Maisie Adam Opens Up About the Agony of Keeping a Straight Face on Last One Laughing

The Comedy Show Where Laughter Is the Enemy

The premise sounds deceptively simple: stay straight-faced while a room full of professional comedians does everything in their power to make you crack. But as Maisie Adam will tell you, there is nothing simple about it.

The rising British comedian is currently starring in the second season of Last One Laughing on Prime Video, and she has one word to describe the experience — torture.

"You're not meant to be laughing, but you can see all your mates trying to make you laugh, and they've got that twinkle in their eye," Maisie told BBC Newsbeat. "You see them trying to stifle a laugh. It's that, for hours on end."

How the Show Works

In Last One Laughing, ten of the UK's sharpest comedians are confined together for six hours, each trying to make the others giggle while maintaining a stone-cold expression themselves. Host Jimmy Carr serves as the judge, handing out yellow cards to anyone who lets a smile slip. A second offence earns a red card — and an early exit.

Maisie compares the atmosphere to sitting at the back of a school classroom, surrounded by friends who are all quietly plotting to get you in trouble.

The Nightmare Opponent Nobody Saw Coming

Season two features an impressive lineup, including Diane Morgan, Mel Giedroyc, and Romesh Ranganathan. But it was the unexpected return of season one champion Bob Mortimer that sent genuine shockwaves through the cast.

"When we were doing our interviews beforehand, they were asking: 'Who would be your worst nightmare?' And we said Bob Mortimer — but thankfully he won't be in," Maisie recalled. "He smashed it in season one, and because he'd already done it, none of us thought he'd come back."

He did, of course — arriving to a chorus of horrified gasps from his fellow contestants.

Maisie also flagged Celebrity Traitors winner Alan Carr as a formidable force on set. "Anybody who saw Alan in the Traitors knows he's completely unserious," she said. "He's funny before he even opens his mouth because of the looks he's giving."

A Breakthrough Moment for British Comedy

Last One Laughing has proven to be a genuine hit, climbing to number two on Prime Video's own UK weekly charts and drawing widespread critical praise, with reviewers calling it "the funniest show on British TV" and "a riot."

For Maisie, the show carries personal significance beyond the laughs. Just a few years ago, she and fellow cast member Amy Gledhill were performing in a Leeds comedy club where, as she puts it, "the green room is essentially a cupboard with beer barrels as seats."

"It's amazing when you can get spotlighted in that way and you're still breaking through but you're around these huge heritage names," she said.

SNL UK and a New Era for Television Comedy

The success of Last One Laughing arrives alongside another landmark moment for British comedy — the launch of Saturday Night Live UK. Maisie sees both as part of a wider, overdue shift in how the industry treats emerging talent.

"There's excitement around a show that is platforming new comedians at a time where a lot of TV tends to spotlight the same sort of people," she said.

She didn't shy away from acknowledging a long-standing problem within the industry. "It's fair to say we did reach a point as a comedy scene in TV where it was the same people popping up on the same panel shows every single season. That doesn't serve the circuit. You can't be pulling the ladder up afterwards."

Maisie believes the UK's comedy ecosystem is among the finest in the world — a view shared internationally. "We have a lot of American comedians come over here because they love our circuit," she said. "Loads of international comedians really admire the comedy scene we have here."

With shows like Last One Laughing shining a spotlight on fresh faces while celebrating established names, it seems British comedy is not just surviving — it's thriving.