Amazon unveils with great fanfare its first original production in French intended for Quebec on its paid platform Prime Video. Hosted by Patrick Huard, LOL. Who will laugh last? is a reality show that is not quite one. There are 10 well-known humorists trying somehow to make their comrades flinch. The last one who laughs wins the competition.
With this adaptation of LOL: Last One Laughing, Amazon casts a wide net. The American giant hopes to appeal to the widest possible audience, except perhaps those who believe that there are too many comedians on TV.
Evidenced by the diversity within the 10 participants, where we find Marie-Lyne Joncas, Mathieu Dufour or Richardson Zéphir. From Virginie Fortin to Laurent Paquin, via Rachid Badouri and Édith Cochrane, almost all generations are represented. All styles too, from the very cabotine Christine Morency to the more absurd humor of Arnaud Soly and Yves P. Pelletier.
“It’s not reality TV, it’s surreality TV. I feel like I have visited another planet. It’s very, very, very painful to try not to laugh with people who all make me laugh normally. I was very vulnerable during the shoot. It was so psychotronic that there are moments that I forgot, ”dropped the former RBO after the press viewing, during which the journalists were able to see the first two episodes of this series which has six. .
One day
In effect, LOL. Who will laugh last? is not a reality show, even if it pastiches shows like Big Brother and loft story with its intimate decor and confessional. The 10 comedians did not sleep there. In fact, the shooting took place on a single day, last spring.
During the six hours that the game lasts, the participants are not allowed to laugh, not even to show the slightest smile. At the second smile, they are expelled from the competition and must pack up to join Patrick Huard in management.
Each therefore tries to destabilize the other as best he can, and all shots are allowed. Quickly, the board turns into a real farce. Especially since the comedians put on the craziest disguises of each other. Unsurprisingly, sex jokes and other bodily fluids abound. Any meanness is good enough to pocket the grand prize of $100,000, which is donated to the foundation chosen by the winner. Chaste ears abstain.
It’s not reality TV, it’s surreality TV. I feel like I have visited another planet. It’s very, very, very painful to try not to laugh with people who all make me laugh normally.
The size of LOL. Who will laugh last? is proven: this Japanese concept has already been adapted by Amazon in several markets. The Quebec version, piloted by the production company Attraction, was however able to take certain liberties.
“They really gave us carte blanche. There is a signature, yes, but they really wanted it to be in our image. It was very open, there was no censorship. Amazon told us that what stands out the most about our version is the true brotherhood among the comedians. Even when they bitches, people love each other. And it appears on the screen, “said host Patrick Huard, who was delighted to rub shoulders with comedians again. To the point of giving him the sting to go back on stage.
The Quebec market
As for Amazon, the company claims to be eyeing the Quebec market. After LOL. Who will laugh last?Prime Video will stream next year For one night only in collaboration with Just for Laughs. For the time being, the American giant is investing more on the English-speaking side, in particular with the series Three Pinesshot in Estrie, but in English, with an essentially foreign cast.
“We will see, there are things that are in preparation [en français], and it won’t just be comedies. This is just the beginning, ”said Magda Grace, director of Prime Video in Canada, but also in Australia and New Zealand.