Patton Oswalt

Returning to the road

This multi-talented entertainer has seen astronomical success since starting his stand-up comedy in the late Eighties. Commonly recognised for his comic foil Spencer Olchin in the sitcom The King of Queens, he has also voiced the lead character Remy in Pixar's Ratataouille. His humor has been characterised as "righteous anger", especially in his earlier material, but now as an A-list comic, he can command an audience's total attention even when using less energy or telling longer stories that are punctuated by fewer jokes.

Oswalt makes observations in a myriad of sources; from pop culture trivia such as comic super villains (see his Batman and Joker stuff), 1980s glam metal to deeper social issues like American excess, materialism, foreign policy and religion, as well as his atheism and experiences of grief.