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" I'm British, so obviously I repress any powerful emotions of any kind in relation to anything. "
John Oliver
Anything
Powerful
Kind
Related Quotes:
" People, I guess, generally come to see me do stand-up with a working knowledge of my broad sense of humor on 'The Daily Show'... I don't think anyone would mistake me as an actual anchor. "
John Oliver
Mistake
People
Daily
" 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. "
John Oliver
Language
Family
Queen
" In improv, the whole thing is that it is a relationship between the two people, as a back and forth. In standup, you don't really want to be listening to what somebody is saying; you want to project your jokes into their face. And that's really not a good instinct with a 'Daily Show' field piece, where it's supposed to be an interview. "
John Oliver
Daily
Face
Good
" 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. "
John Oliver
Talk
Years
Way
" When you're doing stand-up, you want to stand onstage and, to the extent that you can, uncomplicatedly entertain. "
John Oliver
Want
You
Stand
" My family is from Liverpool, so I have some of those vowel sounds, I've got the slack tone of someone from Birmingham, and then I was raised in Bedford, which is just north of London. So my accent, if it's possible, makes even less sense to a Brit than to an American. "
John Oliver
Family
Possible
Someone
" Attending a Sarah Palin rally was simultaneously one of the strangest and most chilling events of my life. "
John Oliver
Life
Most
My Life
" There are some people who watch NASCAR for the highly skilled driving - but most people watch it for the crashes. "
John Oliver
People
Driving
Some People
" Most stand-ups, once they have done it, think of it as their default job. I'm pretty sure Jon Stewart still feels that way now. You are a stand-up first; other things come and go. "
John Oliver
You
Done
Job
" Having a human conversation is not something I've had any training in either as a comedian or as, you know, a human being. "
John Oliver
Conversation
Know
Training
" I feel more at home knowing I'm not really at home. It takes all the pressure off you trying to fit in! "
John Oliver
More
Pressure
Trying
" My first 'Daily Show' piece was pretending I had this terrible immigrant journey, so I went to talk to an immigration lawyer who would help out people, and I ran into him in Penn Station about three months after I'd gotten the green card. I said, 'I got my green card yesterday.' And he hugged me because he understood that level of relief. "
John Oliver
People
Green
Daily
" The British press are a group of unremitting scumbags. And sometimes they use that scumbaggery to good ends, and often not. "
John Oliver
Sometimes
Press
Group
" Americans just don't understand dry wit. "
John Oliver
Wit
Understand
Just
" I have occasionally - if ever I do interviews that are difficult or nerve-wracking - I take my wife's dog tags and have them in my pocket because it's a very quick way to realize that what I'm doing is not that important. It's not really worth getting stressed about because it's not, you know, war. "
John Oliver
Know
You
Wife
" People in Britain see Richard Quest as a kind of an offensive cartoon character. "
John Oliver
Character
Kind
See
" The only thing I'm nervous about is talking to guests like human beings, because all of my interviews so far have been attacking people. I have a genuine concern about sitting across from an actor whose movies I obviously haven't seen. "
John Oliver
Sitting
Talking
Movies
" There is no greater anesthetic than sport. "
John Oliver
Greater
Sport
Anesthetic
" I think puns are not just the lowest form of wit, but the lowest form of human behavior. "
John Oliver
Think
Human Behavior
Human
" Australia turns out to be a sensational place, albeit one of the most comfortably racist places I've ever been in. They've really settled into their intolerance like an old resentful slipper. "
John Oliver
Intolerance
Place
Places
" I have exactly as much rhythm as you think I have. "
John Oliver
Think
Rhythm
Much
" I really love stand-up. I'm more than happy to do it for nothing. I've come to America to do it for nothing. It's the American Dream: Work for free. "
John Oliver
Free
American Dream
Love
" The British media is sinking down, as the American news media has lowered the bar for all of humanity. British news media is definitely trying to stoop down to that level. Everyone is stooping to the lowest common denominator. "
John Oliver
American
Media
Humanity
" If you're asking me, would I have voted for Mitt Romney, the answer is absolutely not. Emphatically not. I cannot envision a world in which I would have voted for Mitt Romney unless I sustained a massive concussion. "
John Oliver
Me
You
Cannot
" I did sketch comedy, but I never did improv. So I've just tried to learn as I go. "
John Oliver
Go
Just
Sketch
" It really helps a comedian to be an outsider. "
John Oliver
Helps
Outsider
Comedian
" I feel non-stop Brit shame! "
John Oliver
I Feel
Non-Stop
Feel
" Sometimes it's good to remember how bad food can be, so you can enjoy the concept of flavour to the fullest. "
John Oliver
Good
You
Remember
" There are so many low points with stand-up. You are perpetually humiliated, so it doesn't really matter anymore. I don't have any dignity left to lose. An audience can't hurt you anymore when you've been completely dismantled. "
John Oliver
You
Hurt
Left
" I find it hard in my general life to think further than the week ahead. "
John Oliver
Find
Life
Hard