Patton Oswalt: Insanely Funny

I watched a man shave his what? -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Curses to Patton Oswalt! He almost made me fall off my elliptical machine at 24 Hour Fitness, from laughing so hard. His humor is so left-field edgy and sardonic, it makes me want to listen to the routines repeatedly on my iPod. Such an honor hasn’t been extended to Wanda Sykes or Louis Black. Who is Patton Oswalt? He’s the 40-year comedian, actor (sitcom and voiceover) who may have shocked, appalled and amused you variously playing lovable losers on shows like King of Queens or movies like Failure to Launch. He also voiced the lovable albeit sarcastic Disney mouse Remy in Ratatouille.

In person, Oswalt is sort of cute and cherubic (others might say roly-poly or jovial and round). He grew up in Sterling, Virginia and was an English major at the college of William and Mary. He started doing standup comedy in 1996 and then evolved into character acting. Oswalt is somewhat a renaissance man -- he also is a skilled artist and comic book author. He’s also done voiceovers for video games like Grand Theft Auto; he offers his creative touch to virtually every popular form of media.

What strikes me about this man is his enormous command of language, combined with fearless insights into the sociopolitical foibles all around us. His topics cover an enormous range -- the idiocracy of George W. Bush, liquor ads, Stelladora breakfast treats, on-line porno spam, gay pride parades, and ball-shaving (don’t ask). He unflinchingly goes places that other late night comedians dread.

Like most geniuses, he borders a bit on pure lunacy -- in one sketch he refers to Israel as “Biblevania” and in another set he compares the smell of a woman’s nether regions to a “baby’s coffin”. These are not words that would spring to my own mind, but I neither am I best-selling published author of screenplays and adult comics. I have only one quibble so far -- he's used "gay" as an insult word in a couple of bits. He's very progressive and pro-Human Rights so I doubt he really intends it as an insult; LGBT's probably make up a significant portion of his fan base.

Where might you catch him now, after I’ve done this big build-up? You might see him on Comedy Central, roasting Flavor Flav or William Shatner. You might catch him as the voice of Carl, the Corndog Mascot on SpongeBob. You might catch his upcoming film, Big Fan (another lovable loser role).

Oswalt’s first daughter, Alice was just born in April 2009. He may be caught up in the tasks of fatherhood, although this delightfully demented man may have trouble diverting attention away from his hundred creative projects. It must be nice to be Patton.

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