Patton Oswalt: Annihilation (2017)

Coming off the death of his wife, Patton Oswalt delivers a great performance, somehow managing to maintain his composure even while recalling the feeling of telling his daughter that her mother was gone. I've seen other comedy specials where the performer reflects on their difficult past and maybe even breaks down a bit, but I've never been genuinely moved until now. Oswalt tackles his own grief with humour, making the audience both laugh and cry as they share in his healing journey/numb slog. I found his comedy style a bit too crude at times, but then he says at the end that his late wife loved crude humour so it made sense to me if he kind of crossed the line a bit (retroactively made sense anyways.) Great special, watch with tissues handy because you may cry.

In his last stand up (Annihilation), Patton Oswalt masterfully combines tragedy with comedy.He lost his wife last year. And now, Patton has set a new mission for himself: To spread the message of his late wife: "Life is chaos. Be kind".

Man, that had to have been hard; but he makes it look easy. Considering the levels of Patton Oswalt's despair over the past year, that's the mark of a remarkably honed talent. The only thing worse than losing a significant other is having to bream the news to your child. It's the last thing I'd even want to do. But Oswalt has a gift for turning pain into laughs and rolling with the punches; and all of this is after his hilariously sticky conversation with the front row. Dull moments just don't arise. There are funnier standup specials with more memorable knee-slappers, but I don't think I've ever seen any like this; as soul-crushing as it is uplifting. It is the work of a man who's mastered his craft. 10/10

Patton Oswalt has been a long time favorite comedian of mine, following him through his career and life. When his wife Michelle died tragically in her sleep in April 2016 at age 46, Patton was faced with the daunting task of being sole parent to their kindergarten daughter, Alice.Patton handles his material with grace, anger, intelligence, humor and honest heart-wrenching grit. I laughed and wept, was angry alongside him and felt buoyed with hope in spite of it all.Because as Patton explained Michelle's philosophy of life as "It's chaos. Be kind" in a bit thru which he walked the thin line between humor and sadness, with looks from people in the audience who were trying to stifle polite & nervous laughter, he brought the audience through to the other side. Because there is no place else to go...Patton's "Annihilation" is the best of what I love, respect and admire in comedians: they bring us to a place out side our comfort zones, encouraging us to look more closely, leading by example that a best lived life, is the examined life, and a life examined with humor."It's chaos. Be kind." ~ Michelle Eileen McNamara