Armando Iannucci
In 2003, Armando Iannucci (the Scottish writer and director of In the Loop) hired Oliver to write for Gash, a weeklong radio program that coincided with local U.K. elections. For comedians who write their own material, radio in the U.K. often is a point of entry. And on Gash, Oliver proved himself a sharp cultural critic who could churn out copy quickly. "You can't write lazily on the radio," notes Iannucci. "You learn to write with focus and make each word count. And John was fantastic at that."