"Annihilation" (2017) - Patton Oswalt's Courageous, Daring, Audaciously Hilarious Stand-Up Show on Netflix

[DonRocks]

IMHO, Patton Oswalt is one of the funniest comics out there. His new stand-up special on Netflix, "Annihilation" is riotously funny and at the same time tremendously poignant. 

During the first third or so of the show, Oswalt lays down some jokes about the current POTUS that are freakin' hilarious. I have copied and pasted one of my favorite jokes below and whited it out so you can view it by highlighting. I don't want to offend anyone who doesn't appreciate humor regarding this topic.

The rest of the show is devoted to his experience, over the last year, of dealing with the unexpected death of his wife and impact on his young son. Obviously a heavy and personal topic, but Oswalt pulls it off without being maudlin or undignified. I've never seen any stand-up routine quite like it. Actually, I feel bad about calling it a stand-up routine-- it's much more.

I just finished watching "Annihilation" by Patton Oswalt, and it was fantastic - it was as good as any high-dollar stand-up video I've ever seen.

Oswalt is clearly influenced by Louis CK, but he's Louis CK on steroids. How this man was able to go from Trump, to audience-teasing, to an extended skit about his wife's death, to pitching a film, to spending Halloween with his daughter, and make the entire thing not just funny, but *hilarious*, is almost incomprehensible - the "Polish lady of doom" was the thread that helped him do it, and I honestly thought she'd make an appearance in the last sketch, but he did it without her.

This is currently on Netflix, and I cannot recommend it highly enough - it is truly *great* stand-up comedy, a level which makes me ask myself, why on earth have there only been perhaps 10, perhaps 20, of "these" well-funded productions in history? When they work, they're as entertaining as any film or sporting event, and "Annihilation" works in a big way.

I cannot recommend this any more enthusiastically!

I also recommend watching the show first, and then enjoying these articles afterwards:

"Patton Oswalt's 'Annihilation' Is Funny and Profound" by Alison Herman on theringer.com
"Patton Oswalt Returns to Stand-Up: The Comedy of His Life" by Dan Snierson on ew.com
"Patton Oswalt's 'Annihilation' Review: Humor Meets Heartbreak" by Evan Valentine on collider.com
"In His New Standup Special, Patton Oswalt Makes a Triumphant Return from Annihilation" by Dennis Perkins on avclub.com
"Patton Oswalt Gets Personal about Wife's Death in New 'Annihilation' Netflix Comedy Special" by Ashley Boucher on thewrap.com
"Patton Oswalt Faces Wife's Death with Jokes, Heartbreak, and Body Fluids in New Netflix Special" by Maeve McDermott on usatoday.com
"Patton Oswalt on Surviving Trump's Tweets and Surviving Annihilation" by Andrew Husband on uproxx.com
"Patton Oswalt on Chaos, Kindness, and 'Annihilation'" by Isaac Kozell on splitsider.com
"What's on TV Tuesday: 'Patton Oswalt: Annihilation' and 'Hit the Road'" by Sara Aridi on nytimes.com
"Patton Oswalt Works through the Void on 'Annihilation'" by Audra Schroeder on dailydot.com
"In 'Patton Oswalt: Annihilation' on Netflix, the Comedian Uses Dark Humor To Cope with His Wife's Passing" by Taylor Maple on bustle.com
 

... and there are many more.