The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word DYING
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
D
Y
I
N
G
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Failing to get laughs" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case failing to get laughs = dying.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does DYING mean?
DYING verb- To stop living; to become dead; to undergo death.
- To (stop living and) undergo (a specified death).
- To yearn intensely.
- To be or become hated or utterly ignored or cut off, as if dead.
- To become spiritually dead; to lose hope.
- To be mortified or shocked by a situation.
- To be so overcome with emotion or laughter as to be incapacitated.
- (of a machine) To stop working, to break down.
- (of a computer program) To abort, to terminate (as an error condition).
- To perish; to cease to exist; to become lost or extinct.
- To sink; to faint; to pine; to languish, with weakness, discouragement, love, etc.
- (often with "to") To become indifferent; to cease to be subject.
- To disappear gradually in another surface, as where mouldings are lost in a sloped or curved face.
- To become vapid, flat, or spiritless, as liquor.
- (of a stand-up comedian or a joke) To fail to evoke laughter from the audience.
- To colour with dye, or as if with dye.
- The process of approaching death; loss of life; less precisely, death.
- (with "the") Those who are currently expiring, moribund.
- Approaching death; about to die; moribund.
- Declining, terminal, or drawing to an end.
- Pertaining to death, or the moments before death.