• Events
    • Los Angeles Open Mics
    • Los Angeles Shows
    • New York Open Mics
    • New York Shows
  • Book A Tour
  • Venues
  • News
  • Podcast
  • About
    • About The Comedy Bureau
    • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Digital Wall of Trustees

john oliver

divider

John Oliver, Lorne Michaels, and More Make Time’s “100 Most Influential People” List
April 16, 2015
Uncategorized
100 most influential, amy schumer, jill soloway, john oliver, lorne michaels, time

SNL, Last Week Tonight, Inside Amy Schumer, and Transparent make into Time.

Alongside Kanye West and Hillary Clinton, John Oliver, Lorne Michaels, Amy Schumer, and Jill Soloway are on Time’s annual list the 100 Most Influential People around the world.

Like this morning’s announcement for the Peabody Awards (where Last Week Tonight and Inside Amy Schumer also are getting honored), it’s another example where comedy is coming up in the world in a big way.

Last Week Tonight, Inside Amy Schumer, and Jane The Virgin To Receive Peabody Awards
April 16, 2015
Uncategorized
inside amy schumer, jane the virgin, john oliver, last week tonight, peabody awards

Between the three, they’ve shot salmons out of a cannon, announced the year of the ass, and had a trick pregnancy. Know that they’re all doing important work.

The latest comedy recipients of the prestigious Peabody Award will be Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO, Inside Amy Schumer on Comedy Central, and Jane The Virgin on The CW.

If you take a look at winners from years past, comedy definitely has had an upswing with The Peabody Awards as of late and we hope that trend continues.

The shows will receive awards at a ceremony on May 31st hosted by Fred Armisen.

Edward Snowden Gives John Oliver an Education in Passwords
April 9, 2015
Uncategorized
edward snowden, john oliver, last week tonight, online security, password

Here’s an added bonus to the landmark interview by John Oliver of Edward Snowden.

We’re sure that Oliver and his Last Week Tonight team try to fit in as many bits as they could with their limited time with Edward Snowden, some of which couldn’t make it to the final cut. 

One of those bits was going over how lazy a good majority of us are with our passwords that supposedly protect all of our valuable information.  

John really shows us how to not do passwords, much to Snowden’s delight. Watch it here.

John Oliver Interviews Edward Snowden About Surveillance, Dick Pics, and More
April 6, 2015
Uncategorized
edward snowden, john oliver, last week tonight, nsa, patriot act, prism, russia, surveillance

Man oh man, when John Oliver does an interview, it’s a damn fine one.

This week’s Last Week Tonight ran a little longer than usual because, well, Oliver and co. scored a huge interview with the one and only Edward Snowden all the way in Russia. John pulled off the balance between legitimately poignant questions and questions about hot pockets and nude photos. 

It’s clear that Oliver is accomplishing his apparent mission to talk, at length and in-depth, topics that we would hate talking about outside of a focus group or a college course and also be thoroughly entertaining while doing so.

Clear out 33:15 of your day today and watch yet another historic moment for Last Week Tonight.

When The New Hampshire Legislature Lets Down Some Kids Who Drafted a Bill For a State Raptor, “Last Week Tonight” Saved The Day
April 2, 2015
Uncategorized
john oliver, last week tonight, new hampshire, red tailed hawk, state legislature, state raptor

If there was a mud-slinging political ad to be made against the New Hampshire State Legislature, this would be a good place to star.  

A few children just wanted to propose a new special type of State Bird and leave it to political agendas to muck it all up.

Watch all of the amazing story and what’s sure to be one of many Last Week Tonight’s awesome mascots/symbols.

Take The No-Prank Pledge with John Oliver and “Last Week Tonight”
March 30, 2015
Uncategorized
april fool's day, john oliver, last week tonight

Yes, not even April Fool’s Day can escape the scrutiny of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Oliver and company urge us all in their week off to not engage in the misguided holiday that is April Fools’ Day in order to hurt or embarrass those close to us. (If this is somehow a set up for a prank on April Fools’ Day, then we’ll have to wait until Wed. to find out)

Watch his important message here.

John Oliver and His Last Week Tonight Team Take The NCAA Down a Notch or Two (or Lots of Notches)
March 16, 2015
Uncategorized
john oliver, last week tonight, march madness, ncaa

Wherever reasonable voices are unjustly being ignored, it seems as John Oliver and Last Week Tonight are going to make those voices heard. Whether they may be clamoring voters in U.S. territories or unpaid NCAA student athletes, they’re attempting to have it all covered and doing a bang-up job.

With The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament better known as March Madness looming along with its huge windfall in profit for many involved, Oliver made a damning report last night, and one of his longest to date, on how absurd the NCAA is being for not only making their student athletes forego any sort of compensation, but also making them live a life or ridiculous expectations for a dream that statistically won’t happen and could go away with one injury.

Watch, enjoy, get infuriated, and then enjoy some more the latest segment from Last Week Tonight.

“Last Week Tonight” Gave Us an Update on The Voting Rights of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa  (You Know, Those U.S. Territories)
March 9, 2015
Uncategorized
american samoa, guam, john oliver, last week tonight, puerto rico, u.s. territories, voting rights

John Oliver and his team at Last Week Tonight showed us again what we’re missing.

The voting rights of U.S. territories that, for some reason, have not reached statehood despite considerable populations isn’t necessarily, at first glance, something that is ripe for a comedy show. Yet, Oliver curates plenty of funny moments to get this very niche topic that’s rarely been discussed to show why he’s going to be at HBO for a very long time.

Watch it here.

Here’s What’s In Store For This Year’s “Night of Too Many Stars”
March 5, 2015
Uncategorized
autism programs, comedy central, john oliver, night of too many stars, paul rudd, robert smigel

Since 2003, Night of Too Many Stars has raised millions of dollars for autism programs as well as putting on one heck of a show.

This year, they’ve got a Paul Rudd wheel, John Oliver committing a crime for charity, Chris Rock being a spokesperson to highest bidder, and appearances from Weird Al Yankovic, Abbi Jacobson & Ilana Glazer, Martin Short, Bill Burr, Steve Carell, Louis C.K., Maya Rudolph, Sarah Silverman, Jim Gaffigan, John Oliver, Larry David, and way more.

That’s all on top of The Simpsons prize we mentioned yesterday.

Variety recapped a pre-taped portion of all the craziness that went down.

There’s also a “friendly chat” with former Happy Gilmore co-stars Bob Barker  and Adam Sandler.

Executive producer of the event Robert Smigel details more of the evening festivities as well as the cause of autism programs in which it’s supporting while on The Daily Show earlier this week.

There will be a live telethon when this year’s Night of Too Many Stars airs in order to take donations for autism programs this Sun. Mar. 8th at 8PM on Comedy Central.

Last Week Tonight and John Oliver Manage To Make a Very Enjoyable Segment About Infrastructure
March 2, 2015
Uncategorized
hbo, infrastructure, john oliver, last week tonight

John Oliver and Last Week Tonight continue their great weekly dissection of topics that aren’t really covered in comedy or covered in a way that most people would want to watch to be entertained.

This week, Oliver takes on infrastructure and how important it is we maintain it.  With an action movie parody, a Cosby joke, and more, you’ll probably never be more into infrastructure ever after watching this. 

John Oliver Dissects Electing Judges in The U.S.
February 23, 2015
Uncategorized
john oliver, last week tonight, state judges, supreme court

For kids, School House Rock was an effective way to teach them about very complex and nuanced concepts, especially when it come to government. However, there’s only so much that School House Rock can explain in a fun pop melody and rhyme and there’s only a limited time in your life where you rely on it for the entirety of your political efficacy.

Luckily, John Oliver and Last Week Tonight can pick up where many of us signed off during high school government and civics classes and examine the most dense subjects within our government infrastructure while also making them pretty hilarious. 

That’s what Oliver did this week in picking apart the election of high ranking judges in this country. Watch it all here.

HBO Picks Up “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” For Two Seasons That Will Run Through 2017
February 17, 2015
Uncategorized
2016, 2017, hbo, john oliver, last week tonight, renewed

(via Deadline)

For those of you that had thought that John Oliver was going to possibly leave Last Week Tonight to replace Jon Stewart later this year at The Daily Show, you obviously aren’t aware of how good Oliver has it over at HBO and how much HBO is into Oliver. 

Today, that was all made clear by HBO announcing that two 35 episode seasons of Last Week Tonight have been ordered that will air in 2016 and 2017 separately. 

Aside from possibly narrowing your list on who is coming to The Daily Show desk, rejoice in the fact that will have almost three more years of Oliver at his own desk doing stuff like this week’s takedown of Big Tobacco. 

John Oliver and “Last Week Tonight” Shows That Big Tobacco Is Still a Force To Be Reckoned With
February 16, 2015
Uncategorized
big tobacco, john oliver, last week tonight

Many laws here in America have curbed smoking and “Big Tobacco” has gotten much needed regulation over the years. However, Big Tobacco still shows signs of their old habits by popping up elsewhere in the world where the leash on them is much longer. 

Even with 2006’s Thank You For Smoking doing a great job of sending up the abuses of the Tobacco Industry, there’s still much more to satirize from the people who make cigarettes, like companies suing entire countries, as John Oliver and Last Week Tonight discovered. 

It’s a great segment to hit the ground running after winning that WGA Award this weekend. Watch it all here. 

“Last Week Tonight” Picks Up Right Where They Left Off and Has a Hilarious and Damning Segment on Marketing to Doctors
February 9, 2015
Uncategorized
brian huskey, hbo, john oliver, last week tonight, pharmaceutical companies

John Oliver and Last Week Tonight hit the ground running again with their return last night.

Their target for this episode was pharmaceutical companies that took aggressive tactics in marketing to doctors and it’s both on point and damn funny just like all the other reports last season were.

Watch it here. 

“Last Week Tonight” Returns and “Better Call Saul” Premieres Tonight
February 8, 2015
Uncategorized
amc, better call saul, bob odenkirk, hbo, john oliver, last week tonight

Sure, plenty of you will be wanting to sincerely or ironically watch The Grammys tonight, but we’re sure there’s plenty of you that will want to watch the premiere of Better Call Saul on AMC and the return of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO.

Luckily, Better Call Saul is at 10PM and Last Week Tonight is at 11PM if you were planning to watch it live or set your DVR. 

Otherwise, you can check Twitter to see who won/did something weird at The Grammys.

John Oliver on Not Having “The Leftovers” As His Lead-In and Advice For Seahawks Fans
February 3, 2015
Uncategorized
girls, hbo, john oliver, last week tonight, leftovers, liverpool, seattle seahawks, seth meyers, super bowl

The return of Last Week Tonight is just around the corner, this Sun. Feb. 8th at 11PM after Girls.

In fact, host John Oliver used to be lead-in by The Leftovers, for those of you that watch the show on HBO Go or clips on YouTube. 

Oliver sat down with Seth Meyers discussed having to follow a comedy now as opposed to one of the weightiest of dramas as well as some choice words to “console” Seattle Seahawks fans in their devastating Super Bowl loss this past Sunday.

John Oliver’s Takes on Tasering Himself and The Super Bowl
January 30, 2015
Uncategorized
john oliver, late show, letterman, super bowl, taser

Sometimes, as a comedian, you never really know what extremes you yourself will go to get a laugh until you’re presented with those extremes in real life. John Oliver found out that he would indeed follow through pretty far in that regard at a recent show and told the story on Letterman. 

Oliver also gave his take on our most American of days here in America, The Super Bowl.

Enjoy these clips for now until next Sun., Feb 8th when Last Week Tonight returns to HBO at 11PM.

John Oliver Makes His Audition Tape For The “50 Shades of Grey” Movie Coming to Theaters This Valentine’s Day Weekend
January 26, 2015
Uncategorized
50 shades of grey, audition, jamie dornan, john oliver, last week tonight, parody

Both the second season of Last Week Tonight and the film adaptation of 50 Shades of Grey are coming soon, and, as such, John Oliver thought it prudent to make an audition tape to oust the film’s star Jamie Dornan even though the movie is set for release in about three weeks. 

Watch Oliver make a play for our hearts and loins here and get ready for season 2 premiering Feb. 8th at 11PM on HBO.

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Won’t Premiere Until Sept. 8th
January 12, 2015
Uncategorized
cbs, colbert report, grace helbig, james corden, john oliver, last week tonight, late late show, late night, letterman, stephen colbert, the late show

“Late Show With Stephen Colbert” will debut on Sept. 8, CBS announces. Colbert’s comment below: pic.twitter.com/IPJX0xBD2a

— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff)

January 12, 2015

So, one of the very final dates in the beginning of this new era of late night is set. Sept. 8th, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will premiere on CBS at 11:30PM (via @ditzkoff).

You read that right. We all have to wait nine months until Colbert resumes his role as a host on the legendary Late Show. As he has said himself, "I have nine months to make a show, just like a baby. So first, I should find out how you make a baby.“

That’s a long time, especially considering what’s going to be happening in the meantime.

For one, David Letterman is signing off from The Late Show on May 20th.

James Corden, who will be following Colbert with The Late Late Show, starts his hosting duties several months earlier on Mar. 23rd.

…and…

Larry Wilmore will be starting next week on Jan. 19th with The Nightly Show at Comedy Central. 

…then…

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver returns for its second season Feb 8th at HBO.

…then…

Grace Helbig will be headlining her own talk show on E! ostensibly replacing Chelsea Handler starting in April, though it will air in primetime.

…then…

Conan O’Brien will tape a week of episodes at Comic Con this summer, which should be one of the most fun things to happen this year in late night.

The only other thing that is going to happen in the late night realm after Colbert takes over in the latter part of 2015 is the aforementioned Chelsea Handler doing a talk show on Netflix in 2016.

All of this is in addition to Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, and Jon Stewart, continuing to build their late night empires both live on TV and online.

So, with all of those dates set, that leaves four months at CBS where 11:30PM is vacant. Apparently, there will be reruns (via THR) playing in that slot during that time leading in Corden. All other late night programs will be more than happy to play against reruns at 11:30PM at CBS.

What interests us is what exactly will Colbert be up to in these nine months. The format for his tenure at The Late Show is set to be much more traditional than The Colbert Report, which, we think, wouldn’t necessarily need nine months of pre-production and retooling. 

Is there something else that Colbert is up to for most of this year? Maybe it’s just some well deserved time off?

Either way, we definitely want 2015 to go way faster now.

John Oliver Is Staying The Course With Season 2 of “Last Week Tonight”
January 9, 2015
Uncategorized
hbo, john oliver, last week tonight, promo, season two

This latest promo for the next round of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver promises more of the season one sort of Last Week Tonight. 

That’s more than fine by us, even without special ponies.

Make sure to catch the season two premiere Feb. 8th at 11PM on HBO.

John Oliver and Last Week Tonight Take on New Year’s Eve
December 29, 2014
Uncategorized
hbo, john oliver, last week tonight, new year's eve

With 2015 looming, there is one big problem we, as the entire human race, have against us all. 

That problem is… New Year’s Eve. Well, that is what John Oliver and the team at Last Week Tonight is here to tell you ultimately making you feel better that you stayed in rather than go to some random party where you paid a higher cover charge than you would for most of your favorite bands playing a festival.

Watch there two cents and then some on New Year’s Eve here.

“The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” Gets a Logo
December 16, 2014
Uncategorized
colbert report, comedy central, daily show, john oliver, Larry wilmore, last week tonight, the nightly show, tough crowd

The @NightlyShow with @LarryWilmore premieres in exactly five weeks. The #NightlyShow’s logo premieres right now. pic.twitter.com/IS72ghRtbf

— The Nightly Show (@nightlyshow)

December 16, 2014

The premiere of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore is just over a month away on Jan. 19th and so promotion of it should be ramping up right about now. 

They have just gotten an official logo for the show, as you can see above, that’s a decided departure for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. It’s minimalist and clean not unlike the logo for another Daily Show alum’s post-Daily Show Daily Show-esque show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

However, we also think The Nightly Show logo is very reminiscent of another Comedy Central series that dealt with current issues from awhile ago, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. If that somehow means that they were be echoes of that in The Nightly Show, we’re on board.

image

2015 Writers Guild Awards Announce TV Nominations
December 5, 2014
Uncategorized
colbert report, daily show, john oliver, jon stewart, last week tonight, louie, the-simpsons, transparent, wga, writers guild award

The 2015 Writers Guild Awards, which will be hosted by The Nightly Show’s Larry Wilmore, just announced their TV and radio nominations. Out of the gate, Transparent and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver got nominated in their first seasons while perennial nominees The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Louie, Veep, and The Colbert Report also got nominated.

Take note how cable and online shows are dominating the field at the WGA as all the comedy nominees include:
Bill Maher: Live From D.C.
Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles
The Colbert Report
SNL
Real Time with Bill Maher
Inside Amy Schumer
Last  Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Transparent
Louie
Modern Family
Orange Is The New Black
New Girl
The Simpsons
Bob’s Burgers
Silicon Valley
Veep

See the full list of nominees here.

John Oliver on Turkey Pardoning and When Last Week Tonight Is Coming Back
November 24, 2014
Uncategorized
hbo, john oliver, last week tonight, presidential turkey pardon, thanksgiving

John Oliver and company on Last Week Tonight are having the holiday season off. However, they made sure to make another web exclusive video breaking down the ridiculous tradition of the Presidential Turkey Pardon just in time for Thanksgiving.

While breaking down a time honored tradition by the Executive Office of The United States, Oliver also mentions that they’ll be back in February, which will leave more than plenty for him and his team to catch up on. 

John Oliver Fills in Once More for Jon Stewart at The Daily Show
November 14, 2014
Uncategorized
comedy central, john oliver, jon stewart, rosewater, the daily show

Jon Stewart’s directorial debut with Rosewater opens today and, as you could imagine, he used last night’s episode of The Daily Show to promote it.

With that being the case, Stewart felt it would be tasteless to be also promoting while hosting. So, he was just in luck that one John Oliver, who has had filled in for him before, had just wrapped season one of Last Week Tonight at HBO and was free to fill in. 

Watch Oliver sit once more at The Daily Show desk right here.

« Recent News
Older News »

Recent News

divider

  • The Comedy Bureau Field Report Ep. 277: Ethan Stanislawski & Being Timely in Comedy (Whether You Like It or Not) - When divisiveness is the order of the day, some of the best bridges are the… Read More
  • The Comedy Bureau Field Report Ep. 276: Andy Sandford & Keeping Jokes as Tight Possible - Andy Sandford's philosophy of trimming all the fat from all his comedy has served him… Read More
  • The Comedy Bureau Field Report Ep. 274: Spaghetti Festival & Sticking on the Wall (Together) - The Spaghetti Festival @ The Elysian represents a wholly rejuvenating spark of imagination and creativity… Read More

Sign up For The Newsletter

Copyright © 2020 The Comedy Bureau
All rights reserved