Nick Kroll is stepping into a particularly perilous comedy job: hosting a contest where laughter is the one thing nobody is allowed to show. He will lead Prime Video’s U.S. version of LOL: Last One Laughing, a format that turns comedians’ greatest strength into their biggest liability.
The premise is simple, but its tension comes from the contradiction at its heart. Ten comics and comedic actors will spend six hours together, trying to make one another laugh while keeping straight faces themselves. Laugh, and you lose.
A comedy contest built around restraint
Contestants can deploy improv, characters, prepared bits, physical comedy or whatever other antics might crack a rival. That leaves the performers with two jobs at once: create the funniest possible moment, then resist reacting when someone else lands one.
It is a neat reversal of the usual comedy dynamic. A stand-up set rewards the performer for getting a response; here, the target’s visible response is also a defeat. The format makes the audience’s familiar pleasure—watching comics perform—share space with a second question: who can withstand the room?
Kroll’s appointment gives the U.S. edition a host with a long history in comedy. He created Kroll Show and Big Mouth, and is also known for Netflix’s Mating Season. In a statement, he said he had enjoyed versions of the show from other countries and was eager to bring American comics together for the challenge.
That enthusiasm makes sense for a host whose career has included character-based comedy and deliberately heightened absurdity. It also sets up an appealing uncertainty: will Kroll’s presence make the contestants more comfortable, or more wary of what he might do to get a reaction? That is an intriguing possibility, not a confirmed detail about how the U.S. series will play out.
A global format, now with an American edition
LOL: Last One Laughing grew out of Japan’s Documental and has since been adapted into 25 international versions, according to the announcement. The host roster across those editions includes Graham Norton in Ireland, Rebel Wilson in Australia, Trevor Noah in South Africa and Jimmy Carr in the U.K., alongside presenters in Canada, Mexico, Germany and France.
That international reach helps explain the format’s appeal: the basic rule travels easily, while the performers and comic sensibilities change from country to country. For U.S. viewers, the familiar setup also offers a useful way to watch comedy as a social game. A joke may be funny, but timing, nerve and the ability to hold a poker face can matter just as much.
Amazon MGM Studios’ Jenn Levy, its head of nonfiction, described Kroll as a strong fit for the show and highlighted the difficulty of trying not to laugh around him. The series was greenlit by Amazon in August. Ben Winston, Emma Conway and Eric Pankowski are executive producing, with Pankowski also serving as showrunner; Kroll and his company Good At Business are executive producers as well.
The biggest question is who breaks first
The announcement confirms Kroll as host, but does not identify the ten contestants or give a premiere date. Those details will determine the show’s particular comic chemistry. A room full of performers with contrasting styles could turn each round into a contest of escalation: one person tries a bit, another counters, and everyone else fights to keep their faces still.
That’s the format’s most promising hook. It doesn’t just ask who can make the best joke; it asks what happens when comedians are forced to treat every laugh as a loss. Kroll may be leading the room, but the real suspense belongs to the people trying not to react.