--- description: The late night host recounts how far he'll go for a laugh title: John Oliver Says He Tased Himself For The Troops image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e24a71cf59703ff/69877ccef887dc0058e89d83/john-oliver.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch John Oliver Explain Why He Tased Himself for the Troops by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 30, 2015 2:46 PM CUT  John Oliver attends the 'Girls' season four premiere at American Museum of Natural History on Jan. 5, 2015 in New York City. John Oliver attends the 'Girls' season four premiere at American Museum of Natural History on Jan. 5, 2015 in New York City.Dennis Van Tine—Geisler-Fotopres/AP by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 30, 2015 2:46 PM CUT _Last Week Tonight_ host John Oliver appeared on the _Late Show_ with David Letterman and discussed how far he’d go to make people laugh — including injure himself. The 37-year-old comedian told Letterman that during a USO Tour to Afghanistan in August, 2013, Oliver had just finished performing a set for the troops when a soldier asked if he’d tase himself. Oliver, looking for a laugh, agreed. The visit marked the first USO tour for Oliver, who was touched by the trip as his wife is a former Army combat medic, who deployed to Iraq. The next season of _Last Week Tonight_ is slated to return to HBO on Feb. 8. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3689337/watch-john-oliver-troops/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3689337/watch-john-oliver-troops/"},"headline":"Watch John Oliver Explain Why He Tased Himself for the Troops","datePublished":"2015-01-30T14:46:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:00:55.192Z","description":"The late night host recounts how far he'll go for a laugh","url":"https://time.com/3689337/watch-john-oliver-troops/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e24a71cf59703ff/69877ccef887dc0058e89d83/john-oliver.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e24a71cf59703ff/69877ccef887dc0058e89d83/john-oliver.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Oliver attends the 'Girls' season four premiere at American Museum of Natural History on Jan. 5, 2015 in New York City.","caption":"John Oliver attends the 'Girls' season four premiere at American Museum of Natural History on Jan. 5, 2015 in New York City.","creditText":"Dennis Van Tine—Geisler-Fotopres/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3689337/watch-john-oliver-troops/","name":"Watch John Oliver Explain Why He Tased Himself for the Troops"}}]}] ```