John Oliver Puts Down the Outrage, Goes Off Brand With Regifting Segment
Does Janice in accounting give a fuck? We suspect no.
John Oliver ended his successful second season of Last Week Tonight just a few weeks ago. The show doesn’t return until February, but Oliver couldn’t wait to get back into our lives, offering us a web exclusive guide to regifting for this holiday season.
It’s #off-brand, considering the serious issues like elections (Canadian and American), fantasy sports corruption, terrorist attacks, and more, that Oliver tends to report about. But it’s still delightful and sharp, as always.
The main takeaway from Oliver’s segment is that you should not — repeat: should not — regift outside of an office Secret Santa. You can’t regift too close to home because, as he says, that’s when you get caught. You get cocky, fly too close to the sun, and your Yankee Candle-scented Icarus wings melt.
Outside of the useful content, Oliver’s re-gifting segment is a reminder that he is, first and foremost, a comedian. The news is his subject matter, and he’s a pretty damn thorough reporter, but he’s ultimately just a “birdy fact funny man news goof!”
It’s unlikely that Season 3 of Last Week Tonight will feature such tangential fun forays into everyday problems. Oliver’s journalism only got stronger as Season 2 progressed, making waves in the real world and even interviewing Edward Snowden in Russia. But if he wanted to take a step back and spend an episode or two giving out life advice, his audience would surely be glad to listen.
