Patton Oswalt is famous as a skilled stand-up and a character actor but in 2016 he hit the headlines when his wife, author Michelle McNamara, died in her sleep. While the eloquent American was grief-stricken, his latest show underlines that humour helps to heal pain.
Apart from fish-in-barrel shots at Trump and provocative reflections on #MeToo he largely finds laughs in life’s small things.
He recently turned 50 and noticed how the world tilts as one ages. Your cereals now come in plain brown boxes rather brightly-coloured hues, preparing you for the grave. His style is economical, a well-chosen small phrase painting big pictures. While some US references risk going AWOL in translation he has an endearing Anglophile sensibility, name-checking Fleabag and punk legends Buzzcocks.
The brightest moments in his set concern his new wife and his daughter. The show concludes with an outstanding anecdote about a kids’ party and the world’s bleakest clown arriving late. Oswalt should have stepped in. He’d have certainly delighted any adults present.
