It’s not often that comedies actually make you laugh out loud, but Last One Laughing UK — despite being a show that revolves around people not laughing — manages it with ease.
Back on Prime Video for a second season with a whole new cast, the Jimmy Carr-hosted game show/reality TV challenge sees 10 comedians trapped together in a room for six hours.
The only rule? If you laugh twice, you’re out. Last person standing wins.
What’s Last One Laughing UK about?
The rules may be fairly straightforward, but there are twists aplenty.
The comedians — Season 2 features David Mitchell, Mel Giedroyc, Alan Carr, Romesh Ranganathan, Amy Gledhill, Maisie Adam, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Sam Campbell, Diane Morgan, and Bob Mortimer — spend the six hours together in a large set with a kitchen, sitting area and a stage. They aren’t just left to their own devices, though. Watching from the control room, Carr and co-host Roisin Conaty can choose to phone in and request that any cast member plays their “joker” card at any time. This is essentially a miniature standup set, with the cast member in question taking to the stage to perform a short (and often very bizarre) routine while the others are forced to gather round on the sofas and watch.
Behold, here’s Diane Morgan giving a very deadpan reading of Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night”:
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Alongside the jokers, the show is peppered with other little tasks, challenges, and surprises along the way. The result feels like a fast-moving variety show where everyone involved is constantly bordering on hysterics.
Last One Laughing UK is one for Taskmaster fans
If you’ve seen the show Taskmaster, you’ll already have a flavour for what Last One Laughing UK is about.
The challenges set for the contestants aren’t quite as random as those on Alex Horne’s show, but they have a similarly silly and surreal flavor. Season 2 sees Bob Mortimer arm wrestling David Mitchell, Maisie Adam facing off with Romesh Ranganathan over their biggest regrets, and Sam Campbell and David Mitchell shouting for as long as possible while slowly walking towards each other.
The fact that nobody is allowed to laugh infuses every moment with a kind of frantic energy. There’s a constant, giggly tension that’s heightened each time the camera cuts to a reaction shot of someone doing their best to hold in a snort.
Last One Laughing UK Season 2 has some brilliant surprise guests
Season 1 featured improv acting with Danny Dyer, presenter Alison Hammond popping out of a fridge, and a psychic reading from Ted Lasso actor and comedian Nick Mohammed. A tough lineup to beat, in other words, but Season 2 is already have a good go at it.
In the clip below famous British presenter Richard Madeley pops up, calling the cast up on the stage one-by-one for some deadpan interview questions that are very difficult to sit through without breaking.
The bad news? Last One Laughing UK Season 2 is only six 30-minute episodes, each of which go by far too quickly. The good news? Five episodes have been released so far and the finale drops on Thursday, so there’s plenty of time for a catch-up binge before the winner of Season 2 is crowned.
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