Home
Authors
Tags
App
Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App
" There is no greater anesthetic than sport. "
John Oliver
Greater
Sport
Anesthetic
Related Quotes:
" I realize how desperate it sounds for me, as a comedian, to ask you to laugh at my jokes. "
John Oliver
Jokes
Me
Ask
" Stand-up comedy seems like a terrifying thing. Objectively. Before anyone has done it, it seems like one of the most frightening things you could conceive, and there's just no shortcut - you just have to do it. "
John Oliver
You
Like
Done
" Congress never loses its capacity to disappoint you. "
John Oliver
Congress
You
Never
" I'm British, so obviously I repress any powerful emotions of any kind in relation to anything. "
John Oliver
Anything
Powerful
Kind
" People are friendlier in New York than London. "
John Oliver
New York
Than
People
" As any Brit will understand, things get a little easier when you don't have to be number one any more. Really, the fall of an empire is not as bad as everyone thinks. It's like retirement. People fear retirement, but it can turn out be rather pleasant. "
John Oliver
Fall
Retirement
You
" People really have come for a dialogue when they go to a stand-up show in the U.K. They say, 'I understand that you have now finished your little comedy monologue; now I have something to say regarding what I've just heard. "
John Oliver
Say
You
Understand
" You don't really know when stand-up material is TV ready; it's just at what point you're willing to let it go and not work on it anymore. I'm not sure there is a point at which you think: 'And that is finished.' "
John Oliver
Go
Know
Ready
" 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
" 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
" 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
" I know I'd be an absolutely horrendous politician. "
John Oliver
Horrendous
Absolutely
Know
" I did sketch comedy, but I never did improv. So I've just tried to learn as I go. "
John Oliver
Go
Just
Sketch
" When you're dealing with serious subjects, there is a pressure to be absolutely sure that you know what you're doing. "
John Oliver
Serious
You
Know
" 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
" 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
" 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
" I would never heckle someone. That's why I think I'm so interested in someone that would. "
John Oliver
Interested
Never
Someone
" People in Britain see Richard Quest as a kind of an offensive cartoon character. "
John Oliver
Character
Kind
See
" 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
" I have exactly as much rhythm as you think I have. "
John Oliver
Think
Rhythm
Much
" Here in America, people come out to see what they've known you to do. In England, it's like everyone comes out to tell you exactly how well they think you're doing. "
John Oliver
Think
America
Doing
" Stand-up, for me, is really more of an addiction, so you have to feed the beast whenever you can. "
John Oliver
Beast
You
More
" 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
" 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
" Politicians don't really bring up religion in England. "
John Oliver
Bring
Politicians
Up
" 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. "
John Oliver
You
Always
Say
" We in Britain stopped evolving gastronomically with the advent of the pie. Everything beyond that seemed like a brave, frightening new world. We knew the French were up to something across the Channel, but we didn't want anything to do with it. "
John Oliver
Everything
New
World
" I'm British; pessimism is my wheelhouse. "
John Oliver
British
Pessimism
" I wanted to be a soccer player. I knew that couldn't happen. "
John Oliver
Knew
Happen
Wanted