Patton Oswalt - 'Finest Hour'

Once at the forefront of what could be called nerd rage-style comedy, stand-up Patton Oswalt has gradually shed his pop cultural ironies in favor of studying human nature. Where he used to greet the world with cynicism, now he just laughs at all the little idiosyncrasies that make us human. Part of that transition has come with age; Oswalt also recently became a parent. But while these factors hampered Oswalt’s 2009 record My Weakness is Strong, they boost his latest effort, Finest Hour.

Oswalt is the comedian who made me view stand-up as an art form. He’s not the first comic I’ve ever loved (Dana Carvey) and he didn’t release my first comedy CD (“Weird” Al Yankovic’s Bad Hair Day), but his influence has set a benchmark for what I seek from joke tellers. Yes, I look for laughs just like everyone else, but following Oswalt through the random segues of his storytelling are just as fun as the punchlines. He is a bizarre sort of anecdotal comedian, and Finest Hour nearly lives up to its title.

For the most part, Finest Hour is hilarious. I thought for sure Louis C.K. had best comedy record of 2011 wrapped up, but I’m not sure anymore. On top of that, the differences between C.K. and Oswalt are narrowing. Both are sarcastic dads chronicling the ridiculous little events of existence. C.K. is just a lot darker, and that’s what might give Oswalt an edge.

Here, Oswalt drops tale after tale with warmth, whether extolling the virtues of sweatpants once you have kids or breaking down romantic comedies (“Every movie should just be called Trying to Fuck). Even when he drops the occasional critical evaluation, it’s less a move towards anger than it is a plea for sanity. When Oswalt returns to/finishes his years-long condemnation of fast food in general and KFC in particular, he argues for a return to logic while still pointing out his own shortcomings. Finest Hour doesn’t single anyone out, and in doing so pokes fun at humanity in general.

While Finest Hour is Oswalt’s most mature record yet, it does sag in spots. Some of the stand-up is an exercise in squeezing out every last riff on a topic. Sometimes it pays off (an extended bit about singing to oneself in the car goes from funny to strange to funny), but sometimes it just goes to weird places for weirdness’ sake without a real ending (“The Ham Incident”). Some bits get more applause than laughter (Every comic’s worst fear). But at 75 minutes, the set could be forgiven for dipping occasionally in quality. After all, this is Oswalt. The dude has been outshining other comics for years, partially because he takes chances on his jokes. After the somewhat middling results of Big Fan and Zombie Spaceship Wasteland, it’s great to hear Oswalt get back to his strength: stand-up.

Patton Oswalt - 'My Weakness is Strong'

My Weakness is Strong, Patton Oswalt’s first comedy album since his knockout 2006 record Werewolves and Lollipops and the little kiddie film that could, Ratatouille, finds the stand-up comic at a crossroads. Recorded February 28, 2009 at the Lisner Auditorium in Washington D.C., the CD/DVD combo is his first “grown-up” record, as the best jokes tend to focus on his wife and hopes for his (at the time) unborn daughter.

Granted, these topics lead to the time he and his wife disturbed an orgy and then tried to play it off (“He comes out of the bathroom, and he got dressed in whatever was there. And here’s what was in the bathroom: A pair of girl’s sweatpants that he has put on backwards so the word ‘juicy’ is across his groin… which, I hate to say, probably factually accurate”) and how he quit drugs to be a better father to his daughter (“I’m not afraid that I’m gonna be on acid and put her in a microwave or something. What I’m afraid of is… [she remembers] having breakfast with her dad and he was like. ‘What are you having there, Lucky Charms? Alright, let me tell you the whole conspiracy behind Lucky Charms”).

For the most part, Weakness really is strong. Oswalt jokes about his vices (drugs, depression, weight issues, and hating everything), and it’s hi-larious. Plus, it’s all-new material. The topics are well-worn for Oswalt (time traveling to the ’90s, etc.); the jokes are new. But here’s the thing, while Oswalt once kidded about how he never wanted to be one of those stand-ups that talks about his family ad nauseum, such jokes are now his strongest material. Cracks about religion (the track “Sky Cake”) and airplanes (“Airplane”) feel unfinished. There’s a clear, solid set up in spite of the hacky premise, but the punchlines need work, which isn’t going to happen since the guy is already planning his next batch of material. Even bits that are hysterical (“Rats” in particular) tack on certain unnecessary humor codas. Most of the limp jokes are near the end of the record, though, and Oswalt pulls back up in time for closing bit “The Magician,” a story about a magician who “hate fucks the crowd with magic.”

Werewolves and Lollipops was a great stand-up record – and the one that got me back into comedy CDs. My Weakness is Strong, by comparison, is just good. But it’s kind of like complaining about how the Clash only made one London Calling. Give ’Em Enough Rope and Sandinista! are still worth your time too. Oswalt has said that each of his records is a snapshot of where he is in his life. Hopefully, Weakness is a hint of where Oswalt’s next album will go: still angry, but a lot happier from fatherhood too.

The "Rats" bit:


And here's a classic from Werewolves and Lollipops: