Last One Laughing – Amazon Prime

Last One Laughing, a comedy reality show on Amazon Prime, began life as a Japanese show, Hitoshi Matsumoto Presents Documental in 2016. It’s had spin-offs in 27 countries, and who knows, perhaps it’s hilarious in another language? The formula is identical. Ten home-grown comedians are holed up in a sort of Big Brother apartment for a total of six hours. Their brief is to try to make someone else laugh while keeping a poker face themselves. Smirks and grins earn a yellow card; full-blown guffaws mean a red card and eviction. It’s masterminded in a secret studio by Jimmy Carr, who has the advantage of looking increasingly animatronic but is, in fact, given to regular barks of laughter. He, at least, is enjoying the show.

And that’s it, basically. Scriptless contestants wander around the set either avoiding one another or trying hard to have earnest conversations. The roll call of comedians include Joe Lycett, Bob Mortimer, Sara Pascoe and Lou Sanders, clearly all genuinely funny people. But the format works against spontaneous humour. Slapstick is the order of the day, so when Joe Lycett accidentally trips on the stage, twice, well, that’s funny, isn’t it?

After the first flat 15 minutes, Carr introduces various prompts. Individuals are called to play their joker. This means they have to appear on stage with a tiny little act. Joe Wilkinson opts for reading out an earnest piece about the role of the RNLI against a backdrop of a lifeboat, then not laugh when a pink paintball explodes over his t-shirt. Then there’s a fruit machine which generates phrase prompts like Secret – Celebrity – Crush.

The real star from the get-go is the inimitable Richard Ayoade, effortlessly funny while looking faintly alarmed at the situation he finds himself in. He keeps strolling purposefully towards the sliding doors, trying to make his escape. And he’s great with the gags. ‘Sir, when’s our normal teacher back?’ he asks Carr who’s just read out pointlessly complicated instructions. ‘Did anyone here go to drama school?’ another contestant asks. ‘You don’t hear that much on planes,’ Ayoade muses, letting the full beauty of his train of thought sink in. Bob Mortimer begins to warm to the task in the second episode, acting out a surreal magic act which involves balancing carrots on top of each other vertically. But the real laughs are thin on the ground.

‘I’ve no idea how we’re going to get six shows out of this,’ Carr admits to his teammate backstage. And by the end of the second episode (no more were available to review), we are wondering much the same thing.

Available on Amazon Prime from 20 March 2025