LOL: Last One Laughing, Apple Technique And Charcuterie Crisps
Or, how to use food as a laugh-suppressor
What to watch tonight: LOL: Last One Laughing (Amazon Prime Video)
I’m a little late to the party with this series – it’s been streaming since March 20 – but I have to make it the TV Dinners choice of the week as it is so fucking hilarious. The premise is deceptively simple, but it’s a killer idea: 10 UK comedians are put in a Big Brother-esque house for six hours to make each other laugh; but laughing is forbidden. Whoever’s left last – and if they haven’t chuckled the entire time – wins.
First up, the quality of the chosen comedians is absolutely top notch, and someone’s clearly thrown a bunch of Besos’ dollars to get the best in the business: Bob Mortimer! Richard Ayoade! Daisy May Cooper! Then, there’s the people whose general demeanour is side-splitting in itself: Joe Wilkinson, Joe Lycett, Judi Love, Rob Beckett. As someone who has a tendency to laugh in entirely inappropriate situations, out of nervousness, or crack a “too soon?” joke when I feel uncomfortable; I would simply not last a minute in this game. Have you ever been told that you mustn’t laugh? It’s tantamount to torture, as Lycett comments: “It’s a bit like suppressing a fart; after a while it just becomes bad for your internal organs.”
Surprisingly, given that they have to not corpse on stage for their profession, the comedians don’t last long, with the first person to be kicked out of the game not even managing to last an hour. But perhaps that’s to be expected when it is the best-in-show of the comedy world: on paper, Wilkinson reading out a Wikipedia entry about the Royal National Lifeboat Institution shouldn’t be funny, but it might possibly be the loudest belly-laugh that a TV show has ever induced for me, followed by Lou Sanders vs. Lycett’s face-off shortly before.
The series is actually inspired by a Japanese show called Documental, which has been running in the country since 2016; here’s hoping the UK version is equally as long lasting, because nothing feels as good as a forbidden giggle.
What do they eat and drink in LOL: Last One Laughing?
Placed all around the house over the course of the day is a plethora of snacks for the duelling funny people. There’s bread sticks, rice cakes, fruit and chewing gum: all of which have the double purpose of being used as instruments to try and stifle the lols.
Several people are seen crunching furiously on the breadsticks, while others drink cups of tea, or hold cans of drink suspiciously close to their mouths for a long time. Ayoade’s seen chewing on a piece of gum during Mortimer’s magic show – anyone who lived through that without cracking up deserves an instant BAFTA – but Love goes in for what is dubbed “apple technique”, by the hosts Jimmy Carr and Roisin Conaty.
“Where’s an apple?” Love says, shortly before Harriet Kemsley is due to do a short stand-up performance. “I need to cut an apple.”
“Judi,” Carr scolds her over the PA system, “when the bell rings it doesn’t mean go to the fridge and get an apple.”
“But I’m worried what Harriet’s going to do,” she says.
“And you think an apple might help?” he replies.
“It does when it’s in my mouth!” Love’s then seen stuffing her face like a little chipmunk in other special tasks on the show, so it’s a tried and tested method to hold back the mirth; unlike others who look like they’re literally chewing the inside of their cheeks not to laugh. Whatever method they use; the fruit technique or masticating their jaws like cows chewing cud, ultimately, it can never be a match for Mortimer balancing three carrots on top of each other. And for us, in the pleasure of our own homes where laughing isn’t outlawed, it’s hysterical.
What should I eat and drink while watching LOL: Last One Laughing?
Let’s stay on the snack vibe with a dish that’s been all over TikTok – and I spotted in a natural wine bar in Hackney (obviously) at the weekend: Charcuterie crisps.
This is basically the great British tradition of tearing open a grab-bag packet for the table at the pub (love that for us), but topping it with a load of fancy bits. There’s a load of recipes all over social media, from cheese to caviar, but I think this one is probably the prettiest:
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I’m going to leave out the prosciutto as I don’t usually eat pork, so here’s my take on the food trend instead:
Charcuterie crisps
Serves 2, possibly 3 at a stretch
Ingredients:
1 x 150g back of Torres Mediterranean Salt crisps, or something similar, like Kettle Chips
100g of smoked salmon, cut into thin ribbons
About 50g of caviar, this lumpfish variety from Waitrose isn’t too expensive
About 100g of creme fraiche
Fresh chopped dill
Half a very finely diced red onion (let it chill in some water for 10 mins before draining and using to take the sting out of it)
Method
Tear open the packet of crisps from the centre out, making sure not to spill the crisps out of the bag.
Assemble all the other ingredients on top; starting with the smoked salmon, then dollop some teaspoons of the creme fraiche all around, then top the creme fraiche with a little caviar on each blob; then sprinkle the dill and the diced onion on top.
Garnish with some freshly ground black pepper.
To drink, well its natural pairing appears to be…natural wine, so let’s go with a delicious wine I tried last week on my travels in Bergen. It’s actually a white Alsace wine that’s teetering on being an orange, so should be good for all tastes, not just the funky crew: Mo Weiss by Martin Obenaus, £18.60 from Monty Wines.
Cheers!