Performing sold-out shows and starring in an Oscar-winning movie… to helping catch a serial killer, Patton Oswalt has one of the most eclectic careers of anyone working today. Paradoxically known for his wholesome characters and his provocative stand-up, Patton speaks with Dan about what it was like forging his comedy career and falling into acting without intending to make a living off of it. Patton’s also no stranger to grief and recovery. He speaks about dealing with his vast anxiety surrounding his wife’s passing, raising their young daughter alone, and explores the joys of finding new love and building a life after the unimaginable. For upcoming shows and tickets to see Patton live, go to PattonOswalt.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Patton Oswalt and how did he start his comedy career?
Kings Network. Welcome to South Beach Sessions. I'm very excited about this one. You seem like, I've never met you, but you seem like a delightful person, both jagged and huggable. It's a tough thing to pull off. Wow. Patton Oswalt with us, actor, comedian, writer. I imagine you identify most as comedian, right?
Comedian, yeah.
I want to talk to you about so many different things, but the first thing I wanted to start with is your father, as a military man, named you after a World War II general.
He did. An insane World War II general.
Well, he must be so disappointed in you, though.
You know, he's the opposite because he, my dad was a Marine. He did three tours in Vietnam. And he, I remember him saying, I never, ever want you or your brother going to war or joining the military forces. It is. So he was, when I veered into comedy, he was very happy. He's like, you're doing good. And like, he, cause he always loved, I mean, he loved Jonathan Winters and the
His mother's brothers and David Letterman, all that stuff. So the fact that I went into comedy, I think, made him very, very happy.
When and how did you go into comedy?
I went in in the summer of 88. It was, I'm sure you've experienced, everyone's experienced this, a version of this, the summer between freshman and sophomore year of college when you start to realize, oh, I need to figure my life out. I better figure out what I'm gonna do with myself. And I just started doing a bunch of different jobs. And none of them were clicking.
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Chapter 2: How does Patton Oswalt view the role of comedians as truth tellers today?
Thank you.