David McRaney  |  Journalist

Q&A with comedian Patton Oswalt

Seriously, if you have yet to check out some of the great risk-taking comedians working today, you should be ashamed.

Also, if you think the "Blue-Collar Comedy Tour" is a top-notch laugh-a-palooza, we have little in common.

Living in South Mississippi, you don't get many chances to see live stand-up. Thankfully, a couple years ago my wife and I saw George Carlin at the recently obliterated Grand Casino.

Before that, I just watched it on television like you.

I remember how, growing up, my family enjoyed Sinbad and Jeff Foxworthy, Stephen Wright and Gallagher. As a kid, farts and burps are a lot funnier than surrealist absurd stand-up or scathing political satire. So, my signal to noise ratio was a bit off.

It wasn't until I was a teenager, when I discovered stuff like Monty Python, Bill Hicks, George Carlin and Mr. Show, that I started to figure out that comedy is actually a multi-leveled, nuanced art taking on many shades and flavors.

Smashing watermelons became far less humorous to me. At the same time, I started to find comedians who I could identify with. These were people who were as angry as I was making fun of things I thought were funny too. Now, it's just something I'm into.

Thankfully, mainstream American comedy as a whole has matured since the '80s. Just watch an episode of Cheers followed by and episode of Seinfeld followed by an episode of Scrubs. Stand-up has matured as well, and this month, Comedy Central has been offering a glimpse into the lives of four of the most innovative comedians on the road as they tour the United States.

"Comedians of Comedy" began shooting in Baltimore, followed by performances in New York City, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Boston and will end with a show in Martha's Vineyard.

The series features Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford and Zach Galifianakis, who have all appeared on the network in their own stand-up specials.

The show follows them on tour this summer, and viewers will see them both on stage and behind-the-scenes - including time in the van, the hotels, horsing around and trying out new material on each other.

I recently got a chance to interview Oswalt to help promote the show. He's been a favorite of mine for years, so in preparing to ask him these questions I wasn't sure what to do. The one piece of advice a friend of mine gave me was, "Don't try to be funny." So, I didn't.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

McRaney: "Would you please describe "The Comedians of Comedy," how it came about, why it features Zach, Brian and Maria, and how it got picked up by Comedy Central?"

Oswalt: "It's me and my friends on the road, dealing with boredom and excitement like comedians do. It came about because of a lot of reasons, but mainly because of a gig I worked with David Cross in San Francisco where a lot of our fans weren't able to afford the comedy club two-drink minimum. Cross had done a tour of rock clubs, where he was able to control the prices, so I figured I could do the same thing with my friends. I was right. It features those three comedians because they're my friends and I'm their fan. Comedy Central saw the film made of the tour (now showing on Showtime and available for rent from netflix.com) and figured it would be a good TV show. They were right.

McRaney: "How and why did you get into stand-up?"

Oswalt: "No specific reason. It was the summer of '88, and I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, and stand-up was one of 15 different things I tried in those three months. It was the one that stuck."

McRaney: "Did you make a conscious decision to be edgy? Does anyone?"

Oswalt: "No, and no. You are what you are. I don't even consider myself 'edgy,' because it's not a calculated thing I do before going onstage, and there's room for everyone."

McRaney: " If the sun is going to supernova one day, or nuclear bombs are going to rain down before that, or some sort of genetically engineered super virus will wipe us off the planet, and everything we've ever accomplished will be destroyed, then what is the point of attempting to succeed in an any art form or a craft other than self-gratification?"

Oswalt: "Was it ever anything else? What else should I do while I'm here? I like doing stand-up. It's fun for me. Should I not do what I want while I'm alive?"

McRaney: "What do you think of the term "selling out" as applied to comedians?"

Oswalt: "I think 'sell out' is yelled by those who, when they were selling, didn't have anything that anyone wanted to buy."

McRaney: "George Carlin doesn't bother with voting or politics in general. He says it's a transient, pointless human endeavor and we as a species should concern ourselves with more important things. Yet, it seems as though you and many other comedians were attempting to encourage your fans to get involved in the political process. Why do you take this position?"

Oswalt: "I agree with George. Except I took this position in the last election because I thought, for once, that this was an administration that needed toppling. I didn't feel that way about Reagan or Bush (senior), and I have no problems with conservatives or Republicans. But Bush Jr. is neither. He's a dry drunk, triumphalist Christian sociopath. He is absolutely, unarguably, and above-and-beyond the worst president in our country's history and the most violent and dangerous world leader in existence. If Jesus were alive, he'd hate this guy."

McRaney: "You do some political material in your act, but not as much as Bill Hicks did or David Cross does. How do you feel about stand-up comics crossing the "I'm saying funny stuff on stage" line in order to proselytize or vent?"

Oswalt: "The trick is to always get a joke out of it. Make people laugh at what they won't agree with because they're not going to agree with a statement."

McRaney: "What purpose does humor serve for it to have survived long enough to become an evolved psychological trait in humans?"

Oswalt: "Since we're the only animal that can perceive time, oblivion, and our own demise, I guess it keeps us from going crazy."

McRaney: "How did you hone your talent as a stand-up and establish a unique voice - did you have mentors or heroes?"

Oswalt: "I had numerous friends along the way, and then heroes I aspired to in an idealistic fashion. Pick your heroes carefully, but always value, forgive and stand by your friends."

McRaney: "What is the state of stand-up today? Clarification: Most stand-up seems to be crap. Has this always been the case, or are we in some sort of Dark Age right now?'

Oswalt: "No, the state of stand-up today is amazing. There have never been more intelligent, risky, original minds working the art. Unfortunately, the ones who are getting the exposure are the (expletive deleted), pandering hacks. Git 'r done!"

Check out the "Comedians of Comedy" on Comedy Central Friday nights at 10. You can also go to comedycentral.com to check out videos from the show. Oswalt can be found on the web at pattonoswalt.com.

Originally published in The Student Printz on December 13, 2005