Today’s TV Addict Top 5: Questions with WHO GETS THE LAST LAUGH Host Donald Faison

From the brilliant, albeit somewhat twisted brains behind PUNK’d comes a new hidden-camera series that pits famous comedians and actors against one another to see who can pull the most outrageous practical jokes. Premiering tonight on TBS and cleverly titled WHO GETS THE LAST LAUGH?, the show will feature such funny folks as D.L. Hughley, Danny Masterson, Cheri Oteri, Kunal Nayyar, Bill Bellamy and host Donald Faison. The latter of whom we recently caught up with on a conference call to find out more about the show. See for yourself, after the jump.

Having taken part in PUNK’D when the hit MTV show first aired, did you ever envision you’d be hosting a similar type of show all these years later
Donald Faison: No, I never thought I’d be hosting any type of show, to be honest with you, but it just made sense. I’ve known [Producer] Jason [Goldberg] and Ashton [Kutcher] for quite a while and this is something they came up with and I think it’s a great idea. With PUNK’d, it was celebrities punking celebrities, but now with this show, anybody can get in on the action. No matter who you are or where you are, there’s a chance that you’re on our list!

How does hosting a show differentiate from acting on a show?
Well, this is something that I never thought I’d be doing, but I enjoy it. I enjoy talking to people, being in front of an audience and making people laugh. Plus, I get to work with a lot of great comedians and sketch artists, people I’ve been a fan of since I started on CLUELESS: Tom Green, Chris Depanzo, Hugo Sullivan, Matt Mitchell, Charlie Murphy…it’s a thrill for me and I’m having a great time.

Does being a host negate you from being in on the jokes?
Well, the first season yes, but if the show comes back for another season, yeah, I definitely want to get dirty. I’m just nervous though because, I know I got it coming. I know a prank is coming my way, so I’ve been on my toes, trying to make sure I’m ready when it does happen, but I don’t think I can be!

There is a nice charity component to this show in that a live audience will determine which comedy star really got the last laugh, with the winner earning $10,000 to be given to their charity of their choice? What charities are involved?
Well, the comedians choose their charities. So some people want to give money back to orphan children, others to animal shelters in their hometown.

And finally, what do you hope audiences get from this show that they haven’t form others?
I just hope they laugh, that’s what this is all about. This is about making people laugh and hoping that everybody, you know, tunes in to laugh, ‘cause that’s what you’re going to do. That’s what this is about. This is about giving back to charities and making people laugh. So, yeah that’s what I hope everybody gets out of this.

WHO GETS THE LAST LAUGH? premieres on TBS on Tuesday April 16th at 10PM