8154/21074
I didn't think I'd like
Last One Laughing - not sure exactly why. I suppose in the wrong hands a group of comedians trying not to laugh at each other's jokes might be a bit cringeworthy or competitive in the wrong way. But we watch the first couple of episodes tonight and it's an absolute delight. Silly, painfully funny and subtly revealing a lot about the nature of comedians and what makes us laugh (or what is difficult for us not to laugh at). Although the casting is most of the usual panel show faces, they all shine in this more improvisational and less structured environment.
Kudos to whichever executive first commissioned this idea (it's been a hit in lots of different countries) because the inclination of most would be to think - a show where people are actively not laughing at jokes will be awkward tumbleweed. The genius of this idea is that it has recognised when comedy is at its absolute funniest- when you're not supposed to laugh and when laughter has to be suppressed. I am kicking myself for not spotting this gap in the market, as all my favourite comedy moments come from the delicious pain of being in a situation where you've found something funny but are not allowed to laugh. This was my own favourite version of that
http://www.richardherring.com/warmingup/06/11/2003/index.htmlBut it happens at funerals, in school class rooms, in important business meetings and it's always horrible bliss. And how could I have missed that people love it when outtakes show actors laughing and unable to carry on? This is basic comedy. Whoever spotted that there was an entire show in this deserves all the money. It's the freshest idea since Taskmaster and tellingly is not a Taskmaster rip off.
To be allowed to laugh at people not being able to laugh and watching comics trying to find the way to make each other laugh is incredibly entertaining. It's interesting that Joe Wilkinson delivering the dryest possible tribute to the RNLI is the thing that risks taking out even someone like Richard Ayoade, shows the way comedians' brains work. Comedy is about surprise in many cases and so to surprise a comedian you need to be deviously subversive. The thing that Lou Sanders says to Joe Wilkinson to make him laugh is so entirely unexpected and ridiculous that I am not surprised she skewered him.
I am delighted to see my old FUBAR radio sidekick doing so well and in a show entirely made of star performances, she really shines.
Would I be any good on this show? I am certainly competitive enough, but I also love comedy and sitting across from Bob Mortimer and watching him say literally anything would make it impossible for me.
Let alone watching him do this.
The shushing would destroy me.
Exhausted, we'd been looking for something to kill half an hour before bed, but we had to tear ourselves away from it midway through episode three. I can't predict who will win. I hope it's Lou, but Daisy May Cooper and Ayoade will be tough nuts to crack. Comedians on TV being allowed to be full of mischief is what we need right now and somehow this captures the essence of everyone involved in a way that most panel shows don't get near to doing. Also looks like they might genuinely manage to shoot a whole series in a day, which makes it supremely economical, even if Amazon are paying the comics a fortune (which they should be and probably are).
