I’ve been needing to laugh much more than usual lately–probably because the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale is airing while we are living it—so I’ve been seeking out the funny in every possible format: sitcoms, talk shows, stand-up specials, whatever it takes. What I wasn’t expecting was belly laughs from a reality show. Now, normally, I despise reality shows (Survivor, Great British Baking Show and Amazing Race are, of course, forgiven because they are, well, forever in the pantheon) but sometimes you just have to go outside your comfort zone and test the waters to see if something off the radar just might be worthwhile. 
Raise your hand if you knew that there has been an international reality series airing on Prime since 2016 whose premise is to lock ten comedians in a room, Big Brother-style, for 6 hours and challenge them to make each other laugh. But here’s the rub: if ANYONE laughs, giggles or even smiles, they are out. The last one left wins. That’s it. In most cases, what they win is money, in some cases, it’s just a trophy. But the point is to be the last one without a smile on their face. And, trust me, that is so much funnier than it sounds.
I was in on this show when my wife told me Richard Ayoade was one of the 10 comics in the UK version, which just premiered last month. I adore Ayoade and will watch him in almost anything, and I was intrigued by the premise, so we sat down to watch, and we were instantly hooked and binged all six episodes over two days. Ayoade was joined by nine other British comedians, a couple I knew, most I didn’t, and they all gave it their absolute all to try to break each other, while host Jimmy Carr kept a close eye on the wild happenings. If you’ve ever seen Big Brother, it’s very much like that, but far more entertaining, much funnier, much less contrived and, thankfully, filled with much more interesting people.
We ate up the six Last One Laughing UK episodes so quickly, we were hungry for more and wanted to know: is there more? We were SHOCKED to find not only is there more, but there is SO MUCH MORE.
Apparently, what became Last One Laughing started as the Japanese show Hitoshi Matsumoto Documental, which premiered in November 2016 and has aired thirteen seasons and is still going strong. Hitoshi Matsumoto created and hosts the show whose format is still what is used by all the other versions that air in other countries.
What other countries, you ask?
As of this writing, there have been versions of the show in 28 different countries: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and the UK. Many of the series have had multiple seasons, are very popular and are still in production, and, I assume, most are available to watch on Prime.
I have watched the UK, Canada and the Australia versions and, while all share the general format, it’s fascinating to see how significantly different each one is in nuance and tone. It’s also fun to see the little tweaks each show has, there’s a lot of character each country brings to its version to put its own stamp on it. Those sweet Canadians sure have filthy mouths, who knew! And it most certainly is geared to the individual country, so it’s a great way to get to know each country.
But no matter where you’re from, comics are comics, and they will do just about anything to break each other. The show is at its best when the comics are brutally just trying to destroy each other—which, surprisingly, doesn’t happen too often. It’s so fascinating to see each comic’s different approach—and the fact that most get ousted by laughing at their own jokes makes me laugh the hardest.
I can’t wait to dive into other countries and see just how different each country’s approach is—South Africa’s edition is hosted by Trevor Noah, for example, which should be fun. But before you ask, no, there is no version for the U.S. yet, sadly. Who knows why, I think this would be tailor-made for the American audience, but who knows, maybe one is in the works, I mean the UK one just dropped in March.
So, if you are looking for something a little weird, a little strange, yet oddly comforting and familiar at the same time, check out the Last One Laughing series on Prime Video. I recommend starting with Last One Laughing UK, as it’s the best I’ve seen so far. But, who knows, Last One Laughing Tunisia just may surprise us all.
Multiple seasons and versions from multiple countries of Last One Laughing can be streamed on Prime Video.