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Annihilation

Patton Oswalt

Netflix · 2017 · 66 min

Patton Oswalt turns political dread and personal grief into stand-up.

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Patton Oswalt spends the first half of this set doing what he does best: deploying nerd-friendly analogies for political dread, like comparing Donald Trump’s presidency to David Lee Roth cartwheeling into the linguistics department at Rutgers. But the real reason to watch is the shift that happens midway through. Oswalt addresses the sudden 2016 death of his wife, Michelle McNamara, turning a tragedy that felt impossible to joke about into a set that balances heavy grief with genuine punchlines. He walks the audience through the absurdities of the mourning process, from dealing with clumsy well-wishers to the nightmare of explaining death to his young daughter.

Filmed at the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago during the Onion Comedy Festival in June 2017, the special catches Oswalt at a major emotional and professional transition. He had recently won an Emmy and a Grammy for his previous special, but this performance was his first major stage appearance after a period of intense personal isolation. Aside from the heavy autobiographical material, the hour includes extensive crowd work with front-row audience members, a bit about being tricked by robocalls, and a story about witnessing an exceptionally terrible street fight in Los Angeles.

Critics praised the special for how it managed its difficult tonal shift. Reviews noted that Oswalt avoided turning the set into a somber therapy session by keeping the jokes precise, even during his darkest reflections on chaos and randomness.

The set list

6 bits

  1. The difficulty of satirizing Donald Trump

    Labeling him a 'racist scrotum dipped in Cheeto dust' and explaining how rapid, daily outrages make topical satire obsolete for recorded specials.

  2. Telling daughter Alice about her mother's death and returning to school

    Detailing the worst day of his life, taking his daughter back to class, and fielding wildly revealing questions from Alice's young classmates.

  3. Visiting Michelle McNamara's grave

    Attempting a quiet, cinematic cemetery moment interrupted by an arguing family nearby and a boombox blasting 'My Heart Will Go On.'

  4. Voice-of-gloom Polish woman

    An act-out depicting an absurdly bleak encounter he and his daughter experienced during their grief.

  5. Witnessing a street fight on the Sunset Strip

    Storytelling recounting a bizarre late-night brawl.

  6. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Pitching a children's movie using porn references closer

    Pitching an innocent kids' film to studio executives entirely through references to pornographic film titles, a bit his late wife loved.

How it plays

Tone
Bittersweet, candid, cathartic, darkly comedic, and sincere.
On stage
Scathing, candid, weary, self-aware, and emotionally vulnerable.
Pace
Built deliberately from observational political dread and crowd interactions into heavy, raw emotional silences followed by cathartic comedic releases.
About
Grief and coping with the death of wife Michelle McNamara, Single parenting in the aftermath of loss, The absurdity and exhaustion of the Trump presidency, Atheism, cosmic chaos, and human kindness, Absurdist pop culture and movie pitches

What the critics said

Universally praised for its bravery, emotional honesty, and ability to mine cathartic laughter out of devastating tragedy without sacrificing vulnerability.

In the room: Rapt and emotionally resonant, shifting between stunned, sympathetic silences and explosive, cathartic laughter.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: ew.com, imdb.com, allmovie.com, chortle.co.uk, pastemagazine.com, latimes.com, indiewire.com, vulture.com, goldderby.com.

Backstory

Performed in the wake of the unexpected April 2016 death of his wife, true crime writer Michelle McNamara, navigating single parenthood of daughter Alice alongside the dread and anxiety of the early Donald Trump presidency.

Details

Released
Taped
Athenaeum Theatre, Chicago
Runtime
66 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Bobcat Goldthwait
Honors
Emmy Nominee
Topics
Before
Talking for Clapping (2016)
After
I Love Everything (2020)

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