‘Daily Show’ comic entertains crowd

Oliver, a Cambridge-educated British comedian known for his work as a correspondent on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” spoke to a full house eager to hear his deprecating humor. The four class governments jointly sponsored the event to host Oliver, who has been working as a correspondent on the Comedy Central political satire program since 2006.

His jokes reflected on his experience of moving to America, President Obama’s promise of change, childhood sports heroes and Americans’ “inspiring” strategy of doing things without thinking. He also addressed “the elephant in the room” by noting, “I’m not like you. I’m British. I’m not better than you. Anymore.”

“It’s useful being an outsider,” he said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian after the show. “Verbally, I sound different. Dentally, I look different.” He added that his accent makes it seem as though he has a mastery of the English language.

Compared to other college audiences, Princeton students are confident and “comedy-literate,” Oliver said. Engaging with the crowd also provides material for his comedy, he added, noting that he loves heckling.

“It’s a bit gladiatorial,” he said, referring to his banter with audience members.

Though he expected students at Princeton to be more intellectual than others, ultimately, “students here just want to get drunk like everyone else,” Oliver said in the show. “It’s just when you pass out and wake up, it’s in a nicer place.”

Oliver said in the interview that he does not believe the college-age demographic uses ‘The Daily Show’ as a main source of news. “If it’s true, it’s terrifying,” he said. He added that he doesn’t consider ‘The Daily Show’ to be journalism, insisting that it is “comedy, 100 percent.”

“Calling ‘The Daily Show’ a source of news is an insult to journalists — not Greta van Susteren or Glenn Beck or even [Keith] Olbermann — but to real journalists,” he said.

As to whether the political brand of comedy used on ‘The Daily Show’ will endure, Oliver said it depends on the quality of the comedians. “Jon Stewart is incredible at comedy,” he said. “Comedy is broad, and politics are just a subset of it.”

Oliver added that he doesn’t worry about blending intellectual humor and crude humor, whether on ‘The Daily Show’ or in his stand-up routines. “It’s just a joke,” he explained. “Dissecting comedy never works.”