QLS Classic: John Oliver

Of Course.

Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.

Yo Yo, what up, y'all? This is Fante giving you this week's classic episode of QLs. On this one's comedian producer and late.

Night old John Oliver talks about the craft and being funny, the challenges of political commentary and being timed about it. What he's thinking about when he brushes his teeth. That was way too much information, and that time he pissed off a real.

Life war and I remember this after ships.

Why this episode seventy one from February fourteen to twenty eighteen. This was one times man, y'all check it out. Feel Les classic John Oliver fun to look Yessar.

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My name is John. Yeah to your good day. Yeah, you made this room smell like chick fil like.

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I'm gonna take a bite of sandwich brevava.

Chick fil A.

Yeah, Boss Bills, since you mentioned food, can we eat while we talk? Homophobia never tasted so delicious.

That's your best line ever.

That should be their new tag man, Homophobia.

Never takes delicious.

Come hats each with us. You still have not given up.

Hell no, I haven't eaten it in a long time actually for health reasons, but I mean not no, for Mara.

Stood wait, I should have solidarity for like a year and a half. And then black Twitter told me that now we're still eating Chick fil A.

Look for the summertime when the frozen lemonade come out.

Yeah.

Twitter, frozen lemonade and the h and they lemonade like just they in the in the peach that peach shakes, Oh yes, and the.

Peach shake with the peach chunks in it only comes out.

Yeah, you gotta get on it. You gotta get on the melon list for that, like, wait, there's Chick fil a melon.

I mean you get there. Let you know, like the new Snacks is about to drop. What's I'm waiting. I'm waiting, you know what, I get it.

You get to w just so I know, because there's one here because New York City, and yes, I know, I haven't introduced our guests yet.

We got more important issues at hand New York City.

New York City only has what three chick fil A's right, Yes, the n y U campus and the one that's Matan there's another one, so are there still lines around the block, because when I used to do it to the Tonight show that they used to it was like.

Waiting for it that you're looking at because he's like the Chick fil A crazy that's his.

Boss Bill, he did, Okay, it's you. I'm more I'm working the rules today. Yeah, our guest today is the hell of a comedian.

Uh. Time magazine has called him the comic agent of change.

Uh.

He's been in the game for twenty plus years.

He came to of course, national attention as the British correspondent on The Daily Show with John Stewart in two thousand and six, and he hosted his own called Classic Bugle Podcasts with Andy's Alten in two thousand and seven. He was also the professor of one of my all time favorite comedies Community Yeah with uh Boss Bill's.

Favorite's favorite artist, Donald Glove exactly.

But you know, he's now best known as the figure we turned to for absolute sanity in this in this upside down world that we live in.

His Last Week Tonight six Emmys winning sends me straight on those point.

I'm never going to see an I mean, I get it is last week Tonight on HBO continues to fight the powers that be with the most skating commentary this time. Yeah man, he fights a power. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome one and only John Oliver.

Tasty chup d.

So you know, well, I want I gotta ask how exhausting.

Is it?

Wow?

It is not a great sign when you of anyone. It's pretty bad. I'm not gonna like to you. It's pretty mentally, emotionally and even physically exhausting, right, because if you're tense all the time, you know, chess players say they but a lot of calories, and you think that can't possibly be true, But apparently it's the nerves and the concentration. So it's that I feel like I'm in I mean, either really good shape or I'm about to die.

Do you think, well, I do, just mean just in general, it's like, well, I know, I mean, obviously comedy has to be a love of yours or first love. But it's almost like now that you're stuck with here with us in America, you're almost you're you're our go to, Like, is there pressure for you too? In a clear and concise way to filter the fears and the and the and the and the concerns that we don't have because we don't have the platform that you have that.

You I guess, well, that's well, yeah, I mean it's always it's pressure on pressure, right with with any job, you kind of want to put yourself under the maxim amount of pressure because you want to, like you want to earn the position that you're in now, particularly with HBO on a Sunday when I'm about to put you

So that is.

That is a I don't take that lightly. I get that I'm lucky to have the platform that I have, so I try and use that. So we take big swings, and you know, one of these days will take a swing too big and it will all be over.

But I'd rather swinging than board. Absolutely, Can I go ahead?

Is there anybody saying that there's any limitations on what you see? Like I I meant the worst possible thing you could say that, you know, just without backing it up.

I don't know.

No, we've got to back it up. We have lawyers and HBO as lawyers, so we have to back up everything that we say otherwise we're in serious shit. So no, that's that's why we work so hard to make sure that everything has a factual basis to it.

Otherwise it's over.

So there is no list though this is there is no you know, Carlin list.

Or no, there shouldn't be though because it's HBO, so they shouldn't have that list. Or if they have that list, they shouldn't tell me about it. I'm sure they have. Maybe they do have people saying we don't want him to talk about that, but that should never be communicated to me.

A crazy question, But have you ever faced resistance since you know you're speaking on US and world issues, but you know from in your British I.

Mean, I've lived here for eleven years, so this is my home right. I've got I've got an American wife, and i have an American son. I have an America. It's a very imperial way to say I have.

I have an American.

I've made an American I will make more uh so army, I don't. I mean, I kind of I slightly resent whenever people say you're not from here. That's a dangerous road to go down because I've been here for eleven years.

It's my home.

I have some skin in the game, so I kind of call bullshit on that idea. I'm here because I love it, Like after this show, I'll stay here. I've chosen this country as my home so and I've chosen it as my home now. So this is falling in love with someone not at their best.

Right, That's true love. So you were you were born in the UK? Correct? Yeah, we'll part. I was born in Birmingham.

My family is from Liverpool and I was raised in Bedford, just about an hour north of London.

All right, So for those that aren't, because you know a lot of thiss, just think UK, oh London.

Yeah, like is there? What's what's the main difference? Like you know for us, you know New York is different from Tennessee or you know, man Tianna.

I can give you some parallels. Right, Liverpool probably, you know, once a strong industrial town, the industry died of the shipping industry, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, maybe Detroit, Troit big music history, you got Detroit, Birmingham, Birmingham would be you Pittsburgh.

Oh okay, okay, what was the industry in Birmingham?

What was it was?

It was?

I think it was a lot of factory I can't actually remember what it was. I was only there for six years. That was there for the first six years of my life. So yeah, I don't know what. I can't think of what the exact one was.

Okay, So you you.

Bedford is now north of London, so that would be Jersey. You're in some version of a large town.

In Jersey there.

Yeah, I'd lived there for like maybe three years, so I only know you were in London. Yeah, uh, Kinnish town.

Okay, I was South I lived in like around the Brixton tells Hial Crystal Crystal Palace.

Whoa, yeah, you were in the hood. Wait what why not? Why I've never No, No, I just never heard white.

The most racist thing? What absolute animals down there?

No, I'm just saying that, No, I know of no white person that's like, yo, I represent South London Like that would be why you told me that you grew up fifteen thirty Sedway Avenue.

I don't know.

I think it's that's just where my friends were. So also it was affordable, you know, because a struggling comedian you're probably going to go to some of the cheaper areas of London. So now I loved it down there, so I stayed.

When did you what was your interesting comedy?

Because usually with with is there a worship like the worship that we have for I guess the go to stuff.

I mean Benny Hill and Faulty Towers and wow, you just you just.

But oh boy, yeah, you know Vanilla Ice, ice Cube guys that do the same thing.

No, but it's almost like the sign of higher intelligence in America is saying that you watch British comedy on PBS, like I watched Faulty Towers, I watched Money Python, and I mean all of us just have.

We there's a worship in America for Benny Hill. That's like probably to you that.

Was yeah, but yeah, I mean what he was he was bigger here than he was in Britain. Yeah, he was more like an embarrassing export than he was. I think in Britain might say the same about me, But Benny Hill. Yeah, Benny Hill was not.

He was not that popular in England. He was popular because they're sure titties on.

Yeah they were, they were, and that was the apex of comedy in mister Hill's mind.

He was. He died.

He died very rich in a small house. I think he was surrounded by money that he hid everywhere. He was a strange man. His his chasing of topless women around in nuns outfits was not the weirdest side of.

His The fact that he hoarded his money. Yeah, he was a He was a weird guy. Yeah he did. That's what I remember he did.

But that's you're not You're not bolstering his comedic credentials. I'm not saying he was funny. I'm saying he did show dem tatars.

So for you, what was high level of British comedy that Americans might have been up born.

When I was going up The most influential figure was Chris Morrison and armandoin Ucci. Amanucci who produced partries The Day to Day on the Hour, which is a radio show. He's vep is his show over here. That would be what Americas know him from what he'd did a Friday night and Saturday Night Armistice.

He was.

He was kind of the north star of comedy for my generation, Amando Nucci. He was an amazing right round producer.

So when did you decide that you wanted to get into comedy? Were you class clown?

And then I was, yeah, I could, I could talk ship. And then if you get if you if you think that it might be possible to talk shit professionally, you take that chance. But I did it at college. I met a guy called Richard Iouardi and we wrote a lot of that comedy together at college. And it was after doing a couple of like two man shows with him on our own that I thought I probably it was just such a rush. I thought, I'm probably gonna

How did you feed yourself in the bad.

Just not not with any kind of nutritional balance. Yeah, the first years of doing comedy you're kind of rough but exhilarating because you're kind of learning to do something that you can't do yet. But there's nothing like a learning curve, right, There's nothing more exciting than a really steep learning curve.

Was your family supportive of this decision?

I actually did want you to go to school, And no, I think they were, they were, they were. I was very lucky they were pretty supportive of it. My uncle was a composer, so I think they had they had a sense of that someone could do something you couldn't even fathom for a career and make a decent life out of it. So I think he ended up giving me a bit of a cover fire.

So was it a matter of you wanting to match like growing up? Who was your like?

For us?

In America, especially in the eighties, like Eddie Murphy was the apex of you know, I mean he was Michael Jackson because he reached white and black audiences, you know, at the same time. I mean, I guess Richard Pryor for more or less in the seventies older. Yeah, yeah, But like, I just don't I don't know what if American comedy was looked down upon, I don't know how much Eddie Murphy's presence was over in the UK or in Europe for that much.

Not as much. I guess his movies work.

In terms of in comedy, Richard Pryor was you know, still seeing as this is the greatest stand up who's probably ever done it. So yeah, there's no one's ever been as good as Richard Pryor. So there were box sets that you could kind of make your way through, and I was pretty obsessed with him. In England in terms of voices, you might not know, Peter Cook was this guy. He was Dudley Moore's performing partner for a while and Peter Cook was about as funny as you

Do you still see comedy or now today?

Of course with YouTube and the internet just sort of nationalizing everything where a person can now go to furthest parts of the world and make a living. I never saw like to me, it was a big deal when at least in the early arts, when Chris Rock's like, yeah, I'm gonna go tour England, is that even possible?

Or even when.

Richard what's his name, Billy Crystal, then we do, uh he did like a month in Russia. I believe that was Billy Crystal.

I remember, I remember who man who was that. I thought it was Billy Crystal. I feel like it might have been Robin Williams or Robin It.

Might have been comic Relief.

No it was, it wasn't comic relief, but just the point that it was it was regional. Yeah, like we're how easy was it for? At least I can see people.

From all parts of the world coming to America because it's a melting pot, or the idea of the melting pat But where American comedians ever.

Like in Yeah, because the economics of comedy in England is slightly easier. There's a lot of claes. It's relatively easy to make a living as a stand up. There was when I was there, there was like ninety clubs in London alone. Now sometimes that is just like an evening in the in the roof of a pub, but you could still make money from that. The idea was that you would pay comedians, so I think American comedians were pretty attracted that you could work every night all

So he just put me on the game because I thought it was the opposite. I thought like, oh, I had to leave. You had to leave the UK to.

Make it's it's easier the kind of the grassroots of comedy. It's much easier to survive. It was in coming here that I realized how difficult it was as I started, like talking to Opening Apps. When I first started touring the country just doing comedy clubs, you think, holy shit, it is hard to make a career here.

Did you re lead difficult?

Did you cut your teeth in the American circuit in or did you come here at like as John Alva and finally make it like did you have to do the There's something that Neil Brennan always jokes about with like comedy condominiums, where he's like, that's the worst bit I skip that.

I got lucky, right because I didn't have to do any of that. So I got to go straight to headlining clubs, bad clubs, not without a full contingent of people in them, and not necessarily people that were enjoying what was coming out of my face. But those were the only dudes that I played. The comedy condos I didn't.

Have to do.

You know about the legend of comedy condos, I mean it's the chilling circuit for comics where maybe if you own a comedy club, instead of wasting money on hotels and stuff.

You own a condominium.

Or maybe there's if you own a comedy club, maybe like the second or the third floor of the building that you're in, you'll just transform it into a condominium. But the whole point is that you know, night after night after night, four new strangers are in that apartment, and I was like a hostile kind of.

Take care of themselves and then think about how well they take care of an apartment they don't.

Own, crashing kind of like revealed.

On board all the sheets nasty and yeah it's grim.

Those those walls have have seen things.

So it wasn't long. So how long in between you doing that? And then the Ricky like Ricky Gervais is like the reason that you're.

Well, no, i'd already So Ricky Gervas recommended me to the Daily Show, and so I moved. I've not been to America before I got the Daily Show job, so so hence I got to skip key key steps, Key does playing steps and headline clubs. Again, not well and not full, but at least I was. It was clear that I was making a living. It was only at that point that I realized, Wow, to make this jump is hard.

Did you notice that certain of your peers will feel a certain way that you didn't have to stand in that line like a guy like Okay, Now I'm gonna start mentioning a guy like Louis Okay at the Comedy Celler. He's so revered and so loved because it's like, hey, one of us, like one of us that lived in this hellhole called the Comedy Seller finally got out and you know made it and took us along with it.

You know.

But then I'll see a figure in comedy that you know, might have went from the fourth grade to high school and they'll they'll feel a certain way about you know, there were you treated different or no?

No, because I think you know, I just played my dudes elsewhere. So yeah, I did an exchange student. Yeah exactly, I went through my version of shit. It's just a version of ship that it wasn't in America. So that's the the griminess was me like getting night buses back from again, not being died on my office the back of a pub. So yeah, I definitely feel like I jumped the line here for sure. But I had my fair share of failure in English.

Well okay, because we mostly have music guest on the show, and you know, once in a while we'll have a comedian and whatnot.

But I've always been curious.

Because I feel that comedy is one of the hardest forms of entertainment because you can't.

With me, I could do the same set.

I mean, yeah, the audience might get bored, but I can do the same song they expect, the same song, Yeah, whereas you can't do you have to constantly no.

Although there was that great Richard Pryor a bit where he talks about people mouthing along ye to bits that he was doing and then getting mad if he changed it at all. He just was saying, motherfucker didn't say that on the album, right, But that is rare because his standard was so great.

It was like music, right you.

Literally I would listen to those albums like I would listen to a music album and look forward to something that was coming, So you would your brain would be saying, oh, I can't wait until he says this bit the way, the perfect way that he says, the way his voice sounds when he says it. That is not the case with comedy generally, where it's like chewing gum.

So what's the general rhythm?

Uh?

And to take us back to your early comics, like what's your general rhythm of preparation of seeing it a testing a joke to see if it works? How long do you let it stand in your repertoire before I.

Guess, like when you're first starting off, the key steps you're going through. I don't know if this is the same as for music. Right first, you're just learning how not to humiliate yourself, because the reaction to comedy is pretty binary, unluck with music, Like they're either laughing or they're not, So there's no you can't really you can't

Right?

What do you what's your voice? What's your comedic voice really going to be? That's the thing that takes a while, but that's the thing that's really satisfying.

So was your voice always the same voice.

Or did it even it changed?

Right?

Because first you just it's like survival. Most you'll just say anything you can to make the audience laugh because what you're frightened off is the sound of your own footsteps.

As you leave the stage, what was your first like, yeah, I got them?

Like do you remember like what it was like to like in the first gig like that I ever did, where just literally making people laugh for the first time from something that came in your head. That's a moment of going, oh shit, I got them. I just made that noise myself. But the much more satisfying thing is when you first do it with a degree of difficulty, when you first realize that you're talking about something that you want to talk about, that they might not want

Do you ever, do you ever find yourself with a challenge of.

Serving your audience versus serving your eight comedic peers that might be in the back of the bar watching you.

Sure, like what.

Prevents you from doing your version of the Aristocrats? Just to make those eight guys lad that you know the joke's.

Going to go over in the audience here.

I mean, look, ideally, if you get the if you get the alchemy of it right, you're going to find a way to play to your version of the back of the room, but being more inclusive in it so that because what comedians will generally laugh at is something that you know might might be more difficult or that an audience might miss, or they'll just laugh at you.

Like.

There was a gig.

There was a gig in Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Festivor, which is amazing every every August that basically everyone in comedy goes up to Edinburgh and it was called Late in Life. It started at one in the morning and it was a bare pit, a rough, rough room. So they would when that audience turned on you. You they would tear or tear comedians apart, and so there was a bar

So it is how do you deal with hecklers?

And because you don't seem like the I'm not trying to judge you, you don't seem like the dudeou be like, motherfucker, I'll come down and be like.

You ever see the clip of the guy that like has the guitar in his hand and he just over much.

That is that is exactly how I behave motherfucker, I'm going to smash your face. Hold on, let me go get my guitar. You stay here, No, I mean, I don't you know. I generally when I do gigs now, it's generally theaters the people who come to see me. So heckling is within a certain range, right, So people will shout stuff out, but it's I love you. That's There's not There's not much you can do.

Play.

Free bird is a heckle that transcends industry.

It goes someone did that to his one that of roots, what do you wish for? They knew, but well, I mean, do you like prepare like ahead of time.

I'm like, okay, I got this one for this guy.

No, because again, there's probably two ways to do that. At the start, you know, there's a there's a bunch of lines that hack lines that you can use to shut people down. And when you're starting off doing comedy, you might just want to contain that situation right, because it's just about trying to avoid bullets, whereas now it's sometimes it's more fun like to be if you're a bit more present in a room to try and engage

I don't have the balls to heckle.

And I know that sounds perverse from someone who is standing on the state right now.

You just don't go against somebody with a microphone like that's that's that's true, that's my thing.

I'm like, Also, I just wouldn't want that kind of there's a lot of responsibility to shout out.

So you're saying that even in your world that you're in now, a call out from the audience or a disruption of your narrative is a yes.

I know. In what do you call it? An improud comedy, everything is a yes and you just go with whatever.

I'm easily distracted when I'm doing stand up, so like, if someone shouts out normally, well, what's this guy's deal? Wow, what's he shouting at? And if he's angry, this can't just be about me. It's clearly there are some other things happening in his life that I'm becoming a lightning rod for.

His frustration and hopefully rather than the security will eighty six.

Although yeah, I don't get that.

I don't know.

Maybe I don't attract rough enough crowds.

I was gonna say at this point, you know, the trunk stragglers, they're not like coming to your show.

Although although I.

Did do have you ever done that? What's the odd ball festival that I did? Jones Beach, It's it's pretty bad. It's just a bunch of comedians doing outdoor gigs and I've never done that before. It's an awful place to do comedy, and there's too many people a comedy generally haven't worked in that many years, and especially outdoors, so it's you can risk playing to the lowest comedy denominator. It's just kind of unite people that aren't there to

So what did I feel like on today?

Like, it's kind of an amazing feeling because it's a very stupid situation, right, you realize they're all going, and you could see, because it's outdoor, you could see the car park, you could see cars leaving. I could see the tail lights leaving in the distance. So it's a pretty clear sense of this gig is not going very well. But it was fun.

It was a lot of fun.

Damn.

I want to know who they came to see someone before me?

I think, is where you are now in your life? Is it more important than the search for the truth or the funny? Are you still about like where's the funny? Or is it just like I have to tell the truth and the truth is just funny.

It's both like you should. You should because you know the truth on its own. You're literally not a comedian, then I don't know what you are.

Are you a poet? I don't know. That's not commedy. You have to or do you still consider yourself a comedian?

Yeah, that's the only thing I consider myself.

Still, it's odd news for you, you transcended. I consider you like a real reporter.

No, No, it's odd because sometimes that that question gets phraised by some journalists as a compliment, I think, or is it as what they perceived to be a compliment, saying do you see yourself as just a comedian? And there's a there says slight offense. I take to that with not just a comedian.

That's my face.

I hold that to a very high level. That's my favorite thing in the world to be. It's all I ever wanted to be. I think just a comedian.

But I think comedy is you know, before really before two thousand and seven. Okay, well, actually start with Bush. So let's let's see the Clinton era. Let's say nineteen ninety nine. I mean comedy. I figure it was more of a thing that we went to escape and just laugh and laugh and laugh and then get back to life, whereas like now, you know, I can't wait to see SNL's weekend update, and I can't wait to see what Seth has to say, and I can't see your show and Daily Show and Trevor.

It depends what you want it for, though, Like it's still this comedy is escapism, but still there. There's still great absurdist comedy. They're still just fun stand up around Jim Gaffigan. It's still he's as funny.

As he's always been.

Yeah, you don't go to him necessarily to have him like explain the world to you just go for like the release of like Guttural Laughs, So that still exists. I think it's like the comedy stays the same, right, It's just the world changes sometimes so that people are wanting different things from it, but the sense of escapism

But do you let people's perception of the show influence to stand up? Because I wonder, like, do you feel the pressure when you do your stand up to be keep it political?

Keep it really because that's the beauty of stand up is you can talk about whatever you want. You're completely accountable to yourself, so it doesn't you have total control. I don't know if you found like that, Like with a DJ set, you can do whatever you want right, You're making your own decisions and you live or die.

Boce it's it's harder to buy it the years go by, my resistance to hold them hostage and see me as the curator and the leader versus I really need their love and adoration and approval. So I'm gonna play this Migo song. It's it's by the year it becomes more of a slow compromise where and that's my fear, Like I don't want to be the old guy that yeah,

That sounds really healthy. It's always gonna be a balance, right, isn't it between what you what you think, what the audience has come for, and what you.

Want them to have come for.

Right, You're gonna there's gonna have to be a blend of that.

Well, yeah, but it's it's so hard now because I think the way that life is now, everything is about it's more gray matter as opposed to black versus white. Like I used to think, you know, stuff that was effective versus things that I personally like, and I just happen to personally like things that aren't, you know, necessarily that popular. But I'm also wise enough as a businessman

Or am I playing to the audience that I you know, I don't know what like it, I don't know if you.

I'm not saying if you value the intelligence of the audience that you're seeing, I would think that you think that if they're seeing you, that.

That's what's a little easier, because I guess when you start stand up, what you're doing is basically inflicting yourself upon an audience that ask for you. Right, So if there's like five different comedians on, there's absolutely no reason to expect that they're going to be on the same page as you, Especially if you're taking like low percentage shots.

You're thinking, this is this is something I really want to talk about.

You're probably not gonna want to hear about this, So there's gonna be an element of friction there. Now when you start to find your audience, like the benefit to doing that. The upside of it is that if you can just start growing your own audience and squeezing out the people that are just not going to like it anyway, then the lower percentage shots become hyper ses.

This is brilliant.

Where do you Where do you work out of because in the club circuit a lot and I never really see you.

I used to I used to bounce up all the time, but now I've got a TV show and a family.

That's what I'm saying. And it's harder.

It is like, are you are you watching the is it a Viking funeral? Slowly watching the boat of comedy? That's going into your new life there?

That's that's the thing, because it's like, it's addictive. It's the thing I love most in the world, right it's and there is a there is a slightly there can be a debilitating side to it as a lifestyle, especially live comedy. So it's like, you know, it's it's like if you if you liked Heroin and you thought, oh wow, well this is really great. I'm going to devote my life to this and be a really tremendous committed Heroin addict, But I want to have a family. Am I going

He was trying to get up.

Every few months he would do a gig somewhere, not because he needed to, but because.

He had to. He had to do it. And you know what you need to.

Well you mean, do you need to just to stay in shape? Yeah, right, yes you do because after you know, the first gig back after a while is not good. Like I did some gigs over over New Year, and the first one I did up in Connecticut, remember walking off stage going oh shit.

And was it the crowd? They weren't respondib No, they were really.

But that's the problem, right, because when you get to ald, you not this is a luxury problem, but it's a real problem, right because if you you can get bad at stand up real quick, when you get successful, you can fail lovewards. Yeah, because you just you there is so much good will you're on fumes from that audience and you can kind of cycle downhill. And so yeah, they were a really nice audience. I think they had

Yeah, how can you tell you weren't good?

Like because you're not like it doesn't feel right, you're not thinking fast enough, Like you're just a little bit off. It's like like when the athletes come back and they go and you like if you didn't know anybody got oh, he played pretty well and they say there was half a step yeah, or you like in football, like in English football when they're when they'll just say he's just half a step behind. This isn't quite right and it

So how do you know when you're good because if they're laughing regardless.

I guess it's like an internal You've got to have that internal sense of what your own, your own sense of quality control so that you can walk out of a gig that's gone really well and think I was bullshit there, or walk out of walk out of the gig that's gone badly for them and thinking, eh, they might be.

A little bit wrong. Do you have a Neil Brennan or a Chris rack in your life? Neil and Chris Rocker, like.

The comedians go to disapproving dads. Yeah, like I've never seen and I'm talking about top shelve. Established comedians will always want those two to come to the show and like borderline abuse them.

Yeah.

Anything, and this is Seppelle humor, like they they need their two cents, just a yeah, you just want to have someone those people in in your your your crew.

That definitely like for the for the show that I write for HBO, that's that's all of us work together. And then Tim Carvell and I who run the show. He kind of he's very good at being a kind of a comedic conscience to kind of that might be a little cheap, you know you, I don't know if

In my mind, is there like a group a supportive group text between you because Bill Maher, I say Bill, but he's a single man, so it's a little different in that way. But Bill Maher, John Stewart, Steve Colbert just being comedians the TV show Family Men, Like do you guys help each other through these journeys?

It's a particular like the TV show thing. It's a very particular job and that demands a certain amount of thing. Yeah, and so you kind of end up having more in common with people that you might not have a.

Lot in come with otherwise.

They're like John Stewart was a hugely important person obviously in my life, and you know, Colbert I look up to very much. They're not entirely peers. So, I mean I text with Seth Meyers a lot because we did our shows around the same he was working for S and when I was working at The Daily Show, and then we got our own shows at similar kinds of times. We weirdly got married a similar times, had kids are

Is there a difference between stand up funny and TV show funny very different? Yeah, Okay, what's what's the difference? It's like, are there jokes that you have and it's like, okay, this was killing the club but on the show.

Yeah, that's yeah kind of. I mean, it's I guess it's the way that you would write for me in particular, Like our show is pretty tight, so there's not room to make jokes breathe necessarily, and also especially for those big stories that we do, the jokes are always in service to a very focused story, whereas stand up can be more erratic because you've got like an hour and a half to talk about whatever you want at whatever pace you want.

What do you think it is about foreign I'd use that term loosely hood for comedians like particularly you and another one of my favorite comedians, Jim Jefferies, Like, you guys have the most biding commentary about you know, the United States, and this ship makes so much sense? Is it just I guess maybe kind of being an outsider and li like, what the fuck is going on for it?

Like for comedians generally work better as outsiders anyway, they don't. Most comedians that you love don't function particularly well in society. These are people. These aren't people I can find it easy just being alive in regular cities.

Were most well adjusted high school.

So so like having a sense of being an outsider in life generally is a boon as a could be as an aspiring comedian, Like if you're literally not from here, if you're literally from outside the country. There's you already have a different eye on things. Now For me, it's like it's a blend again because I came here as a full on outsider. So when I was first, it was definitely a sense of what the fuck.

Are you doing?

This is all crazy? Now it has shifted a little bit. Right now it's what are we doing? It's not you anymore, it's we because this is my home. So there is still a sense of being an outsider, but it's honestly less than it was. Right, I've got an immigrants crush on this country.

I love it here, So.

Yeah, it's it's not It's not the same thing as saying this place is ridiculous and laughing at it from a distance. This is laughing at it from inside.

What was the most ridiculous thing like coming when you came here eleven years ago?

What was the most thing that you saw when you first got here was like, what the fuck?

Like?

What was the biggest culture shot?

I went to a Walmart for the first time. I couldn't believe how big it Walmart. Oh wow, I couldn't believe referenced. I thought they were famously.

Warm English.

No I no, No, I thought, he said Warmart. I was like, is this a new white supremacist?

Not necessarily not everything is a new white supremacist more than it used to be, to be honest. What that's the there there are still certain words as in the English accent that slide by American ears. It's that it's an odd it's an odd thing, like even with like automately phone lines, sometimes I have to adopt an American accent to make myself understood. So yeah, maybe Walmart is one of them. Walmart I went to. I went to

You don't know the joy of life until you've been into a twenty four hour Walmart super in the morning.

Yeah, that was my dream because it was after a show that I've done something. So it's out of town, I thought, I can I can buy any of this.

It was.

Mind blowing.

Yeah, like all that choice for all but all the bargains built on such human suffering.

A gun depending on what.

Yeah. Yeah, at three in the morning, no questions asked.

So can you explain, besides your actual name being in the title, what were were the general differences between working on The Daily Show with John Stewart and doing your own show.

Well, I guess it's a Cosmetically it might look similar, like again, the mechanics of it, it's very, very different.

So I knew how to.

Work within that machine, especially because like when John left for that summer, I kind of stepped stepped into his shoes for.

A few months. Yeah, so I forgot I did.

I did a version of his job less well for three months, so I kind of ran ish that show. I ran it a little bit for that for that few months.

Why are you chosen? Was I chosen? And was it awkward for you to accept it?

No?

It was terrified because he called me and said, I got that movie I've been working on. I'm going to direct it. So I was kind of, oh, that's nice. This this feels like something that I didn't see what was coming, right, So that's an odd thing to decide to call me. How many people you call it today? And then he said so I'm going to be gone

You mean, yeah, you'll be fine?

No?

No, my go with Samitha were you know? I mean? But was it? Is it awkward being no?

Because we were doing slightly different jobs, again than it might have looked like. I was writing on the show as well, so I was more embedded in every single part of that show than the other correspondents were. So I was there every minute of every day. So it was it was a much easier transition for me than it would have been for a correspondence one of the other correspondents to do it. They would have all been able to do it. It was just it was easier for me.

I'm glad you said that, because having visited the Daily Show a couple of times, that's one of the most exhausting things I've ever witnessed.

Yeah, what is I mean, what's the process like for research? Like? Because someone has to sit and watch.

Everything fast news for four hours a day just to get that one sound?

How many someone?

So I can't speak to that show anymore because the show that I worked for literally doesn't exist. And I worked for John, So I don't know what Trevor's done to change that process.

I know when you were there, when you were there, when I was there, When I was there, there was did interns have to sit and watch it?

Not so much interns, because it was there was a hole.

So the way that I mean things were just as crazy with the Abound administration, with the but to say boys, the Trump administration. So what if something were to happen at two or five pm and you still got that four hour winter before the show starts and you know it's going to be newsworthy?

Is it just how you can do a little bit, but you've got four hour before the show starts, but there's a lot of production that needs to happen to make graphics, cut the soots, so that four hours gets dissipated down real quick. So the rules just so you can make you can make changes to a certain extent. Again, this is how it used to be. I don't know if you're going to be on time for or more

So something say if the Daily Show were now and say that Trump fire is more in at four pm and you already have your show set, are you guys just like okay, we'll deal with that on tomorrow's show.

That again, I don't know now, but then the practice then was that we would say something for two three minutes at the start, and then John was sad, we'll.

Talk about it tomorrow.

Now the I think it's changed a little bit now because the pace has increased so much that people want stuff quicker. So we were making that show before Twitter, so like there's there was a window which you haven't seen all the jokes on it. It was interesting watching the State of the Union last night. They're going live, so that finishes. Guess he finished pontificating at like ten thirty, So they're like daily shows on it travels on at eleven, seems on at eleven thirty five. You have not got

Do you think your job would be easier if Hillary hit won, if we had someone else and others?

It's the same.

It's the same, the pace of things. It's difficult in a different way.

Okay, so fast forward to last week tonight. Now you have a plethora of information of the pace is moving faster, and you have to decide how what you can put in this show in the week.

So for us now, those decisions are different because those big stories that we do so basically from like after the first ten minutes what can sometimes be like twenty two, twenty five five, sometimes over thirty minute stories. Those things don't shift because those have been we've been working on those for weeks and there is they've been you know, been legally checked. Often they're irrelevant to the week as well.

No, it's dope. Usually just making us aware of something that we haven't thought about or something.

Yeah, but the start of the show changes, right, So the kind of decision process that we go through in our heads are like, if something crazy is happening on a Monday or a Tuesday, we're not gonna let's all those bones are going to be picked pretty clean of meat by all the different shows and the concept of jokes on Twitter. There's nothing really much that we can

So for you, you hope that Thursday morning is just a sweet spot for you to get the goods early.

Is it even important to get the goods early? Yeah, because you're the king of the Mountain and.

It's Bill Mak's Bill Mark.

Counter Damn.

So the next question I was gonna ask doesn't mean anything because I was gonna say this, Bill mar even a factor because he's live on Friday.

No, it doesn't really make it. We do, we do different things. It really doesn't make any difference at all.

So Okay.

Another good reason why I'm glad you're here is because of the time that we live in now, especially with the orange laught of the me too movement is is uh, for some shows, one of them I won't name, uh you know, there there's like a checklist like, oh, this guest can't come up on the show, this guest can't come on the show, this.

Guest, you know, it's just like it's going to be awkward.

And even for this particular show, there's about three or four guests that we were set to have on the show that now it's going to be kind of awkward because I don't know if I'm you know, at least, I mean, this show is under two years old, so I'm not I'm not at the fully confrontational point of like, okay, pointing out white elephants that easily.

How hard was it? What was going through your mind the morning that you had to interview Dustin Hoffmann?

So what yeah, my show, I don't those I haven't aready thought about. Last guess is because we don't have guests. So that's actually not something I've ever had to go through. So and the only reason I bring that up is it was that's what made that a different experience. So they'd like, they did you.

Try to get out of it like, well, in a sense I did.

And I offered them a chance for me not to do it, because they'd ask me to do it months before. I don't do many of those things. I don't think I'm going to be doing many of them. But so they said, here's that you want to do this like the dog screen. I said fine. Then they said, oh, Dustin Hoffin might be there. So I said to them, oh, okay, if that's true, you might need to get someone else because I would need to ask him about something, so

The categorically deny. No, not not that I'm sorry, it was the work.

It was the sometimes the categorically deny. I kind of got no problem with that's a point of.

View, right, But when I hear that, I know publicists ruled it.

Oh sure, But at least then there was a firm ground of I am going to this is I'm going to die on this hill. It did not happen, right, his his his statement for the bubbles. It was more I apologize to her if she felt upset. That's the stuff that's that this does not reflect who I am. That drives me nuts. So I wanted to unpick that statement, and then ah, it's escalated from.

There, is it? Is it like all right?

You know, like that whole i'll see you after class sort of thing, and you and you're like, you know, is it was it that was your heart racing? Or i'll see you after class? That's not a level of bravado.

As a high school I capitulated in conversation it was if it was ever i'll see you after class that you won't day in the classroom, I'll wake you out. I'm not coming outside. I'll hide behind the teacher.

But it could have gone either way, though the hands sweat?

How do you?

Oh?

Yeah? How many horrible?

An hour? Was it an hour? Was it a ninety minute thing? Like wouldn't you timement?

Like?

Okay, like forty five minutes? I'm gonna you know what, that is a great question.

So because it's like it's a there's an audience have come to see Whack the Dog. Also, this this introduction is happening before the movie starts, So this is this is the needle that I'm having to thread. So I thought twenty minutes. Let's talk about what the Dog whatever.

Then I'll raise this I didn't so at first, and then have a Q and A afterwards.

I think I think they wanted to leave. I think, like the people on the stage wanted to go and have dinner or whatever.

I don't know.

I wasn't invited anyway, they so I thought I talked about the movie for twenty minutes half an hour, because that's what people come to see. Raise this issue. We'll see see how long that takes. God, I can't remember. Oh, I think actually it was a forced segue, because.

No, it was.

Actually it was he said something that was a little glib about Also, you gotta remember, Whack the Dog is a movie about it's been in sexual harassment and or assaults within that we don't know in that story that was then buried and not addressed, and the and the way that you could powerfully bury it. So there is

Does he does he know? I mean, you know they could like he might want to talk about the issue, and.

Did they tell him? Maybe I have no idea.

But here's the question. See in even when you ask that question, like what did he expect? I think a lot of interviews, especially lately, everybody's trying to navigate what's the right way to go about this? So you kind of broke the mold with that. And I don't know if anybody else has followed it up in that way.

I mean, it wasn't a thing. It wasn't on TV, right, this is just at the ninety second street. Why so what I was trying what I wanted it was I wanted to with any of these issues, They're all different, every single example is different. So it was a case

So then like the.

Funny now the dog, Well, that's the crazy thing is that you know, it's not that's not a very friendly audience for me there, because there's lots of fans of his. I didn't this was not a situation of mind making. I personally don't believe that the problems of my questions they were his answers. But there's still part of my head which is thinking, I got this kind of goes back to your early thing about what a thinking about

Oh, so I couldn't get is the audience reaction though?

Fully like, no, no, I mean it was free bird, you know, free buds would have been a great tension.

Yeh, next time, audience, And what do you you have yo?

So let me just ask you then on the subject, since you said you were introspective about the me too the times and a lot of people, a lot of women are feeling some type of way about men's reaction, men's vocal ability to speak on the subject. You have a new season starting in a week. Number one, how do you feel and what do you feel that something should be said from the male perspective? And number two, how are you going to do that on your show?

I mean, I think something definitely should be said about from the male. I think it's important for men to talk to other men about this. It's not it's it's definitely not important for men to explain to women that this is an important issue.

I want you to sit down so we can have a talk.

But it is important for men to say it out out in front of women so that women understand you two counters.

I guess.

But look, it's such a complicated conversation. I think it is important. I've I've talked to friends of mine about it, like it's it's this is conversation that a lot of us have avoided for kind of understandable reasons.

With friends.

Right when you see your friend doing something gross, you know, there are many very damaging inclinations to go, ah, that's just I know him.

He's not like that. He's not like that to you trying to fuck you. That's that.

But that's the thing, like you, I've met a lot of as these stories have started coming out, and sometimes I've thought, oh, that's weird. He was really nice to me, And you think, yeah, he probably fucking was nice to me.

He's man.

Yeah, but it's easy, like lots of the people have a natural charisma, and it's no one is just one thing either. It's it's complicated, like you say, it's there are shades of gray here. Not only is every single situation different, but.

Uh, it's also allowed to play with comedy wise, and not for nothing. I'm just saying.

Definitely, definitely, and in an in a fun way because it's a minefield and it's fun to run through minefield requirements.

What's the eligibility is like?

So yeah, I think it is important to I'm we're working on We're working on a whole bunch of stories at the moment. We're working on something.

I don't know what.

We've got to work out what we can add to it, right, what hasn't been said, and what we could say that would be constructive and funny.

It's a blank canvas though, real, So we should have Russell on Quest Love Supreme.

You know.

I think we should naturally just with.

Just play whack the Dog for everyone.

Now, you know, because I think after a while it's just like everybody. Yeah, in about three years, it's just gonna be.

But it's not binary. Again, It's not like everybody's guilty for start. That's such that's so depressing, that idea that everyone's good. That's the kind of level of cynicism that even I don't have, right, But I do think the important thing is for everyone to be introspective about it. I think you've got to look at yourself and your friends, and it doesn't not not every incident is going to require the same response.

But so had he not just want hair doesn't not said or try to walk back the statement a little bit.

The whole point of you calling him out on.

It was wait, did you just undo the statement that you said that? Yeah, I think the post we have to talk about this. We're again, we're wag the Dog, the movie about sexual harassment that was squashed. So if you don't think this is going to come up, that is a level of indestructibility, which is in itself a real problem here. So, uh no, there was a way for that to go much smoother and be more interesting. And I don't think it was tally my fault that it didn't.

Go that way. Fight the powers that being heisty chunk d.

So where we are now with year one with this current administration, I mean, I go back to my first question, which is how exhausting is it?

How do you have any hopes that Well, that's a complete question, hope, end of question.

I meant, you know, I know that a lot is being put on you know, God, please let these midterms have a turnaround.

Do you have faith?

Do you have faith in in the system still in American people or you know, my thing is that if Russia did it once, Russia will do it twice.

And of course you know, will will we be Okay? The twenty eighteen will we be here? You're going to put that on me? Will we be? Will? Will we be here in two thousand and eight?

I mean, I guess there's there's degrees to that, right. I think if the if you're holding up the midterms as this kind of perfect silver bullet that's going to make everything okay, that is not going to happen. So you think we're gonna get four years of Trump? Four years, there's no reason to do. I think we're going to get eight years. There's a non zero chance we're getting twelve years of him, you really think so.

But here's the thing. Even if I can't be here on earth that happens.

But he is not this this is he is a deeply unpleasant human being. But the ship that he stirred up doesn't stop just with him, right obviously, So if the midterms flip, if he goes, there is someone else, the shit load of stuff still to deal with in its wake, the fact that he's churned up all all the problems with white nationalism. I'm only because you mentioned it. I'm not pointing to white we used to be. Yeah, all the kind of dog whistle racism which is now audible,

How about the slave reference? Don't forget about the slave reference. When he pointed out the owner, the white owner of the business who just expanded into another building, and then he says, oh, and the black guy over there, Corey, he's a good worker. He works for that guy right there, and you know what he's gonna do with his tax break. He's going to take his tax break, he's going to buy a house, and he's gonna get education for his two dart.

How can you.

Because it was racis And I knew that a lot of people didn't plantation race, but I did because somebody needed to have the reference.

Of yeah thirteen.

I was waiting for.

The thing is he is the he is the conductor of racism, is still going to be that when he's away.

She can't wait for the black man to come out who had sex, will.

Be those bigoted bassoons are still after twelve is stick around.

But your girl recar her story the stormy, stormy weather, stormy Dan she like, she was like, no, it never happened. Yeah, how much did they give her?

She's dancing? She moon walked it back, but then she shuffled forward again.

I think it's not it's she camera walked, move forwards, camera walking, shout James Brown. Yes, yeah there was.

Yeah, she was dancing around it on Kimmel. We'll see where she lands. But yeah, she uh, she moon walked backwards.

And I'm sure I'm certain that you know there was another one hundred thousand dollars check written to go on and just say she's on a powerful.

But she had already admitted to it like two other times back in the past, and both of those stories were the same, and they were.

So she's I worry about too much attention on the storm with Daniel's think, because who gives a ship his wife? Sure, I get how you would care, I get how she would be piste off. Otherwise, this is this is not in the top one hundred things that we should be really concerned about. What is happening right now. It's it's certainly, it's certainly funny.

I think it just shows the double standard. I think I think that's why it's become such a popular story, because it'sause it's shown the double standard. You know, if it was Obama that had sex with the porn star, then he would have if.

Obama had liked an Instagram picture of some model chick. But this is not the first big double standard. No, no, I mean it's just you know, another in the long line of Yeah, and is that new?

I mean, you could tell us better than anything, John, I mean, I know you've been for a let years, but when you're watching these stories, does it seem a little different than what's going on in England?

A politician in England who was found dead masturbating with with a orange in his mouth. Please don't sure he had.

Sex with a sound mirror episode it was.

I think it was a Satsuma Clementine story. I just remember, that's a hell of a way to go baby.

Nutrition environment. He died as he lived in search of vitamin.

But yeah, I mean, Brittain is wrestling with a whole different kind of problems that Brexit is going to tear Britain and Europe apart for decades to come. So that is a whole different ship storm a little bit too.

No, that is not on him, on him, where is that coming up? Remember to be like the ignorant generals, like can you still weigh in on issues over there?

Like where you mean does anyone who hear it from me?

No? I guess I guess not.

You know, in the in the same way that people say, I don't want to hear it from a britt over here. You moved to American I'm a man without a country.

So break down to brexit like for those of us like word exactly, it.

Was a fucking stupid thing to do. Uh it was, well, I gain the first stupid thing to do was to call a referendum on it at all. So it was a like an incredibly self serving decision made from a prime minister who's not prime minister anymore, and the fact he made that decision will taint his record for the rest of his life. He should be he should struggle

Come back to them.

That's where we start. Trump came in.

There is it's made, that's the same ze. Source of discontent is UH made both decisions possible, both decisions which seemed like they would be impossible, made them plausible. And then of course like so that it made it did mean that having watched Brexit happened and it was just heartbreaking to watch that happen, knowing what that will do to Britain and to Europe.

So how long does that How long do we have until that actually.

Takes until it happens where we then negotiating now, so they instituted this article, so they're involved in these literally impossible negotiations right now.

So so even when it does happen, that means what that is a that.

Is a question you should ask the Prime Minister of the u K and the head of the EU it's not it's not clear. It's not clear who will be allowed to live where, who will be able to trade with whom. It's not clear if there will be a hard border in Northern Ireland again, which I don't know how much you knew about the trolls and here it didn't work out too well last time. There it is, it's almost it's almost bamboozling. The depth of complexity and

I meka tell me it's going to be okay.

Well, I'm only asking because well again, this also leads to the again back to exhausting impression. How real is the quote unquote John our effect in your head? Like do you wake up in the morning brust.

Your teeth flight.

I'm not even effective in shifting plot.

Or I'm just saying that.

Again, it's what does it make you paranoid that as quick as like Americans are world famous for building someone up just to tear them down, Like, so are you paranoid that you have so much. You you kind of have a power that sort of extends past what John Stewart was doing. And I hate to say that I don't anything.

Honestly, don't know that's true at all. I think that the general effect seems like, I really it's bullshit.

You're going to say it's a reach. You're going to say it's a reach. I know that. Let me just say it. I'm just saying that. I'm just saying that. I know you're going to think it's a reach. But what I'm saying is, are you at least on defense not on defense?

I think I'm more aware if if I really think about like try to tap into your.

And then oh, look for anything to discredit you to Oh.

I mean, of course we've had like we've done stories about Russia, North Korea, and you know, I went to meet Snowden in Russia, so we've had like higher level cybersecurity for a while. I have a I have a healthy amount of paranoia, but I guess I guess in terms of my motivations for things, I basically I'm trying to think about this as honestly as possible. Right, I still fundamentally refute the premise of like this nebulous John

Yeah.

Right, we were an amplifier, right, So we have a louder voice. So I'm definitely colnisant of the fact that we have a loud voice. And that's probably the only.

Loud diminishes it is that just loud.

It's accurate, it's.

Accurate, and it's understandable, like people all levels can understand, and it breaks things down and.

That I'm aware of, Like when we talk, I'm aware that people will listen and generally will when we say if we're thinking about getting people to do something, I do think about you know, sometimes in the past, like like even if we're writing things on the Daily Show. I think it would be funny if you did if people went and did this and the joke is finished, and that you don't want them to actually do it. I'm much more aware now of the fact that if

Well, I mean, what what areas you you along with that neutrality?

Uh, you've taken on the tobacco industry like you've done a billion now, I mean Oprah tried this once.

You could have put Oprah on me. Now that when she tried to go to the beef industry, they clap, clap, So you do it for the van, We do it for the bow van. I wish I have my sound effects class. That was awesome. What do you see a mountain you can't climb?

No, because also with these stories, you gotta understand they know what's coming in. But we work with them, Like we're in contact with Philip Morris International as we're right in that story, just like we're in contact with coal companies that we talk about. There's a back and forth in Hey, this is what we're going to say about you. If you got anything to say about that. Oh, well that's not based on anything. Well, here is what that is based on. They know there has been we don't

But has there been an organization that has said no? I mean, oh, Shad said no, like scientology or whoever you want to investigate, Like, who's the one organization that you're trying to.

Sort of move past this, uh, this gate.

That I don't know if there is one, right, I mean it's I don't know if there is like it. There's there's no condis, there's.

No Fortnight subject to you that you will not really not really.

It's because whenever we're taking swings, we're trying to engage the people that we're taking swings at, so that so that we basically agree on the underlying facts. We just might have different conclusions to those facts, right, But but those facts have got to be accurate, and so our key difference of opinion is what those facts mean. But so yeah, I mean, I don't I'm sure that there have been many companies that are pissed off with us,

Have you gotten any feedback from any I mean, any activists in the community. I'm curious more now than Daily Show. It feels like since you're changing some culture a little bit more informing, there'd be some folks call you up, like you know Al Gore, like I'm so glad that you did.

Our Gore does not have my cell number. If he ever calls me on my phone, I'm throwing it in the river.

I'm burn. I don't go anywhere.

I don't know anyone, So yeah, I live in There's not too many tentacles that people. But people pitch stories all the time and like as they do within our office, and we'll we'll look at them.

Still, don't even think about it like that, Like now people are trying to get their word out through you.

We don't really listen to many outside pitches, to be honest, So there's.

No idea too silly, Like even the idea of you going to rush to interview him, that's a dumb idea, But that's that's literally asking for trouble.

That was what's so exhilarating about it. Perhaps you just ask him because I thought I thought there was the thing that was mostly interested about with Snowden was he's an incredibly smart guy, but like lots of people that are smart in that particular way, he's not a great communicator.

Like nothing?

We were worried, Like we were worried that we'd split the tapes amongst the crew in case one of us got pulled. So at least me you'll go through.

Yeah.

And the crazy thing is I forgot about this. I've never had this happen on a flight before. But they when we landed from Moscow, Uh, they said there was They said everyone stay in your seats, like the FBI here to pick up a couple of passengers. So me and my producers, but it was it wasn't us.

I don't know who it was. I was sticking around. I don't know who it was. They got.

They got to maybe they got two people. Think yeah, no, they were we were walking part they were.

They were there.

They they were walking past. So they were going to get people as they as they pulled off.

So how did you know America was pissed there.

Because we were.

Ye reached out to them after we've gone, just because we wanted to fact check everything he'd said. He wanted us to do that because he didn't want information to no longer be currently.

He wants to be right as well.

He doesn't want to be giving out bad information. So we reached out to the NSA and said, this is the stuff that we were I'm sure, I am sure they knew we were there. If if they didn't know we were there, that seems like I don't think it was a surprise that we were there.

Well, I'm being getting on between you and Rachel Meadow. My money's on you to to break up and it's current administration.

Oh man, you're back in the wrong horse.

New season, let's go yeah that on a new season. Were there any stories that you were really wishing that you were on the air for.

Not really, because we don't generally trafficking those. We do some slow cooking with our stories, so it's not we're operating in a slightly different, slightly different arena, So there's there's nothing particularly that we've missed that it felt like we were going to have much to add to other than everything. But you know, yeah, we'res When we were excited to come back, we got a bunch of ideas, some of which are related to everything that's going on and some of which not.

It would totally kill you, but could you operate in a fifty two week.

No, not making this show because we make mistakes, you know, it's just too intense that with making this particular kind of we could do a different show for fifty two weeks, but you can't do.

This, So then that takes out my other question, could this be a daily No, okay, we could do it. We could do a daily show, but it wouldn't. You just can't.

It's not physically possible. So it takes it takes longer to do this stuff. So we can only we can only do the amount of shows that we do because we need to build in breaks in the year where we're not doing shows, but we're still working because we getting If we make a big mistake, we're fucked right, because we've got we definitely have enough of a target on our back. Now that you get something wrong in a big way, it's kind of done.

You want to tell us a little bit about what we're working on.

What I've got in the slow coat. I don't know if we've got anything. That's one of the nice things I like about the show is I like the fact that you don't know what we're going to talk about. Right with lots with lots of late night shows, you

Look forward to trying. Whatever schools is gonna be a story of charter schools. Don't really want to know.

You know what, if we said it was no one would watch. We kind of have to trap you into watching something that you don't really want to see.

I think.

But as a viewer, I'm already knowing you said charter schools. I want to know what the.

Just you don't know.

We have to explain this part of the writing, why something is important. So we were just like, guess what we're going to do something about Sinclair Board Broadcasting Group.

People go, that sounds terrible. How many writers are in the room. It's not.

It's not so much a writer's room in the traditional sense. But we have at the moment we have eight writers plus uh plus him and I. I think that's the current tally, and that's what we have right. We might we might get a couple more.

Do I need to ardit your female male ratio? John, how your writer's room doing? How's it doing?

Two to six? Right now? You try to go to his show?

No, no, no, I'm just writers.

It's not yeah.

To see where you fit in I'm to see if I'm actually in there represented.

That is entirely legitimate question. So two to six is not the balance that I'm happy with the moment. So we're in the process of trying to put that right.

I have to that.

We're in the process right now of hiring You.

Just got somebody, no idea, no no, no, come on question question. Yeah.

So we've we've talked a little bit about little bits and pieces about how the show is put together. Can you walk us through like an actual week is, like, you know, is every Monday pretty much the same.

Because it's not really like one week.

So those those main stories were on four week cycles, right, So like there's a week of like just research to check that the story it's been reported accurately, that hasn't shifted. And then like another week of research and footage looking for footage whether there's the ingredients in terms of other people's footage that we can use to tell the story. Then we start writing two weeks out from the show.

Do you have a difficult time like establishing what's success and what's not because there are some Sundays where the next on Monday, everyone's talking about what John Oliver did on his show, and then some there's not.

I don't really pay much attention to that because we're already worried about the next one. So yeah, like if you if I paid too much attention to the ripple effect, I'd either go crazy, I'd get frustrated kind of litigating why people were not taking it because it's I think what I find frustrating when something does get passed around is you can't control the packaging. So all that shit clickbait terminology of oh he destroys this industry, that's not

Yeah, Yeah, Look I'm just looking for remixes.

For certain I'm trying to save you from yourself.

We are are welcome to.

It's basically an intervention with one different guest each week.

I got one more question, So, were you guys actually surprised at how well or how much the internet took to some of the long form pieces that you got to do, because yeah, it's fourteen minute pieces.

And fourteen it's way longer than look for a short short people like they are around twenty Like again, we've done more long show stories, longer than our show is supposed to be. So yeah, it doesn't make any sense. I don't understand why anyone watches it or enjoys it. I have more than enough self clothing to find my success inexplicable.

No, your show is made for the iPhone. Man, It's and you, I mean, you break things down. I think that's what one of the reasons I watch it, you break it and explain it.

I think one.

I think the one thing that is really useful for us, especially being on HBO, is because these stories are running twenty minutes, like they have an arc to them where we kind of need your full attention so we can't be breaking twice for commercials in there. Otherwise it's you kind of lose people's focus and then you've got to recap.

Fish for a compliment for HBO, But do you ever look around and feel good about being on that network? Seeing as though it seems like they support between Vice and Bill and like they support this voice of say what you want to say as long as it's truth and politics.

And I guess, I mean, I can only speak from my experience. I'm sure people have been annoyed by them, work for them. I can only speak from my experience, which is that they said, you'll do what you can do, whatever you want, and and but immediately you think, well, that's bullshit. Everyone says that, and that conversation turns really quick when you start doing things they don't want you to do, and they have kept their mouth shut.

So Sesame Street was told the same thing.

Want the cursing mumpets.

Curse, I want to talk ship about scientology.

Subject I love scientology.

Have you read you read that book?

I've read the books books incredible, No, not Dianetics.

No, the What's Clear Going, yeah, the movie. Yeah, the book I was that was that was amazing. I couldn't put that from Fuddled the whole thing anyway.

On the other hand, it's a series of mechanics that can really help you turn you like. It really depends clear or Dianetics. I'd read that one first. This seems like I'm an amazing human being that just needs to access my full potential.

Have one last, one last question.

I really want to work on Tom Cruise's motorbike.

What's it like to interview Stephen HARKing?

Amazing? It was, honestly, Now, the reason I wanted to do that was that he's a funny guy. And so the thing about him that I find frustrating is that, you know, it's very, very easy to just objectify that guy as being a brain beyond most of our comprehension and that's it. Whereas he's a really he loves comedy, right, loves the Simpsons. That's why he does appearances something, and I know he's he has a good sense of humor.

And so what we had to do was.

Write that interview back and forth beforehand, and he would trigger it up on his computer. So I would say, how I'm going to ask you this question. Then he would like say he would say, oh, this be my answer because it takes him a long time to communicate now uh, and then he would have his answers queued up. But you could see like a glint in his eye because I wanted him to like this would be a shit talking thing.

I wanted to.

It was really fun watching his face light up when he knew he was about to give me a give me the business, so yeah, like they like the anticipation on his face when he was about to drop a slam on me was fantastic. So it was great to just slightly waste his time.

You just gave us an exclusive. I don't know, those are really his voices on like when he does the Simpsons and family guy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I have a question. I was just that's not a question.

I just wonder if you had any background or education in journalism, or if you learned all these journalistic skills at your job.

It's not comedy jobs.

It's not just me, right, So the journalistic skills come from my staff. So we got people from the Timers magazine, from Pro Publica.

So you have no journalistics.

I have.

I'm like a journalism adjacent like that. They they have worked in journalism. But you no, no, no, no, I'm a comedian, not just a comedian. I'm a comedian, which takes me back to when do you think you will go in front of an audience and just tell us why the chicken cross the road? And changing diapers and and oh you mean what?

I don't know.

Diapers to pussy really fast because I.

Would never say Oliver to do that.

I'm not I once I once had a friend in England. He offered me like he ran a gig and he offered me fifty quid to do a dirty set and he said, but you've got to do it for five minutes. And I was in agony. There was like grants in for we can talk about the tatars w Yates.

I believe where is that?

I don't have a blue set in me?

You know what I think?

Uh?

I think I know that the taboo interview show that you could tackle. It would be crazy. And I know he's going to grant an interview. Who I think you should interview O J.

Simpson. I would the juice.

I would the juice loose on Mike. I would love to we know, I know Ezra, Ezra Edelman. Yeah, who might might the Yeah he probably our documentary. I watched that four times already, so I think, yeah, I think he might be looking for Ezra before he's looking for me.

But or or jay Z.

Oh, yeah, that's true. He's writing a song about me. That's great.

Grammys. I was just praying to guy that jay Z won that award just so so we can get O J. Simpson. It is OJ Prize.

Lifetime.

Think about that.

I was.

Even even more than Army Winsde. I think like it's I know he's in.

I know he's uh sort of putting feelers out there that you know he is the entry. Yeah, but I think it's more like for money, like the thing like I'll talk for five hundred thousand dollars.

He's motivated by money.

Crazy to believe it or not? Right, Yeah, but I would think that would be an awesome interview.

Look, the thing I loved about AS's documentary was as a British person, my encounter with Oja was airplane onwards, airplane to murder. So when that, when that story came out, it was more in England. Oh that guy from that funny guy in airplane he killed someone and so it was what I didn't understand was everything before then I didn't understand. I didn't like Kravins, I didn't. I understood he was a football player, but not exactly theology. I didn't understand the Hurts commercials.

So uh, there was a.

Lot in that I didn't know.

Well, the the last o J, the party o J. Yeah, that's the OJ I knew. And you seen him dog the first time.

We were going around her house, dropped him off.

Seriously. I had dinner with oj one night. It was it was the surrealest thing in my life. What what?

And so they see partly so I'm we're in Miami working on an album and not many people know.

Well I don't know.

If you know, you probably don't even know who Scott Storch is. Scott Storch is a former Roots member and he might be connected with some friends of ours. Way, hey whatever, anyway, he's saying friends of ours are also connected to OJ and they go golfing with him and everything. So I guess the stories that one of their wives was having a birthday dinner and Scott has ever so casually mentioned like, hey, you know, let's let's we were in the studio.

It's like, yeah, let's go on a dinner break.

So we Scott start dinner break, a three hour.

Dinner break, and there was like, oh, by the way, OJ is going to be here too, And so think of like the the Last Supper. Oh my god, it's like a Last Supper scenario or or or very Got Fathers whatever, like just a circle of this thing of that whole Martin Scorsese thing where he's like all the characters and everything and Johnny two times and you know that got to get the pape, let's get the paper exactly.

And so surprisingly, there's like the small children's table.

I don't know if you have this Thanksgiving thing there, it's like the big fans sit there in yeah, so on the side so on the side in the smarts thanks Giving a different story, but the side table situation, there's like an additional nine people and it's like me Buster rhymes Scott Storts and O. J. Simpson, and you know, in the beginning was slightly awkward. I try to act as normal as I could, and he's like, yeah, you know, I used to have one of those. He's pointed at

Go, let's go, let's go, let's go an ex life.

Yeah, let's go. Four bottles of wine, and and then like I don't want to be around drunkard.

You don't and then you want four bottles of wine and he says to to Buster me and Scott, he's like, you know, you know her, Kate Carter, you know all the singers, Bob Dylan and them, they you know, they fought for Hurricane Carter's innocence.

You know, I need the rappers to make a song about me. And we're all looking at each other. But here's here's the funny. He made a song about him. Yeah right, yeah, it was like that. So and then by bottle number six, I would have left the bottom number two. There was dark.

There was there was a point when we started talking about Dart and Marsha Clark and stuff. And then like me and Scott's brother were like having that uh that trading places bathroom stall, feet raised.

Up in the air so no one could see us. It was like, yo, are we all to be talking this sort of thing? Like we were like, we didn't know what we were. It was the weirdest three hours of my life.

And so yeah, we that is a great fucking story. That is a hard social situation to navigate. And I find every social situation you introduced four bottle o j into that, especially saying you gotta just give me, just give.

Me a song he wants. H Yeah, and you know what, there are knives on the table.

Years later, jay Z gave him that song, just not quite the song that he wanted.

Exactly what happened the second time.

That was.

Situation anyway, like that, don't worry about it, and uh, I'm Bill Sugar Steve. We are signing off Course of Supreme.

West Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Manadora. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.