Artist: Patton Oswalt
Album: My Weakness is Strong
Genre: Stand Up Comedy
Label: Comedy Central/WMG

In recent years, there has been a strong and entertaining resurgence of stand up comedy. Artist like Dane Cook, Stephen Lynch, Sarah Silverman, and others have found a large amount of mainstream success after years [many more than most assume] of working the club scene. Bow which ones “sold out” o get this fame is up for you to decide, but for me, one man who has stayed true to himself since day one and always entertains is Patton Oswalt. We can forgive his stunt on King Of Queens because of the raunch filled laughter his stand up has given us. Now, just as the dust has settled from his big screen explosion with Ratatouille, Oswalt returns to the stage with his latest comedy escapades on, My Weakness is Strong.

On his last record, Werewolves & Lollipops, we found Oswalt bickering mainly about the wordl around him, his childhood, and the occasional rant about his journeys in the entertainment world. On Weakness, we’re given a lot of similar world views, but now Oswalt has a wife, a forthcoming child, and an even higher level celebrity life to discuss. Beginning by breaking the news of his soon to be child, then entering memory lane and, at the same time, the world around him, Oswalt quickly sets himself apart as one of the most diverse comics in the game these days. On top of this Oswalt often references films, comics, books, etc. that are so obscure even a VH1 reality show wouldn’t mention them. It’s in these moments that we see the true skill of Oswalt. He has the ability to dive into our subconcious and bring up memories of many random events and things in the past and make them seem important to all of once again [or perhaps for the first time].

I understand judging a comedic record for the amount of laughs it gives is a very subjective route to take, but in this case, what could be better? Oswalt’s humor, which mainly consists of looking “beyond the surface” of many f our everyday interactions never ceases to entertain as the album rolls on, but let me be clear that this record isn’t for everyone. There is plenty of profanity and drug references to go along which may not please everyone, but I think Oswalt’s discussion and use of these items only helps to make him more necessary in the world today. His comedy isn’t from an outside perspective, but from someone on the inside that realizes how crazy life actually has become. It’s ingenious.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that if you only buy one comedy album this year, Patton Oswalt’s My Weakness Is Strong is the obvious first choice. Oswalt has spent over 2 decades perfecting his art and it’s more evident than ever on this recording. Support true stand up. Buy this record.

Score: 9.5/10

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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