After the start of the first season LOL: Last One Laughing, the German comedy format quickly became an Amazon hit. Since then, at least one new season has been released every year and Michael “Bully” Herbig, as the show’s host, can be celebrated for its success.
Even though he didn’t invent the format (the Japanese original appeared in 2016), Bully gives LOL its face in Germany and, above all, leads through the crazy no-laughing game with a strength that makes him as a comedian for 27 years.
Bully made LOL a hit without being the center of attention
As host and game director, Bully has become the face of LOL, but he doesn’t claim the show’s popularity for himself. Instead, the Amazon format lives from the stars who arrive in the studio and duel each other with gags and absurd actions without being allowed to laugh.
LOL combines stand-up comedy, situational comedy and entertaining character facets, while Bully leads you through the wild show like a cheerful circus trainer. If one of the people present loses a laugh or has to leave the living room set, he runs in with compassion, puts a comforting hand on the star in question and accompanies him out.
Between the scenes with the participants, we can also sit on the couch next to Bully and laugh heartily with him at the gags that are being fired in front of our eyes.
From the first episode LOL it is clear that Bully is the face of LOL, but not the guarantee of success. He no longer even delivers the usual parody interludes or other gags himself. Instead he appears as a generous team player, who surrounds himself with as many different comedic talents as possible and draws on the fullest of their strengths. This is again his own great strength.
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Bully in his element at LOL
The bully parade became a hit with Bully as a team player
When the Bully Parade went on the air in 1997, it brought Herbig greater notoriety after his first radio show, Late Light Show. Even if the format even bears his nickname, the show does not live from him alone. Even back then, Bully relied on a united sense of humorputting on the bully parade with Michael Tramitz and Rick Kavanian.
For the show’s sketches, he demonstrated his talent for funny parodies, silly dialects or loving settings, which he was able to develop into cinematic features in subsequent feature films such as Manitu’s Shoe.
In addition to Bully, the Bully Parade also thrived on Tramitz’s down-to-earth, everyman charisma and Kavanian’s crazy constant fire gags. When he first entered the German comedy scene, Bully did not take center stage as a solo star, but as one Names built around skillful team play.
Bully occupies such a special position in the German comedy landscape. His name is at least as well known as Stefan Raab, Oliver Pocher, Mario Barth & Co. Nevertheless, he always preferred to share the spotlight with other people. Amazon’s LOL is clear proof of this.
Podcast about LOL: The strengths and weaknesses of the best German Amazon series
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In this edition of the Moviepilot podcast Streamgegefrums, avowed fans of LOL: Last One Laughing explain what makes the show so appealing, share favorite moments and discuss LOL’s weaknesses.
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