Daisy May Cooper with a Frank Sidebottom style song about a serial killer, a rendition of Minnie Ripperton's 'Loving You' which reduces one contestant to a fit of giggles, Ayoade making Beckett's lips quiver in a face pulling contest and Cooper's distinctive brand of facial contortions to help her avoid cracking up.

Inevitably those who have seen other versions of the show from around the world will make comparisons.

Comparing it with Ireland's, the show is pretty much on a par - although Carr is a more Marmite style of ringmaster compared to Graham Norton.

The British version also bafflingly employs Roisin Conaty as a sidekick to Carr but consigns her to sitting on a sofa beside making bland observations when we know she can be funnier.

After the grim but important subject matter of 'Adolescence,' the absurdity of Mortimer and Ayoade in particular on 'Last One Laughing UK' feels like welcome respite.

As a result, the show has already proven to be a big streaming hit and questions are naturally been asked will there be a second UK series?

If so, who should compete?

Should it be performers like Lee Mack, Harry Hill, Kerry Godliman, Sally Phillips, Noel Fielding or Lolly Adefope?

What would happen if they threw a few Scots or Welsh comedians into the mix like Rob Brydon, Fern Brady, Kevin Bridges, Paul Whitehouse or Elis James or a Canadian or an Australian comic like Katherine Ryan or Adam Hills?

What if they brought the same comedians from this series back?

Could a second series ever be as funny as the first?

Who knows? But I suspect most people would probably watch it anyway.

Don't be surprised after huge streaming figures if the British version does get another outing.

The decision is yours Amazon.

('LOL: Last One Laughing UK' was made available for streaming on Amazon Prime in the UK and Ireland from March 20-27 2025)

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