Ladies & Gentlemen, John Oliver
This September, the Campus Programming Council brought John Oliver to Washington University for their Fall Comedy Show. Oliver has been a correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart since 2006 and is also well known for his Comedy Central standup special, “Terrifying Times,” which aired in 2008. WUPR was lucky enough to sit down with Oliver after his show for a few words of wisdom.
WUPR: So when you found out that you were coming to Washington University in St. Louis, what was your exact first thought?
John: Well the exact first thought was hold on—I think I have been there before. What was it? Oh yes, it was the Sarah Palin VP debate where I lost my faith in humanity and democracy. It was like coming back to reclaim a memory of one of the darkest times.
WUPR: How do you get into these places? Do people know it’s satire?
John: Well honestly it’s a controlled gamble on their part. They know we have a young audience who votes, and that’s actually worth quite a lot to them.
WUPR: If John Oliver were Daily Show czar for one day, what would change?
John: Like Nicholas the Second? I would send Jon Stewart on a field piece so he can see what he makes us do all the time.
WUPR: Clearly your standup and Daily Show bits are informed by your political leanings. Is it hard to stay non-partisan, and do you even try to?
John: We think about it in a comedic way, and that is necessarily is non-partisan. It’s actually quite easy because we feel we are outside of the political game looking in.
WUPR: Along those lines, last year The Daily Show/Colbert Report held The Rally to Restore Fear and/or Sanity, which drew over 215,000 people. Did the show feel some more pressure after such a stunning turnout on the Washington Mall?
John: We were exhausted because we were in D.C. all week, explaining to Ozzy how to play with Cat Stevens. It all went by in a bit of a blur. And then it was over and we all went home did a show on Monday.
WUPR: Did the next week feel like you had more of a base on your side?
John: Not really, it was just this very bizarre experience in between two weeks of work. Everything just went back to normal.
WUPR: Are you aware that it has become more then comedy?
John: I don’t think it has become more then comedy.
WUPR: But you influence people.
John: Do we? I’m not sure if that’s true. We try and entertain people, but I don’t think we try to influence anyone. We are looking to make ourselves laugh and by default make the audience laugh.
WUPR: How do you watch the 24-hour news networks five days a week and not blow your brains out on day two?
John: You start in the morning seeing these depressing stories. It takes its toll. It really does take its toll in tempting your faith in human nature. And you try to take your feelings of despair or frustration at the start of the day and try to process it into something funny by the end of the day. It can be quite the cathartic process, really, when you have your head in your hands at 9:05 in the morning saying, “They did what!?” and then you end up at the end of the day dressed up like a bill singing old Schoolhouse Rock songs.
WUPR: Alright, switching gears now. What are you more proud of: your Emmy for The Daily Show? Or your work with The Love Guru?
John: Well it’s really apples and oranges. A really great apple and an inedible orange. Growing up, I had a picture of Mike Myers on my wall and I’m sure he will be back.
WUPR: So this summer there were some few crazy British goings-on: the Murdoch Scandal and London riots to name a few. What’s in the works for the future to continue to take American minds off our own problems?
John: Well our economy is detonating. And the key thing is next summer we are hosting the Olympics, so we will be watching the Olympics while rioting. Or rioting is going to become an Olympic event and we will win that.
WUPR: So what is down the road for John Oliver? More Daily Show?
John: Yeah, hopefully, if I don’t get fired. I’m just trying not to get fired. Next year the campaign begins again, which makes me slightly nauseous. We like to start early and finish late … and use a lot of balloons.