True Brit

John Oliver is taking a short break from writing and working as a fake-news correspondent on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart to perform stand-up comedy—including a stint this week in Sacramento. Since starting on the Comedy Central show in 2006, the English comedian has also somehow found time to host his own stand-up series, John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show; appear in other television shows, such as Community and Important Things With Demetri Martin; act in films, such as The Love Guru and The Smurfs; and co-host podcasts The Bugle and Political Animal with his friend Andy Zaltzman.

The following are 10 reasons to check out the British expat’s show at 8 p.m. this Friday, January 18, at the Crest Theatre (1013 K Street; tickets cost $35):

1. Although he’s most famous for his work on The Daily Show, Oliver’s been performing stand-up for more than a decade.

2. As host of the Comedy Central show John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show, he’s invited a number of comedians to the show, including Sacramento native Brian Posehn.

3. In 2009, he and other writers on The Daily Show won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series.

4. You should feel sorry for him because he’s a fan of the Liverpool Football Club and the New York Mets—both those teams have sucked for years.

5. He voiced the character Vanity Smurf in the 2011 live-action film The Smurfs.

6. He took part in the Writers Guild of America strike from 2007 to 2008.

7. He turned out intensely humorous portrayals of William Shakespeare and other characters on the sketch-comedy show Important Things With Demetri Martin.

8. He met his wife at the 2008 Republican National Convention, where he was working as a Daily Show correspondent and she was campaigning with Vets for Freedom.

9. As of 2009, he’s a permanent resident of the United States, so now he can live and work here legally but still be deemed an “alien.”

10. On his podcast The Bugle, he coined the term “fuckeulogy,” and has since fuckeulogized Osama bin Laden, Moammar Gadhafi and Kim Jong Il following their deaths.