Latest news with #LastOneLaughingUK
Metro
09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Harriet Kemsley took me back to her hotel room at the Edinburgh Fringe
Being in a hotel room at the Edinburgh Fringe with 20 strangers might sound odd to some, slightly exciting to a few, but to me, it sounded like a once-in-a-lifetime luxury. Especially compared to the accommodation Hunger Games that usually unfold during the festival. That's the kind of cut-throat housing competition that sees improv troupes battling it out for a chance to stay in Gladys's airing cupboard in Leith (story for another time). So when I heard that 38-year-old Harriet Kemsley was hosting guests in her hotel room as part of her new show, In Bed With…Harriet Kemsley, I knew I had to be there to witness the magic for myself. After all, it's not every day a comedian invites you upstairs… Fresh off the back of her appearance on Amazon Prime Video's Last One Laughing UK, which drew 6.1million viewers and became one of the streamer's most-watched original shows, Kemsley returned to the Fringe with a lot to live up to after making it mainstream. And rightly so — she's undeniably a big dog now. Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here. Down a cobbled street, the show was held at the Hotel Indigo, York Place, where I'd been invited to stay for the weekend. On the morning of the performance, I headed down for breakfast (of course, the full Edinburgh, haggis and all), and as I took my first sip of black coffee, still half-asleep, I heard the familiar shuffle of sliders on polished floorboards. I looked up, and there she was: Kemsley herself, settling at the table next to mine. At first, I wondered: Is this part of the show? An immersive, day-long experience where she roams the halls, joins guests for breakfast, and debates the appropriate shade of a cup of tea? Sadly not. She was simply grabbing a vegetarian full English before service wrapped up, but a boy can dream. Regardless, my excitement to head upstairs to her hotel room had officially peaked. Hours later, Harriet did, in fact, take me back to her hotel room – along with 19 other eager strangers – for what turned out to be the most unexpectedly cosy, clever and personal set I've seen at the Fringe. I didn't know what to expect. After all, if she could fire ping pong balls from her nether regions at Daisy May Cooper and Richard Ayoade on national television, what on earth might she do in a hotel room? (Get your head out of the gutter.) Inside, she was perched cross-legged on a double bed, framed by four plush pillows and tucked beneath crisp white hotel linens, the kind you have to foot wrestle with on night one. If I'm being honest, I'd walked the corridor in single file with the rest of the audience, feeling a tad apprehensive. But once inside, the room transformed into something familiar and warm. It felt like heading into your friend's bedroom the morning after a big night out for a debrief. She held court, and we, her devoted subjects. I knew I was about to see something special. The irony of a stand-up show performed entirely sitting down was enough to make me chuckle, but the material stood entirely on its own. The tight, half-hour set delivered joke after joke, and I found myself laughing in a way that made me sympathise with her Last One Laughing co-stars. Covering the trials of being newly single following her 2024 divorce from fellow comedian Bobby Mair, Kemsley's authority and authenticity were magnetic. From navigating an amicable split and re-entering the dating world, to choking on Lego, knees pressed against the edge of the 'stage' (aka the bed), I was witnessing a seasoned pro at work, one who knows her voice and what resonates. Winning over the nation on television is one thing. Translating that energy into a tiny hotel room for a dozen people is another entirely. It was a masterclass in intimacy and comedic control. A Fringe and comedy veteran, Kemsley began her stand-up career in 2011, quickly rising through the ranks. She's long been outspoken about the challenges the Edinburgh Fringe poses to emerging performers. In an Instagram post following her 2022 show Honeysuckle Island, she described the Fringe as 'really weird and sometimes not in a good way,' commenting on the 'horrible pressure' placed on artists, and advocating for the Festival to be a space for experimentation and fun. Speaking with her after the show, she reflected on being in a 'lucky position now', free from some of the pressures she faced early on, but was quick to stress that more support is still needed for newcomers. Specifically, how the financial strain of coming to the Fringe often shuts out underrepresented voices, meaning it's usually the same kinds of acts that can afford to take the risk. Part of that support, she said, is as simple as showing up. Seeing new performers. Filling seats. More Trending Over a drink in Indigo's newly refurbished bar and lounge, Kemsley rattled off timings, venues and names like a living, breathing Fringe encyclopaedia. She insisted I see Sharon Wanjohi's In the House – which I did, and was utterly obsessed with. (Seriously, don't miss it if you're heading up this month.) While financial support for artists at the Fringe still lags where it should be, I left feeling quietly hopeful. With voices like Kemsley's leading the conversation, change feels not just possible but probable. Here's hoping next year brings even more hotel room performances, just maybe not in Gladys's airing cupboard (as I said, story for another time). Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. 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Daily Mirror
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Last One Laughing's future decided by Amazon as host Jimmy Carr speaks out
Last One Laughing had fans all over the country in stitches when it aired earlier this year, and now Jimmy Carr has spoken out about the hit Prime Video Show's future Prime Video's Last One Laughing was a hit when it came out earlier this year. It saw 8 Out of 10 Cats star Jimmy Carr assembled ten of the UK's top comedians in one room with one impossible challenge: Don't laugh. However, in a twist, the host set them a challenge of making each other laugh, although they couldn't chuckle themselves. Although the comedian's couldn't laugh - the audiences were left in stitches. The first series saw comedians Richard Ayoade and Bob Mortimer in the final, and it looks like fans can look forward to yet another hilarious final as the show has been recommissioned for a second series. Speaking about the future of the show, Jimmy said: "I'm absolutely delighted that Last One Laughing is coming back for a second series. I think what's happened is someone high up at Amazon has clicked 'subscribe & save' on Prime Video and, hey presto, we're back in business. "I'm so pleased people had as much fun watching the first season as we had making it. Can't wait to bask in the reflected glory of the next 10 comedy legends taking on the challenge." The second series will see Jimmy returning to the hosting seat alongside a new line-up of comedians which will be announced in due course. Filming is due to take place later this year with the series launching in 2026 on Prime Video worldwide. Last One Laughing UK is the latest adaptation of the successful Amazon Original series from Japan entitled Documental, created by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto and owned by Yoshimoto Kogyo and has been a hit around the globe. So much so that the format became the most watched title of all time on Prime Video in France, Germany and Italy, and had hugely successful local versions in over 20 territories. Last year's final saw Richard and Bob climb onto Merry-go-round ponies while Bob read from his joke book. However, Richard soon realised that he had made a grave error by allowing Bob to perform jokes. "What I now realise I'd done was essentially sign up to be in goal and just have someone take penalty after penalty after penalty," he said. "I had nothing and he was on a horse opposite me with a pocket full of material," the IT Crowd star said. It was Bob who eventually took the win, with fans claiming the show was the "best piece of comedy they'd ever seen." They're sure to gain a whole load of new laughs with series 2! Until then, fans can catch up with series 1 over on Prime Video.
Sydney Morning Herald
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘You're kind of squabbling': The work-life balance when mum and dad are comedians
They're a busy pair. Raskopoulos – who stars in the Australian version of The Office – has built a huge cult following with his award-winning solo stage work as well as improvised Bear Pack shows with Thank God You're Here regular Carlo Ritchie, which they are performing as part of the Sydney Comedy Festival. Meanwhile, Pascoe is an author, a regular on TV and radio panel shows in the UK, has also starred in and written sitcoms and can be seen in Prime's recently released Last One Laughing UK. How do they juggle it all? 'The diary is the most precious thing in the world, and you're kind of squabbling over time, and whoever gets there first – doesn't matter what the thing pays or how big it is, you know – they have first dibs,' Pascoe says. 'We both have suffered a couple of times with disappointment, but you just have to sort of take a big deep breath and go, 'This is what every single parent in the world is doing'.' Pascoe had no plans for marriage before crossing paths with Raskopoulos. She was on a post-break-up dating hiatus when they met at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in 2015, although they did not get together until he moved to London a few years later. Then came their 2020 wedding and IVF – amid the turbulence of the COVID pandemic – that produced two children. Little wonder Pascoe's show I Am a Strange Gloop, at the Enmore Theatre on Saturday, reflects on her life journey over the past few years. 'When I was having to think of a title for the show, I was thinking a lot about where 'myself' was because I had just been completely destroyed by three years of sleeplessness and other people's bodily fluids,' Pascoe says. It is also riffing on US cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter's 2007 book I Am a Strange Loop, which examines the sense of self. Her interest in sex and evolutionary biology formed during high school psychology classes, then fully blossomed when she gave up her day job to try comedy almost 20 years ago and realised she had a lot of time on her hands. 'And I remember thinking, number one, use your time well, and number two, have interesting things to talk about on stage. It's very easy with stand-up to slip into those two-dimensional views of things … researching into evolution and things, I just felt like it kept me interested and interested a lot of my audience as well,' Pascoe says. Loading That interest spawned two books about those subjects: Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body (2016) and Sex Power Money (2019). Her 2023 novel Weirdo and 2020 sitcom Out of Her Mind, which she wrote and starred in, canvassed similar issues, but she may be a little bit ahead of her audience with the title of her new show – nobody gets the Hofstadter reference. 'Now I'm gonna have to start putting out reading lists before I tour,' she says.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jimmy Carr to host new entertainment show based on popular Reddit forum
Jimmy Carr has signed up to host a new comedy entertainment show based on one of Reddit's most famous subreddits. Am I The A**hole? is inspired by the famed Reddit forum of the same name, in which users post anecdotes about their behaviour and receive judgement from fellow members about whether they're in the wrong or not. The subreddit, which is often abbreviated to AITA, has amassed 24 million members since 2013 and the most outrageous posts often go viral on on social media. In the new show, members of the public will come before host Jimmy and a panel of two guest comedians to ask "hilarious, controversial and downright shocking" questions about their behaviour. Each of the eight episodes will "cover everything from jaw-dropping relationship disputes to the pettiest of family squabbles" and feature stories that are "guaranteed to split opinion". The Last One Laughing UK host will discuss each question with his fellow comics before passing the final judgement on whether the contestant is the "a**shole" or not. "Seems odd that anyone would ask me to host a show about a**holes. I should be grateful, but I feel a little insulted. I guess I'm an a**hole. Well, it takes an a**hole to know an a**hole so I'm the right man for the job," Jimmy jokingly said in a statement. "I'm very much looking forward to being Comedy Central's Proctologist in Residence. There are an impressive number of a**holes in our country and they're finally getting the recognition they deserve on national television." A pilot of the show was previously filmed with Rob Beckett as the host. It has not been revealed why he has been replaced by Jimmy. Am I The A**hole? will be executive-produced by the subreddit's creator Marc Beaulac. It is set to film in late spring and air on Comedy Central later this year.
The Guardian
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Nothing beats Bob Mortimer! The irresistible comedy that could just save Amazon
As you can probably tell by spending any time on it, Amazon Prime Video is in trouble. Citadel, its $300m Russo brothers-produced international spy thriller series, was met with widespread indifference. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a show that will end up costing Amazon a billion dollars, is destined to go down as one of the worst investments of all time. Everywhere you look, the platform is wall-to-wall duds. And yet there is one glimmer of hope. The sole scrap of buzz Amazon has generated in months comes in the form of a cheap little reality show. Last One Laughing UK has been all over social media for the last couple of weeks, clipped up and shared across TikTok, Instagram and X. And this is down to its deceptively simple premise: a bunch of comedians sit in a room together and try to make each other laugh. If they laugh, they're out. That's all there is to it. Last One Laughing UK has summoned some genuinely funny people for the show, among them Richard Ayoade, Bob Mortimer, Lou Sanders, Daisy May Cooper and Joe Wilkinson. You can see why they were so eager to sign up, too, because the show is about as low stakes as you can get. It follows the loose Big Brother format, where everyone has to share a common area. But the entire show only represents a six-hour commitment for them. They made multiple episodes of television in less time than it takes to watch The Brutalist twice. Even ignoring the quality of the final product, that's an extremely efficient way to go about business. The show presents the contestants with a chance to recycle some of their old material. Most of the viral clips have revolved around Bob Mortimer, who performed a magic act first seen on The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer 30 years ago and sang some songs he posted on social media during Covid. The fact that these routines not only found new life on LOL UK, but also pushed his fellow contestants to the brink, is testament to Mortimer's talent. But Mortimer isn't solely responsible for the LOL UK highlight reel. Richard Ayoade's shockingly aggressive pursuit of laughs was another standout moment. Joe Wilkinson's bizarre little Stars in their Eyes sequence was punishingly funny, as was the surprise appearance of Danny Dyer. There's also something really irresistible in watching people trying their hardest to quell a response as involuntary as laughter. Daisy May Cooper's attempt to shut herself down, which involved screwing up her face like she was trying not to breathe in a fart, is funny in itself. Judi Love often looked like a woman who'd swallowed a live grenade. Harriet Kemsley, who may well be the breakout contestant of the whole show, at one point looked as if she was having a nervous breakdown trying to stop a laugh from leaking out. It's weirdly thrilling to watch something as mundane as a cracking poker face. In truth, the UK is late to the LOL game. Like almost every other successful reality show, from Big Brother to The Traitors, Last One Laughing is a foreign format that circled the globe before arriving here – in this case, it's based on a Japanese show called Documental that first aired in 2016. Since then, versions have sprung up in 27 different countries, from Albania to Indonesia. Trevor Noah hosted the South African version, Graham Norton hosted Ireland's and Rebel Wilson hosted Australia's. For us, it's Jimmy Carr. There is an argument that LOL UK's success hinges less on the British sense of humour than a watertight format. After all, if it works in Russia – where it aired in 2023 – you suspect it can work anywhere. Last One Laughing UK has been compared to Taskmaster, but that isn't entirely fair. Taskmaster is an intricately assembled series that rewards lateral thinking, whereas this is essentially just people sitting around for a few hours. But it is nevertheless very funny. More importantly – unlike most Amazon shows – people are actually talking about it. It must be strange being an Amazon executive this week. You spent all that money on Lord of the Rings, but it turns out that people far prefer the sight of Bob Mortimer sitting on a squeaky chair. What a world. Last One Laughing UK is on Prime Video now.
