Patton Oswalt, ‘Talking for Clapping’ Plot Summary:
Talking for Clapping is everything a Patton Oswalt fan could ever want. The special strikes a nice balance between familiar material from Oswalt’s various talk show appearances and newer material.
In the first half of the special, Oswalt opened with San Francisco-centric material about his life in the city and LGBTQ topics. Oswalt lived in San Francisco in the early 90s and dislikes that the city’s residents have a habit of snarking at perfectly reasonable questions, such as a barista answering Oswalt’s request for coffee with “Duh, this is a coffee shop,” and that he just wants everyone to get along. The barista’s band may not being working out and Oswalt might be paying the bills at this time in his life by “sending double-sided dildos to priests,” but everyone should cling together to get through the rough patch. This story, once again proves that Oswalt may be the most optimistic comedian in the business.
Oswalt continued his San Francisco inspired material with how everyone should be tolerant of everyone else and that this “old cis white motherfucker” is an ally of the LGBTQ community. Oswalt doesn’t understand why LGBTQ rights are so controversial. His attitude is gay people want to marry and join the military. Why is that a problem? This shouldn’t be radical. However, Oswalt also raises the point that he shouldn’t be attacked for not using whatever the new politically correct term is this week because the truly evil people learn the new terms first to make sure they say everything correctly. He backs the up with a bit where an old conservative character claims he supports the gay community, but really believes “heteronormative behavior is the highest priority,” yet the redneck-y guy who blunders his way through every gay-slur in the English language in his support-filled speech for the acceptance of all people will probably be the one crucified even though his heart is in the right place.
The second half of the special focused on stories about Oswalt’s daughter. Fans will already know the story about the his daughter’s friend’s birthday party clown and his daughter not sharing his Star War’s obsession. However, she matches his level of obsession when it comes to My Little Pony and Pinkie Pie and Apple Jack. *Cue 5-minute expository speech about the world of My Little Pony, a topic Oswalt knows nothing about because he doesn’t have the time to get involved in another fictional world. The stories are hilarious and guaranteed to make you smile because Oswalt obviously loves his daughter and goes out of his way to learn everything about the shows she is interested in.
While Talking for Clapping isn’t laugh-out-loud funny, this stand up special will make your day better. In a world of cynical and sardonic comedians, Patton Oswalt stands out as the one guy who simply wants to know what’s wrong with everybody, so his daughter and her friends can grow up in a better world.
Rating: 6 out of 10
