Patton Oswalt has expanded his world from comedian to writer to actor and now hes producing the movie, The Comedians of Comedy and the Comedy Central show of the same name. This new reality series follows four of the funniest comedians working today, Maria Bamford, Zach Galifianakis, Brian Posehn and Patton Oswalt, on their US tour. Director Michael Blieden has also taped them backstage and preparing before each show.
Check out Showtimes website for the movie and Comedy Central for airings of the television show.
Daniel Robert Epstein: I know you're not into bragging, but if I got to act with Lou Ferrigno and Adam West at the same time [on a new episode of The King of Queens], I'd be telling a lot of people about it.
Patton Oswalt: I did. I told my old nerd posse about it. Batman and The Hulk, man.
DRE: Did you get to hang out with them at the same time at all?
PO: Yes, I have a picture with both of them that I'm running on my website. It's really weird you look back at some like Adam West or Lou Ferrigno because I also just watched all the audition tapes for the original Star Wars movie. It's pretty cheesy material and I think a lot of actors would be over thinking or be self-conscious. There is a certain challenge to cheesiness and someone like Adam West was such a genius in being able to go, "Oh, I know how to make this work." That was his choice; he had to set the tone of that whole thing. In a way, he's kind of the guy that made camp intellectual and fun. Watching Mark Hamill's audition for Star Wars makes you realize how badly written that movie is.
DRE: Oh yeah.
PO: With a lot of these other actors that were auditioning, the material coming out of them just sounds ludicrous. It takes someone like Mark Hamill or Adam West to go, "Okay, I'm going to lose the whole myth of me here and I'm going to accept this material for what it is, without trying to judge it or distance myself from it." That's a rare thing for actors to pull off. So you got to give the guy props. It's also kind of cool that Lou and Adam are both at that weird Zen place where they realize what's funny and goofy about themselves and have accepted it and are just enjoying their lives.
DRE: The episode was very funny on top of it. If it wasn't very funny, of course it wouldn't have worked.
PO: Adam West is the kind of guy that's very happy to be somebody who's poking fun at himself.
DRE: Could you explain the difference between the Comedians of Comedy on Comedy Central and the one thats going to be showing on Showtime?
PO: In 2005 we shot a movie called The Comedians of Comedy; me, Brian, Maria and Zach on tour. The movie was financed by Netflix. While we were negotiating the release, we showed the movie to Comedy Central who loved it and said, "This is a TV series." So we went back out again and did a different tour and shot it for the TV series. Through a bunch of good mishaps the TV show premiered on Friday November 11th and the movie is going to premiere on Showtime on November 18. It's all happening at once. It's not the way we wanted it to happen, but it's the way it's happening. We just have to accept it. However, to make it even more confusing, the movie premiered at Cinema Village in Manhattan.
DRE: Were you a producer on this?
PO: Yeah, it was very frustrating, but I learned a lot. Thats good for me because I need to start learning this stuff.
DRE: What did Michael Blieden work on?
PO: He directed the movie Comedians of Comedy and directed the TV show.
DRE: That's great, I love his work.
PO: He is amazing. The show is just as much his as it is mine. He's just as important as I am in contributing to what the show is and especially what the show is not. There are so many things that I did not want the show to be and he got it immediately.
DRE: Obviously the title is satirizing all those kings of comedy and queens and Latin things. What made you want to do that?
PO: The reason why we called it Comedians of Comedy is because I hate it when any comedian signifies themselves outside of being a comedian. I'm a black comedian, I'm a gay comedian, I'm an alternative comedian, I'm a female comedian. To me, comedians should be comedians, so that was the joke of the title. I also wanted to show how much I really hated the show Last Comic Standing because it took all these really talented comedians and put them in this setting where they reinforce this shitty myth about comedy. That myth is that your career comes down to one set and you've got five minutes, you've got one chance and if you don't reach out and grab it and hit a homerun, your career is over. We wanted to show that a career is a constantly mutating and evolving thing. Please don't believe that fucking gladiatorial myth about standup or about any career. Your career should be part of your life, when you treat comedy like that you're just saying that your life is just a function of your art. That's fucking ridiculous. Your art should be a function of your life; you should have an ongoing life, growth and change. It should not come down to five minutes.
DRE: I didn't see Last Comic Standing, but I read that they had some pretty established comedians on it.
PO: All the comedians are great, that's not the problem. It's the philosophy behind it that bothers me.
DRE: Did anyone feel any pressure to be funny because there was a camera around you?
PO: No, thats the thing I hate about reality shows; its a forced non-reality. Reality shows are always about people dealing with non-stop excitement and tension, whereas real reality is people trying to make boredom fun and exciting. Theres nothing thats been planned or scripted or mapped out. Reality shows, by the way, are more planned, scripted and fake than scripted shows.
DRE: What about pressure on yourself since youre producing?
PO: Not really. I felt pressure to make this show fun for my friends, but I knew that I would have fun in these rooms. I had been doing rooms like this for about a year and I was very anxious to do it.
DRE: How many episodes will run on Comedy Central?
PO: Six.
DRE: Since youre a producer, did you get involved with editing it?
PO: I was a bit. I came in and was giving notes on the first episode, but Blieden was doing such an amazing job that I was like, Im going to do something that I never do, Im going to walk away from this and let him make some decisions and just let it happen.
DRE: With three other comedians, was that who was available or did you specifically pick Brian, Zach and Maria?
PO: I specifically picked those three. They are my first choices. Brian is my best friend. Maria and Zach are very good friends of mine who I think are the two most innovative comedians working today.
DRE: Were their styles supposed to contrast each other or were they just supposed to give the best shows possible?
PO: I wasnt thinking in those terms even though of course their styles contrast because theyre all very personal and original. I was never thinking of, All right, well if he does this, she better do this. Just go out there and do whatever you want to do. There were no instructions for anything. Nothing.
DRE: Even though these people are all very funny, were you ever worried about how the show would work?
PO: If you think in those terms, then youre not going to have a good show.
DRE: It seems like a lot of comedians are doing these very raw anti-HBO looking comedy shows like Sarah Silverman, Artie Lange and now your show.
PO: Hopefully itll show people that theres room for everyone in standup and theres no set way to do it. Theres no one way to succeed at it. Part of the reason I did the show was because I hate the way they do standup on TV. These huge arenas are so impersonal. Its frustrating the way they dont capture people correctly.
DRE: Did you find it difficult to try and capture the real feeling or do you think Michael and you really pulled it off?
PO: I think Michael really pulled it off, I really do. We did small venues using high-def cameras handheld.
DRE: Would you do another run of six shows?
PO: Totally. Were already planning a run. We did another tour without filming because its fun. The TV show is actually the fourth tour that we did. Were going to do it again in the spring whether we get another season or not for fun.
DRE: Have you done any voice recording for Amazing Screw-On Head yet?
PO: Yeah, we recorded the whole pilot.
DRE: How was it?
PO: It was amazing. Thats one of those rare things like Reno 911 and Magnolia because its something that I am a fan of. I was a fan of that comic for a long time so to get to do it was just amazing. I hope it comes out well.
DRE: Did you work directly with Bryan Fuller?
PO: He was so cool and he was really fun to work with. To get to do the cartoon for me was just fantastic because Mike Mignola is a genius.
DRE: What kind of voice do you do?
PO: I did it with a completely different voice. Im playing Mr. Groin who is this really old British guy.
DRE: Cake Boy finally got a DVD release.
PO: I saw that.
DRE: How was it working with Joe [Escalante] on this movie that was just shot on the weekends?
PO: It was fun. I know him, so were just kind of hanging out and it worked. I was just there on a weekend.
DRE: How was it getting killed in Blade Trinity?
PO: Im killed off-screen and I just lie in a pool of blood.
DRE: That movie was a rough shoot I heard it was.
PO: Yeah, Wesley Snipes was no fun. He was kind of a dick. David Goyer wrote and directed but Wesley made it nothing but hard for him.
DRE: Since youre on Howard Stern a lot, what do you think about him going to Sirius satellite radio?
PO: I think its great. Thats the same reason I was doing the show the way I did it. If people dont want to let you do what you want to do, go make your own venue to do it.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out Showtimes website for the movie and Comedy Central for airings of the television show.
Daniel Robert Epstein: I know you're not into bragging, but if I got to act with Lou Ferrigno and Adam West at the same time [on a new episode of The King of Queens], I'd be telling a lot of people about it.
Patton Oswalt: I did. I told my old nerd posse about it. Batman and The Hulk, man.
DRE: Did you get to hang out with them at the same time at all?
PO: Yes, I have a picture with both of them that I'm running on my website. It's really weird you look back at some like Adam West or Lou Ferrigno because I also just watched all the audition tapes for the original Star Wars movie. It's pretty cheesy material and I think a lot of actors would be over thinking or be self-conscious. There is a certain challenge to cheesiness and someone like Adam West was such a genius in being able to go, "Oh, I know how to make this work." That was his choice; he had to set the tone of that whole thing. In a way, he's kind of the guy that made camp intellectual and fun. Watching Mark Hamill's audition for Star Wars makes you realize how badly written that movie is.
DRE: Oh yeah.
PO: With a lot of these other actors that were auditioning, the material coming out of them just sounds ludicrous. It takes someone like Mark Hamill or Adam West to go, "Okay, I'm going to lose the whole myth of me here and I'm going to accept this material for what it is, without trying to judge it or distance myself from it." That's a rare thing for actors to pull off. So you got to give the guy props. It's also kind of cool that Lou and Adam are both at that weird Zen place where they realize what's funny and goofy about themselves and have accepted it and are just enjoying their lives.
DRE: The episode was very funny on top of it. If it wasn't very funny, of course it wouldn't have worked.
PO: Adam West is the kind of guy that's very happy to be somebody who's poking fun at himself.
DRE: Could you explain the difference between the Comedians of Comedy on Comedy Central and the one thats going to be showing on Showtime?
PO: In 2005 we shot a movie called The Comedians of Comedy; me, Brian, Maria and Zach on tour. The movie was financed by Netflix. While we were negotiating the release, we showed the movie to Comedy Central who loved it and said, "This is a TV series." So we went back out again and did a different tour and shot it for the TV series. Through a bunch of good mishaps the TV show premiered on Friday November 11th and the movie is going to premiere on Showtime on November 18. It's all happening at once. It's not the way we wanted it to happen, but it's the way it's happening. We just have to accept it. However, to make it even more confusing, the movie premiered at Cinema Village in Manhattan.
DRE: Were you a producer on this?
PO: Yeah, it was very frustrating, but I learned a lot. Thats good for me because I need to start learning this stuff.
DRE: What did Michael Blieden work on?
PO: He directed the movie Comedians of Comedy and directed the TV show.
DRE: That's great, I love his work.
PO: He is amazing. The show is just as much his as it is mine. He's just as important as I am in contributing to what the show is and especially what the show is not. There are so many things that I did not want the show to be and he got it immediately.
DRE: Obviously the title is satirizing all those kings of comedy and queens and Latin things. What made you want to do that?
PO: The reason why we called it Comedians of Comedy is because I hate it when any comedian signifies themselves outside of being a comedian. I'm a black comedian, I'm a gay comedian, I'm an alternative comedian, I'm a female comedian. To me, comedians should be comedians, so that was the joke of the title. I also wanted to show how much I really hated the show Last Comic Standing because it took all these really talented comedians and put them in this setting where they reinforce this shitty myth about comedy. That myth is that your career comes down to one set and you've got five minutes, you've got one chance and if you don't reach out and grab it and hit a homerun, your career is over. We wanted to show that a career is a constantly mutating and evolving thing. Please don't believe that fucking gladiatorial myth about standup or about any career. Your career should be part of your life, when you treat comedy like that you're just saying that your life is just a function of your art. That's fucking ridiculous. Your art should be a function of your life; you should have an ongoing life, growth and change. It should not come down to five minutes.
DRE: I didn't see Last Comic Standing, but I read that they had some pretty established comedians on it.
PO: All the comedians are great, that's not the problem. It's the philosophy behind it that bothers me.
DRE: Did anyone feel any pressure to be funny because there was a camera around you?
PO: No, thats the thing I hate about reality shows; its a forced non-reality. Reality shows are always about people dealing with non-stop excitement and tension, whereas real reality is people trying to make boredom fun and exciting. Theres nothing thats been planned or scripted or mapped out. Reality shows, by the way, are more planned, scripted and fake than scripted shows.
DRE: What about pressure on yourself since youre producing?
PO: Not really. I felt pressure to make this show fun for my friends, but I knew that I would have fun in these rooms. I had been doing rooms like this for about a year and I was very anxious to do it.
DRE: How many episodes will run on Comedy Central?
PO: Six.
DRE: Since youre a producer, did you get involved with editing it?
PO: I was a bit. I came in and was giving notes on the first episode, but Blieden was doing such an amazing job that I was like, Im going to do something that I never do, Im going to walk away from this and let him make some decisions and just let it happen.
DRE: With three other comedians, was that who was available or did you specifically pick Brian, Zach and Maria?
PO: I specifically picked those three. They are my first choices. Brian is my best friend. Maria and Zach are very good friends of mine who I think are the two most innovative comedians working today.
DRE: Were their styles supposed to contrast each other or were they just supposed to give the best shows possible?
PO: I wasnt thinking in those terms even though of course their styles contrast because theyre all very personal and original. I was never thinking of, All right, well if he does this, she better do this. Just go out there and do whatever you want to do. There were no instructions for anything. Nothing.
DRE: Even though these people are all very funny, were you ever worried about how the show would work?
PO: If you think in those terms, then youre not going to have a good show.
DRE: It seems like a lot of comedians are doing these very raw anti-HBO looking comedy shows like Sarah Silverman, Artie Lange and now your show.
PO: Hopefully itll show people that theres room for everyone in standup and theres no set way to do it. Theres no one way to succeed at it. Part of the reason I did the show was because I hate the way they do standup on TV. These huge arenas are so impersonal. Its frustrating the way they dont capture people correctly.
DRE: Did you find it difficult to try and capture the real feeling or do you think Michael and you really pulled it off?
PO: I think Michael really pulled it off, I really do. We did small venues using high-def cameras handheld.
DRE: Would you do another run of six shows?
PO: Totally. Were already planning a run. We did another tour without filming because its fun. The TV show is actually the fourth tour that we did. Were going to do it again in the spring whether we get another season or not for fun.
DRE: Have you done any voice recording for Amazing Screw-On Head yet?
PO: Yeah, we recorded the whole pilot.
DRE: How was it?
PO: It was amazing. Thats one of those rare things like Reno 911 and Magnolia because its something that I am a fan of. I was a fan of that comic for a long time so to get to do it was just amazing. I hope it comes out well.
DRE: Did you work directly with Bryan Fuller?
PO: He was so cool and he was really fun to work with. To get to do the cartoon for me was just fantastic because Mike Mignola is a genius.
DRE: What kind of voice do you do?
PO: I did it with a completely different voice. Im playing Mr. Groin who is this really old British guy.
DRE: Cake Boy finally got a DVD release.
PO: I saw that.
DRE: How was it working with Joe [Escalante] on this movie that was just shot on the weekends?
PO: It was fun. I know him, so were just kind of hanging out and it worked. I was just there on a weekend.
DRE: How was it getting killed in Blade Trinity?
PO: Im killed off-screen and I just lie in a pool of blood.
DRE: That movie was a rough shoot I heard it was.
PO: Yeah, Wesley Snipes was no fun. He was kind of a dick. David Goyer wrote and directed but Wesley made it nothing but hard for him.
DRE: Since youre on Howard Stern a lot, what do you think about him going to Sirius satellite radio?
PO: I think its great. Thats the same reason I was doing the show the way I did it. If people dont want to let you do what you want to do, go make your own venue to do it.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 10 of 10 COMMENTS
jake_lex said:
I think his reputation is hurt by being on a really shitty show. I know it probably pays the bills, and I don't begrudge him the money, but, god damn, does that show suck ass.
There are just so many of these lame sitcoms featuring a fat, dopey guy with a hot wife, and I can't tell a damn bit of difference between them.
do u watch King of Queens?