As the world renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival draws to a close, it's residents in Birmingham who are having the last laugh – having just been crowned the funniest city in the UK, research from lastminute.com reveals. Analysis of over three million social conversations combined with consumer research uncovered the laughter profiles of 25 towns and cities across the UK. Birmingham, who admit to regularly playing practical jokes on friends or family, is closely followed by Leeds and Cardiff in second and third with Newcastle and Hull tying for fourth. Surprisingly Edinburgh bombs down the table, coming 17 out of 25.
It's all smiles for Hull and Wolverhampton, whose residents state they laugh out loud on average five and a half times a day – more than anywhere else in the UK. Meanwhile, dispelling myths that residents of the capital are stony-faced, those looking for proper belly laughs should head to London as it is officially the city in the UK where you're most likely to laugh until you cry.
If you're practising your stand up, Leicester dwellers look to be the easiest to make laugh, whilst residents in Hull and Exeter are dubbed some of the toughest crowds to please. However, when you do finally make them crack, the LOLs keep on coming as interestingly they come top of the laughter league table.
As the city that admits to laughing at themselves the most for doing or saying something stupid, it's also all about online 'LOLs' for Leeds residents as it is the city that shares the most comedy content online - on average two and a half times a week. Whilst down south, Plymouth dwellers confess to being the silliest.
Nationally, Brits are living up to our own stereotypes with all cities surveyed stating sarcastic or deadpan best describes their own sense of humour. Two thirds (66 per cent) of residents in York – a town arguably not best known for its sarcastic comedians – admit sarcasm is what makes them chuckle most.
Despite this, it is traditional big-arena stand-up that makes every town LOL the hardest, with comedians such as Michael McIntyre and Peter Kay raising the most laughs. But if you live in Bristol – a city famed for its diverse culture – you're five times as likely to see new and emerging acts before they're famous (25 per cent) compared to the residents of Norwich (5 per cent).
That's despite Bristol coming bottom of the UK's funniest towns as they admit that they are the least likely city to tell a joke to another, or make a pun. So beware befriending any Bristolians – they're not the most comical bunch!
The research comes as the winner of the lastminute.com Edinburgh Comedy Awards was announced as Richard Gadd. A variety of the final shortlist will be heading down to London's West End in October for three unique, rib-tickling, laugh out loud evenings.