You may not recognize the name, or the face for that matter, but you know Patton Oswalt. For nine seasons the comedian played "Spence" on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens, he's a regular on late-night television talk shows, and his voice has appeared on such programs as SpongeBob SquarePants, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Crank Yankers, and many more.

Currently, Oswalt is the voice of Remy in Pixar's latest computer-animated winner Ratatouille, and he has released a pee-stain-inducing comedy album on Sub Pop entitled Werewolves and Lollipops.

MP3.com editor Chris Rolls caught up with Patton to discuss all the above and so much more.

Interview RSS Listen to the the
phone interview

MP3.com: Hello again, sir. How are you? Fantastic. How are you today? I'm glad now I have your home phone number, I can appropriately stalk you. Nice. Nice. Actually, this whole thing was just a ruse to get your home phone number. [Laughs.] [Laughs.] Dammit. You have failed. [Laughs.] Ooh-whoo. Thanks for talking to me today. Oh, man, thanks for calling. Yeah, definitely. I got the album Werewolves and Lollipops, and I'm, first of all, I'm absolutely in love with the artwork. You must be as well? Oh, yeah. I mean, I so lucked out in getting to be with Sub Pop on this because they did such a good job on the album. It looks so great. How did you end up working with Sub Pop? I mean, I know they did David Cross. Yeah, well I don't know. They heard my first album and liked it, and they asked me. I wish I knew what the process was and I had a better story, but that's it, and I'm not saying it to brag. That's what happened. They said, "Hey, we want to put your album out." And I said, "Yes?" It's just such a wonderful thing. I don't know. I lucked out. I mean, comedy records in general are just, are a lovely thing. Beautiful. But it must have been, for you, kind of a dream come true I would imagine to work with somebody like Sub Pop. I don't know if it was a dream come true because this is way beyond what I would have dreamed happening. Like, "Oh, yeah, Sub Pop is going to put my album out." Like, that's not something that was ever in my dreams that that would actually happen for me. It's like is it a dream come true to work with Brad Bird on Ratatouille? No. I didn't think that Brad Bird and Pixar would go, "Hey, you be the lead in this." You know what I mean? [Laughs.] [Laughs.] Yeah, I do know what you mean because it kind of confuses the hell out of me that a comedian such as yourself would get picked up by Disney or be accepted by Disney. [Laughs.] That's f***in' weird. How in the hell did that happen? Did you ever think that that would happen? No. Oh my God, I just lucked out man. What was the experience like? I mean, I know you do voice work in general, but this is a very large project that you did with Disney. Right. Well, this is a whole other level though. This is a different league, man. You know, it's the combination of Pixar and Brad Bird directing [me]. I mean, I can't even describe that. At all? No. I mean, it's beyond description for me, so mind-blowing. Who'd have thought that would happen? Well, not I. Not I either. Does that make sense? Yes it does. [Laughs.] Especially when you can do something like, "The Miracle of Childbirth," or-- Actually, "The Miracle of Childbirth" is G-rated. I've done that uncut on TV because there's no actual cursing in it. It's just graphic. I know that you--well, it's been stated before that you're atheist, and you're obviously not a very large fan of the current executive branch of our government? No. No. What have been some of the obstacles that you've run into in your live performances, specifically with your political comedy and the "Dukes of Hazzard" sketch on the album? Huh, I mean, I've been booed off stage a few times, but honestly, at this point, making fun of George Bush is the safest thing you can do on stage. No one's going to stand up at this point and go, "Excuse me, he rocks." 'Cause he doesn't, you know. I mean, people that were into Bush in 2000, now they're like, they're like Creed fans. They're like, "Oh, look, I know. Okay. The guy was good looking. I was kind of drunk. And you liked Limp Bizkit for a week. F*** you, you know." And so it's fine now. The edgy thing to do would be come out and say that Bush is amazing. That'd be the dangerous thing to say at this point. Have you considered flipping it like that? No, I don't do something specifically to freak the audience out. I just say whatever I want to say. Either it'll be accepted or not. Right. I was very entertained by the companion DVD. Oh, I'm glad you like that. What the hell was going through your mind when you found out that somebody was actually urinating on someone else in the audience? Yeah, some dude, and according to him, it's the classic, "But I'm a fan." He didn't want to miss any of my set, so he took his dick out and started peeing on the ground so he didn't have to go to the bathroom and miss a single precious word of my comedy. [laugh] Which is, I just, I feel so bad for him. Like it's a sad thing to be willing to take your dick out in public. Yes, I mean, take your dick out for the White Stripes or for Louis C.K. or Dave Attell, not for me. Jesus Christ, dude! Right. Yeah, what happened to the guy who ended being the urinal for the evening? I mean, he punched the dude, and then the guy that got peed on, I bought him some drinks. Oh. Yeah, and then, of course, I end the set, going, "I can't believe I'm saying this, so please don't pee on other people." Amazing. Yeah. That's where we are as a nation right now. By the way, welcome to the show, turn off your cell phones, and don't pee on each other. Just try to stand there and listen to the show. That's all you got to do. And I'll bet he is one of the people who you described in your "America Has Spoken" sketch. [Laughs.] I mean, it's implied that he's in there, yes. He's definitely in there by implication. So I'm doing the interview for a music website. Cool. And what is your position on music? I'm going to take the position that I support it. Fantastic. I'm happy that music exists, good or bad. Are you a musician yourself, or are you more of an audiophile? No, I'm not even an audiophile. I just like listening to good music. I don't take it any further than that. [Laughs.] Well, I know that you, in the DVD, you described yourself as an "indie kid." Well, a late-blooming indie kid because I grew up in the suburbs of Virginia. So it took me a while to develop even a bad musical taste let alone a good one, so, you know. Yeah. Well, that's right. You discussed your affinity for Phil Collins. Oh, yes. No Jackets Required. No jacket. No jackets. Dude, what kind of nerd are you? You know Phil Collins? The wrong kind. [Laughs.] Yeah, exactly. All I know is he played drums for Genesis and Peter Gabriel. Oh, yeah. First three albums, I think. Yeah. Man, he's on like every f***in' album. Good Lord! Maybe you could get him on your album. Well, that would be good just to have in the background just doing drums. Like Mitch Hedberg when he had the bassist behind him? That'd be cool. Anyway if they can sell it let's give him a credit, drums, Phil Collins. Just, well he's on there somewhere. We had to take him out, but he came, and he was great. [Laughs.] When you were doing--this is a non-music question by the way--when you were on, what was it, CBS or ABC? CBS. CBS. Was it difficult for you to deal with the sterility of network television? No, because the writers in that show were all really, really good, and they were very subversive in that they could really do the sterile kind of sitcom beats, and they would use it to smuggle in all kinds of f***ed-up weirdness. For example? Oh just, they would like have me do all kinds of weird little subplots like making out with old women and, you know, dealing with like, am I gay or not, or stuff like that. They would also do it with, you know, basically it's a show about a failed marriage. Some people are just too lazy to get a divorce, and it's a show where everyone's wrong and no one wins. So it's like each show is this little self-contained sad little tragedy that's packed with jokes. But that's what I really loved about it. Yeah. Do you think it's what you said, it's a show where no one wins? Everyone's wrong and nobody wins. Yeah. Is that applicable to life in general, do you feel? I think so, yeah. Have you looked around lately? [Laughs.] I try not to. That should be on the dollar bill. Everyone's wrong and no one wins. Go out and buy a hotdog. Yeah, exactly. Well, I didn't really write too many questions because I went out drinking last night. [Laughs.] Oh, well, that's actually a fine excuse. I like that, and please mention that in the article. It's a very rare occasion for me to do so. My queasy, hungover chat with the rat from Ratatouille. Man, I still can't believe you're doing that. Isn't that weird? Yeah, it is weird. I can't believe it either, but it's f***ing great. It must afford a certain amount of luxury when you don't actually have to be on camera? Oh, it's the best. Doing voice-over is the best, the best. You can be in your bathrobe. Do you do that? Yeah. I've done a lot of voice-overs, so yeah, I'll show up in my bathrobe. [Laughs.] Would you consider yourself to be a quintessential outsider in the La-La Land environment? Yeah. I mean, good lord, I look like a sweaty cave troll that's escaped and is wandering around all the good-looking people. Right. [Laughs.] What was that, the Brian Dennehy effect, I think. Yeah, but Brian Dennehy is still kind of charming and nice. I'm just creepy. Do you foresee this leading to some larger on-screen roles? We'll see. I mean, I'm in a few more movies coming up this year, so we'll see what happens. Oh, do tell. Yeah. I mean, I'm in Balls of Fury and a couple of little indies that I don't know when they're going to come out. So, we'll see. What is Balls of Fury? That's the one by Tom Lennon and Ben Garant, the Reno 911 guys. I have like a very fun scene in that. That was really fun to do. Man, I have a feeling you get to hang out with some really entertaining people? Yeah, I mean, all my friends are really funny comedians. Does that ever get old? No. It would get old hanging out with normal, boring people, wouldn't it? Yeah, absolutely. [Laughs.] Any prediction for the upcoming presidential elections? Right now--see, it's way too f***in' early, man. They've started running early, so now you're supposed to predict stuff when you don't know what the f*** is going to happen. So, no, I have none. I'm rebelling by refusing to predict anything. Do you think we'll even have an election? Oh, no, we'll have one. We'll have one. It'll look like one. We'll see what happens. It should be entertaining, right? Fun for the whole family. We'll see. Look, as long as I'm entertained, that's fine with me. That's all I really care about in the end. So wouldn't it be in their best interests to put a comedian in office? No, that would be awful because comedians, you know, comedy works because you do like one show a night and then you go kind of recharge, and politics is you're just bulls***ting and smiling falsely all f***ing day. And comedians are so socially awkward, and they're all Id. That after like two hours of that you would just see the--the smile would just go away and you'd be like, f*** I don't want to talk about this bulls***. They wouldn't last a day. [Laughs.] I know in the music world, you know, people will hand out demos. Right. Do people approach you with jokes? Yeah, or they'll approach me with CDs, like, "Hey, would you listen to my stuff?" And I always tell them the same thing, which is, "Never ask people what they think of your comedy. Just develop on your own. You're too young to be getting any kind of feedback. Just do whatever you want to do for now." But people probably, due to the American Idol-ization of this nation, believe that they can make that leap without the effort. Yeah, they do, but luckily comedy is so f***in' harsh that it tends to hand you your a** very quickly. That's one of the good things about it. Right. Well, sir, that's about it for today. Thanks, man. Thanks for calling. Yeah, and I really, really love the album. My wife and I were just thoroughly entertained by it. Really? Oh, man, thank you. Yeah, absolutely, and it's just nice to see comedy records. I've been very pleased with what Sub Pop did with David Cross, and I'm glad they're doing you, and I hope they continue to work with you. Yeah, me too. I've had so much fun working with these guys. It's the best. Well, thank you, Patton. Thank you, man.