Patton Oswalt is a comedian originally from Virginia, who has along with the rest of the LA based stand up clique ‘The Comedians Of Comedy’ revolutionized stand up comedy in the 2000′s.
His style borders on the absurd but has strong roots in both geekdom and classical literature, which is saying a lot for the title of a stand up comedian. Most stand ups dwell on tried and true topics like the difference between men & women, New York vs LA, and airline food, but Patton makes an 8 minute long joke about ice cream cakes and Star Wars sound – if written down – like a Norman Mailer novel. “Acerbic” is a word used to describe him a lot but no words can really describe watching the guy. If anything, his CD’s don’t compare to the almost free form stand up sets which – if you get the chance – you’d be a fool to miss.
He also writes occasionally for a variety of publications including Dave Eggers‘ “The Believer” and The Onion. He starred as the voice of the lead in Pixar’s frankly fucking brilliant Ratatouille, alongside Janean Garofalo. He’s written four movies and is alleged to be working closely with the new Iron Man and Green Hornet movies coming out. He also recently appeared in Reno 911.
He has the kind of ease and wit on stage that most comedians would kill for: the kind of vibe that he’s talking to a group of friends who are as equally nerdtastic as he. It’s hard to explain, and its the kind of thing that you don’t see a whole lot – especially in LA, where most comics are a faxed copy of an impression of somebody else – where the comedian is totally himself in front of the crowd. His group The Comedians Of Comedy has ceased to exist but along with Brian Posehn, Zach Galifinakis, and Maria Bamford, they created some of the best vibed stand up of this day and age.
His blog is (located right here) is equally funny to read taken with a whole heap of sarcasm. Let’s put it this way: if you’re as nerdy as I think you are like myself and get these references, you’ll highly enjoy him. It’s great. Check him out… you won’t be disappointed.
On Douchey T Shirts:
On KFC Bowls:
(Photo By: Zach Klein)
