Revealed: how new Sky talent show will eject comics

Comedians will be subjected to humiliating rejection on Sky 1’s new talent show Last Act Standing.

Chortle last month reported how producers were seeking up-and-coming stand-ups to try to win over the crowd over 100 seconds in the hope of taking home the £25,000 prize each episode.

But what they didn’t reveal is that the audience have the power to ‘literally eject’ acts from the stage – via trap doors, horizontal bungees and exploding stages.

Comics, singers and variety acts will all try to impress the audience – all of whom are hopeful performers, too. The moment more than half of them press their buzzer, it’s all over for the performer.

Duncan Gray, Sky’s head of entertainment, said: ‘Last Act Standing is loud and funny and a little bit naughty. We think it'll be a high impact, don’t-blink-or-you'll-miss-it viewing for our customers.’

New details of the show were revealed as Sky confirmed a new batch of comedy programmes under its drive to become a major commissioner of original content.

As Chortle has previously reported, in development or production are:

• Gates, an ensemble comedy headed by Sue Johnston, Tom Ellis and Joanna Page set at the school gates. It a team-written show with the first episode script-edited by Jennifer Saunders,

• Jane Horrocks starring in Trollied, an eight-part sitcom set in budget supermarket Valco in the North West.

• Former Coronation Street actor Sally Lindsay starring in Manchester-based family comedy-drama Mount Pleasant. The show also stars Pauline Collins and Bobby Ball as the parents of Lindsay’s character, Lisa. Lindsay said the show would be different because it didn’t follow the steorgeo type of ‘gritty, grim’ Northerners adding: ‘It's just not like that for lots of people out there. Mount Pleasant is a genuine representation of thirtysomethings with a bit of money up in the North, played by Northerners.’

• Starlings, a family comedy in which three generations have to share a cramped house in Matlock, Derbyshire. Eight hour-long episodes have been written by Matt King and Steve Edge, who will both also star alongside Lesley Sharp and Downton Abbey’s Brendan Coyle.

Published: 25 Jul 2011