This week we learned which comedians would be entering Jimmy Carr’s lair for the Last One Laughing Halloween special.
Jack Dee, Daisy May Cooper, Phil Wang, Lou Sanders, Reece Shearsmith, Harriet Dyer and Tom Allen are the lucky (or unlucky) comics who’ll have to endure the torture of keeping a straight face while surrounded by some of the funniest people working on television and Jimmy Carr.
To make matters worse, Jimmy’s cooked up a special trick for this Samhain-themed special!
Not only will the cast have to keep a poker face throughout, but they’re also barred from screaming.
Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but apparently the comedians will have to deal with several spooky surprises designed to get under the skin of even the most battle-hardened TV stars.
Now, I’m really excited for this new series, and I can’t wait to see what bombshells Jimmy will drop on the comics, but I already know who’s won.
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I’m sorry, but looking at this list of comedians, it seems pretty obvious to me that the inimitable Reece Shearsmith is going to follow in the winning footsteps of Bob Mortimer and David Mitchell.
Why am I so convinced? Well, as a keen devotee of Reece’s work, I think he’s got the perfect skillset to win this.
First of all, Reece is capable of being very composed when he wants to be.
We saw this on Taskmaster when outlandish things would be happening all around him, and he managed to make it seem as banal as brewing a cup of tea.
There were occasional times when this persona started to crack, of course, but that just gives way to his biggest advantage – his incredible ability to turn clear amusement into exasperated frustration.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen another comedian do this with as much skill as Reece, but he seems able to subdue even the hint of a smirk behind faux indignant rage (or at least I presume it’s faux).
David Mitchell has a similar talent, and it definitely stood him in good stead.
What’s more, I’ve interviewed Reece twice, and both times he seemed completely unamused by my ramblings, and not to brag, but Greg Davies once said ‘I enjoyed that’ after meeting me, so I know how to impress a comedian of a certain age.