Top 10 Funniest John Oliver Moments Ever

In May of 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, John Oliver addresses how the global health situation was affecting the world of sports. After outlining some of the safety measures major sports leagues were taking, he decided to tackle the thrilling sport of marble racing. He took a look at the huge popularity of Jelle's Marble Runs, a YouTube channel featuring highly conceptual competitive marble races. When Oliver realized that the channel was struggling for funding, he decided to make “Last Week Tonight” its primary sponsor, supporting his new passion for the sake of providing enjoyment to viewers around the world.

One of John Oliver’s greatest strengths is taking potentially dry subject matter and turning it into something entertaining. You wouldn’t think that a discussion of Turkmenistan’s authoritarian president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow would turn into an attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest marble cake, but that’s where things ended up. Because Berdimuhamedow has a penchant for trying to set and break world records, Oliver wanted to do one of his own, and his team prepared a 600 square-foot cake depicting the world leader being thrown from one of his beloved horses, setting the world record in the process… even though Guinness wouldn’t recognize it according to Oliver.

In 2017, John Oliver criticized mining executive Bob Murray, leading to a long legal battle in which Oliver and his show were accused of defamation. Luckily, they won the suit and Oliver celebrated in style in this segment from 2019. He addressed the issue of SLAPP suits (strategic lawsuit against public participation) which are meant to intimidate creators and critics. In this epic song and dance number, Oliver and a team of performers made increasingly outlandish accusations of Murray. Because of protected speech laws, however, they are not able to be prosecuted if the average viewer would not find the claims credible. Oh, and squirrels make a notable appearance, both in the original segment and the musical number.

In the very first season of “Last Week Tonight,” John Oliver addressed the concept of net neutrality, and his segment on the topic went viral, bringing his show to the mainstream. The concept isn’t the most exciting, but as usual, Oliver managed to make it extremely entertaining. Net neutrality is the idea that the internet is a level playing field and that internet service providers cannot discriminate in terms of which sites they prioritize when it comes to speed. In his original segment, he looked at the obstacles net neutrality faced in 2014, and in his 2017 update, he looked at how the Trump administration had made the situation even worse.

After John Oliver made some choice comments about the city of Danbury, Connecticut, the town was understandably up in arms. He found himself in a social media feud with the mayor, which resulted in a comical outcome. The town decided to get back at the comedian by naming their sewage plant after him, officially dubbing it the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant. This entire feud is hilarious, but the best part is Oliver’s unabashed glee at having the plant named for him. Oliver has stated that he will donate $55 thousand to charities in the area as a thank you for the honor.

When Russell Crowe hosted a “divorce auction” to fund his divorce proceedings, John Oliver kindly purchased a jockstrap from the actor along with other items. Crowe wanted to honor the funds by donating a portion of them to a worthy cause, and he chose the Australia Zoo wildlife hospital. Specifically, he had a ward named for Oliver specializing in treating chlamydia in koalas. Considering the gravity of some of the subjects Oliver tackles on the show, it’s a treat to see his pure delight over something that seems so objectively silly—even though koala chlamydia is a very real issue.

In February of 2016, Oliver made the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump the focus of his main segment. The clip has gone on to become the most viewed of all of Oliver’s YouTube content, exceeding 37 million views. One of the reasons this episode was so beloved was Oliver’s unearthing of Trump’s original family name. In order to take away from the aspiring politician’s gravitas, Oliver encouraged his viewers to "Make Donald Drumpf Again" by using his family’s ancestral name. The concept went viral, and an iconic piece of late-night history was born.

“Last Week Tonight” features a number of running gags, and one of the funniest has to be John Oliver’s enduring love for actor Adam Driver. He mentioned the performer in a number of asides in various episodes, and even while sheltering at home during the pandemic, he doubled down on his affections. Oliver has called into question whether viewers (and his wife) should be concerned at the violent way in which he objectifies Driver, but we can’t help but think it’s hilarious. Now if only we could see Adam’s reaction to these clips...

AT&T is HBO’s parent company, and HBO is the network that distributes “Last Week Tonight.” Despite that hierarchy, John Oliver doesn’t pull any punches when criticizing the corporate conglomerate. He never misses an opportunity to tear apart their allegedly shoddy mobile service and refers to them as “Business Daddy.” In an episode from June of 2019, Oliver made a play at being apologetic, acknowledging the importance of his relationship with AT&T. Of course, it was all just a build-up to another epic tear-down and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Harding
Oliver Made a Trailer for a Warren G. Harding Biopic

Sex Education
Oliver Tore Apart the Topic in Public Schools

Is This Your Cat?
A Segment on Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov's Missing Cat

Nintendo Gay Marriage
A Segment Featuring Nintendo Characters Engaging in Same-Sex Marriage

#NotMyChristian
Oliver Criticizes the “Fifty Shades” Trailer

In March of 2018, John Oliver focused one of his episodes on U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. While much of the segment is a critique of Pence’s policies, particularly concerning LGBTQ+ rights issues, the end is where things really get entertaining. Oliver states that the one thing he likes about Pence is his pet rabbit, Marlon Bundo. But he goes one step further and announces that one of his writers has created a book called “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,” which features two bunnies (one of whom being Marlon) trying to engage in a same-sex marriage. The day after the episode aired, the book became a #1 best seller on Amazon, which was just the cherry on top of the cake.