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We All Scream

Patton Oswalt

Netflix · 2022 · 59 min

Patton Oswalt examines lockdown laziness and the indignities of aging.

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Instead of trying to shock or alienate, Patton Oswalt takes on the cultural divide by treating progressive hyper-awareness and reactionary backlash as symptoms of the same inevitable condition: getting old. His central theory is that nobody stays on the right side of history forever; eventually, the march of time makes everyone look like an out-of-touch prude, whether they like it or not. It is a comforting thesis that allows him to address contemporary anxieties without the anger that has curdled so much other comedy from his peers.

This 2022 Netflix release marked Oswalt’s directorial debut and was filmed at the Paramount Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Coming off the heels of the pandemic, he spends much of the hour looking back at the empty promises of self-improvement made during lockdown. He contrasts today’s vaccine hesitancy against the country’s mid-century fight against polio, mockingly imagining modern anti-vaccine reactionaries trying to run a “plague barge” cruise or an “Alpha-Males-Only Buffet”.

The hour is at its strongest when Oswalt leans into domestic absurdity, particularly in a segment about a false-alarm home invasion where a routine visit from an air-conditioning repairman sends his wife into full combat mode. Critics were split on his broader cultural material, with some noting that his efforts to avoid taking cheap shots at either side of the culture war left the set feeling slightly toothless.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Crazier than a barn full of clown pubes

    Analyzes and deconstructs the metaphor's logistics as an artistic allegory for creative completion and his mental state during pandemic isolation.

  2. Breaking foot stepping off a curb

    Compares the injury to an aunt startled by a bird, contrasting his 20s resilience with his fragility over 40.

  3. SiriusXM decade radio stations

    Observes how stations for older music are pushed up the dial as their listeners die off and proposes alternative channel titles.

  4. Pixar movie pitch for exercise equipment

    Pitches a sad film featuring the voices of Harvey Keitel, Timothée Chalamet, and Frances McDormand (envisioned for the Safdie Brothers to direct).

  5. Generational presidential legacies and Janeane Garofalo

    Ponders which figure Generation X would elect to office in a defensive cultural fit, landing on Janeane Garofalo, and touches on Joe Rogan.

  6. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Post-surgery recovery and medical comedy-of-errors closer

    Recounts an unpleasant medical ordeal with striking animalistic imagery, concluding with reflective thoughts on aging gracefully.

How it plays

Tone
Absurd, offbeat, self-deprecating, and reflective.
On stage
Manic, self-deprecating raconteur with a blustering, yelling-into-a-void energy.
Pace
Spiraling and manic, shifting into a relaxed, sit-down cadence during mid-show audience interactions.
About
Hazards of aging and physical decline, COVID lockdown experiences, Generational divides and shifting cultural/woke norms, Baby Boomer and Gen X politics, Post-surgery medical recovery

What the critics said

Received mixed reviews (Metascore 57). Reviewers appreciated Oswalt's charm, self-effacing delivery, and the clown pubes routine, but several critics felt the special was underwritten and that the extended front-row crowd work padded an incomplete hour.

In the room: An engaged Denver audience that Oswalt bantered with from the stage edge regarding their professions.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: netflix.com, bbfc.co.uk, vulture.com, metacritic.com, decider.com, indianexpress.com, imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Followed the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, reflecting on failed lockdown self-improvement goals, aging, foot injuries, and modern political divides.

Details

Released
Taped
Paramount Theatre, Denver
Runtime
59 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Patton Oswalt
Topics
Before
I Love Everything (2020)
After
Black Coffee and Ice Water (2025)

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