Patton Oswalt: Annihilation (2017)
October 20, 2017 9:13 AM - Subscribe

Some jokes about Trump. A little crowd work. And then jokes related to his heartbreaking loss.

It's chaos.
Be kind.

Currently on netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80177406
posted by Stanczyk (6 comments total)
 
This was good. I'm a fan of Oswalt's stand-up so I wondered what he would do after his world was suddenly shattered. I'm glad he was able to put it in his act in a respectful and touching way. There seemed to be some tension before he started that part of the show, because we all knew it was coming.
posted by bondcliff at 10:49 AM on October 20, 2017


This will be confusing.
posted by sammyo at 11:39 AM on October 20, 2017


"Leetle gairl, I lozzt my ..."

I feel like I'd heard a version of that story on a talk show, but I still wept-laughed.

Also, that power lifter dude. ("So who's bringing muffins on Monday?")
posted by NorthernLite at 4:12 PM on October 20, 2017


I found the section about his wife so moving and also funny. It's really beautiful how he turned he and his daughter's personal tragedy into -dare I say -Art.

It's chaos - be kind - is a real mantra for 2017.
posted by wittgenstein at 5:22 PM on October 20, 2017


Favorite bits:

Donald Trump is sour cream in the sauna.

I used to watch Schindler's List, and that's a great movie, but I could never completely relate to it. But then, The Force Awakens came out, and there was a black stormtrooper, I was like, holy shit. I totally understand Auschwitz now. I get it. When he took his helmet off and it was a black guy, that was our Trail of Tears.

Yeah, that's Genghis Kahn, most people are related to Genghis Kahn.

The Obama Center, wow... And you have the last cubic inch of hope, under glass in there, right?. The last cubic inch of optimism under a little light.

You work for the Onion? How does the whiplash feel watching reality just pissing all over satire every day?...You have an irony deficiency.

This next section is hard for me to get into.

There's no sense to it. My wife was a true crime writer and reseracher and the phrase she hated the most was, "You know, everything happens for a reason." She was like, No, it fucking doesn't. It's...chaos. It's all random. And it's horrifying. And if you want to try and reduce the horror, reduce the chaos, Be Kind. That's all you can do. Chaos. Be kind.

(Editor's note: That is by far the most useful thing I've heard all year)

And then everything failed me. Pop culture. All my escape routes that I used to use to go to for comfort. Comic books, science fiction, film, literature. All that stuff immediately failed me. Especially superheroes and comic books. Out the window. Every superhero, all these action heroes I worship, it's always a widower, someone who has lost a wife, or a child, or their whole family. And they do the thing that everyone does the minute they lose a loved one. You know what I'm talking about: Crossfit and martial arts. That's the first thing you do.

Batman, especially. That guy can go fuck himself. That guy. He's nine-years-old, his parents are gunned down in front of him, and he travels the world becoming this super-powered Ninja. Fighting. What the? At Best, at best, Bruce Wayne would have grown up to be Gotham City's most annoying slam poet. That's the best. He would have been one of those trust fund...He would have been a fat vegan.

They decided to add a story element which you can't do with a haunted house. It's just shit popping out. There's a werewolf, and a ghost. Instead, we went into a room and then adults came out, and just pitched us shitty movie sequels.

And I said
What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart
And how can a man like me remain in the light
And if life is really as short as they say
Then why is the night so long
And then the sun went down



I really loved this. It was simply beautiful. It was exactly what I needed right now and I really hope it helped him. Thanks, Patton. *hug*
posted by Stanczyk at 6:12 PM on October 20, 2017 [4 favorites]


brave, powerful, funny, heartbreaking stuff.

<3 patton
posted by entropicamericana at 8:03 AM on October 23, 2017


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