• Laughter characteristics of the nation's towns and cities revealed
• Leeds lies in second place… while London lies in seventh place
• Comes as lastminute.com bring Edinburgh Comedy Awards shortlist to London

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.

Fabio Cannavale, CEO of lastminute.com group, said: “The British sense of humour is very unique so it's very interesting to see what makes the UK giggle and even more so the contrast in humour between different towns and cities.  

“We're very proud to be able to support, promote and discover the best of UK comedy and are sure our growing comedy offering will tickle even the toughest of funny bones.”

Tickets for the Fringe Comedy Awards Shows in London are exclusively available at www.lastminute.com/entertainment/comedy

Prices from £22.50.

UK's Funniest Town's: Overall Laughter Score

1. Birmingham
2. Leeds
3. Cardiff

   = 4. Hull

   = 4. Newcastle upon Tyne

6. Exeter
7. London

   = 8. Plymouth

   = 8. Portsmouth

10. Sheffield
11. Stoke on Trent
12. Coventry

   = 13. Swansea

   = 13. Cambridge

15. York
16. Manchester
17. Edinburgh
18. Glasgow
19. Brighton
20. Belfast
21. Liverpool

   = 22. Leicester

   = 22. Norwich

24. Nottingham
25. Bristol

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The survey of 2000 British adults was conducted by Opinim on behalf of lastminute.com in August 2016. Social Media Consultancy, Immediate Future, also analysed open-web conversations from 1st August 2015 to 1st August 2016. The deep-data dive evidenced over 71million posts using LOL, ROFL, LMAO, PMSL, Ha ha, ha ha ha and / or smiley emojis. The data evidenced the funniest locations nationwide and fuelled the research results.

For more information, please contact:

M&C Saatchi PR: lastminutepr@mcsaatchi.com  / 0207 544 3600

lastminute.com PR Team: Communications_Team@lastminute.com

About lastminute.com

Offering last minute travel and experiences online before anyone else across Europe, lastminute.com serves up hotels, holidays, flights and city breaks and created unique products such as Top Secret® Hotels as well as a raft of pamper and going-out offerings in the UK (spa days, West End theatre shows, restaurants, days out and experiences). lastminute.com is part of lastminute.com group, a European leader in the online travel and leisure industry, also operating brands like Bravofly, Rumbo, Volagratis and Jetcost.