Patton Oswalt

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Patton Oswalt
Oswalt on stage, 2009
Birth name	Patton Oswalt
Born	January 27, 1969 (1969-01-27) (age 40) Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, Television, Film
Nationality	American
Years active	1988–present
Genres	Observational comedy, Surreal humor, Black comedy
Subject(s)	Pop culture, American culture
Influences	Jonathan Winters, Richard Pryor, Emo Philips, Louis C.K., Bugs Bunny, Bill Hicks, Blaine Capatch, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jay Leno, Steve Martin[1]
Notable works and roles	Spence Olchin in The King of Queens Remy in Ratatouille Frat Aliens, and Ezekiel in Aqua Teen Hunger Force Werewolves and Lollipops
Website	Official website

Patton Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor.

Personal life

Oswalt was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Carla and Larry J. Oswalt. He grew up in Sterling, Virginia and is a 1987 graduate of Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Virginia. He attended the College of William and Mary, where he majored in English and was initiated into the Alpha Theta Chapter of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity.

Oswalt married writer Michelle McNamara, on September 24, 2005.^[2] Their daughter, Alice Rigney Oswalt, was born in April 2009.

Career

Oswalt first began performing standup comedy in the late 1980s or early 1990s, by his own reckoning.^[3]

After writing for MADtv and starring in his own 1997 comedy special for HBO, he went on to garner notable roles in films and television shows. His most prominent and long-running role was as Spence Olchin on The King of Queens. His first starring film role was as the voice of Rémy, the lead character in the 2007 Pixar film Ratatouille. He has also appeared in smaller roles in such films as Magnolia and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. He lent his voice as in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as a caller on the WTCR show "The Tight End Zone", and was the voice of a caller on "Chatterbox" on LCFR in the PlayStation Portable game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. He was also the voice of a reporter on "New World Order", a radio show on VCPR in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

Oswalt wrote the comic book JLA: Welcome to the Working Week, a backup story in Batman #600, a story for Dwight T. Albatross's The Goon Noir #01 and a story for Masks: Too Hot for TV. Expanding his voice artist repertoire, he began voicing the villainous character "Tobey" on PBS Kids GO! series WordGirl in 2007.

In July 2006, Oswalt's comic script Fruit Pies! was turned into a short film available at YouTube and MySpace. He also appeared on the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner. In August 2007, he appeared on the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav. In 2007, he appeared on an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, "The Original Fry Cook", as Jim. He also appears as Carl, the Corndog Hut's mascot in American Hi-Fi's music video for "Another Perfect Day". He also appears in an Episode of Static Shock. On June 27, 2007, Oswalt was a special guest on the Emeril Live program on the Food Network to promote Ratatouille.

Most recently, Oswalt has had the dramatic lead in Robert D. Siegel's directorial debut, Big Fan. He also appeared on an episode of Venture Bros. as an aging boy adventurer and Robin (comics) parody with an eating disorder and abandonment issues gained from his pedophilic superhero partner dropping him from the team.

Stand-up comedy

Patton with a fan in Seattle in 2008.

Oswalt's stand-up comedy covers topics ranging from pop culture frivolity such as comic book supervillains and 1980s glam metal to deeper societal issues like American excess, materialism, Mesopotamian cuneiform script, foreign policy and religion.

In 2004, Oswalt released a comedy album entitled Feelin' Kinda Patton and later that year a longer, unedited version of the same performance entitled 222, both through the United Musicians collective, and a stand-up special No Reason to Complain. He is also on a split EP called Patton vs. Alcohol vs. Zach vs. Patton with Zach Galifianakis and is featured on two Un-Cabaret compilations, "The Un & Only" and "The Good, the Bad and the Drugly". On July 10, 2007, Patton released his second CD Werewolves and Lollipops on Sub Pop records.

In 2004, Oswalt put together the Comedians of Comedy tour, made up of modern alt-comics Zach Galifinakis, Brian Posehn and Maria Bamford. The tour performed at smaller, more intimate indie rock venues instead of traditional (and expensive) comedy clubs. The Fall 2004 tour was documented in a 2005 film of the same name, and was followed by a six-episode Comedy Central series based on the Summer 2005 tour. This tour featured special guest appearances from comedians such as Blaine Capatch, David Cross, Bobby Tisdale and Todd Barry. Subsequent incarnations of the tour have included Eugene Mirman and Morgan Murphy.

Oswalt appeared as a lawyer in Lewis Black's Root of All Evil. At the 2008 BlizzCon, he provided the stand-up comedy for the ending ceremony.

On February 26, 2009, Patton recorded his third comedy album at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington D.C. It premiered on Comedy Central as Patton Oswalt: My Weakness is Strong on August 23, 2009, and was released on DVD August 25, 2009.^[4]

Discography

Albums

• Feelin' Kinda Patton (2004)
• 222 (Live & Uncut) (2004)^[5]
• Werewolves and Lollipops (2007) #137 U.S.^[6]
• My Weakness Is Strong! (2009) #67 U.S.^[6]

EPs

• Patton vs. Alcohol vs. Zach vs. Patton (2005) with Zach Galifianakis^[7]
• Melvins/Patton Oswalt split 7" (2006) with The Melvins^[8]
• Comedians of Comedy Tour 3"CD (2006)
• The Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (2006) with Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford, and Eugene Mirman^[9]
• Frankensteins and Gumdrops (2008) Available during the WFMU pledge drive

Compilation Album Appearances

• Beth Lapides' Un-Cabaret - The Good, The Bad, and the Drugly (2006)
• Beth Lapides' Un-Cabaret - The Un & Only (2002)
• Comedy Death-Ray (album) (2007)^[10]

DVDs

• No Reason to Complain (DVD) (2004)
• My Weakness Is Strong! (DVD) (2009)

DVD Appearances

• Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2 DVD (2004)^[11]
• The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the El Rey (2005)
• The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the Troubadour (2007)
• Super High Me DVD (2007)

TV

Stand-up specials

• HBO Half Hour Comedy Hour (1997)
• Comedy Central Presents (1999)
• No Reason to Complain (2004)
• My Weakness is Strong (2009)

TV appearances

• The Weird Al Show
• Lewis Black's Root of All Evil
• The History Channel's History of the Joke
• The King of Queens
• Reno 911!
• Tom Goes To The Mayor
• Human Giant
• NewsRadio
• Reaper (TV Series)
• Seinfeld
• VH1's Best Week Ever
• Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
• The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner (2006)
• The Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav (2007)
• Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
• Melbourne International Comedy Festival Great Debate (2008)
• United States of Tara (2009)
• Flight of the Conchords (2009)
• Community (2009)
• Dollhouse (2009)
• Iron Chef America
• Caprica
• Bored to Death

Voice acting appearances

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• The Fairly OddParents (Cameo at the end of 'Big Superhero Wish')
• Kim Possible
• Static Shock as Specs
• Squidbillies
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force
• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
• Home Movies (TV series)
• The Batman (TV series) as Toymaker/Cosmo Krank
• American Dad
• WordGirl (as Tobey McCallister III)

Films

• Down Periscope (brief cameo) (1996)
• Man on the Moon (brief cameo) (1999)
• Magnolia (1999)
• Zoolander (brief cameo) (2001)
• ZigZag (2002)
• Calendar Girls (brief cameo) (2003)
• Taxi (2004)
• Blade: Trinity (2004)
• Starsky and Hutch (2004)
• Failure to Launch (2006)
• Reno 911!: Miami (2007)
• Wrong Turn 2 (voice) (2007)
• Ratatouille (voice of Remy the rat) (2007)
• I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007)
• Balls of Fury (2007)
• Super High Me (brief cameo) (2007)
• Sex and Death 101 (2008)
• All Roads Lead Home (2008)
• Observe and Report (2009)
• Big Fan (2009)
• The Informant! (2009)

References

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Patton Oswalt

External links

• Official website
• Patton Oswalt on MySpace
• Patton Oswalt at the Internet Movie Database
• Patton Oswalt at Comedy Central
• Brand new audio interview on The Sound of Young America from PRI.
• Interview with Oswalt from August 2006 on public radio program The Sound of Young America
• Random Rules: Patton Oswalt a feature from The A.V. Club
• Hustler Interview: Patton Oswalt
• IMPOSE interview
• Note Books essay on Largehearted Boy
• Reading John Collier's "The Chaser" at Daytrotter
• Interview by "Rotten.com"
• 'Getting Late' interview by Pete Dominick on Sirius Radio