Patton Oswalt has been doing stand-up for twenty years. It's hard to believe it's been that long. Time is certainly racing along. I saw him maybe ten years, opening for Aimee Mann (an odd pairing) at Largo. He's almost always incredibly funny. But his newest release, Finest Hour, has some of the best stuff he's ever done. Once he gets rolling, there's just no stopping him.
The audience at the Moore Theatre in Seattle gives him a standing ovation when he walks out on stage. Patton immediately tells them, "Nothing I'm going to say will live up to that. Stop it." They do stop it, and laugh, but he was wrong - most of this hour-long performance is hilarious and completely lives up to the respect the audience shows him from the start.
He begins by talking a bit about being a new dad. Lots of comedians seem to be having children these days, and of course that informs their routines. Fortunately, Patton doesn't spend too much time on the subject of parenting, and being a parent certainly hasn't softened him, at least not as far as his comedy goes. He does, however, apologize to everyone he ever made fun of for wearing sweatpants. I love his train of thought - from sweatpants, to trying to get out of a parking ticket, to Dr. Seuss at a bar ("Dr. Seuss on an angry pussy hunt").
He mentions how his own parents now visit their grandkid, but also come to defend their own style of parenting. After pointing out the differences in parenting styles, his mom told him, "You turned out fine." Patton then hits on the comedy of doing comedy, saying, "I didn't turn out fine. I'm a fat comedian with OCD. I get up in front of strangers and talk about my dick. This is not good parenting."
He really gets rolling when he talks about gay stereotypes in films (he had an audition for the role of Gay Best Friend). He says that all romantic comedies should be called Trying To Fuck. And everything that follows is bloody hilarious. I don't want to spoil it for you, but let's just say that I want to see the Jennifer Aniston monkey trailer.
And just when I think I can't possibly laugh any more, he talks about gay marriage, and how people use The Bible as their reason for wanting to outlaw it. This is probably my favorite section of his routine, so forgive me for quoting a bit of it. After saying that at this point he's glad that people are reading anything, he goes on to say, "But just because you like something in a book doesn't mean you can have the thing you like in the book happen in real life. That's what crazy people want. I can't go to the White House with a bunch of Green Lantern comics and go, 'I want a Green Lantern ring. I saw it in a book I like. Make the thing in the book I like be here now.'" Amen.
He also talks about how Jesus has the most random super powers, which is hilarious. And his bit about New York is spot-on. Finest Hour may very well be just that. At least until his next DVD is released.
The DVD includes a few bonus features. The first is "Encore - KFC Bit," which is seriously funny and a follow-up to one of his earlier bits. The second is "Pre-Show Superstitions," which is bits of interviews with audience members mixed with bits of Patton talking about audience members he hopes will not be present at the show. It's not that funny, and goes on a bit too long. The third bonus feature is a series of stills of items that Patton mentions in his routine. It's kind of pointless, but it's a special feature, so who cares?
Finest Hour is scheduled to be released on April 24, 2012. The program will also air on Comedy Central on April 21st.
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