Comedian Bio: John Oliver

John Oliver in 2011

John Oliver is a prime recent example of a comedian from England, who made a successful transfer to the USA. Although Oliver was already well-known in the UK as a panelist on Mock The Week, he is now successful around the world with his popular late-night talk show Last Week Tonight on HBO. 

Oliver started in 2001, at age 24, on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a stand-up comedian. During the next few years, he had a solo stand-up show and worked with UK comedian Andy Zaltzman on a double act and on the radio show Political Animal. In 2005 and 2006 Oliver was a panelist on Mock the Week.

In 2006 Oliver joined The Daily Show as its senior British correspondent, after having been recommended by Ricky Gervais. In 2009, 2011 and 2012, Oliver received Emmy awards for outstanding writing. In 2013, Jon Stewart left The Daily Show for 8 weeks to direct a film. Oliver guest hosted the show during this time, to critical acclaim. Several critics stated Oliver should succeed Stewart as show host, or receive his own show. Three months later, HBO announced Oliver would be getting his own late night show.

Last Week Tonight attracted over a million viewers during its first broadcast. Because many segments

John Oliver in 2007

were also uploaded to websites such as Youtube, the actual ratings have risen well into multiple millions. This is in part where Oliver gets his success from; he understands the importance of the Internet. By uploading his videos to Youtube himself, he can avoid other people uploading them and the show can collect ad revenue from Youtube. Also the show is able to attract greater audiences, which can help it survive in the long run. Plans have been announced to make every episode a full hour, instead of a half hour, with multiple episodes per week, as soon as Oliver “gets his feet under him”. Oliver has also received complete creative freedom from HBO, including the freedom to ridicule any corporation. This is made possible by HBO's ad-free subscription system. Therefore HBO can't be harmed if Oliver critizises a corporation, as they aren't receiving funding from other businesses.

With a young show gaining incredible ratings, Oliver seems to be set for the future. His work is hilarious, so if you haven't seen it, look for it on Youtube!