Format

LOL: Last One Laughing Philippines premiered yesterday, Thursday 4 July, as the 14th adaptation of the Prime Video hit after (in random order) Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Nigeria, Thailand, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and Mexico, since its launch on Amazon Prime Video in Japan in 2016, with the original title Hitoshi Matsumoto Presents Documental. As usual, 10 comedians will compete to make each other laugh and be the last to win. In this case, the prize is 1 million Philippine pesos (almost €16.000).
But what is the secret of this seemingly simple format, now a true classic? Well, for a start, exactly because it is so simple (being as simple as possible without being banal is the first rule of a good format), with a clear premise and only one rule (don't laugh). Secondly, because it is easy to produce (the whole season is shot in just a few days, if not one) and very cost-effective, which is very important in these times of scarce resources.
But there is a third reason, the most important one of all: it has succeeded in ‘formatizing’ laughter. ‘Format of laughter’ is in fact almost an oxymoron, because 'format' implies globality, whereas laughter is very local (what makes one country or region laugh is very different from what is funny for another). LOL has succeeded in this difficult task, with a universal mechanism, being a game that almost everyone played as a child (making others laugh, while trying to resist) and the possibility of adapting it to local humour with local comedians.
As far as I can remember, only a handful of other formats have managed to achieve this, including Germany's Schillerstraße (2004), Australia's Thank God You're Here (2006) and Belgium's Benidorm Bastards (2010).
To read the other news about a Spanish fun dating show and a German music talents how with cover bands, go to https: ESPRESSO

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