CD Reviews

Patton Oswalt

Werewolves and Lollipops | Sub Pop

By RYAN STEWART | July 23, 2007

3.0 Stars

Comedian Patton Oswalt has long embraced the idea that he’s unlikely to achieve mainstream success (his role in Ratatouille notwithstanding). True to form, on Werewolves and Lollipops, Oswalt takes aim at Middle American targets — fast food, the GOP, tabloid celebrities, backwards-thinking small towns — in a conversational manner that suggests he knows he’s among friends (it’s probably not a coincidence that this was recorded in Austin). The too-cool-for-school attitude would grate if Oswalt weren’t so self-depreciating: he refers to himself as a “bridge troll” and claims “my geekiness is getting in the way of my nerdiness.” Oswalt’s comedy is best when he combines his intelligence with his nerdy leanings and his rage, as in his considerations of how to travel back in time to prevent the Star Wars prequels from existing, or when he explains the liberal-arts gut-course standard “Physics for Poets.” His riff on writing a movie will send listeners to their Netflix accounts to find Death Bed: The Bed That Eats People, and his bit about the KFC Flavor Bowl will be quoted by American college kids everywhere — the geeks, not the jocks.

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