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" I do one accent - my own. I can make it louder or quieter. That is the sum total of my vocal range. I thought I could do an American accent until I tried it in front of an American - the expression of horror is still burnt onto my retinas. "

John Oliver

American

I Can

Horror

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Happy

" My family are from Liverpool, so I have some twang there - I have a Midlands accent, and I was raised about an hour north of London, so my voice is a mess. Although, to American ears, it sounds like the crisp language of a queen's butler. "

" I've made so many people angry that they kind of blur into one unpleasant memory of people staring at you with somewhere between passive aggression and active aggression. "

" I feel more at home knowing I'm not really at home. It takes all the pressure off you trying to fit in! "

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Pressure

Trying

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" I'm British, so obviously I repress any powerful emotions of any kind in relation to anything. "

" You have to do stand-up quite a long time before you learn how to do it well. It was probably years before I was confident enough in stand-up that I was able to talk about the things I wanted to talk about, the way I wanted to talk about them. "

" Campaign ads are the backbone of American democracy if American democracy suffered a gigantic spinal injury. "

" It's exciting to have a role in anything that's Claymation, just because you're always intrigued by what a clay wizard version of yourself would be. "

" Every empire has to get sucked down the drain. As a British person, I know how it feels. "

" I would much rather America was a more stable, wonderful place. You know, I love it. "

John Oliver

Place

America

" People are always going to say stupid things, and you're always going to be able to make jokes about that, but it should be the last thing you add in, because it's the easiest thing. "

" It really helps a comedian to be an outsider. "

" A Southern accent is not a club in my bag. "

" It's pretty physically unsettling, living life on a visa. "

" I'm always interested in audience interaction. Not so much aggressive audience interaction - I'm genuinely interested in how people see things. "

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Moment

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John Oliver

British

Pessimism

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