Patton Oswalt, Coming Live to Your Living Room This Saturday 2.20

Published by Sara Dahms at February 16, 2021

Patton Oswalt is doing a livestream hour on Rushtix on Saturday, February 20th at 6:00 PT. RushTix brings together thousands of fans for the magical shared experience of live comedy up close and personal, giving fans a front-row seat to the best live comedy with a vibrant real-time social experience unlike any other, including the “RushTix Studio AUDIO-ance,” which allows the comedian and audience to hear real-time laughter as if they were all in the club together.

Get tickets to see Patton on RushTix.com!

Patton Oswalt is a talented comedic actor who completely nails his role as the lovable and hilarious Principal Ralph Durbin in A.P. Bio and as a former Science teacher I could not have been more excited to speak with him ahead of his February 20th performance on RushTix! Going back to rewatch his HBO Comedy ½ Hour from 1998 reminded me of something I had totally forgotten- just how dark and edgy his comedy was. I also watched Patton’s newest hour special, I Love Everything, that was just released on Netflix in 2020 and was curious to see how well his dark, comedic edge has held up after 22 years, fatherhood and ample success in Hollywood and was elated to discover that he is just as sharp as ever! Patton Oswalt has an extremely impressive career as an actor on TV and in movies, was a complete delight to speak with and is still a true-blue, stand-up comedian at heart.

Patton will be performing in front of a live studio audience and broadcasting this live stream comedy special on Saturday, February 20th at 6:00 PT, a rare opportunity to see Patton live from your living room. Buy your tickets at RushTix.com and if you need another reason to watch, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Alice’s Kids to help teachers, counselors and social workers support children in need throughout our country.

The Interrobang: You have a really funny bit in I Love Everything where you go through the decades of life, but you kind of gloss over the early years, so I’d like to start there. What were you like from 0-10? You made a joke on Stephen Colbert about reading Steven King’s The Stand when you were 10. Is that true?

Patton Oswalt: Yeah, I did. It’s crazy but once I started it, I could not put it down. It was so good! As a little kid I was a part of a group that was super into science fiction, horror and comedy. My dad had a lot of comedy albums that he would play for me. I especially remember listening to Jonathan Winters and the Smothers Brothers and watching The Carol Burnett Show because that was his generation. Then they got the Steve Martin, A Wild and Crazy Guy album and I remember it being so surreal and so non-linear and that is what lead me to Monty Python and Saturday Night Live.

The Interrobang: So, you were a fan of sci-fi, horror and comedy when you were a kid? That’s a cool mix. My sisters and our friends used to rent scary movies and then go night swimming in our backyard just to freak ourselves out.

Patton Oswalt: Nice! And a lot of those movies had trauma coming out of the water, especially Poltergeist and the end of Friday the 13th.

The Interrobang: Yes and Creepshow was a big one for us. We loved the one with the blob that kept eating the people on the raft.

Patton Oswalt: That is literally based on a short story called, The Raft… and there was the one with the people coming out of the water too!

The Interrobang: Yes! I loved it! We loved to freak ourselves out… It was fun! Maybe there’s a connection for people who have a palate for horror and comedy, where we enjoy entertainment that makes us feel? The laughter of the comedy and the fear of the scary stories were all a part of the fun.

Patton Oswalt: Also, I think because the suburbs where so safe, the idea of getting what they call in England a “video nasty,” you wanted something that made you feel like you were doing something that was unruly or looking at something that you shouldn’t be looking at.

The Interrobang: Yes! And that’s also why I’m such a fan of your brand of comedy. It’s not safe. Did your sense of humor ever get you into trouble?

Patton Oswalt: I think I got detention a few times but I feel like every time I got detention, it was almost like the teacher was doing me a favor by saying “That joke sucked!” or “You went too far; just get two laughs and then leave it alone.” In a way, that was a really good thing because I had to learn not to keep hammering away at things so it was actually a part of my comedy training. They didn’t know they were doing it but it actually helped.

The Interrobang: So you had teachers that would allow you to be funny and actually laugh at your jokes? That’s great!

Patton Oswalt: Oh, yes! I’m actually still friends with my History teacher. He was a big comedy fan and we really got along.

The Interrobang: How soon after high school did you start stand-up?

Patton Oswalt: I went to college for English because I wanted to be a writer but between freshman and sophomore year, my little circle of friends got me thinking that maybe I could do comedy professionally. I tried a bunch of different things to see what would stick and the one that really landed the hardest was when I went to do an open mic. It was a Tuesday night and I just thought, “Oh, this is the life for me. This is it!”

The Interrobang: I noticed that in the opening of your HBO ½ hour special you had Dave Chappelle at the table with you. Did you come up with him in DC?

Patton Oswalt: Yeah, we had our first open mic together.

The Interrobang: Shut up! He was a baby when he started and I actually went to one of Dave’s Radio City Music Hall shows that were celebrating his 30th anniversary in stand-up. Do you still keep in touch with him?

Patton Oswalt: Yeah, Dave was 14 and I was 19 and it was pretty amazing to watch. It was obvious that he belonged on stage… We live far apart and traveling is really difficult right now so we text but I’m a huge fan of his and I’m a huge fan of what he does as a creator. To know someone like that and to see him still developing is very inspiring and it kind of helps to keep me going.

The Interrobang: I love that! And there’s something else I love. I made a note that I had to tell you how much I love the character, Helen who is played by Paula Pell on A.P. Bio! I mean, holy crap! She’s a star!

Patton Oswalt: She rules. Paula has been a star for a long, long time for people who really know comedy. She was a hidden force on SNL for all of these years and she has always been a genius.

The Interrobang: Well, she is just as magical in front of the camera so thank you to A.P. Bio for putting her out there for us to enjoy! I have to admit that I used to teach Science so my appreciation for the show runs deep. Congratulations on getting picked up for your fourth season! I’m so excited to watch it! What’s it like working with that entire cast?

Patton Oswalt: Everyone on the cast is amazing. Glenn Howerton is fantastic and all three of the women who play the teachers had been doing shows out of Chicago and are improv geniuses and we completely lucked out with the cast of actors and actresses that play the students because they are all just incredible. I can’t believe how lucky we are!

The Interrobang: You were in one of the greatest shows ever. You were the video store clerk on Seinfeld.

Patton Oswalt: (Laughing): That was my very first T.V. acting gig.

The Interrobang: Your firsts are very impressive!

Patton Oswalt: I am very, very lucky.

The Interrobang: When you were first starting in comedy, were there established comedians or actors who saw your talent and helped you along the way?

Patton Oswalt: The comedians who helped me were always my peer group of friends who kept me honest. They’d tell me to write better stuff and they truly made comedy exciting and fun for me. I think that when you have that kind of attitude, people can see that you really like what you’re doing and that makes them want to keep working with you.

The Interrobang: There is that common thread that after you worked with Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, you went on to work with Jerry Stiller on King of Queens. I always talk about a Mount Rushmore of comedians but Jerry Stiller is above Mount Rushmore.

Patton Oswalt: He and Anne Meara created so much! I love his delivery, how it could be very angsty and unsmooth and his ability to play confusion and rage while being his own worst enemy, I just loved. He was such a genius. I remember doing a scene where it starts with him walking into the room saying, “Hello Douglas” and the way he said it received such a huge laugh that it actually threw the scene off. There was just always a sense that something weird and great was about to come out of his head and we were all just excited to be there. You know?

The Interrobang: I know… The trajectory of your career is really something special. Thank you so much for your time today and I can’t wait to watch you perform on the 20th!