Comedy Death Ray This Week: Superb Edition

Because we needed to get out, we caught Comedy Death Ray in Los Angeles this week! The lineup was indeed fantastic. Statistically speaking, you missed the show, so here's who you didn't get to see (and the entire lineup meets our standards of worth seeing):

• Hugh Moore hosted the show and did a bang-up job at being exciting and low-key all at once. The man puts on a good set.
  
• The first comic was the delightful Jen Kirkman and she, in her own words, basically managed to turn what was essentially a "Cathy" strip into something funny. Rarely do comics bring visual aids to show how fat they have gotten, but hey, here it is.
• Famed "Republican senator" and now tea party representative Richard Martin (also known as Paul Gilmartin) showed up, giving us our first in-person glimpse of the character. You may have heard his stints on various radio or podcast programs, and as a one-man act he managed to hold up quite nicely. If you're like us and listen to a lot of podcasts, odds are you'll want to be sure to seek him out just to see what he looks like.
• From New York, Jamie Lee put on a too-short but great set.
• Another too-short set from Greg Behrendt went amazingly well and his tone seemed different from some of his other performances. If you are ever in a position to make a request of him, his dissection of the GQ photo spread was well worth the price of admission.
• Character genius Paul Scheer assembled a one-man show bit combining the boring life of a TSA worker and pretty much every stereotype you might expect from a pretentious one-man show. It was brilliant, the kind of thing you wish you saw more of on television but most likely won't since Human Giant is seemingly on permanent hiatus. With tons of musical and light cues, it went off seemingly perfectly. Genuinely great funny.
• For fans of surprises, the unannounced Patton Oswalt brought in some new (to us) material as well as some dusted-off jokes which he self-consciously delivered. Can you trot out an Avatar joke at the end of your set if it has just been released on iTunes? The answer is yes, and it still works. Other material (for those of you comedy nerds wondering what may or may not make his next album) included a riff on babies pooping themselves and rich people. We dare not spoil it for you but in the off chance you're looking for evidence of great lost Oswalt bits, well, enjoy that last sentence.

So there you have it! Another great week and $5 well spent.

Comedy Death Ray This Week: Extra Awesome Edition

This was one of those shows you just wish you could see. In the Los Angeles Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, those that braved the weather-- which wasn't that bad-- were treated to one heck of a great set.

The always delightful Chris Fairbanks held hosting duties, and did great. Really great. The musically inclined Baron Von (don't worry, we've never heard of him before either) extolled the virtues of a Christmas in Vegas when your mom and family live there, and April Richardson took a big ol' dump on Tori Amos, because, well, someone should. Jerry Minor appeared as his character "Cyber Thug," told some jokes, and sang along to a sideshow filled with raccoons-- some living, some roadkill, some taxidermy. Arguably, funnier than it sounded.

The two highlights of the night were sets by some of the best comics working today. Todd Glass killed with new material and some great stuff which you may have heard on the Comedy Death Ray Podcast last week. He also had some great sound effect/song bits which are best left seen rather than described, plus his crazy rantings from the audience tend to bring in a lot of laughs. If he comes to your town, and we've said this before, you simply must see him.

We put the same advice out to anyone given a shot to see Patton Oswalt who just flew in from Vancouver and let us all know about the trials of slowly getting old while first class is available on Alaska Airlines. Or rather, his brain slowly sabotaging himself. He also cribbed Todd Glass' CD, and did various bits on the fly with random tracks from the album to varying degrees of success. (That is to say, he didn't seem happy with it, but it was pretty damned funny.) Given the comedian's recent album, it's great to see this set of new (and possibly first-time-out) jokes, particularly with such a great group of people. And it was jam-packed too, so if you ever have the chance to come out to LA to see the show, you totally should.

Weekly Comedy is Back!

Weekly Comedy hasn’t been around for a few weeks, but that’s because there really wasn’t anything out there to bother listing. This week is marginally better!

DVD

The Simpsons: Season 20 – Released in time for the “official 20th anniversary of The Simpsons”, this is the first season of the show available on bluray and the first to have been animated in anamorphic widescreen. It’s really too bad there isn’t a single decent episode on the set, because it’s season fucking twenty of a show everyone agrees stopped being funny 12 years ago. It also includes a “sneak peek” of the 20th Anniversary TV special, which will have aired before this set comes out. Lovely.

In The Loop – A supposedly excellent war satire featuring James Gandolfini. Worth checking out according to everyone with decent taste.

Last Action Hero (bluray) – Speaking of satire, this much-maligned and yet woefully underappreciated movie is out on bluray this week. Sure, the comedy’s a little on the nose, but this was much sharper and funnier than anyone really ever gave it credit for.

TV

The Simpsons: 20th Anniversary Special In 3D! On Ice! – Morgan Spurlock talks about how great The Simpsons is for an hour. And here I thought The Simpsons Movie was supposed to be the official anniversary project and we wouldn’t have to really hear more about how influential the show has been. I was wrong!

Aziz Ansari: Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening – Aziz’s new special airs Sunday, January 17th on Comedy Central, and then the DVD streets the following Tuesday. This will probably be a lot like Patton Oswalt’s last special, where the Comedy Central version was shortened and censored, so consider this a “preview” for when you buy the DVD.

John Oliver’s New York Standup Show – This new weekly standup series debuted last week to little fanfare, but it’s pretty good. The premiere episode featured Maria Bamford, Nick Kroll (in character) and Eugene Mirman. Sure, they were all doing album material any comedy nerd likely has memorized by now, but this is high quality standup, vastly superior to the other standup series Comedy Central airs. John Oliver’s a good host, too.

NOT A COMEDY BUT YOU SHOULD SEE IT ANYWAY

Big Fan – Patton Oswalt’s dramatic debut is out on DVD this week (no bluray edition, sadly), and since you missed it when it was in theaters (okay, when it was in 3 theaters in LA and New York), now’s your chance to see it. It’s a great film – a 1970s style dark character piece – and a really brilliant performance from Oswalt. See this.

Patton Oswalt vs. The Room

If you live in Los Angeles and/or live and breathe watching bad movies for fun, you are no doubt aware of Tommy Wiseau's The Room. Also, if you read this site, you are aware of Patton Oswalt. Words cannot express how fantastic this short video by Oswalt is, so just watch it-- and if you don't get it, ask your hipster movie fan friends to loan you their The Room DVD:

Book Review: Chunklet's The Rock Bible

WHAT: Collection of jokes and anecdotes to challenge your taste in music
GOOD IF YOU LIKED: Les Savy Fav, the greater works of Steve Albini, and rock in general
WHERE TO FIND IT: Better record stores, online book stores, Chunklet's web store
BY: Henry Owings, Patton Oswalt, Brian Teasley, Andrew Earles, many others

It's often been said the musicians want to be comedians, and comedians want to be musicians. The Rock Bible bridges this gap with an excellent piece of work aimed at a very specific kind of person who may not be you. This collection of jokes and essays takes the form of the Bible in its structure, with the required amount of sneering and accuracy that hits the nail on the head. Truly, it is funny because it's true... and born from Chunklet, arguably the finest publication on paper today.

"If you want to die while in a famous rock band, there are four options. 1. Suicide. 2. Car or plane crash. 3. Drug overdose. 4. Murdered by a crazy relative. Just pick one and stick with it."

The one problem about the book is that it seems to be a very funny collection written mostly with people that are cooler than you/me in mind. If you see a lot of shows or play in a band yourself, there's a good chance that this book may mirror experiences in your own life. For the squares, there's a lot of great advice as to how not be a putz at a rock show-- which may seem obvious, and it really should be. There's also a bunch of stories, in-jokes, and lists of things which are or are not acceptable in rock today. This may sound like a snobby pursuit, and it probably is, but it's damned funny.

If you like music a lot-- specifically forms of rock from its roots to today-- odds are you'll enjoy this a great deal. If you're in college and have this on a table during a party, it's going to get stolen. That's how good it is. If you've got a music fan in your life, or you are one, get it. Read it. You'll love it. It's virtually the ideal bathroom book.

Comedy Death Ray This Week: All The Ham

If you were one of the billions of people not in attendance at the Los Angeles UCB Theatre this week, you missed one of the finest nights of comedy to grace any stage, anywhere, ever. Hot damn. It was also a night of Doug Benson's I Love Movies, which makes it even more awesome.

I Love Movies
Doug Benson's [Twitter] guests were Paul F. Tompkins [Twitter] and Brett Gelman [Twitter]. Games were played. Lottery commercials were discussed. Tom Lennon was mentioned as having canceled due to some movie project. This should be on his iTunes feed in a few days, most likely, so do be sure to check it out.

Comedy Death Ray
Kyle Kinane was not the host, as advertised, but rather Chris Fairbanks [Web]. Very funny. Most of his opening was seemingly him winging it, hysterical stuff, and he also let drop that he's recording a comedy album in San Francisco this week which we fully intend on picking up when the chance comes up. The comedy bounced around from all sorts of styles, so it's pretty much right up our alley. Because it was funny, which is what we go for.

• First up: Paul F. Tompkins [Twitter]. When your opener is PFT, the show has to be awesome, and it was. Paul told tales of drunk, rude, and annoying Canadians while sharing road stories from the recent comedy festival in Vancouver. It's hard to tell how much of this was material or just sharing genuinely funny life experiences, but it sounds like he had a terrible audience that he screwed with the entire time. This is why Paul, formerly of Best Week Ever and numerous other projects, is one of the finest comics working today. We're big fans, and as I like to say, make sure you see him if the chance ever arrives. Seriously, if it's $40 a whack to see him, go do it.
  
• Next up was Susan Burke [MySpace], who brought a number of great jokes focusing on things that, were we to describe them, we would crush the punchlines. So we won't. But do see her if you get the chance.
  
• Jon Daly [Twitter] came out next doing another character bit, of which he is something of a genius. Why this man does not have a TV deal, I do not know. If you've heard of the rule of threes, he managed to take a Bill Cosby persona infomercial gag to the rule of 14s. I would describe it at length, but I don't know if you'll have the chance to see it and I'd hate to ruin it for you. It may be the single funniest thing of the evening, as it certainly seemed that the audience was laughing harder and longer than at any other bit we've seen in quite a while. To say he killed may be an understatement-- if the night was a competition, this man was the clear winner. All hail Jon Daly.
  
• The great Patton Oswalt [MySpace]-- who from here on out must be referred to as great-- pulled out tons of new material in the wake of his recent CD release, which we reviewed here a while back. As one of the funniest (and therefore best) standups working today, Oswalt and Tompkins made this a real winning evening for their fans, and anyone that wandered in from off the streets. Topics included Halloween decorations (specifically, a tree), ham, a new baby, and more. Let us know if you hear these bits in rotation, all were really strong and it's a shame Patton doesn't release albums every few months so you can hear all of this material.
  
• The audience was surprised to see another comic follow Oswalt, the unannounced Reggie Watts [Twitter]. It's difficult to describe-- sort of music, definitely comic, and the performer feels like the fusion of George Clinton and Bobby McFerrin. It's difficult to describe, but it was a brief, funny mix of voices, strangeness, singing, sound effects, and... well, maybe that wasn't so difficult. It was absolutely a treat to see and a nice way to end the show.

In short, or long, another great week without any real lagging.

My Weakness is Strong

My Weakness is Strong
Patton Oswalt
Warner Bros. and Degenerate Records
Released August 25, 2009

If you like Patton, you will like this album. Overall, the material is very solid, all new, nothing repeated from previous albums and a very fun listen.

Patton settles down a bit with this one, with his life actually toning down a bit. Not so much raw hatred. It has Patton growing up a bit with him discussing becoming a father and having to give up drugs, and doing a media tour for the Pixar film Ratatouille and having to give up his hatred to be civil to children who might interview him on the Disney Channel or show up at his door dressed as Remy for Halloween.

For longtime fans, there are still many are many dark roads traveled in his comedy, so don't worry about that being lacking. For example, Patton talks about and how he went off his Prozac because of his belief the world will devolve into the world of the Road Warrior in thirty years and he didn't want to end up suddenly hitting bottom and ending up not caring about being the bumper ornament for the head wastelander.

There are, as usual some hilariously-recalled stories told by Patton, such as the story of him, his wife and a Realtor coming to look at a house only to find the owner in the middle of an orgy and a story of doing stand-up opening for a magician who does his entire act hate-fucking the audience over the loss of five dollars.

Patton also muses as only he can, with a theory that religion was invented by someone like himself to dodge getting killed by a giant man with a club in ancient times. He also tells a hilarious bit about how much everything has changed in only the past ten years, and therefore time travel is cheaper.

The album comes in an efficient cardstock case with beautiful art by Ivan Brunetti (known for the award-winning Schitzo comic) and two sleeves, one for the DVD and one for the CD. It is one important advantage the physical album has over the digital download.

The CD and DVD contain exactly the same show. The DVD is filmed at the Lisner Auditorium in Washington D.C. so if you want see the album and not just hear it, it is there for you. It is good to get some subtle visual comedy you would otherwise miss.

The DVD is also well-produced with disturbing animated art by Ivan Brunetti and piano music that sounds like Phillip Glass on horse tranquilizers. A nice step-up actually from a lot of comedy DVDs which in the past have looked like they were slapped together with iDVD.

The DVD also contains extras, such as a bad infomercial for the Patton Oswalt CD which contains cameos from such people as Paul F. Tompkins and Zach Galifianakis. There is also a strange series of parodies of Tommy Wiseau with Patton as Mr. Wiseau, hence the strange. There is an alternate opening to the comedy special which slams openings to comedy specials and a neat little photo slideshow with a series of pictures of items that remind you of jokes. It's hard to explain, but very neat.

So, this album is available pretty much everywhere right now at about $15 or less, so if you are a fan of Patton, you've probably already bought it.

Full outside cover:


Full inside cover:


DVD menu image:


Quite possibly the saddest DVD setup menu ever created:

Weekly Comedy: The Patton Oswalt Blitzkrieg

It’s all Patton all the time this week, plus some pretty damn good DVD releases

(and one of questionable taste)

(OK maybe not questionable taste)

(I’m referring to Scrubs season 8)

(Scrubs is a blight on this Earth of ours)

(if you’re a big Scrubs fan kill yourself)

(okay maybe don’t kill yourself but you should reconsider the life you’re living, especially the part where you’re a big Scrubs fan)

(Scrubs is terrible)

IN THEATERS

Big Fan – Okay, so this isn’t really a comedy, but it’s the directoral debut of the guy who wrote The Wrestler and stars everyone’s favorite comic Patton Oswalt (who’s having the best week ever!) as an schlubby obsessive sportsfan who winds up in a pretty dark predicament. There is apparently some comedy in it but it’s mostly an exploration into the psyche of fanatical fans and even gets into some existentialism. Sounds hilarious!

But seriously it’s supposed to be excellent, so if you’re in one of the 2 cities it’s playing this weekend check it out. Otherwise, it’ll probably get a wide release next month.

DVD

Adventureland – One of the best movies of the year and a fine, fine dramedy in the fine, fine tradition of Freaks & Geeks. Great performances all around here, especially Martin Starr. If there were an Oscar for “Best Portrayal of an Adult Nerd Drifting through Life filled with Ennui”, Martin Starr would be a shoe-in. Also present are Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, who are great in everything, including this. It’s at least a must-rent.

Sunshine Cleaning – A “black” comedy – meaning it deals with dark or disturbing themes, rather than being a Tyler Perry movie – featuring the ever-chipper Amy Adams and the delightful Emily Blunt, who run a business cleaning up crime scenes once the cops are done. I haven’t seen this yet but it’s at the top of my Netflix queue and had a ton of positive buzz coming out of Sundance.

Scrubs Season 8 – You know those Cottonelle toilet paper commercials with the talking Golden Retriever puppy? Zach Braff is the voice of that puppy, and he’s clearly trying really hard to sound “cute”. I hate Zach Braff – mostly for the odious Garden State – but the “cute voice” he’s doing for that puppy makes me hate him even more. And all of that is on top off the fact that I already hated Zach Braff because he’s in Scrubs, which is not a good or funny show.

CD

Patton Oswalt: My Weakness is Strong – Obviously the blockbuster release this week. When you buy the CD you get the DVD of his Comedy Central special for free, which is a sweet deal considering it can be had for just 10 bones. Look for the full Comedy is Dead review this week!

Weekly Comedy: Yet Another Slow Week

This is probably the slowest week for comedy in the history of slow weeks for comedy, of which there have been many this year. Maybe you should take this time to finally crack open that According to Jim: The Complete Series boxset your mother got you for Christmas last year.

One thing to keep in mind: Patton Oswalt’s new CD, My Weakness is Strong, has been inexplicably released on iTunes a full week early, so you can get it right now. We’re planning on waiting until the physical CD + DVD release next Tuesday to pick it up, and you can also catch the Comedy Central version of his new stand-up special on Sunday.

IN THEATERS

World’s Greatest Dad – This is finally seeing a limited release on Friday (very limited, mind you), and according to Comedy is Dead honcho Adam, it’s pretty damn good, so you should seek it out. Check out the trailer here, our review here, and an excellent video interview by David Poland with director Bob Goldthwait and star Robin Williams here.

Rifftrax Live: Plan 9 From Outer Space – Got 20 bucks? Have a Thursday evening to kill? The fine folks at Rifftrax (and some dudes from SomethingAwful.com) are putting on a “live” show on Thursday, which is being beamed into theaters across the country. It’s only live on the east coast and in central time, so if you’re in the west, it’s no more “live” than a DVD. They’re riffing on Plan 9 From Outer Space, which has been done before. But hey, if you’re a fan, this could be pretty cool. Keep in mind the steep admission and the fact that they use the relatively crappy digital projectors used to show ads before the movie, though.

DVD

The Simpsons Season 12 – Ugh, now we’re into the dregs.

What’s this? A bunch of terrible Simpsons episodes from the series’ low point? The Computer Wore Menace Shoes? Tennis the Menace? Day of the Jackanape?! They’re all here! …what do you think?

I think it’s lunchtime.

WE HAVE A WINNER

I Love Movies: A Podcast: A Taping: A Report

Note: the podcast described here is not yet available at press time. If you are from the future, however, you can ignore this disclaimer.

Hey kids, have you ever heard the I Love Movies podcast? It's the one with Doug Benson, various celebrities or funny folk, and a live studio audience, taped at Los Angeles' Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and oh yes-- it's totally free, assuming you're already in the Los Angeles area.

Tonight I had the fortune of finally getting to see a live recording, and it's just as delightful as the audio version, but now you get to get out of the house. Tonight's (yesterday's) guests were Adam Carolla (of the podcast and Loveline fame) and Patton Oswalt, who is Dionysus in our pantheon of comedy gods. Since you can hear the show for free we won't spoil it, but here are some useful tidbits for you if you ever plan on seeing a taping. (I guessed the first Leonard Maltin movie in 0 names so I feel like a genius now.)

- The show is totally free
- Doors open around 7:30 PM
- There were open seats after the show started, and yes, they let people come in during the middle of the show
- There are typically two shows a month
- If you're as cheap as I am you can drive up a few blocks and get a free parking spot (TAKE THAT VALET)

So if you're afraid that the show might be packed, at least this one wasn't. What kind of allergy people have to free entertainment, I am not sure. It's totally worth your time to go, even though the podcast is available, mostly so you can see the rickety-ass table and the collection of chairs and audio equipment which shows that every dime of ticket sales is going directly into the show's production.

But it's damn funny and getting to see Adam Carolla, Patton Oswalt, and Doug Benson talk about movies is a head-explode moment. The only thing that could have been cooler might have involved Neil Hamburger at a Doug Benson Interruption, and you know I'm crossing my fingers for that to happen.

Road Trip Album Picks: Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (Comedians of Comedy)

WHAT: Stand-up with four comics going at once: Maria Bamford, Eugene Mirman, Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn
LABEL: Chunklet
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Any of the Comedians of Comedy
WHERE TO FIND IT: Chunklet

While the label says Patton Oswalt on it, that's something of an incorrect announcement. The 3-track, 18.5-minute recording features Oswalt as well as Posehn, Mirman, and the Bammer basically goofing around on stage explaining what it's like to be in a tour van together. There is much hatred and screaming.

Given that The Pennsylvania Macaroni Company is extremely short, you might assume that it's also good. You would be right. This album manages to pack in an astonishing amount of conflict and funny in a short period of time, and it's pretty accessible stuff-- you could probably play this for your non-comedy nerd pals and they'd love it.

The title track is a nearly 8-minute long riff on the restaurant of the same name, and the little songs that Patton improvises in a Leon Redbone voice. If that sounds like something you can't live without, and trust me when I say that it is, you should pick this up if you have the means. I realize it's expensive for what you get on a per-minute basis, but it's also funnier than what you're used to. So buy it.

Lewis Black's Root of All Evil

Lewis Black's Root Of All Evil
Available on Comedy Central and

Take Lewis Black. Make him a judge. Then take two comedians and make them lawyers. Have the two of them argue over which is more evil in something that isn't really a trial. Sounds like a hilarious show, right? RIGHT??

The format is thus: Lewis Black is the judge. One comic makes an argument for one thing being the Root of All Evil, and another comic makes an argument for another thing. Say like, Patton Oswalt argues that bloggers are the Root of All Evil, and Andy Daly makes an argument that Ultimate Fighting is the Root of All Evil. This goes on for a while, to where the comics put forth a hypothetical monologue as to what will happen if their evil thing is allowed to continue. Then they give their closing arguments and Lewis Black decides which is more evil.

Essentially, it's a bunch of different ideas shoved together in a formula, which makes it broken.

So you have stand-ups doing material on a set subject. Okay, they've got some talented comics so that should be fine, but then you have them present the material as lawyers. This is kind of like going up to a gourmet chef and saying "hey, I know you are a gourmet chef, but could you do your cooking as if you were a gay pirate?" In essence, it takes people who are good at something and has them try to force it into a bad idea.

Then there is the concept of comparing two things and deciding which is the more evil. This is interesting, but it's done in a way that isn't interesting. It would be interesting if this was an actual jury of ordinary people giving their actual opinions as to what is more evil. That would be full of suprise and insight. This is just again, comics doing stand-up material on a set subject crammed up the ass of a bad idea.

I kinda wish that this has been more of a "This Week" format. You know, where comics sat around and had a round table discussion about what subjects considered evil. That would have provided a more open format for comedy and not seemed so forced. Also, it would have made a trifecta of news show satire. You would have the Daily Show for fake news, the Colbert Report for fake Fox news, and Root of All Evil for fake NPR-like discussion.

Ah well, I'm not the programming director of Comedy Central. If I was, then Mind of Mencia would be about cutting open Carlos Mencia's skull to see what brain processes make him suck so bad and develop gene therapies to prevent that in future comedians.

I want to like this show as it is. I really do, because I like the people in it. I like Lewis Black, and I like Andy Daly, Patton Oswalt, Paul F. Tompkins....and the others, but this format really doesn't work at all. It's kind of sad, like watching Eddie Murphy's career since 1991, except so much more so.

Expect Root of All Evil to run for five more seasons on Comedy Central.

Patton Oswalt 222

Patton Oswalt 222
Released in 2004 by United Musicians

This album is essentially the unedited recording of which Patton Oswalt's debut album, Feelin' Kinda Patton was cut from. The title comes from the fact the audio is 2 hours and 22 minutes long. I thought it was a reference to Room 222, the TV show from the 1970's, but that is just me.

The album itself is completely no frills, with two trackless CDs, and nothing much of liner notes. You may want to put this on your favorite digital music device because of this. It will allow you to skirt around at will.

It is interesting in the world of comedy recordings because this is essentially the "warts and all" edition of a comedy performance. Every awkward chuckle, every Oswalt sip of Dewar's, every audience member howling like Chewbacca is all there. Actually, considering the amount of alcohol Patton indicates he is drinking during this recording, it is amazing that he does not end his long set with him dying on stage with blood shooting out of his liver. It's an impressive alcohol tolerance.

It's a good bit of comedy, it's an interesting recording of comedy. If you wish you can get this over Feelin Kinda Patton, because this contains all the material in Feelin Kinda Patton and more, just unedited. Or if you want something a little more organized, you can not get this and get Feelin Kinda Patton instead. It's your choice, really.

Overall, I feel like perhaps this is not an album for people who are new to Patton Oswalt as the long, trackless presentation might be too much to handle. For those who are already a fan, this is a fine purchase.

Werewolves and Lollipops

Werewolves and Lollipops
Patton Oswalt
Released by Sub Pop records in 2007

Oh my god! What the hell is going on with this album cover?? It's like Pink Floyd took some acid with Rush and made an album cover with Salvador Dali! Things are MELTING! There's a big mouth with fangs on the outside where the head should be and the head is a ball and AAAAAHHH!

Werewolves and Lollipops is Patton Oswalt's most recent album. It is hilarious, keeping with Patton's ranting on pop culture retardation, the pain of his own life, and the pure insanity of being the type of person who lives in thes suburbs and has a "normal" American life.

The album starts off with a bit you may have heard now already, talking about KFC's famous bowls, their menu item in which they shove a pile of their food in a bowl and serve it to human beings. From there he goes on to describe how he got married and how he doesn't believe that his wife is real because she is is a hottie and he is not. He meanders over to talking about how disturbing G-rated filth is, why you should only be allowed 20 birthday parties, the Dukes of Hazard being Bush and Cheney, killing George Lucas with a shovel, and how growing up in the suburbs sucks ass.

Patton does a bit about birth control on this album that he has done previously, with one important difference - a heckler interrupts his bit right as he is getting to the punchline. This leads to an instant diversion where Patton rips into the heckler for minutes with a skill and wit I'm sure we all wish we had when having to deal with total douchebags.

The album continues with his admiration of the insanity of four-star chefs, how he can't get a movie made, but Death Bed: The Bed That Eats People is a movie that was, and he finishes up with how the same people who might be against gay marriage will be very for Cirque du Soleil, which Patton describes "What a gay french dude sees in his head when he's tired and horny."

Though this may be an antiquated notion, I recommend getting the physical, non-downloadable, hold-in-your-hands copy because it not only comes with a CD, but a DVD as well.

Now, the DVD is essentially a video of Patton doing essentially the same performance on the album, except someone gets peed on. That's right, someone during the show does not have the self control to leave the crowd for a bit and go to the bathroom properly, so they simply urinate on someone standing next to them. Thankfully you don't see this happening but you certainly hear Patton's reaction to it, which is reoccurring. Patton even makes an introduction on the DVD in front of a bust of Lincoln to specifically plead with people not to pee on each other at his shows.

Besides the stand-up the DVD also features a brief little skit showing Patton at a house he clearly doesn't own with rooms that can't possibly exist in it.

Overall, great album, get it. Enjoy it. Share it with your friends.


back cover


inside cover


acid-trip freaky booklet cover (by an artist called Zeloot)


more normal booklet insides


the discs

Patton Oswalt's Frankensteins and Gumdrops

Warning/Guarantee: This look at a comedy album is written from the collector perspective. If you're looking to buy an actual full Patton Oswalt CD, this is not a good place to start. If you have all his stuff and are going to buy this anyway, this is for you.

A few months ago, word came down handed unto me by the Chunklet blog that Patton Oswalt would not only have a new CD coming, but it'd be free! Well, free with a pledge to radio station WFMU which I've never heard. After discovering it was free with a $75 donation, it seemed it would not be possible to obtain this CD. Until last weekend, that is. (Don't ask me where I got it.) Limited edition, promotional, and exclusive are very important words to the collector out there, and in here. This album is largely about bragging rights, so I can go to both of my friends who care about such things and say "guess what I've got?"

Frankensteins and Gumdrops gives you 10.3 minutes of the funny. That's not a lot of funny for $75, and I'm sure anyone who actually shelled out the asking rate on eBay would probably not be entirely pleased with their purchase. But keep in mind, I've payed a lot of money for a Transformers toy just because there are only 1,000 of them in the world, so I'm not one to talk. Anyway, the tracks are:
1. There Will Be Blood
2. Mega-Leg

One track gets out some decent movie material out there, even if any references to There Will Be Blood are on the midnight train to Borat-ville. The other immortalizes the KFC Mega-Leg routine, which has been performed live over (at least) the past year now. I still laugh, and you will too-- Patton's endless enthusiasm shows through these bits and odds are that someday I'll find my hypothetical future offspring quoting some of this stuff back to me to the point of madness. (Of course, the language isn't kid-friendly, I'm just guessing that's something my kid would do.)

What you have here is a great little collectible. As a can't-miss laughfest for the car on your next road trip, well, it'll fill 10 minutes. So if you have a harrowing journey to the 7-11 or through the Wendy's drive-thru, this is just the thing. Just take my advice when I say it is not only not worth the premium pricing. One can't put a price on a premium collectible (or rather, they can, and we pay it) but the actual quantity of material here is not worth the typical EP asking price. Were this a mass release, anything more than $6.99 would seem excessive.