Imagine Blanche Gardin, Kheiron, Florence Foresti or Jérémy Ferrari locked in a room with the challenge of making others laugh… but above all not to laugh yourself.
This is the explosive concept of the Amazon Prime Video show, "LOL: Last One Laughing" (literally, the last one to laugh), which is currently only shot in Mexico (two seasons), and Australia ( one season).
Only the Australian version has French subtitles.
The ten comedians compete for six hours in this closed room, filmed without interruption.
The last survivor pockets 100,000 Australian dollars (around 61,000 €) or one million Mexican pesos (around 40,000 €).
The rules of the game are strict.
A smirk, a slight smile at the corner of the mouth or, worse, a giggle or a burst of laughter and that's the yellow card.
A first warning.
But if this happens again, it is exclusion from the game. There is no question either of staying in your corner and avoiding interactions.
Running away from the game is also punished.
Then starts a funny spectacle.
In this large studio, equipped with a lounge area and a kitchen, candidates can help themselves to drinks and cook.
Some are leaning on the bar, others slumped on a sofa.
It feels like a party with friends.
But here things quickly escalate.
Everyone draws false teeth or mustaches, cuddly toys, disguises… One sets up an inflatable swimming pool in the middle of the living room before undressing and splashing himself with soda.
Another swallows a whole can without swallowing.
Curious laboratory of laughter
And almost everything seems possible.
So, we quickly pour into the scato humor and below the belt (the program is also not recommended for under 18s).
It's not always funny, nor interesting.
Sometimes pathetic, often vulgar.
But it is a curious laboratory that dissects the mechanisms of laughter.
Comic gestures, situations, words, the styles of each are revealed.
Sometimes to turn to the most complete ridiculous.
Little by little, everyone seems to fall into madness.
"These are the most bizarre six hours of my life," says Nazeem Hussain, one of the Australian candidates, "also a TV host.
"It is the most intense creative experience that I have been brought to live, assures Frank Woodley, another candidate of this camera.
A psychologically exhausting situation.
No French version of this reality TV UFO seems to be in the works yet.
To watch if you like to be surprised!
EDITOR'S RATING: 3/5
“LOL: Last One Laughing”,
reality show presented by Rebel Wilson, six 30-minute episodes, on Amazon Prime Video.
