Silence Is Golden comes hot on the heels of Last One Laughing – but they're very different beasts

For that reason, I reckon I would make easy weather of the new U&Dave series Silence Is Golden.

Billed as “the comedy show that you can’t laugh at”, its set-up is simple. Members of a studio audience are given £250,000 to share between them for doing nothing. More specifically, they must not laugh, squeal or make any other bodily expulsion, as host Dermot O’Leary and a string of performers take turns to try to entertain them.

A small noise loses them £5,000; an almighty snort costs twice as much. Stand-up comic Emmanuel Sonubi looks aghast at the task before him, saying, “It’s like going to work to deliberately die on stage.”

The six-part series comes hot on the heels of Amazon Prime’s Last One Laughing, in which 10 comedians spend six hours trying to make each other laugh without cracking up or even smiling themselves.

Initially, it seems Bob Mortimer will walk it when he kicks off by describing host Jimmy Carr as a Thunderbird, but the smart money is on Richard Ayoade, a man with a poker face born for this kind of gig, who mentions in passing, “I haven’t laughed properly since the '90s.” Rob Beckett, meanwhile, complains that he’s physically at a disadvantage. Carr agrees: “That’s just his teeth. We can’t knock him out for that.”

Two shows, one premise: people doing their best not to laugh in the face of hilarious, guffaw-inducing antics. In practice, however, they’re very different beasts.

Last One Laughing features 10 comedians operating at the peak of their powers and proves, once again, that there’s nothing funnier than watching someone trying to keep a straight face when hilarity promises to overwhelm them. We delight in Mortimer’s plan to be mundane. When he asks Beckett if he has a kitchen island, the sight of them both looking intently away is priceless.

Any pregnant pauses are filled by the peals of delight of Carr and his sidekick Roisin Conaty. Silence Is Golden also finds a way of providing noise, with a rowdy crowd lined up backstage to clap and chuckle along.

It’s just as well, because it’s horribly quiet out front, despite the roll call. Performers include a drag artist, a naked lady, a knife thrower and Santa Claus. It’s certainly an eclectic offering.

Last One Laughing is about the infectious delight of seeing people give in to merriment. Silence Is Golden, on the other hand, is pitched as a game show.

When you know the audience has a financial incentive to stay quiet, it’s unclear who you should root for: Joe Punter in the third row or the stand-up receiving no applause save the forlorn sound of O’Leary clapping from the wings? One of the comedians is Seann Walsh, a former Strictly strayer busted by his indignant girlfriend, who wrote a public letter where she called him “Sean(n)”. Now that I did laugh at.

The most entertaining part of Silence Is Golden comes halfway through, when the audience has a break and chat normally. The rest of the time their greed trumps any joyfulness – with a notable exception. One audience member ends up losing by far the most money, much to everyone else’s displeasure. He may be hopeless at keeping a straight face, but I’m sure he’s the happiest person in the room.

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Silence is Golden will begin on Monday 5th May on U and U&Dave.

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