Sínann Fetherston speaks with Graham Norton, Amy Huberman, Aisling Bea and more of the cast of LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland.
A new comedy series is set to drop on Amazon Prime this coming Friday, January 19.
Hosted by presenter extraordinaire Graham Norton, LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland sees 10 comedic stars placed in a room full of props, games, and surprise celebrity appearances - all in the hopes of making each other crack up, without cracking so much as a smile themselves.
As the clock counts down and tension rise, whoever can outlast their competitors and be the last one to laugh will be crowned the first winner of the reality show and win a grand prize of €50,000 for their charity of choice.
Hosted by Vogue Williams in Dublin's Royal Convention Centre, the premiere welcomed presenter Graham Norton along with cast members Aisling Bea, Amy Huberman, Catherine Bohart, Deirdre O'Kane, Emma Doran, Jason Byrne, Martin Angolo, Paul Tylak and Tony Cantwell.
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Speaking on the side-stitching show, the cast members all agreed that actress Amy Huberman was the dark horse of the series.
Known for being exceptionally bubbly and warm, Huberman says she went to some dark places to keep her cool.
"I feel so proud that I didn't get kicked out in the first 35 seconds, just even out of nervous energy. I surprised myself, but I realised was that maybe I have a lot of issues that I haven't dealt with," she jokes (we think).
"Apparently my go-to face was just really sad! Accessing inner child that has not dealt with something, I don't know what it was, but I kind of enjoyed it. I enjoyed the challenge of that. There were times I found it hard, but I didn't realise that I did look really, really forlorn."
With her competitors having years of stand-up experience in tough rooms, Huberman initially thought she would be at a disadvantage, but soon found that he years of acting stood to her.
"I'm just going to use whatever I know - and the sadness that I obviously haven't deal with, whatever that is, that has resurfaced - but it was a different tact. I had worked with a lot of them acting-wise, so I knew it would be a warm room. I knew it would be a lot of fun, even though their was fierce competition."
Fierce competition aside, Netflix star Aisling Bea told RTÉ Culture that getting to come home and work with a bunch of Irish creatives was a true joy.
"I didn't know that it would be as lovely as it is to come home until I did this show, to be honest. I come home for festivals, or you might do a job, which is very different to being immersed by, especially, comedians. This job was so special.
"I came home just to do a TV show and didn't expect to come out the other side of it to feel so warm and wanting to come home. With everyone's humor, we were such a little gang, a gang of pals from it. I hope that comes across in the show - how much we fell in love with each other doing it and the sense of camaraderie and shared silliness."
Host Graham Norton shared Bea's sentiment, noting that the entire production was filled to the brim with homegrown talent.
"It was really good fun because it was entirely Irish, you know? Not just the cast, not just me, but all the crew and everyone who worked on it. You kind of thought, 'oh, Prime Video, they're fly in some people to make sure we don't misbehave', but they didn't! It was just us and it was a hoot and a holler.
"This show [format] is rolled out all over the world," he continues. "For me, this is the most consistently funny version I've seen because they never stopped trying. It's like we have a mortal fear of silence, so people were trying the whole time. It was really impressive to watch."
As well as incredibly familiar faces of Deidre O'Kane, Aisling Bea, Jason Byrne and Amy Huberman, the show features up and coming comics including Martin Angolo and Catherine Bohart.
The opportunity to spend six hours in a room with the county's comedy greats (as well as some surprise celebrity appearances) was an unforgettable experience.
"It was so nice," smiles Bohart. "These are comics that I've paid to see, that I've grown up watching. I felt like, 'how am I in this privileged position where I get to watch them to a show all day?' It was a thrill."
As wholesome as the whole experience was, though, all of the competitors went in with a conniving game plan.
"Aisling Bea started feeding me whiskey," laughs Angolo. "I was like, 'I'm going to Hollywood!' I forgot we were even making the show... that was a bad strategy on my part."
Prime Video's new Irish Original Series, LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland, launches Friday, Jan 19.
