Here are a couple of fun pieces on my favorite Brit from The Edmonton Sun:
Daily dose of Oliver
Daily Show humour smart? Pthhh!
By BILL HARRIS, SUN MEDIA
Fri, July 4, 2008There’s smart humour and there’s dumb humour, and they can be equally funny.
John Oliver, best known as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, understands this concept.
“Our show can be pretty infantile,” Oliver said of The Daily Show, which is available in Canada on CTV and the Comedy Network. “We often laugh if we’re writing something particularly stupid, a really childish series of jokes, because we have these senators and journalists echoing in our ears saying, ‘It’s such a smart show.’
“And we’re like, ‘Really? I just made a poop joke. And I’ll make another poop joke. And I’m thinking about making a third one.’ ”
Oliver, who will be in Canada later this month to perform at Toronto’s Just For Laughs festival, was on the phone from his native England this week. He’s on a two-week break from The Daily Show, charging his batteries briefly for the big run-up to the U.S. presidential election in November.
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There’s also a brief follow up story here:
Getting his kicks as actor, too
By BILL HARRIS
Fri, July 4, 2008John Oliver, Movie Star.
“I would say that with a very small ‘m’ and an even smaller ‘s’, ” said English comedian John Oliver when asked about his role in the Mike Myers movie The Love Guru. Oliver, of course, is best known as a TV correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
“I mean, I am not an actor,” Oliver said. “I have no skills regarding acting. It was a fascinating thing and an amazing experience, but I don’t know if Hollywood is going to come calling again any time soon.”
Much as I adore Mr. John Oliver, I’ve got to agree with that “small ‘m’ and an even smaller ‘s’ ” assessment. But that’s not a bad thing, as I think his work on The Daily Show, The Bugle, Political Animal, etc. is a far better sampling of what he can do than what I’ve heard about his role in The Love Guru. (Boy, that sounded judgmental. It wasn’t intended to sound that harsh …) And I can just hear him talking about the “infantile” humor on The Daily Show; it’s perfect! What fun to be able to figuratively thumb your nose at all those politicos and talking heads … even while maintaining your standing as one of the smartest satirists working today!
Keep up the great work, John, and I hope you’re enjoying your trip back home. Typical, that you Brits wouldn’t want to be around on the day when America celebrates its ass-whomping of your forebears … ;)
Both of these articles are in today’s issue of Vancouver’s 24 Hours as well.
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