(Warning: Spoilers ahead. Please watch the shows first before opening this piece)
Comedy, that one thing that can arguably cure depression, albeit not really a well-suited measure. In this type of entertainment, hilarity is the name of the game. Every comedian has their specific comedy routine across many platforms, be it stand-ups, sketch comedy, situational comedy, improvisational comedy, hell, even dark comedy, comedy roasts and insults, toilet humor or even some filled with endless sexual innuendos. In short, comedy is a vast open land, and comedians are open and encouraged to explore it. Naturally, whenever a group of comedians gather around in one place, a burst explosion of laughter ensues. But what if for some twisted reason, that one natural response to something funny is not only frowned upon, but also outright banned?
That is the one exact premise of this new, unorthodox comedy show that I recently found not that long ago, when the Indonesian version of this show aired on Amazon Prime Video last July. This show, titled LOL: Last One Laughing is like a comedy battle royale, where 10 comedians are locked up in a room at the same time and must survive the next 6 hours try to crack one another without getting cracked themselves with their comedic arsenal. The history of this show can be traced to one Japanese comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto, who did this experiment first in 2016 with his show Documental, putting 10 of the best Japanese comedians and pitted them against each other. Since then, the show's been adapted into several versions, with the first one being broadcasted in Mexico, followed by other versions in Italy, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Thailand, Spain, Norway, The Philippines, and more recently, Indonesia.
As like many other game shows, Last One Laughing also comes with its own set of rules. First of all, (obviously) you need 10 of the country's best and funniest comedians being strategically placed apart from each other in separate quarantines first, before being sent to the room that they will spend the next 6 hours in. Once all the comedians have entered the room, the host will inform them about the rules of the game. And honestly, there is only one rule: don't laugh, ever. During the next 6 hours comedians are free to strategize and target several people with their jokes, quips, even props in order to elicit a laughing response from their peers. There can also be outside interventions in the form of special guests or the eliminated contestants themselves who might be out for revenge. There are only two chances for each comedian to smile, smirk, cover their faces, and most importantly, laugh. And when they get caught, a punishment system similar to football (traditional football, the one the Americans like to call "soccer) is used, with the offending party being issued a yellow card, which means one more slip-up, then they will be seeing red (card), which means they are out of the game and must exit the room and join the host inside the control room. The only silver lining is that they are no longer forbidden to laugh as hard as they please. There is a plot twist though, comedians are expected to be actively involved to the game, which means passive play is also a violation.
And how can you spot someone laughing though? the room itself is rigged with roughly 30 to 60 cameras that can cover multiple angles, leaving absolutely zero blind spot for them to exploit. The cameras are being controlled by the show's camera staff, and the feed is presented to the host who oversees the proceedings inside a specially made control room. In addition, each comedian is assigned one off-camera spotter that will oversee their every movement, and a logger who keeps their movement records. This way, if that comedian cracks up, they will be the first to know. Combining this environment with these feral animals who are out for blood and hilarity, and that will result in insanity of comedic proportions.
There are endless creative ways comedians did to elicit laughs from their competitors, and some of them can be outright outrageous. During the Australian version of this show, sexual innuendos and toilet humor dominated during the first 4 hours of the game, one of them even stripped down buck naked and proceeded to be drenched in soda inside an inflatable bathtub. In Canada, the English version of the show, hosted by Jay Baruchel, saw the improv genius Colin Mochrie, from Whose Line is It Anyway? fame won it all by improved his way into victory at the very last second. During the Indonesian version of the show, former singer-turned-comedic genius Andre Taulani is infamously dubbed "The Menacing Red Cap" due to his rapid-fire strategy of disrupting others' attempt of a joke with his own disruptive comedy style, often involving dramatic quips and one-liners. Some of the younger ones contributed their elimination to Andre's comedic timing, even one of them cracked with a "cursed salon" quip. Sadly though, he got eliminated during the final 3 phase. One other comedian, Denny Cagur once performed a skit involving a "dead father", which is both hilarious and insane, due to the fact that Indonesian funerals can be used as a base to a comedy skit of this caliber. In the end, he won it all after forcing Cak Lontong, another comedian in the final two to smile at his own gag. There is, however, few instances where inactivity can result in someone's winning chances instantly disappear, often times during the late stages of the game. Some of these instances happened in the Australian and Italian version. Both hosts, Rebel Wilson and Fedez repeatedly stopped the game to warn and expel those who are inactive during it. Some can even set their own downfall with their own gag, like what Marshel Widianto in the Indonesian show and Moonchild Sanelly from South Africa demonstrated in their respective runs. Both participants were the first to be axed, and both fell to their own gags.
After watching few versions of Last One Laughing, I wonder if the USA and the rest of the UK will ever get a version of this show, considering that the concept is heavily praised and widely adapted. If the ever be a US version of Last One Laughing, please let Steve Harvey host the damn show, I bet he can bring all those infectious laughter to the LOL landscape. As for the UK version, I'm hoping either Rowan Atkinson or Monty Python's John Cleese would host it. But one thing's for sure, Last One Laughing might be unorthodox, but the viewers can benefit from this new comedy show format, often at the expense of the comedians participating themselves. If you want to check these shows out, make sure you have an active Prime Video subscription.
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