Like everybody else who writes about Silence Is Golden I'm going to have to mention Last One Laughing UK. Like Prime's recent all-star hit, U&Dave's new show is all about comedians not making people laugh. This time however it's the audience not the talent who have to keep completely silent. Any noise and the £250,00 prize pot starts to go down...
Dermot O'Leary is the presenter and the regular panel overseeing the action is made up of Katherine Ryan, Seann Walsh and Fatiha El-Ghorri, who can also currently be seen on Taskmaster. They are joined in a back room by a separate crowd that is allowed to laugh, which is a good idea as the main action involves stand-ups playing to complete silence. In the first episode Australian cabaret artiste Reuben Kaye and stand-ups Emmanuel Sonubi and Laura Smyth attempt to crack those straight faces.
It's Laura Smyth who is the first to make the joke that every comic must've been tempted to put into their brief set, that they are not bothered by the set-up because they have played to silence many times in their career. It does make odd viewing though, because while we watch perfectly good jokes that should land we hear nothing. And how does an act time their rotuines for viewers at home when they have no response in the studio to bounce off?
There used to be a clip knocking around of Bob Monkhouse doing a set with the laughs taken out and it was rather disturbing, almost creepy even. Sometimes that's the feeling you get here. It is actually better when you see the audience reacting, whether it is chewing to avoid giggling or quietly smirking and trying not to break into a full cackle.
Seann Walsh also does a short set in front of them and his observational humour about getting on a bus hungover is full of relatable winning punchlines. Except that you don't hear the laughs. I'm a comedy critic and it's hard to tell how funny he is. If comedians are doing this show to get their chops onscreen I'm not sure if it's the best vehicle for their talents.
Elsewhere there are set-pieces to get those chuckle muscles moving. Santa reads out some cracker jokes, while – cheap shot this – a naked old lady wanders through the stalls. There's also a chance for audience members to claim prizes, but claiming them means the prize pot goes down. So there's a ncie bit of tension about whether you play for yourself or as a team.
The result is diverting rather than gripping. You don't really end up cheering on anyone in particular and if you just want to see stand-up there's always Live at the Apollo. It's brave to come up with a different format, but bad timing to come up with a different format which is a bit too similar to one that has just been a hit elsewhere with a starrier cast.
Silence Is Golden, Mondays at 9pm on U&Dave and also on UKTV catch-up now.
Picture: UKTV
