John Oliver and Stephen Colbert run down what's happening in Oliver's scrappy English hometown

Stephen Colbert and John Oliver read a community calendar

(Image credit: Late Show)

published 8 February 2017

John Oliver's Last Week Tonight returns on Sunday, and he joined fellow Daily Show alumnus Stephen Colbert on Tuesday's Late Show to remind everyone he is still on the air. Colbert, in expressing his hope that President Trump doesn't deport Oliver, who has a green card (and American wife and child), found out that Oliver is from a town in England called Bedford. "Not a big city, a town, but a scrappy town," Oliver said. "You back it into a corner, it will chew your face off."

Coincidentally, the Late Show crew had researched what's going on in the scrappy English town of Bedford before the show, so Colbert and Oliver picked up Union Jack-emblazoned coffee mugs, revved up the local-access-cable visual effects, and read the community calendar. If you've never seen Colbert's celebrations of life in small towns, this is much funnier than it sounds. On Feb. 16. for example, the Bedford Forest Center is hosting a craft session where children will turn shoeboxes into a home for a badger. "Just imagine your parents' surprise when they find out they've lost a pair of shoes but they've gained an angry badger," Oliver said.

"If you'd like any more information about any of these events, John Oliver will gladly do a 30-minute deep dive on each one of them," Colbert said, poking fun at Oliver's day job. Oliver joined in: "And with a [censored]-ton of cursing." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.