Graham Norton talks about new Amazon Prime show LOL: Ireland laughs last as a “runaway train”.
The new six-part series, which starts on the streaming site next Friday, sees 10 Irish comedians lock themselves in a room for six hours straight and are given one challenge: to make other comedians laugh without laughing at themselves.
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The 10 comedians taking part are Aisling Bea, Katherine Bohart, Amy Huberman, Deirdre O’Kane, Emma Dolan, Tony Cantwell, Martin Angello, Paul Tyrach, David McSavage and Jason. They all come from completely different schools of comedy, such as Byrne.
The challenge is clear. If you laugh, you lose, but if you can get through six hours of gags, funny masks, novel props, and comical poetry without smiling or laughing, you walk away. LOL: Ireland laughs last €50,000 will be awarded to the title and the charity of your choice.
The show, which has already been a hit in Italian, French and German, is filmed on location in south Dublin, with Norton directing the entire crazy comedy challenge. The Merry Laughter sits in a control room and observes every move and facial expression of 10 comedians, noting whether they’re laughing or half-smiling.
In front of him are two large buttons. One is red and the other is green and allows you to stop and start the game like Caesar.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment at the launch of the new show at the Dublin Royal Convention Center on Friday night, Mr Norton said he did not see his role as presenter as a power trip. .
“It didn’t feel like that,” he said. “I felt guilty because my job was so easy compared to everyone else. So even though I was there for the same amount of time, I didn’t have to work really hard. I mean, literally six hours of TV. I had to look at what you do in your free time.”
As the viewers can see, LOL: Ireland laughs last Contains surprising and bizarre content Celebrity cameos are also on a mission to send comedians into fits despite their best efforts.
“When you look at a show, it’s linear and what’s great about it and for the people who are producing it it would be horrible, but for me and the comedians, you press a big button and the show starts and it ends. It’s going to last until it’s over and it’s over,” Norton said.
“Making a TV show can be very painful because you have to do the same thing over and over again. Let’s pause for this, let’s reset… There’s nothing like that with this show.” It was a runaway train and it was exciting.”
Graham, who provided live commentary for the comedy contest, said he was amazed at Amy Huberman’s ability to keep a poker face on while the likes of Jason Byrne performed their usual gonzo acts.
When asked who surprised him the most, he said, “They all surprised me in a way, because it was so difficult and they all performed so well. I never felt sorry for them. At first. “I thought it was going to be a tragedy to see this.” But in reality, they all did very well. ”
Prime Video’s first Irish original series, LOL: Ireland laughs lastwill launch on Prime Video on Friday, January 19th.