The Last Laugh (comedy venue)

{{Short description|Australian comedy club}}

The Laugh Last Theatre Restaurant & Zoo, popularly known as The Last Laugh, was a comedy club in Melbourne, Australia. It was a major centre for the development of Australian alternative comedy.

The 250-seat Last Laugh opened in 1976 at 64 Smith Street, Collingwood in the former Foresters Hall.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article262527584 |title=HAVING THE LAST LAUGH |newspaper=The Australian Jewish News |volume=XLIV |issue=14 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=9 December 1977 |accessdate=2 August 2022 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}} A smaller upstairs venue, Le Joke, was added in 1981.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article262551864 |title='Le Joke' new on the menu |newspaper=The Australian Jewish News |volume=XLVII |issue=45 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=10 July 1981 |accessdate=2 August 2022 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Acts associated with The Last Laugh in the 1980s included Los Trios Ringbarkus, The Phones, Rod Quantock, Mary Keneally, Wendy Harmer, Jane Clifton, Circus Oz, Tracey Harvey, Glenn Robbins and Richard Stubbs.{{Cite web |last=Booth |first=Karen |date=1987-12-04 |title=THE MERRY-MAKERS OF MELBOURNE |url=https://www.afr.com/politics/the-merry-makers-of-melbourne-19871204-k2jvr |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=Australian Financial Review |language=en}}