"These are the greatest days for exaggeration in the history of the world," says John Oliver, the British-born regular on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart."

And Oliver shows off his gifts in the arts of overstatement, hyperbole and satire in his stand-up comedy special "John Oliver: Terrifying Times," out now on an "extended and uncensored" DVD (Comedy Central/Paramount Home Entertainment, $19.99, not rated).

Oliver joined the "Daily Show" cast in 2006 and quickly became one of Stewart's most consistently hilarious correspondents, easing the pain of the departures of Stephen Colbert, Rob Corddry, Ed Helms and Steve Carell. Like Colbert, but with a British accent and faux gentility, Oliver delights in presenting absurd viewpoints with the utmost sincerity, deep-seated knowledge and unassailable conviction.

He makes a perfect foil for Stewart, as can be seen in four "Daily Show" sketches included as bonus features on the DVD. He's at his sharpest in the "Tortured Logic" segment, in which "senior interrogation analyst" Oliver explains to Stewart why "torture of prisoners" is illegal but "enhanced interrogation of detainees" is just fine.

The heart of "Terrifying Times" is a live stand-up show Oliver recorded in New York City's Symphony Space Theatre that was televised on Comedy Central last April. Beginning with a history of the British Empire ("like Godzilla in a necktie, rampaging our way across Africa") and a tip of the hat to America for "taking the baton of imperialism from us and running with it quite impressively," Oliver resembles Eddie Izzard but without the dress, makeup and stream- of-consciousness style.

In short order, Oliver casts his sardonic eye on serious issues such as global warming and the energy crisis ("wind has been over-farmed" and, in Alaska, "don't stop drilling until you reach kangaroos"), evolution, religious intolerance and the presidency of George W. Bush ("a conceptual artist whose thought-provoking, eight-year installation entitled '43rd Presidency' is supposed to make us consider how terrible it would be if a man like him was ever really elected").