My Weakness Is Strong

Patton Oswalt spent his early career as the angry nerd of alternative comedy, but by 2009 he was married, expecting his first child, and fresh off voicing a beloved cartoon rat. My Weakness Is Strong is the sound of a cynic trying to figure out what to do with a good mood. He hasn’t completely softened. The hour’s strongest stretch treats his clinical depression as an eager dog that perks up whenever he skips his Prozac, eventually begging to watch The Princess Bride eleven times in a row.

Filmed at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., the set captures a working comic transitioning into an elder statesman. Hot off the success of the indie film Big Fan, Oswalt builds a precise act out of aging, backyard rodents, and the social contracts required to politely exit a Hollywood Hills orgy. The material premiered on Comedy Central and earned him his first Grammy nomination for best comedy album.