John Oliver, host of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO, is a 21-time Emmy winner. But he still remembers how frequently he bombed as a young comedian in the U.K.
When he was starting out, Oliver used to go for easy laughs. Eventually, he decided to make people laugh about topics that he cared about, namely politics.
“It felt like a risk worth taking,” Oliver said.
From the U.K. to the U.S.
Oliver has been making people laugh since he was a kid in the suburbs of Birmingham, England. His father was a school principal, his mother was a music teacher, and Oliver was a class clown.
Later, as a 20-year-old college student at Cambridge University, Oliver traveled to Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – a massive, month-long, performing arts festival where no act is turned away. The Fringe is a magnet for comedians, and it became Oliver’s comedic launching pad. On his first trip to the Fringe, he tried his hand at standup.
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“I remember walking offstage thinking, ‘Oh boy, I wanna do that again right now,'” Oliver said.
In his early days, Oliver bombed all over Edinburgh, but nowhere worse than at a 55-seat venue called Pleasance Below, where, he said, he once performed to an audience of four. He remembers about 10 minutes into his set, half the audience left. Then a third person walked out, followed by the last audience member a few minutes later. Only Oliver and the sound technician remained.
“And he said, ‘Do you wanna keep going?’ I said, ‘No, I think we’re done here,'” Oliver said. “And also when you say, ‘Do you wanna keep going,’ do you mean this show or this career? Certainly, it feels like I’ve got some decisions to make.”
Late-night in the U.S.
His decision to focus on political humor put him on a path to the U.S. As a young comedian, Oliver couldn’t get enough of “The Daily Show.” In 2006, he sent in a sample of his work and was called in to try out. On his first trip to New York, Oliver riffed with Jon Stewart about the time then-Vice President Dick Cheney shot and injured a friend on a quail hunt.
Oliver was hired on the spot and, over the next seven years, showed his range. In 2013, with Stewart stepping away to direct a movie, Oliver stepped in to host the show.
“[It was] really fun to sit behind the steering wheel and think, ‘Oh, how fast does this thing go?’ Oh, pretty quick, it turns out,” Oliver said.
His turn at the desk caught the eye of HBO, which gave Oliver carte blanche to create his own show. Oliver asked Tim Carvell, head writer at “The Daily Show,” and comedy producer Liz Stanton to join him. They were given the 11 p.m. slot on Sunday nights.
“In general, it is just a rigorously researched comedy show: both because we want it to be right, and for self-preservation purposes,” Oliver said. “We don’t wanna be sued into oblivion.”
Oliver’s staff of 83 at “Last Week Tonight” includes former journalists as well as comedy writers. They churn out 30 shows a year. Each begins with hundreds of pages of research on the main story, the show’s signature segment.
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That research is turned into outlines and then a script, which is tested at a table read. On taping day, there’s a rehearsal, some last-minute changes and a signoff from the lawyers before showtime.
Oliver has carved out a comedic niche, finding humor in serious topics like hospice care, bail reform and organ donations.
“I know those don’t sound funny, but it’s because fundamentally, they’re not. But there are funny things about how entrenched some of those problems are,” Oliver said. “And sometimes I think comedy is the best, most illuminating way to talk about them.”
To balance out the show, now in its 12th season on HBO, Oliver likes to close each episode with something zany.
“We love the dumb. The dumb stuff is stuff we all love to do,” said producer Liz Stanton.
Poking fun at his adopted homeland
Oliver’s comedic takedowns seem to delight him the most. Last year, he pounced on news reports that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had accepted lavish gifts from rich friends and a sweetheart deal on an R.V. Thomas responded to the reporting by saying he did not believe he was required to report the luxury trips he accepted, and pledged to comply with new guidelines about the type of gifts justices must publicly disclose. He pounced on news reports that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had not disclosed lavish gifts from rich friends and a generous deal on his prized motor coach. Thomas’ lawyer says the justice met the terms of the R.V. agreement and any other omissions were strictly inadvertent.
Oliver offered Thomas a new motor coach, plus $1 million a year out of his own pocket, if Thomas would resign from the Supreme Court. Oliver explained that he was trying to shine a light on how few guardrails there are regarding gifts to justices.
“I can prove that to you by offering this guy a million dollars a year to get the f**k off the Supreme Court. That should be a crime,” he said. “The very fact that it isn’t is a problem. And that felt like the most visceral way to prove that fact.”
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Oliver’s unique take on America’s politics and intrinsic problems is what sets him apart from just about every other comedian on TV. He takes aim at both sides of the political aisle. And though he highlights America’s shortcomings in his comedy, Oliver said he fell in love with the U.S. as soon as he immigrated. He’s now a U.S. citizen who fell for an Iraq War veteran. He and his wife have two kids. To those who criticize his jabs at his adopted homeland, Oliver has a response.
“I think you can criticize something because you love it,” he said. “Because you love it and you want it to get better.”
Oliver has no plans to stop doing his show.
“It’s incredibly hard, not infrequently stressful, but it’s really, really fun,” Oliver said. “As long as America has systemic problems, we’ll be there poking fun at them.”
