It might simply have been a fluke. That such a easy, even lame-sounding format was chargeable for three hours of the most transcendentally humorous tv of 2025 may nicely have been all the way down to an alchemical accident. Spoiler: it wasn’t. Series two of the UK model of this Japanese reality-gameshow may be very almost as sidesplitting as the first.
The format is an identical: 10 profitable comedians spend six hours in an enormous room attempting to not snigger or smile. One lapse will get you a yellow card; one other will get you ejected. Now you have to commentate on the motion in separate viewing quarters with the host, Jimmy Carr, and his sidekick Roisin Conaty (who someway manages to make her ill-defined companion function not really feel painfully awkward). Mostly, the comics simply chat crap to one another in the hope of making any person snigger, however there may be additionally a gradual stream of interventions. The majority might be known as up at some stage to play their “joker”, a specifically devised comedy set piece carried out – largely – to silence. This tends to be a formidable showcase of their expertise and fully excruciating to observe. Every every now and then, Carr emerges to dish out conversational prompts and orchestrate head-to-head challenges. There are additionally a scattering of appearances from particular company, engineered – clearly – to show these frowns the other way up.
In the final sequence, all of these probably cringeworthy options produced moments of comedy that also make me smirk. Joe Wilkinson’s deadpan lecture about the RNLI. Danny Dyer’s cameo as a geezer Harry Potter. The quite a few face-offs between the show’s two standout stars, Richard Ayoade and Bob Mortimer (Richard on the pair’s faux first date: “Would you invest in arms?” Bob: “My mother was in arms-dealing. She sold swords”).
Mortimer was victorious, and the champ returns for sequence two. Alongside him – in a triumph of diaristic synchronicity – are a good few family names: David Mitchell, Mel Giedroyc, Romesh Ranganathan, Diane Morgan and Alan Carr. Then there are the youthful comics: standups Amy Gledhill and Maisie Adam, plus actor Gbemisola Ikumelo (Black Ops). Although that is meant to be the British iteration – one of 30 worldwide – the guidelines have been bent to incorporate Australian comic Sam Campbell, who seems to be a bit of a spanner in the works.
Invariably, the comedian pressure builds as the clock counts down. But even by episode two I can confidently crown this the funniest TV show of the year thus far. We know, of course, that Mortimer is masterly at channelling a down-to-earth surrealism his friends are powerless to withstand – and in case you loved his absurd songs from sequence one, you’re in for one more deal with. We additionally know from The Celebrity Traitors that Alan Carr is worth for cash after which some as a actuality TV contestant (is that this man our best nationwide asset? Discuss). Less predictable is how nicely he bounces off Mitchell. Talking of surprises, Mitchell’s joker sees him wrongfoot an viewers anticipating one thing cerebral by placing on a mesmerising musical theatre efficiency – and probably creating 2026’s very unlikely earworm in the course of. (“It was really traditional,” is Campbell’s verdict.)
A big half of Last One Laughing’s enchantment is that it offers gentle, frothy and finally inconsequential leisure. Yet there’s one thing about seeing it accomplished for the second time that reveals what uncommon insights it offers into comedy, as an artform and a social follow. When the comedians meet, they interact in the identical stiff banter any group of acquaintances could resort to – one thing that makes their potential to wholeheartedly decide to the bit on stage (a nightmare for many of the viewing public) much more hanging. Equally – as you might anticipate from a show that consists totally of individuals desperately attempting to get fun – Last One Laughing comprises its fair proportion of flat-out unfunny materials. So it’s additionally fascinating to see that even when their banter goes down badly, these execs by no means appear embarrassed or deterred.
Of course, the hope is that what occurs in the room is so hilarious you don’t have the likelihood to mull over comedians’ psyches or comedic units (between the set items, the pranks, the cameos, the bons mots of the post-show commentary and Jimmy Carr’s groan-inducing gags, all types of comedy appears to be lined). It regularly is: this sequence leaves me helpless with laughter no less than as soon as an episode. That may sound like a low bar, however it’s a formidable feat. At a time when TV barely tries to tickle you, this show’s unabashed pursuit of precise mirth is to not be sniffed at.
