Last Week Tonight took a break for Easter, but John Oliver posted a special web-only video to celebrate the holiday. And he created it, he said, "in one of YouTube's most entertaining forms. I'm talking, of course, about YouTube conspiracy videos, science fiction for people who don't understand they're watching science fiction."
Whenever he watches one of these videos, he is "overcome with jealousy," Oliver said, "jealously at the sheer scale of imagination required to believe that the Denver airport was designed by the Illuminati or that Katy Perry is actually JonBenét Ramsey all grown up — both real theories, by the way, and better than any joke I could ever devise in a million years." He took a crack anyway. Any great YouTube conspiracy requires seeing a devious plot in something we all take for granted, Oliver said, plus "an eye for incredibly specific detail and an ability to make wild accusations with complete confidence." Oliver's conspiracy, laid out with gusto, involves Cadbury Eggs. At the end he admits that his theory is mostly hokum, but said "it felt amazing to say, and it almost made sense — and that is what YouTube conspiracy videos are all about." Though if he'd wanted to stay true to the genre, of course, he would have omitted the final wink. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Swiss bliss: Chenot Palace Weggis takes wellness to the next levelThe Blend Heath retreat on Switzerland's Lake Lucerne offers a mid-winter reset
-
Earth's mini-moon was the moon all alongUnder the radar More lunar rocks are likely floating in space
-
Crossword: February 4, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box officeSpeed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appealSpeed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
