| John Oliver | |
|---|---|
 No caption | |
|
Full Name |
John Oliver |
|
Born |
23 April 1977 |
|
№ of episodes |
7 regular shows |
John Oliver is an Emmy-winning British stand-up comedian, actor and correspondent/writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He has worked extensively with Andy Zaltzman; their work together includes Political Animal, The Department and The Bugle.
Early life[]
Oliver was born in Birmingham, raised in Liverpool then Bedford, and educated at Mark Rutherford Upper School. He is a graduate of Christ's College, Cambridge, where he studied English and was vice-president of the Cambridge Footlights for 1997/98, when the president was Richard Ayoade. He also featured in that year's revue, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
Career[]
Stand-up[]
Oliver first appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2001 as part of The Comedy Zone, a late night showcase of newer acts. He performed his debut solo show in 2002 and returned in 2003. In 2004 and 2005 he collaborated with Andy Zaltzman, each year performing a show as a double act and co-hosting Political Animal, a stand-up show with different acts performing political material.
After relocating to New York to work on The Daily Show, Oliver began performing stand-up in small clubs around the city, later moving on to headline shows in larger venues.
Oliver's first stand-up special—entitled John Oliver: Terrifying Times—debuted on Comedy Central on 20 April 2008 and was later released on DVD.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart[]
John Oliver joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as its Senior British Correspondent in July 2006. "I've always striven to be both an entertainer and an irritant. I think that's why I feel so at home on The Daily Show," quipped Oliver in a January 2009 interview.
The Bugle[]
Since October 2007 Oliver has co-hosted The Bugle, a weekly satirical comedy podcast for TimesOnline, with Andy Zaltzman. The 100th episode aired in January 2010.
Other work[]
Oliver wrote and presented the current BBC America campaign to have viewers use closed captioning (subtitles). Shown in brief segments before shows, "The following program contains accents you would have heard a lot more if you hadn't thrown our tea into Boston Harbor," says one. "Not even British people can follow the British accent 100 percent of the time. Therefore you, like me, might want to use closed-captioning." Oliver has begun using some of these jokes in his current stand up routine.
John Oliver was a semi-regular panellist on the first two series of Mock the Week and frequently appeared on Fighting Talk.
Oliver appeared briefly in the series Green Wing as a car salesman.
In 2008 Oliver was given his first motion picture role, playing Dick Pants in The Love Guru.
Oliver performed various roles in the 2009 Comedy Central series Important Things with Demetri Martin.
Oliver appeared in the pilot as well as three other episodes in the first season of the NBC comedy Community as Dr. Ian Duncan, a psychology professor.
List of appearances[]
- Series 1, Episode 1
- Series 1, Episode 3
- Series 1, Episode 5
- Series 1, Episode 6 (Clips Show)
- Series 2, Episode 1
- Series 2, Episode 2
- Series 2, Episode 4
- Series 2, Episode 6
- Series 2, Episode 7 (Clips Show)