Customer Reviews

My Weakness Is Strong

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Patton Oswalt dreaded morphing into the comic whose material becomes weak and clean after he gets sober, gets married, and has children. If anything, sobriety (or near-sobriety), a wife, and a child have made Oswalt more funny. He openly longs for Scotch and weed. His reflections on the immaturity and perpetual boyhood it requires to choose those things over responsibility brings out more intelligent and poignant comedy than his drunker days. That is, stability has sharpened rather than blunted Oswalt's comedy, and this album is his most refined thus far.

This album is no "Werewolves and Lollipops", but that recording is the most insanely hilarious stand-up comedy routine I've ever heard, so I guess I can't quite expect anything else to measure up to that. And some of the moments here ("Treadmill", "Rats", "Orgy") are every bit as funny as the stuff on W&L, so it still ranks as a pretty great routine. Fans of Oswalt's sick, smart humor will likely enjoy it a lot.

First, I should say that I'm not as well versed in Patton's previous albums, but I've got "The Comedians of Comedy" DVD and "Werewolves and Lollipops" has shipped! WOOT! I've also listened to a LOT of his material on YouTube, a favorite being the KFC Famous Bowls and Oldest Woman to Give Birth bits that he did on an appearance on Conan O'Brien.

I've watched "No Reason To Complain" quite a few times, and as funny as that performance is, it pales in comparison to "My Weakness Is Strong." I must have YouTubed this show at least a half dozen times after I found it, and further viewings have only deepened my appreciation and love for Patton's material, delivery and outlook.

I'm shocked that anyone could suggest that this show is less entertaining than previous albums. I wholeheartedly agree with ninjasuperstar. Everything that has changed in Patton's life has made his material funnier. For example, he used to joke about how he and his wife had agreed to have an invisible baby and name it "10 hours of sleep a night", but now she's going to trick him by leaving a trail of comic books into her va-jay-jay. Nerd humor, my favorite!

Now, with a baby girl on the way, he riffs about how if his daughter just inherits his looks and personality, her life will be "a sheet cake made of victory and talking owls." Out-effin'-standing! The maturation of his humor through his life experience is evident and awesome.

Anyone who can't find it funny is probably either afraid of getting older or thinks that drinking 'till you puke is a daily activity.

Dave S.

Patton is a genius and that's all there is to say. He seamlessly integrates a happy home life of wife and coming baby with tales of hilarious escapades, a grim outlook on humanity (that he's supposedly trying to improve), and future LSD trip worries. The cd and dvd are the same material, from the same show, so make sure you watch or listen to whatever media you like best first. Still fun many times over, though!

I first listened to Werewolves and Lollipops, and then went back and found Feeling Kinda Patton. I loved the former the first time through, and I still do. The latter took time to grow on me, but I've grown to love that one as well, though not as much as his sophomore effort. So when I heard he had a new comedy album coming out, I got really excited. But the product was a bit of a letdown. Patton Oswalt is a comic genius, and I don't say that lightly. Even jokes that I don't find funny have intelligent thought behind them, and that is, I think, what good comedy does, it draws you in and makes you wonder how a serious subject can be turned on its side and squeezed for it comedy value. A previous reviewer called this album "Incosistent," and I agree. However, as with all forms of entertainment, what is completely the worst and un-funniest thing to me might just as easily get someone else to laugh til it hurts.

It happens to all performers, and especially comedians, as big changes happen in their lives, especially when it comes to marriage and kids (some comedians even get away with talking EXCLUSIVELY about those two things). A lot more of this album is dedicated to talking about married life and not being able to drink scotch or smoke weed, as for me it isn't THAT funny, it's sort of a filler between the funnier bits (Text, Treadmill, and Orgy). Those are high points in album, sprinkled here and there with a funny observation, but overall it's a much weaker album to me than the two previous ones.

I've talked about what doesn't work for me in the album, but I have to tag it with this, and it's something that hasn't happened with Patton yet: He doesn't reuse material to strengthen an album. And for that I applaud him. A lot of times comedians will try to strengthen their set by throwing in one or two jokes from a previous album, and it borders on tacky when it happens. But Patton Oswalt has yet to do this, and it hasn't gone unnoticed by me at least. It takes courage to get on stage and talk about the things that make you think and put a humorous slant on them. So in closing, I guess I can't really recommend this, but at the same time, it's not unfunny enough to tell someone to stay away from. But I guess depending on how much you align with the new direction he's taken, you will either really enjoy it or be left with an "Eh" feeling after listening to it.

I think the same thing is happening to Patton Oswalt as happened to Guns N Roses, Alanis Morrissette, and many others. When they were just on the cusp of becoming big, their work had a hungry edge to it. But after getting millions of fans and as many dollars, their art became bloated, formulaic, and hackneyed. Sad, but normal: I'm not sure how a successful artist could prevent this from happening.

About a year ago, almost by accident, I got my hands on a copy of Feelin' Kinda Patton and thought it was funny enough to warrant buying Werewolves and Lollipops (W/DVD). THAT one was so funny that I immediately became a Patton Oswalt fan, determined to follow his doings whenever I could.

Alas! This one, "My Weakness is Strong," is the weakest of the three, I feel. There's nothing here nearly as funny as "p*ss drinkers" or "physics for poets." It's not bad, but I only got a couple of laughs out of it. If this had been the first one I started with, I certainly wouldn't have bought those others.