John Oliver Ventures Into YouTube's Comment Section

John Oliver has applied his unique brand of witty humor to an area most fear to tread: the YouTube comment section. On Monday, Oliver decided to read through the comments his fans have left him to see what they really think of him.

Last Week Tonight is currently taking a break from its regularly scheduled Sunday evening slot, so in the meantime, Oliver has recorded a series of shorter, web exclusive episodes.

“Of course, no one’s sent me actual mail, because I’m not currently fighting in the Revolutionary War,” Oliver said. “Or as they call it where I’m from, the war of ‘we’ve still got Canada, we’ve still got Canada!’” Instead, Oliver read out some of the YouTube comments left on his videos, or as he referred to them, “the most cogent written argument for never learning how to read.”

One key area of focus for viewers was the state of John Oliver’s eyebrows. “John Oliver’s eyebrows are alien caterpillars and move independently of each other,” one read. “John Oliver’s eyebrows are magnificent,” said another.

“John Oliver looks like a mix of a Pokémon and a child molester,” wrote one commenter, something that Oliver took offense to, as there’s already a Pokémon that looks like a child molester: Gengar.

One viewer described the show as “uniquely boring,” which Oliver argued is not much of an insult as being uniquely boring is something of an achievement.

But his favorite comment came from a viewer that dared him with a surprising bet. “John Oliver, I bet you 1 zillion dollars that you won’t feature this comment in a video,” one YouTuber wrote, an offer the commenter will now have to pay up from. After all, these are YouTube comments. It’s serious business.

Last Week Tonight returns to HBO on July 24.