Patton Oswalt: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Todd Barry
• Zach Galifianakis
• Brian Posehn
• David Cross
• Maria Bamford
• Demetri Martin

• Lenny Bruce
• Denis Leary
• Sam Kinison
• Bobcat Goldthwait
• Don Rickles
• Rodney Dangerfield
• Jonathan Winters

• The Comedians of Comedy

Born:

Jan 27, 1969 in Portsmouth, VA

Genres:

Comedy & Spoken Word, Spoken Comedy

Decades Active:

2000's

Comedian Patton Oswalt translated his acerbic, defiantly absurdist sensibility into surprising mainstream success, enjoying a thriving television and film career without dulling his edge. Born January 27, 1969 in Portsmouth, Virginia, Oswalt initially pursued a career as a writer, and also worked as a paralegal before performing his first openmike gig at the Washington D.C. club Garvin's in the summer of 1988. He began his professional standup career the following year and in 1992 relocated to San Francisco, continuing to hone in craft in nightclubs. After collaborating with fellow comedian Blaine Capatch on "Food for Thought," a series of short films for the cable network Comedy Central, Oswalt settled in Los Angeles in 1995, working as a writer on Fox's fledgling sketch program Mad TV and appearing on HBO Comedy Showcasein 1996, he made his feature film debut with a brief role in the comedy flop Down Periscope. Cast as nerdy Spence Olchin in the longrunning CBS sitcom The King of Queens in 1998, Oswalt worked alongside veteran standups Kevin James and the great Jerry Stiller, solidifying his rising profile via roles in the features Magnolia, Man on the Moon and Zoolanderin 2003, he even expanded into the world of comic books, writing the DC oneshot JLA: Welcome to the Working Week. Oswalt's debut standup LP Feelin' Kinda Patton appeared on Michael Penn and Aimee Mann's United Musicians imprint in 2004the indierock fanzine Chunklet also released an unedited and unexpurgated twodisc version of the same performance as 222. In the fall of 2004 Oswalt teamed with Zach Galifanakis, Brian Posehn and Maria Bamford as the Comedians of Comedy, a collective that eschewed traditional standup clubs in favor of indie rock venuesa feature film documenting their tour followed in 2005, as did a sixepisode Comedy Central series.

- Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide