Patton Oswalt “Finest Hour” DVD review
Patton Oswalt
“Finest Hour”
review by Denise Borders
@punkworldviews
This man has been in this comedy game for over 20 years, so it’s safe to say he knows his shit. Personally, I hadn’t watched his standup before so this was a nice, new treat for me. LET’S GO.
I like the way this DVD begins because it gets right into it. No crazy, dragged out intros or anything like that; he was introduced and started his shit. The first few jokes were centered around being a dad and were definitely funny. It’s hard to laugh out loud and type at the same time as I’m reviewing this, but… I did it anyway. Multitasking at its finest, my friends.
I think a lot of people can agree when I say part of this dude’s charm is his frumpy build. I’m not saying that to be a dick or anything, I’m pretty sure most comedians thrive on being funny looking or out of shape because it helps their set or gives them a shtick. He’s nailing it.
One complaint I have early on is I feel like the production quality could have been better. Overall, it’s fine but some parts it seems the camera was shakey or the quality just didn’t seem up to par with most comedy DVDs in 2012. But… moving along.
At this point, I’m less than ten minutes into the DVD and I’m already feeling good about it. I love standup but I’m not well versed on it or anything, so often times I have to warm up to a DVD of someone I’m not familiar with. Yes, I fucking know who Patton Oswalt is, I’m not retarded, but I’ve never actually watched his standup until now. So far, so good!
He goes into a chunk comparing strippers to comedians and it was superb. He really pushes the line of offensive which is pretty much my favorite thing about comedy. I love it that as a regular person, we are hounded or looked down on for having an offensive sense of humor, but in standup it’s almost expected. I LOVE IT.
Moving along to him imitating himself singing in the car, I was so into it because I do the same thing, of course. I love making up songs about driving, food, making fun of people, whatever. It’s great to have someone do this out loud on television. It definitely reminds me that it is totally hilarious and more people need to get on this train.
One thing I notice at this point that he’s dressed really sharp! Good for him. I do think it’s funny when comedians wear normal clothes or whatever, but there’s something respectful about a comedian looking sharp in a suit and STILL making you laugh. YOU GO GIRL.
Oswalt rambles about some Jennifer Aniston jokes. Not his strongest point but there were some funny parts in there, but it could be my least favorite part of the set so far. And don’t get me wrong, I’m team Aniston all the way but, his Aniston jokes weren’t super.
Skipping along to his segments about the SPAM museum… love it. Talking about how he wants to be the first non ironic visitor because only hipsters go to try to be funny and cool, OH YES. He almost sounds sincere! It was a short one but one of my favorites.
As a whole, the DVD isn’t keeping my attention super well but it’s almost because I am literally typing this as I’m watching it and randomly start multitasking on other things, that’s just the story of my life. It’s hard to anything to really glue my eyes to the TV non stop. True Blood is good at this and that is a FACT.
Moving forward to his imitations of people at Weight Watchers meetings were FUCKING AWESOME. He goes on maybe a bit long for some people’s taste but I thought it was perfect. This part was totally offensive and awesome, and it lead into jokes that were so irrelevant, that in itself was humorous. However, the following jokes about the circus weren’t at the hilarity level of the weight watchers ones. BUT I AIN’T EVEN MAD.
He loses me a bit when he talks about loving Disney Land. I know, I know… I’m pure evil inside. I’ve been and I just can’t get into it. Too many kids and too long of lines and just a lot of things that I don’t enjoy all in my face at once, it just reminds me that I’m a cold, dead soul that would rather listen to Cro Mags and pound out miles on the treadmill than ANY of that shit. It’s true. But that aside…. his stint on Disney Land was mediocre, but good effort!
It’s okay though, Oswalt redeems himself by moving onto religion jokes. Yeah they aren’t always creative because it’s almost too easy, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t fucking hilarious. Skipping past a few parts and onto another laugh out loud worthy chunk of jokes… the movie theatre ones. As soon as he said popcorn farts I’m like.. I’M IN. Fart/poop/pee jokes are always going to win my heart. Write that down.
While this was filmed in Seattle, he talks a lot about LA because he lives there and well.. so do I! 😀 Since moving here, I’ve enjoyed LA references so much more because now I know what the fuck they’re talking about. His LA vs NYC jokes were great, and a great way to end the DVD for sure. I’m stoked to own this and I’m sure it will make it’s way back into my DVD player time and time again. While the middle lulled just a bit, I will blame my wandering eye on the fact that I am an asshole human being that just can’t do one thing at a time.
Finest Hour dropped April 24th so it’s now available for your dumb face to watch. If you’re too lazy to search for it online yourself, here’s the AMAZON link! Wuv you.
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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