Emmy Award-winner, Daily Show correspondent John Oliver shares his golly-gosh charms (while fiendishly armed in the back with eviscerating witticisms) Friday, Oct. 21, at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.
Oliver has been a writer and correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart since 2006. Plus, he appears in a recurring role in the NBC series Community, the outlandish New Pornographers "Moves" video written and directed by Tom Scharpling and other funny, society-biting bits here and there.
In England, he and his long-term writing partner Andy Zaltzman co-write and star in The Bugle, an ongoing series of satirical news podcasts, in association with The Times newspaper. John co-wrote and hosted three series of the BBC Radio 4 show Political Animal, which was based on his satirical live stand up show with Zaltzman.
In the spirit of Halloween and our Oct. 20 horror-themed issue, CL Associate Editor Joe Bardi and I came up with questions that tap into the bespectacled performer's dark side and uncover the wretched evil lurking behind that adorable smile.
What possessed you to go into show business?
Wow, that question makes you sound like my parents. “What possessed you to go into show business, son? Why must you drag the family name through the mud? Could you not at least get a more honorable job, like a male stripper, or a drug mule?” I think what really possessed me to do this was partly a childhood love of comedy, and partly due to a lack of any other options. I have no other marketable skills. That’s not self-deprecation; that is a cold, hard fact.
What's the scariest thing about working with Jon Stewart?
He insists on conducting the morning meeting in complete darkness, and shines a flashlight under his chin whenever he speaks.
Who was your most zombie-like interviewee or co-star?
I interviewed ex-Senator Larry Craig a while ago, and there was definitely a zombie-like quality to him. His political career is completely dead, but does not seem to be aware of that.
As a Brit living and working in America, what have you found most horrifying about the good ol' U.S. of A?
The KFC Double Down. Using fried chicken as bread is not gastronomy; it’s attempted suicide.
More horrifying: British pub food or Applebees?
Oh, that is no contest. British pub food is a human rights violation.
Any scary stories from your career as a stand-up? Any redneck-y crowds try to beat you up while shouting, "Let's kill Harry Potter"?
Surprisingly, that hasn’t happened yet. I always worried that my resemblance to Harry Potter may get me burned as a witch in certain parts of America, but I’m hoping that in Florida I’ll be safe.
This article appears in Oct 13-19, 2011.