New York Comedy Festival

Patton Oswalt, Caroline’s regular and one of the stars of the upcoming 2009 NY Comedy Festival , has been making the rounds this week to promote his new dramatic film Big Fan. Of course, when we heard Oswalt was starring in a drama, we asked “how are they going to make a drama about a cartoon rat?” Well it turns out Oswalt is actually playing an obsessive New York Giant’s fan, whose dedication to his team borders on “extreme dysfunction,” or as anyone not from the NJ-NY metro area calls it, “being a normal Giants fan.”

In an interview this week with Scott Wampler of the Newark Examiner, Oswalt said that what attracted him to the project his character “and the way [he] was rendered.” Oswalt character in the film is, for those who have yet to see the film, an out-of-shape parking garage attendant who lives at home with his mother. We assume that to prepare for such a rigorous departure from his on-stage persona, Oswalt had to both get out of bed in the morning and drive to work. Either way, Big Fan is getting great reviews, has a favorable 82% rating on RottenTomatoes.com, and is expanding in release. We strongly recommend it.

And for those of you who just can’t get enough Patton Oswalt, youc an also see him in The Informant! alongside Matt Damon.  Oh yeah, and he'll be performing at the 2009 NY Comedy Festival Saturday, November 7th. (Tickets available at http://www.nycomedyfestival.com).

Earlier in the week, Comedy Central’s “Insider” blog did an interview with Patton Oswalt.  It documented how the baby-faced comedian has been everywhere in the past month, from television (a Battlestar Galactica spinoff) to film (Big Fan) and even stage, in a special called My Weakness Is Strong.  My Weakness Is Strong premieres on Comedy Central this Sunday at 10PM, with repeat airings on Monday the 24th at 12:30AM and Tuesday, September 1st at 8PM.  (All broadcasts are listed as EST, because that beatnik West Coast can’t be trusted to keep a time schedule.)  Oh, and since I mentioned it, his film Big Fan is being released in New York next Friday, August 28th, but won’t screen in LA until September 11th.  Sucks to be longitudinally challenged, huh, Cali?

Actually, even the fact that this blog features an article about Oswalt is evidence of how much exposure he’s getting.  With everything getting so meta, it seems à propos to mention that Oswalt will be one of the headliners for the 2009 NYCF.  He will be appearing at Town Hall on Saturday, November 7th and tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster.com.