Oswalt, the ‘wicked funny’ comedian

By Connor de Bruler
debrulerc@mytjnow.com

Patton Oswalt is probably one of the most entertaining and astute social, political and aesthetic commentators of our time. His new comedy album, “Finet Hour,” is probably the funniest yet.

For those of you who don’t know, Patton Oswalt is a fairly well-known comedian who has preformed at sold-out arenas and dark, dingy bars  alike. He’s a proud pot-smoker and father of a little girl. 

The former paralegal began performing in comedy clubs at the end of the 1980’s and has since fine-tuned his delivery and learned to incorporate an intelligent mix of both high-brow knowledge and low-brow humor. Oswalt is the sort of comedian who will make an obscure literary reference just before a fart joke or an airline rant. 

I’ve enjoyed him since I first saw him on the television show “King of Queens.” Around that time I found his first comedy album in a local record store. The dreadlocked man behind the cash register said, “This guy wicked funny, man.” 

He was right. 

 Oswalt’s seemingly effortless fusion of of-the-wall absurdity, grotesque-violence and intelligent social commentary have done just as much to change American’s viewpoints as the late Bill Hicks, who advocated biblical values and heavy cannabis and psilocybin use. 

 “Finest Hour” is little over an hour of Oswalt performing a live show in Seattle, Wash. It is his fourth album. 

My favorite part was his segment on the gay rights controversy. “You don’t have to respect everyone’s beliefs. You have to acknowledge them and then reserve the right to say that’s f***ing stupid!” 

His new material centers less around his once-depraved and intense lifestyle and more around his new-found stability and his daughter. “I shouldn’t have done all that LSD and shrooms in the 90’s. I didn’t know you hallucinate from sleep deprivation when you’re a parent.” 

Oswalt isn’t for everyone. He’s pretty cynical, though his comedy has a wacky, cartoonish brilliance compared to his predecessors such as George Carlin, Bill Hicks and Lenny Bruce. 

I encourage everyone to become familiar with the history of American standup comedy if this review is over your head. The history of standup comedy is also the history of American dissent, paralleling the civil rights movement and other important revolutions of thought and justice. 

I’d have to rate Oswalt’s next album as his best. He get’s a ten out of ten from me.