Cynical Cinema

John Oliver has been just about the best contributor to Jon Stewart’s Daily Show for the last couple of years. With his British accent his words certainly (as he himself says) come with more authority than usual. And his bit last week on Alpaca Farming was sheer genius. John Oliver: Terrifying Times is an hour-long stand-up show from New York City featuring Oliver at his funniest. Well, for thirty minutes anyway. He tends to lose steam toward the end of the show.

Oliver’s first half, though, is brilliant. He talks about the Americans as the next racer in the world-domination relay race that is the world. The British handed the baton to America, and it will soon be America’s turn to hand it to China, who are the anchor leg as the world races toward Armageddon. It’s an absolutely hilarious take on the world and the politics that define it. He brings on Andy Zaltzman, a “scientist”, who does some brilliantly funny work connecting the dots between teen pregnancy and the invasion of foreign countries.

Toward the end, the show slows down, as Oliver begins to talk more about himself and his childhood. This is not his strength. But the first half hour or forty minutes make this DVD very much worthwhile, and the special features are solid. Clips of Oliver’s appearances on The Daily Show, and some more interviews with the hilarious Andy Zaltzman. John Oliver: Terrifying Times comes out Tuesday, August 19th, from Paramount Home Entertainment.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 12:32 am and is filed under John Oliver, TV special, 2008, Stand-up, Comedy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.