TCB Infomercial: Patton Oswalt

Summary

The Commercial Break: TCB Infomercial — Patton Oswalt

Release Date: September 2, 2025
Hosts: Bryan Green & Krissy Hoadley
Guest: Patton Oswalt

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Episode Overview

In this TCB Infomercial episode, Bryan and Krissy welcome acclaimed comedian, writer, and actor Patton Oswalt for a wide-ranging, candid, and often hilarious conversation. The hosts and Patton dig into everything from his iconic role as Remy in Ratatouille to the deeper themes of storytelling, fan culture, conspiracy theories, and the paranoia of modern society. Patton shares behind-the-scenes stories from his diverse career, reflects on the persistence of creative curiosity, and discusses his upcoming projects. The discussion moves fluidly between comedy, philosophy, fandom, and politics, maintaining TCB’s signature irreverent, chaotic, and “just fine” vibe.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Patton Oswalt’s Iconic Roles and Career Longevity

• On Being Remy in Ratatouille

  • [12:05] Bryan shares how his kids were ecstatic to hear Remy's voice would join the show.

  • Patton explains getting the part: Director Brad Bird heard Patton’s comedy album on satellite radio and was struck — “That’s the voice, that’s the guy I want.” Brad Bird even made a pencil test of Remy using Patton's Black Angus steakhouse bit.

    "He apparently made a pencil test of Remy doing that bit and showed it to the Disney people. And they were like, is he gonna curse like that? No, no, no, no. We just listen to the voice."
    — Patton Oswalt, [13:00]

  • Remy merch explosion at Disney Parks:

    "Apparently Remy is by far like the most popular little plushie to have on your shoulder as you walk around the park."
    — Patton Oswalt, [14:00]

• Career Reflection

  • Patton on sustaining a career and luck in show business:

    "Luck is a part of showbiz, unfortunately, it is a part of it. I have been very, very lucky. Maybe the reason my career has gone on so long is I just, I am actually interested in a lot of things and I do get enthusiastic and I like trying new things."
    — Patton Oswalt, [15:34]

  • Emphasizes maintaining enthusiasm and curiosity:

    "If you keep your interest and enthusiasm and you keep the attitude of 'I get to do this'... you’re not focused on the rewards and way more focused on, oh, wow, I get to work with creative people. Yeah, I think that really sustains a long career."
    — Patton Oswalt, [15:48]

2. Upcoming Projects

• The Dink — Pickleball Comedy

  • Patton teases a new Apple TV+ movie "The Dink", a comedy centered around pickleball, with a star-studded cast (Mary Steenburgen, Jake Johnson, Ben Stiller, Ed Harris).
  • When asked if it’s truly “based on real events”:

    "I guess. I mean, listen, pickleball wouldn’t be pickleball and pro stuff. Yeah. Why not?"
    — Patton Oswalt, [17:30]

• Audio-Only Special: Black Coffee and Ice Water

  • Patton debuts a new stand-up special, “Black Coffee and Ice Water,” releasing exclusively in audio on Apple/Audible.

    "It’s my next special. I did it just audio only. The way they used to put out albums ... I love the idea of doing that."
    — Patton Oswalt, [18:10]

  • Set to release in November.

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Guest Appearance

  • Patton discusses appearing as a Vulcan on the hit show. He riffs on how the special effects makeup process has gotten much faster.

    "In my head, when I got booked to play a Vulcan, I’m like, oh, I’m going to be in the makeup chair for a couple hours. ... They really have it down to a science."
    — Patton Oswalt, [19:08]

  • He relished playing an “extremely logical character that does not have emotional highs and lows.”

3. Fandom, Fan Fiction, and IP Ownership

• Discussion of Star Trek Fan Film Lawsuits

  • The hosts ask Patton’s take on the contentious CBS legal battle over fan-made Star Trek films funded through crowdsourcing. Patton admits being taken aback:

    "I’m just now hearing about that. I had no idea. ... I see so many fan films. I don’t know why—why was this guy sued?"
    — Patton Oswalt, [21:47–22:32]

• Fan Fiction’s Origins and Impact

  • Patton connects fanfic to a tradition as old as storytelling itself:

    "Didn’t Fifty Shades of Grey start out as Twilight fan fiction? ... Fan fiction’s been with us as long as there’s been fiction."
    — Patton Oswalt, [23:36]

  • He draws comparisons between Greek myths, Star Trek, and how storytelling meets a deep human need for adventure, heroes, and tales of hope:

    "Back then ... heroes would go to the edge of the mapped world ... and then Fast forward to 1970, there’s a show called Star Trek about heroes who go to the edge of the known universe and then go beyond it ... It’s the exact same need and impulse that people, that humanity needs."
    — Patton Oswalt, [24:08–25:49]

  • He muses that rewriting old stories, à la Disney, is a form of reimagining mythology for modern audiences.

4. The Psychology of Conspiracies

• Why People Cling to Conspiracy Theories

  • Patton elaborates that conspiracy thinking stems from needing to believe someone is “at the controls”—even if it’s for evil, it’s less frightening than chaos:

    "I absolutely think that conspiracy theories come from a fear of, 'Wait, no one’s at the controls.' ... They would rather have somebody be at the controls, even if it's for an evil purpose."
    — Patton Oswalt, [28:01]

• Real vs. Imagined Conspiracies

  • He explains actual historical conspiracies (like MK Ultra) tend to be chaotic and incompetently run, not masterfully orchestrated.

    "The real conspiracies ... it is always the most clumsy, embarrassing, pathetic ... The people that are in control are in even less control than we thought."
    — Patton Oswalt, [29:02]

  • Quotes a memorable Martin Luther King/J. Edgar Hoover comparison:

    "Martin Luther King was the guy thinking on a 4D chess level ... and J. Edgar Hoover was the guy writing him letters going, 'You should kill yourself.' That is not a diabolical evil genius. That is a panicky, imperfect, insufficient human being bumping up against an elevated soul and consciousness."
    — Patton Oswalt, [29:00]

• On Paranoia and Political Fear

  • Patton considers the current political climate, fear mongering, and how regimes manipulate insecurity.

    "White people were in control of 99% of stuff. And in the last couple decades, that has slipped precariously to 96.7. And they all panic, 'We're being replaced.' ... It's panicky, insecure, insufficient people who ... cannot abide having to give any of their stuff up."
    — Patton Oswalt, [31:18]

• Totalitarianism & Ego

  • Reflects on how authoritarian regimes attract mediocrity, isolate, and ultimately self-destruct.

    "Totalitarianism regimes always, always attract the most mediocre people to rise to the top. That's why they're so popular at the beginning."
    — Patton Oswalt, [35:55]

  • On Trump’s leadership style:

    "Trump is not smart, but he's shrewd ... he better keep these people fighting or they will turn their eyes on me."
    — Patton Oswalt, [36:47]

    "If you succeed by those means, you will only be surrounded by other people that were like, 'Oh, I've gotta take you down.' You will become the main course in the feast that you've laid out. You just don't realize it."
    — Patton Oswalt, [37:22]

5. Comedy & Artistic Philosophy

• On Speaking Out as an Artist

  • Patton shares some worry about criticizing those in power but notes, "They don’t like being laughed at ... Or, as Clive James put it, they want their jokes to be the funny ones."

    — Patton Oswalt, [39:29–40:11]

• On Community Among Comics & Artists

  • He admires Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) for lifting up other artists, not just seeking spotlight:

    "He always had the extra energy to lift other people up that were also doing their own ... If everyone in the scene is doing that, then the whole scene catches fire ..."
    — Patton Oswalt, [48:18]

• Refuses to be threatened by others’ success:

  "I don’t get jealous or pissed off when there’s someone in my field ... that is really kind of on the vanguard and pushing forward because it means that ... people will be more receptive to what I’m doing. They’re making the atmosphere better."
  — Patton Oswalt, [45:42]

• On cats, stress, and longevity

  • Shared empathy for animal lovers and mused:

    "When you don’t feel stress, you age slower."
    — Patton Oswalt, [44:06]

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Memorable Quotes

• “Fan fiction’s been with us as long as there’s been fiction. I mean, you could almost say that the Greek myths were fan fiction.”
  — Patton Oswalt, [23:52]

• “It is fallible, frightened, imperfect people who somehow found themselves at the controls.”
  — Patton Oswalt, [30:59]

• “If you see the truly great sketch performers, yes, they're being funny in the sketch and they're giving the other people stuff to react to ... then the entire sketch just blows up ... And Paul [Reubens] did that in his life.”
  — Patton Oswalt, [48:18]

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• [12:05]— Remy and Ratatouille: getting the role, impact, Disney Park merch
• [15:34]— Patton on career longevity, creative enthusiasm
• [16:56]— Upcoming pickleball comedy The Dink
• [18:08]— New audio-only special, Black Coffee and Ice Water
• [18:57]— Guesting as a Vulcan on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
• [21:47]— Fan films, lawsuits, fan fiction, & the nature of storytelling
• [28:01]— Conspiracy theories: psychology, historical truth vs. fantasy
• [39:29]— On political fear, ridicule, and voicing criticism
• [48:18]— Paul Reubens, the philosophy of elevating others in art

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Conclusion

Patton Oswalt’s appearance on TCB is a thoughtful, wide-ranging conversation filled with laughter, insight, and memorable wisdom. He shines a light on the importance of creative curiosity, the cyclical nature of stories, and the delusions of power, all with humor and humility. The hosts balance fan appreciation with probing questions, resulting in a showcase that celebrates everything quirky and human about comedy and storytelling.

Where to Follow Patton:
Patton Oswalt’s Instagram: @pattonoswalt (links to all new projects; new website coming soon)

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For further laughs, irreverence, and listener participation:

• tcbpodcast.com
• Call/Text: 212-433-3822
• Instagram: @thecommercialbreak
• YouTube: youtube.com/thecommercialbreak

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Episode Theme: Celebrating multiple careers, myth-making, fandom, and the hopeful chaos at the heart of comedy and life—delivered in true TCB style: "raw, twisted, and just FINE."

Transcript

[Brian Green]

This episode is sponsored by our good friends at five Hour Energy. All right, Labor Day is right around the corner and that means I've taken one more spin around the sun. What if my energy boost could taste like my birthday cake? A big old birthday party in my mouth without the awkward singing from Steve in accounting? That's what you will get with the new five Hour Energy Confetti Craze flavor. It's a vanilla y buttery, full on birthday cake vibe without all the sugar and the need to crash. It's got as much caffeine as a fancy 12 ounce cup of coffee, but as mentioned, zero sugar. And here's the best part. The thing is, you can toss it in your bag, your glove box, your sock drawer, or keep it in your fridge. So next time you go to grab an emergency snack, you've got confetti in your mouth. And the confetti craze is only here for a limited time. Translation. Get it now before it's gone and you're back to pretending that the office room donuts are festive. Five Hour Energy Confetti Craze flavor is available online. So head to FiveHouseEnergy.com or order yours today on Amazon and start living that big birthday life. And Happy birthday to me. This episode is sponsored in part by Perfectly Snug. Okay, tell me if this resonates with you. It's the end of the day. You're feeling extra tired, that bed looks so comfortable. You bounce in, get ready for some snoozing and then all night long, your body, your home thermostat, or a combination of both make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. This is an extraordinarily common problem. We all know it's true. Your body changes temperature over the course of the night and that leads to bad sleep. And bad sleep leads to bad health. I have struggled with this for years. But no more waking up hot and sweaty because Perfectly Snug is a mattress topper that fits on your existing mattress and uses an active airflow system to reduce heat and humidity out from under and around you for full body cooling. Imagine it like air conditioning, but for your bed and with dual zone controls. Each person in your bed can customize their own temperature and if you're sleeping on a single mattress, they've got you covered. Also, it's air based cooling, which means zero water, zero leaks, zero condensation, mold, and no extra room heat or dried out sinuses. That's right. Did I mention it's got heat mode? Also, there's a built in foot warmer and a pre heat option so the bed is warm on those cold nights. This is brilliant. This comes with a 30 day risk free trial, no shipping cost either way if you decide to return it. And it's got a one year bumper to bumper warranty for peace of mind go to perfectlysnug.com that's perfectlysnug.com and try it out. You can send it back in 30 days if you don't like it. But I think in 30 days you're gonna fall in love with it just like I did. Perfectlysnug.com and thank you to Perfectly Snug for being a sponsor of keeping this hot body nice and cool.

[Patton Oswalt]

You know what doesn't age well? Woke. It really doesn't. I'm woke, I think. But you know what? I won't be someday. And so will all of you be woke. Be open minded. Just don't pat yourself on the back cause that will bite you in the ass. Cause everyone that's getting canceled now for not being woke was woke about something they just couldn't keep up with. Progress. Progress will always fucking steamroller you. I'm very pro trans, very pro gay marriage and gay rights and pro abortion. But no, no, that's not what I'm saying is that is going to blow up in my face. Someday I'll be doing comedy when I'm 70 and I will let slip something that I won't be able to keep up with. I'll be like, I don't think people should fuck their clones. That'd be some weird like no wait, I'm pro transverse. Fuck you clone hater.

[Commercial Break Announcer]

On this episode of the commercial break.

[Patton Oswalt]

Martin Luther King was the guy who thinking on a 4D chess level and trying to actually bridge the gap and bring peace and bring people together. And J. Edgar Hoover was the guy writing him letters going, you should kill yourself. Like that is not a diabolical evil genius. That is a panicky, imperfect, insufficient human being bumping up against an elevated soul and consciousness. And his only responses, you should kill yourself. Yeah, like, like that's when you actually look at the real conspiracies. The people that were pulling them off were not masterminds at all, at all. They were terrified. The next episode of the commercial break starts now.

[Brian Green]

2:30 in the morning. Oh yes, cats and kittens, welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Green. This is my dear friend and the co host of this show, Chris. Enjoy Hoadley. Best to you Chrissy, best to you. Bryant, best to you out there in the podcast universe. Thanks for joining. Joining us on a TCB infomercial Tuesday as we are very excited to present to you after this long Labor Day weekend the king of all medium and not Howard Stern patent Oswalt. I am very excited about this one. Feeling a little tickle in my pickle.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I know, man.

[Brian Green]

A little wiggle in my giggle.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I'm a little nervous.

[Brian Green]

I am a little nervous actually, if.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I'm being honest, because I've loved him from afar for so long.

[Brian Green]

He's. He's been in so many things. They are hard to name even in an hour of the commercial break. So I'll just go through a few of my own personal favorites. The Fan, the movie that he did by the same guy who wrote the wrestler about the Giants fan who lives in his parents house. It's an amazing turn for Patton and he does. I mean, it's one of the best acted films of all time, I think. And Patton is the main character in that. Let us not forget that Patton also took many turns in the incredibly funny situational comedy, the mockumentary known as Reno911.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

He was always good in Reno 911. When he showed up in Reno 911, he was a Steen sealer, scene stealer for sure. He was in the voice of Remy. The voice of Remy in Ratatouille, one of the household favorites here, as a matter of fact. I'll share this with him. Also. When I told my kids that Remy may be coming on the show, the. It was just pure joy. Pure joy. And they asked if they could talk to Remy and I said, I don't think it works that way. You're gonna be disappointed if you talk to Remy because it won't be Remy. Also, I think we forget, we easily forget that Patton for many years. The voice of Adam Goldberg in the Goldbergs.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

Remember that? And although he. I don't. He shows up on camera. Does he ever show up on camera on the Goldbergs? I don't remember that happening. But he is the voice that you will remember from the Goldberg series and stand up.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I mean, he's been doing stand up for years and years and years.

[Brian Green]

Podcast.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

So funny.

[Brian Green]

Sci fi.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah, He's a big sci fi fan.

[Brian Green]

Improv, comedy, comedy, bang, bang. I mean, the guy is just, he's everywhere.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

He's writer, actor, comedian, all of it. Producer, producer, everything.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. Patton Oswald is one of our favorites and we're so grateful to have him here today in. Well, not in our Studio. But on our tv, it's the same. It's the same thing.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

The magic of telepod.

[Brian Green]

The magic of telepodcasting. You know how it goes. But first, we must address the rumors which are true. In fact, I've gotten engaged to Taylor Swift. That's correct. Me and Taylor, Taylor and I, we're going to get married, go into the chapel and there.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

She may be surprised about that.

[Brian Green]

Well, no, he might be surprised about that. As we're recording this episode, we're learning that Travis and Taylor have officially done the do. They are getting engaged. I can only imagine how many millions of dollars were spent on a ring for Taylor Swift. What do you think it's going to be? A big fat ring or an understated, simple ring?

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I know I could see either way with her.

[Brian Green]

I could see her wanting the big fat ring.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah, I don't think she's going to go huge.

[Brian Green]

But then telling Travis to keep it simple, stupid. So that she doesn't.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I think it would be something unique. That's something special.

[Brian Green]

That's right. But you know, she's got a merch drop in like 10 days. And so she's the. You know, everyone's going to spend all of their money on merch, including everyone in this household. Anyway, that's the big news today, is that Travis and Taylor are getting married. But who cares? Because Patton Oswald is here.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

That's right.

[Brian Green]

And we shall talk to him about all things, everything. I mean, as much as we can. I don't even know where to start now.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I feel like we get with. You have a lot of. A lot of things to talk to. This could go a lot of different ways.

[Brian Green]

This could go a lot of different ways. Let's just hope he stays on for the full allotted time is all I think is the best we can hope for in this circumstance. So let's do this. Let's take a break. And then through the magic of telepodcasting, Chrissy Patton Oswalt right here in our studio with us. And I will fanboy over Remy Reno the fan and all other things.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

His whole career.

[Brian Green]

His whole career. We'll just.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

And he's got so much in the works, too.

[Brian Green]

We're just gonna give him a virtual hand shandy while he's here. What do you think?

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Okay.

[Brian Green]

Okay, we'll be.

[Rachel (Voice of God)]

Hey, it's Rachel, your new voice of God here on tcb. And just like you, I'm wondering just how much longer this podcast can continue. Let's all rejoice that another episode has made it to your ears and I'll rejoice that my check is in the mail. Speaking of mail, get your free TCB sticker in the mail by going to tcbpodcast.com and visiting the Contact Us page. You can also find the entire commercial break library audio and video just in case you want to look at [e-mail] Want your voice to be on an episode of the show? Leave us a message at 212. That's 212-433-3822. Tell us how much you love us and we'll be sure to let the world know on a future episode. Or you could make fun of us. That'd be fine too. We might not air that, but maybe. Oh, and if you're shy, that's okay. Just send a text. We'll respond. Now. I'm gonna go check the mailbox for payment while you check out our sponsors and then we'll return to this episode of the commercial break.

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[Brian Green]

The innumerable Patton Oswald. Here with us, kristenjoy Hoadley. You will be known for many things, I'm sure, when you're long gone from this ether and on to the next ether. But in this household, I want you to know that you will live on forever, as many children will probably attest to, as Remy from Ratatouille.

[Patton Oswalt]

Ratatouille.

[Brian Green]

Ratatouille. It is one of our favorite movies. And when I told the kids that the voice of Remy from Marata was going to be on the show, it was an explosion of pure joy coming into their fit. Can I talk to Remy? And I said, well, it's not.

[Patton Oswalt]

Oh, well, tell them thank you. I'm very flattered.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I know.

[Patton Oswalt]

They cannot talk to Remy.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

No, no, no.

[Patton Oswalt]

Life is hard. Need hard. We need hard, strong kids, damn it.

[Brian Green]

That's right. No, toughen up these little.

[Patton Oswalt]

Right. Yeah. They.

[Brian Green]

I mean, it's. What a brilliant movie. And now I cannot think. I mean, like so many other roles, I cannot think of another voice that would have fit Remy better than yours. Just indulge me for one second. I know this is a long time ago. You've talked about this ad nause.

[Patton Oswalt]

Right? Right. How.

[Brian Green]

How did. He says, yeah, how did you get. How did you get the role for Remy?

[Patton Oswalt]

But the way Brad Bird tells it is he. They were looking for a voice. They couldn't find one. He was driving around one night and he was. They heard my. They were playing my first album on satellite radio. I was doing a bit about the Black Angus steakhouse. And he was like, that's the voice. That's the guy I want. And he apparently made a pencil test of Remy doing that bit and showed it to the Disney people. And they were like, is he gonna curse like that? No, no, no, no. We just listen to the voice. It's not. And then they brought me in and. And I know I. I met everyone at Pixar. I met Brad. We hung out, and then it. We just.

[Brian Green]

It clicked.

[Patton Oswalt]

Clicked.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Patton Oswalt]

Yeah, it really clicked.

[Brian Green]

A brilliant, brilliant turn in. In that movie.

[Patton Oswalt]

And I was very happy.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I can only imagine that. And the movie did so well and it's so iconic, and now there's rides and all that other stuff off of Friends.

[Patton Oswalt]

Yeah, I know. It'. This Brad Bird just sent me an article from the New York Times about the. There's these little magnetic shoulder plushies that's like the new rage, I guess you put like a Magnet under your shirt and then the thing sits on your shoulder and there's plush. But apparently Remy is by far like the most popular little plushie to have on your shoulder as you walk around the park. Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Hey, Patton, I could walk outside my door and in three seconds I could have two of those sitting on my shoulder because I own two of them.

[Patton Oswalt]

You do? Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, there's, yeah, there's all, I mean, all the characters now that these. Because when you, when you think about it, Disney, a lot of their main protagonist has a little helper on their shoulder, like, talking to me, Cricket, stuff like that. So, yeah, Remy is, he's the man. He's the plushie right now.

[Brian Green]

He is the plushie. We went there a couple of months ago, down to Florida and, oh, they're all over the place. And it's the first thing that the kids, you know, they want that I want that. Can I have that? How does it sit up there? And then we got the little magnet. So for four days, one of my kids was walking around with that thing on his shoulder, sleeping with it on his shoulder. Yeah, Very adorable. But I mean, you know, Ratatouille, one of many iconic roles and in television and in film that you have played, I think you have been, I don't want to say lucky because you're very talented, but you really have had a very long and sustained career. Could you have ever imagined, could you have ever.

[Patton Oswalt]

I mean, luck is a part of showbiz, unfortunately, it is a part of it. I have been very, very lucky. I think I, maybe the reason my career has gone on so long is I just, I am actually interested in a lot of things and I do get enthusiastic and I like trying new things. So, I mean, I think if you keep your interest in enthusiasm and you keep the attitude of I get to do this rather than, oh, well, I gotta do this, you know, if you're not focused on the rewards and way more focused on, oh, wow, I get to work with creative people. Yeah, I think that really sustains a long career.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I mean, fair enough. That was going to be one of my questions, I think, because you are so wide ranging in your varied roles. I mean, your voice acting, your podcasting, your stand up, you're doing movies, but not just one type of role. Many types of comic books. Comic books.

[Patton Oswalt]

Yeah. I mean, I just, I, I like doing a lot of different things. I, I, I have a, I'm, I'm very lucky that I have a lot of creativity to burn and, and I Wanna. I wanna just, you know, try everything. I want to try everything. Why not? Why not?

[Brian Green]

Okay, so I have a question. We can't find a whole ton of information about it, but we know it exists. It's out there. What is? The Dink.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yes.

[Patton Oswalt]

It's an upcoming movie. I think it comes out later this year on Apple. It's about a. It's a. It's a. A pickleball comedy.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Patton Oswalt]

Jay Johnson and not J. Josh. Jake Johnson. I forget who's. There's a whole lot of Mary Steenburgen, Jake Johnson. Ben Stiller's in it. Ed Harris. It's really, really funny.

[Brian Green]

And it's based on a true story. It says based on true events.

[Patton Oswalt]

Oh, wow. I guess. I mean, listen, pickleball wouldn't be pickleball and pro stuff. Yeah. Why not?

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

You also have to understand, listener, is that when Chrissy and I are trying to wrap our heads around having a guest in the studio, one of the things we like to do is like, check and see, hey, what's going on? You know, what are they. What are they up to? And Patton's list was so long that we could not commit any of it to mem.

[Patton Oswalt]

Oh, no. Look at the. Dude, look at the list. My God. Please, it's.

[Brian Green]

It's.

[Patton Oswalt]

Feel free.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, it's unbelievable. Tell us about the new. You've got an Apple audio series that's coming up also.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Black coffee and ice water. Is that right?

[Patton Oswalt]

It's not a series. It's. It's my next special. I did it just audio only. The way they used to put out albums, like, Apple is getting audible, is getting back into, like, hey, let's do albums again. And I jumped at the chance. I love the idea of doing that. So, yeah, I was very, very excited.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, that's awesome. When is that? When is. When does that drop?

[Patton Oswalt]

That will be out in November. That will be. I will announce all of that soon on my Insta and my newly redesigned website. You'll hear about it everywhere. All right.

[Brian Green]

Links in the show, notes everywhere. He's got a PR push coming, folks. A PR push happening in Star.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Star Trek. You've got a new thing with that, too.

[Patton Oswalt]

Well, as we're talking, my episode already aired, but, yeah, I got to be on an episode of Strange New Worlds, and. Which was great. I got to play Vulcan, so that was amazing.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

What?

[Patton Oswalt]

Yeah, and it's. It was really interesting because I. In my head, when I got booked to play a vocal, I'm like, oh, well, I'm going to Be in the makeup chair for a couple hours. They, apparently, they really have it down to a science where you go in and they've got it ready to go and they can get you. I, I think the years of, like, Nimoy sitting in the chair at Desilu, getting ready in the early 70s, they have now refined that process. So it wasn't as long as I thought it would be. And it was just. It was very fun to play a extremely logical character that does not have emotional highs and lows. That is very even, that is very, you know, focused and is tamping down a lot of emotion. That was. That was really fun to play you.

[Brian Green]

Okay, so, huge Star Trek fan. So I want to ask you a question about this. A couple of years ago, and I just want your opinion on this. A couple of years ago, there were a couple of fans and I got really, like into this because I know one of the players, used to know one of the players in this particular saga, which was.

[Patton Oswalt]

Right.

[Brian Green]

CBS sued some fans for making a fan fiction film that they said was profiting off of the IP of Star Trek. Essentially, it was like a cbs. It was like a Star Trek adjacent show. It certainly had some of the same themes, and it was, you know, in a different universe or whatever it was. How do you. Where do you stand on the idea of fanfic and people.

[Patton Oswalt]

Wait a minute. Wait, Hang. Wait. Yeah, go ahead. Cbs, you said Stewed.

[Brian Green]

Sued.

[Patton Oswalt]

Sued. Okay, I'm very confused right now.

[Brian Green]

Wait a minute.

[Patton Oswalt]

You literally said stewed.

[Brian Green]

And I said, yes, I would like.

[Patton Oswalt]

The script to be read back to where somebody made a fan.

[Brian Green]

Court reporter.

[Patton Oswalt]

Yes, somebody made a fan fiction of Star Trek.

[Brian Green]

A fan. A film.

[Patton Oswalt]

A film was like on YouTube or something.

[Brian Green]

It went on YouTube and went on a website. The person who created the film, the director and producer of the film.

[Patton Oswalt]

Right.

[Brian Green]

He raised a bunch of money to make the film. So he went like a GoFundMe or whatever. Whatever, wherever he.

[Patton Oswalt]

Right.

[Brian Green]

So the. But the reason why they came after him was because they said that he was profiting off of the IP that he had made the film for, specifically to profit off the ip. There's no questions about where the money went and how it went. Essentially, he created his own little studio down here in the south from some of these funds that came in the door. So then there was this lawsuit, and it was really a. You know, at least in that universe, because I kind of kept up with. It was a big deal. There were a lot of people on both sides of the aisle.

[Patton Oswalt]

I'M just now hearing about that. I had no idea. I mean, I thought people made. Don't people make all the Star Trek, Aliens, Batman, Predator, Avengers fan films? Constantly. I mean, I see them all the time on YouTube all the time, but.

[Brian Green]

Most of them make them in there, I would imagine, right in their backyard on the weekend doing this. Isn't that.

[Patton Oswalt]

But some of them are really good.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I agree with you. I've seen a couple of them where.

[Patton Oswalt]

It'S like, some of them are very well made and really, really creative. So I don't know. I don't know enough about the case to comment on. And I'm just. Again, I'm just now hearing about this. I. It's. I don't know how. Again, I see so many fan films. I don't know why. Why was this guy sued?

[Brian Green]

Because they believed that he was the, the meat and potatoes of the lawsuit is you took the money. You took a bunch of money to make a film. Right. That then you knew you were going to profit off of because he paid himself to make the film. He paid for his time, and then he built a studio with the money that he got for making this movie. So essentially, CBS or decided this was a bridge too far. You had taken our ip, you collected a bunch of cash on the back of our ip, and that is something we will not allow. You cannot make money. You can make a fan fiction film in your backyard, but you can't make money off of Rip, which, you know.

[Patton Oswalt]

He made money because he paid himself out of the money that was raised.

[Brian Green]

Correct.

[Patton Oswalt]

Yeah. Again, I don't know. I don't know the legal intricacies of any of this. Look it up. I'm sorry.

[Brian Green]

Fascinating twists and turns.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Well, how do you feel about fan.

[Patton Oswalt]

Check it out.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Fan fiction in general. I'm sure you've had quite some interesting people that have come up to you at some of the. Some of the things that you've, you know, appeared at.

[Patton Oswalt]

I mean, yeah, there's been. I don't know if there's been any Remy fan fiction, but I know that there. I mean, didn't. Didn't 50 shades of gray start out as Twilight fan fiction?

[Brian Green]

Yes, that's a true story. Yes.

[Patton Oswalt]

And then she turned it into, like a BDSM narrative, but it was Twilight fan fiction. And I mean, fan fiction's been with us as long as there's been fiction. I mean, you could almost say that the Greek myths were fan fiction.

[Brian Green]

Fair enough.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Patton Oswalt]

You know, they would just keep taking. In fact, there's this really. Oh, God, I cannot remember her name. She's this really interesting classics professor. And I listened to one of her courses on CD and she talked about how it's really interesting how the Greek myths were about heroes who go to the edge of the mapped world, the edge of the known world, and they go beyond that map and they fight monsters and they bring back magic items or new technology or medicines to heal. You know, that's their adventures. And then Fast forward to 1970, there's a show called Star Trek about heroes who go to the edge of the known universe and then go beyond it and they fight monsters and they bring back new technology, new medicines, essentially magic items to help the universe and help mankind. And she goes, and like back then, the Greek myths, the heroes, the Odysseus and Jason and people like that, emperors would say that, well, I'm of the same lineage as Hercules. Like I'm descended from these heroes. And now in Star Trek, like Captain Kirk, I think he was born in a certain actual town in America and they say, birthplace of Captain Kirk. Like they link themselves to the future of these characters. Yeah, to that lineage. So the same, it's the exact same need and impulse that people, that humanity needs, which is that we do have to go into the unknown sometimes and it's scary. And we hope that there are heroes that can do that and come back and bring things that will heal the world.

[Brian Green]

That is, you know, super fascinating. Yeah, yeah, it's a hamster wheel. It's, it's at. You know, I was trying to explain to my son Disney, the great company Disney. Right. He said, well, how did Walt Disney come up with the story of Cinderella or Snow White or Sleeping Beauty?

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

And I said, he stole it. I mean, honestly, he didn't, he didn't steal it, but he took a fairy tale that had been around for hundreds of years in some cases, and he reimagined it. He wanted to see it come to life.

[Patton Oswalt]

Well, I mean, look, the Brothers Grimm just traveled the countryside listening to people's stories and then published them as their own. They were collectors. So all that stuff was in the public domain. But then it is interesting that when Disney started doing original stuff, it still followed the same pattern of somebody goes beyond the known world, you know, fights monsters, brings back stuff to bring the world together even more. You can even argue that that's the story of Ratatouille. He goes beyond what is his known world. There's these big scary giants that he has to fight. He has to convince one of them to help him. And then he links rats and humans and cooking or something. I don't know. But, like, the same story gets told over. I mean, we could go back to Joseph Campbell's the Hero with a Thousand Faces or, you know, the whole test and quest thing, but. But yeah, it's just we have this need to tell stories because a lot of times in our own lives, our stories tend to be kind of sloppy or they just kind of end for no reason or there's not any satisfaction. So why not create a story where we have a satisfactory ending, where the evil are punished and the good are lifted up? Why not? Who does that hurt?

[Brian Green]

It doesn't hurt anybody. And as a matter of fact, I think that it gives us some comfort that everything turns out okay. Some hope, some promise, a reason to reach, you know, I mean, I think a lot of us right now are looking for heroes. I believe it's why so many people are into religion or conspiracy theories is that they're looking for. They want purpose. They want it all to make sense. They want something.

[Patton Oswalt]

I absolutely think that conspiracy theories come from a fear of. Of, wait, no one's at the controls.

[Brian Green]

That's it.

[Patton Oswalt]

They would rather have somebody be at the controls, even if it's for an evil purpose, rather than, no stuff's just random and no one's in control. That's terrifying. So it's so much better to go, oh, no, the 911 happened because there was a vast. No. We were asleep at the wheel and a couple of dudes realized, oh, wait, I can just take box cutters on the plane and then commandeer it. And like, that's terrifying.

[Brian Green]

I agree with you a hundred percent. I think people find solace in that. They want to know. They want. They want some measure of making it make sense when a lot of things don't make sense. Because if the grand conspiracy is we're taking down the cabal of whatever for whoever and he's at the wheel and then.

[Patton Oswalt]

Right.

[Brian Green]

At least I know. At least I know how this.

[Patton Oswalt]

Right.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

And that makes me feel comfortable now.

[Patton Oswalt]

You know, but really, also what's kind of interesting is the conspiracies that have turned out to be true, like cointelpro and MK Ultra. Yeah. Are ones in which people in power are actually trying to sow more chaos. When we actually find out the ones that are real, the actual conspiracy theories that are real, it is always the most clumsy, embarrassing, pathetic. The FBI is keeping files on John Lennon or they're trying to send poison cigars to Castro. It's like, oh, my God. The people that are in control are in even less control than we thought. So we imagine the conspiracy theories that haven't been proven that I think are any conspiracy theory where There is a 4D chess level of thinking by the evil ones, where there's this multi. I'm like, that one's fake. But the ones where they're like, we got to track John Lennon. That one's probably real. That's probably. It is fallible, frightened, imperfect people who somehow found themselves at the controls again. All the conspiracy theories against Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King was the guy thinking on a 4D chess level and trying to actually bridge the gap and bring peace and bring people together. And J. Edgar Hoover was the guy writing him letters going, you should kill yourself. Like, that is not a. A diabolical evil genius. That is a panicky, imperfect, insufficient human being bumping up against an elevated soul in consciousness. And his only response is, you should kill yourself. Yeah, like. Like, that's when you actually look at the. The real conspiracies. The people that were pulling them off were not masterminds at all. At all. They were terrified.

[Brian Green]

This is. This is a very smart point that you're making, which is the people, the conspiracies that like MK Ultra and all this other stuff, these are just small people looking to.

[Patton Oswalt]

So chaos, terrified.

[Brian Green]

And because they don't know what else to do, they have no other tools at their disposal.

[Patton Oswalt]

They're trying to put what they think is control, and they can't see that what they're doing is just adding more chaos because they. I've always said all this panic about, you know, white people losing power. White people were in control of 99% of stuff. And in the last couple decades, that has slipped precariously to 96.7. And they all panic. We're being replaced. It's like, guys, dear God, you're like that. It's panicky, insecure, insufficient people who. They cannot abide any having to give any of their stuff up. It freaks them out. So that. And that's where most conspiracy theories spring from. That spring from someone who's chaotic and less than and terrified. That's where the conspiracy starts 100%. They don't like seeing the Black Panthers completely organized, giving out free breakfasts, opening up free libraries. Oh, my God. Actually trying to bring some order insanity to their neighborhoods. And of course, well, we. We got to infiltrate these people. Oh, my. We gotta.

[Brian Green]

They're giving away breakfast.

[Patton Oswalt]

Exactly. What? Wait a minute. Well, Fed children.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah.

[Patton Oswalt]

You know, that's. That's where the conspiracy stuff always comes from.

[Brian Green]

Same. Same playbook that they're using now. Install fear. Make sow the seeds of doubt and let it roar. And that's, that's.

[Patton Oswalt]

It's all like weird middle school, petty bully. You know, like the, the guy that they were going to deport to El Salvador, then they brought him back, now they just arrested him again. That is crazy. They're going to send him to Uganda.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Patton Oswalt]

And it's just that thing of, like, if we made a decision, we cannot be wrong. Even if the like, like, again, it's all chaos. It is not this mapped out conspiracy. It is emotional fragile egos lashing out at the world. And it's all.

[Brian Green]

It is 1000% illegal. If you don't look at that and say to yourself that we have spent millions of dollars persecuting just one person because we did something wrong, we got it wrong. And now they're giving him the choice. He had the choice to go to Costa Rica where they would just set him free. It that he had to admit that he was running people. Now, whether or not he did, I don't know. But they're not even giving him a chance. They're not even giving a day short. Now he's going to Uganda.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah, it's.

[Patton Oswalt]

And, and, and he's going to Uganda because they don't want to be embarrassed.

[Brian Green]

That's right. They want to silence him, send him away.

[Patton Oswalt]

I. I'm just hoping. Again, the outcry is so. They're. They're so panicky that they're doing a version of the Streisand effect where their moves are so clumsy that it's just shining even more light on their incompetence. And hopefully that will. I mean, my daughter read for school, had to read George Orwell's 1984. And that's a very grim book to read. Like, it is just brutal. And there were times she's like, I can't. This is really bumming me out. I'm like, I know, but just finish it. Finish the whole thing and then we will talk about it. I can. There is a weird hidden sliver of hope in that book that a lot of people miss. You just got to read the whole book. And she read it. That last line, he loved Big Brother. He sold out Julia. He's just waiting to be killed. You know, they completely crush him. And you're like, oh, my God. And then I go, did you read the. The endnote? The Glossary of terms in the back about Newspeak, that George Orwell. There's a, the novel has a thing in the end. And she read that and then she realized, oh, and the first sentence is, Newspeak was a form of communication in a dictatorship called Oceana. Newspeak was, it was how they. In other words, this is a report about a fallen regime. It didn't last. All totalitarian regimes eventually collapse because they only operate on illusion and fear and paranoia and eventually you run out of energy to keep that illusion going up and it just crumbles. It just crumbles. And it also, it attracts totalitarianism. Regimes always, always attract the most mediocre people to rise to the top. That's why they're so popular at the beginning. It's, I think Clive James was like the Third Reich basically was. Gave jobs to the unemployable. That, that's really what it was. It was people that you just could not employ anywhere else. They were completely screw ups. And the, and the, the ruling regime always just turns into as, as again, as, as Clive James called it, just a bucket of eels. They're all just biting in each other. They, I mean, if you look at the, the administration right now, they all hate each other. They hate each other. They hate each other and they're all trying to get advantage over one another and it eventually, that exhausts itself and it crumbles.

[Brian Green]

Yes. And you know, it's, you can see it, it, that it's bred at the top. Right. Trump wants these people to fight against each other. They want, he wants them to fight for his attention.

[Patton Oswalt]

He's terrified.

[Brian Green]

Of course he is.

[Patton Oswalt]

If they're not fighting with each other, they will turn their eyes because none of them want to be number two. They all want to be number one. So get them fighting for the number two spot and he can relax and be number one.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Patton Oswalt]

But if they stop fighting for number two and you know, it's, he saw what, listen, he saw what happened to Newt Gingrich. Newt Gingrich blew in with the whole Contract With America and he surrounded himself with other people that. And then he didn't last a year because they were like, no, I'm leading this. And they got rid of him. And he, you know, Trump is not smart, but he's shrewd and he is like, oh, I better keep these people fighting or they will turn their eyes on me.

[Brian Green]

That's it. That's a very, that's a very keen observation. And they are a bucket of eels. And they're all eating each other. Yeah. And they're all, go read.

[Patton Oswalt]

Go reread Bud Schulberg's what Makes Sammy Run. Sammy Glick gets to the top and he realizes the only other people around him are other Sammy Glicks who are looking to take his job. Like, you will eventually be surrounded by people that will. If you live, if you succeed by those means, you will only be surrounded by other people that were like, oh, I gotta take you down. You will become the main course in the feast that you've laid out. You just don't realize it's. It. You can't see it because of all the glamour and all the glitter and all the shininess. Oh, my God, I'm surrounded in gold and everything's beautiful. And you don't realize all that gold that's in the Oval Office right now, those are all table set. Well, it's also. Those are all table settings around a grand feast. And Trump is the main course. He just can't see it yet.

[Brian Green]

Very interesting. Very simply put, as my dad used to say, be careful when you're climbing the ladder. Who you step on for. You meet them on the way back down. Right. Who you step on the way up for? You meet them on the way back down. Or they event or they. Or they're behind you. And it's just like if you sow this. This fear and this doubt and this fighting and this negative, just pure based negativity, you're going to. You're going to chum the water. And you're right about this. Is that then the sharks are hungry. All of them are hungry. You don't think J.D. vance, it's sitting there foaming at the mouth over this epine shit? Of course he is.

[Patton Oswalt]

Any one of them would throw any one of the others into a meat grinder to get. Or as my. To paraphrase my friend Dana Gould, they would rip out someone else's eye to use that socket as a foothold to get one level higher.

[Brian Green]

Oh, God, it drives me. It just drives me crazy. Do you have, as someone who has at times been very vocal about your. First of all, you tend to be very progressive. I don't think I'm misspeaking there, which I appreciate. And you tend to speak out. Do you fear the administration and the way that they're acting and behaving toward critics?

[Patton Oswalt]

Sometimes, yeah. I mean, I don't think I'm a big enough fish for them to focus on. Although I'm always reminded of during the Anschluss in when. When the Nazis took back Vienna, the first people they went after were the cabaret performers and satirists. The first people they went after, Egon Freidel and Peter Altenberg, like, that's the first people that they beat into pulps. So, yeah, they don't like being laughed at. I mean, that's why they went after Colbert. They don't like the sound of laughter. And it is. Or. Or as, again, as Clive James put it, they want their jokes to be the funny ones.

[Brian Green]

Yes.

[Patton Oswalt]

And they don't. They don't understand and irony or satiric, once removed or anything like that, it is all just bullying and I'm awesome and you suck. And there's no pointing out, oh, here's something that I learned from something stupid I did. They can never be in that position. No, they have to be in the position of I am the one pointing out. I am bringing the elixir to heal the world. They can't see. They think the whole world is sick because they can't see that they're sick.

[Brian Green]

It's true.

[Patton Oswalt]

Wow. We're getting into some deep, dark weeds here, man.

[Brian Green]

I love it.

[Patton Oswalt]

I know you see me at Go bananas. Gonna be a really fun night.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Go Bananas. Yeah. Well, going back to that for just a second, I noticed you had commented on a Jack White post the other day, and I'm really enjoying Jack White's voice right now on Instagram. Yeah, I.

[Patton Oswalt]

You know, I don't know if he's. What? I don't know if he would watch this. I met him. I was at the memorial service for Paul Reubens, and he was there. And I am such a fan of Jack White. Not just his music, like, just the way he pursues his career and what he builds and what he focuses on and how he does it.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Absolutely.

[Patton Oswalt]

It was very apt that he was at a Paul Rubens memorial because they very much had the same artistic philosophies. And he's one of those people that. I met him and I just kind of clammed up and I had too much to say to him. I was like, hey, it's really good to meet you. And then I, like, turned. And then Andy Richter came up to me and I just started babbling with Andy Richter about stuff. And I feel like he thinks I blew him off, but it was one of those things where my brain just. Just fritz out. I'm just like, what am I going to say to this guy? And my wife, who was so much more socially adept than me, just, she hung out with him. And they talked for a while, and she's. You know. And I'm just like.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

So I would be, too.

[Patton Oswalt]

If Jack White. If you're seeing this. My brain fritzed out. It hasn't happened a lot fritzed out when I met. Here's the people that happened with. It fritzed out when I met Cormac McCarthy, and it fritzed out when I met Ann V. Coats, who was the editor. She edited Lawrence of Arabia and Murder on the Ornament. Like, she is basically the. She is the Superman of editing. She's the one she liked. And I met her at an award show. Just, like, it's great. And I had, like, in my mind, like, eight, like, 80 questions, like, pressed against my brain, like, how did you do? And I. And I just. And then my super go aboard.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Patton Oswalt]

Yeah. My super was like, don't subject this person to your. Like, she's having an. She was getting, like, an honorary award, and I'm like, I'm not gonna bother her. And I just walked. I. There's certain people you meet, you just go, hi, great to meet you. And you just walk away. Like, what the Am I gonna say to them?

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I. Listen, I. I know the feeling, Patton. I know the feeling. And because you're one of those people, I had to write them down. I think you're just one of the. I just think you're one of the smarter guys in the business. I appreciate the way that you move through the world with authenticity and integrity, and I also appreciate that, you know, you. You speak up when you need to speak up, but it's not what you're all about.

[Patton Oswalt]

Right.

[Brian Green]

It's not everything.

[Patton Oswalt]

Yeah.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

And you're a cat lover. Oh, I'm a big cat lover.

[Patton Oswalt]

How many cats do you have?

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Well, I had. Well, growing up, we had, like, five in the house.

[Patton Oswalt]

Really?

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I ended up taking, like, my main one with me throughout, you know, my college journey and then into my adult life. And she lived to be 23, so.

[Patton Oswalt]

You know why she. You know why she lived to be 23? Because you really loved her, and she felt no stress. And when you don't feel stress, you age slower.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yes.

[Patton Oswalt]

When you. The calmer you are, the slower you age. So that you gave that cap cat.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Oh, I love.

[Patton Oswalt]

Wow.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Patches.

[Patton Oswalt]

23 years old.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

She was a calico. White calico. Yeah.

[Patton Oswalt]

That was a very. That was a happy cat.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I still have dreams about her. I still have dreams about her. Yeah.

[Patton Oswalt]

But when you owned. When you owned five cats, was there, like, a clear pecking order as to who was. This is the person running things. This is the right hand man. Like, did they kind of like break off into those like they. Did you see that in groups of animals, there's a little like, okay, here's. Here's what's going on.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah, there was the ones, you know, the ones that were more dominant and the ones that, you know, kind of submitted to whatever the other ones said do.

[Brian Green]

I love that.

[Patton Oswalt]

Well, that's. By the way, that's. I think we get a lot of times with animals when we see, like, there's a dominant animal and we're like, hey, everyone, be equal. And animals hate that when the. When there's an alpha around, the other animal's like, that. The guy running thing. Good, fine. I can just chill. They don't care about all that. Weird. No, we've all got to be equal. And animal's like, are you out of your mind? No, let that person do this. You doing. Why are you making. No, no, no, no, no.

[Brian Green]

I do think at times we as humans try and, you know, change the course of things in weird ways that. That sometimes don't always make sense. And one of those is there. Sometimes there does need to be a pecking order because a headless horse just runs in, you know, just runs in circles. Right.

[Patton Oswalt]

Sometimes also, there's just good to have. I don't get jealous or pissed off when there's someone in my field, especially like a comedian, that is really kind of on the vanguard and pushing forward because it means that they're making. If someone's doing something similar to what I'm doing and more, it just means. Oh, that means people will be more receptive to what I'm doing. They're making the atmosphere better. It doesn't have to be. I've seen people pull other people down just for the sake of. No, I want to be the one to do this. Like, let the trailblazer be the trailblazer. Like, you're still going to get to do your stuff. It can't be. There's a lot of people in showbiz where it's like, it has to be me. And only they go through showbiz like they're running for the office of comedian or the office of actor. It's like, no, there can be a whole lot of us. You don't need to. And it just makes the doing of the art so not fun when you turn it into sports or politics.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. Rising tide floats all boats is like the old saying. Yes, I think that that's true. In, in podcasting also. Listen, there are some. We all know, notable podcasters that we like or don't like or listen to or don't listen to. But you have to appreciate that, you know, I'm, I'm not competitive with that because I know that that brings money into the business and we all get to benefit from that. And for that, I could be a little bit grateful and say, okay, all right. It is what it is, and we all need voices, so. And, and, and the real king, Mark Marin is retiring. So there you go.

[Patton Oswalt]

Well, you know what? It's like the year that Michael Jordan retired. Like, oh, which team's gonna get the title this year? It's open.

[Brian Green]

Yes. Oh, my God. Could be the Pacers.

[Patton Oswalt]

We don't know.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Yes. It's gonna be some show about Love Island. It's gonna be some podcast about Love island that takes the. Takes the cake. You know, it is. You know, it is Patton. You can check out his Instagram where he will tell us about all the many, many, many things that are coming up. I put a. There's a link down below. It's Patton. Keep you will, but keep doing you. I love that you were at Paul Reuben's funeral, too, because I watched that documentary.

[Patton Oswalt]

Oh, me too.

[Brian Green]

I always loved Peewee, right, as a kid, and then I loved him as an actor, and the few things that he did that were notable after that. But I will tell you that that documentary opened my eyes wide open to who he really was or gave me a better perspective, and it was incredible.

[Patton Oswalt]

What was great about the memorial was the people that went up and spoke were the people that you could tell. As hard as he searched to try to figure out who he was and what he wanted to do, he always had the extra energy to lift other people up that were also doing their own. Like, he got a. It's almost like that thing in Second City or the Groundlings where they teach you try to make everyone else in the scene funnier. And if everyone in the scene is doing that, then the whole scene catches fire rather than if it's one person trying to dominate the scene. And you see the truly great sketch performers, the Phil Hartmans and the Kristen Wiigs, yes, they're being funny in the sketch and they're giving the other people stuff to react to and giving them moments. So then the entire sketch just blows up, you know, and, and, and, And Paul did that in his life. He wanted the people around him to also shine and, and ex. And hit their potentials. And he was so tickled by that. And it was. You just saw that over and over again at the memorial service and it was like, that's how to live a life. That's how to live a rich life.

[Brian Green]

He was a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, an artist. And that's the only way to put it.

[Patton Oswalt]

Oh, man. He was an artist. He was an absolute artist. He was.

[Brian Green]

He was an artist. And go back and watch any of the. Any episode of the Peewee Herman show and tell me that that is just not some of the funniest, wackiest, craziest, subliminal you've ever seen in your time as a kid. I remember watching it and I don't remember why I was in on the joke, but I was in on the joke. And Mecca, like a high Mecca. Heiney ho. Okay, Patton, we love you, man.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Thank you so much.

[Brian Green]

I really appreciate you.

[Patton Oswalt]

Thank you.

[Brian Green]

You are my Jack White and so many questions to ask and hopefully you'll come back and answer a few of them.

[Patton Oswalt]

Damn. Absolutely. Thank you.

[Brian Green]

You're welcome. Patton Oswald. All this information in the show notes. Thanks again, my friend.

[Patton Oswalt]

Thanks, guys.

[Rachel (Voice of God)]

Let me do something Brian has never done. Be brief.

[Patton Oswalt]

Brief.

[Rachel (Voice of God)]

Follow us on Instagram at the commercial break. Text or call us 212-4333, tcb. That's 212-433-3822. Visit our website tcbpodcast.com for all the audio, video and your free sticker. Then watch all the [e-mail] thecommercial break and finally share the show. It's the best gift you could give a few aging podcasters. See, Brian, that really wasn't that difficult. Now what it you're welcome.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I've never felt like this before. It's like, you just get me. I feel like my true self with you. Does that sound crazy? And it doesn't hurt that you're gorgeous. Okay, that's it. I'm taking you home with me. I mean, you can't find shoes this good just anywhere. Find a shoe for every you from brands you love, like Birkenstock, Nike, Adidas, and more at your DSW store or.

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[Brian Green]

Well, what great fun with. I felt like we could have kept talking for another hour once you get past.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

So interesting.

[Patton Oswalt]

He is.

[Brian Green]

He's very smart. Like you had mentioned, he's very sharp. He's very smart. He connects the dots in a way that, in a way that's interesting to me. Like I like to hear people think things out loud. He was just kind of putting the dots together while he was here talking with us. And that's amazing. It's. He's such a cool cat and I do really appreciate the way that he moves through his life. And we're all a little bit better off with Patton Oswald in our life. I think we can all agree on that. Patton has requested that until his new website is live, we all go to his Instagram where we can keep up with the comings and goings. That's patent Oz at Patent Oswalt. And that is with. At not with ad. It is not the former cartoon character that became known as Mickey Mouse. Not Oswald. It's Oswalt. So just in case you were wondering, that's how it is. But of course, I will put the links in the show notes just for you, my friends. And thank you to Fadden for his time today. Hopefully we get him in again. Yeah.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

What a life he's had and continues to have.

[Brian Green]

There's no slowing down.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah. I mean we were just talking about how we were trying to figure out what. What's his latest thing.

[Brian Green]

What's the next thing.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Has like a one big project that they want to talk about. But he's got so many.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Like a comic book out.

[Brian Green]

Comic book and a movie about pickleball and an audio series and a comedy. And then he did a tour and he's. Who knows? It's all there for the taking. I have a feeling we'll see a lot more of Patton coming up well into the future. I've always thought that he might make for a Good talk show host. My personal opinion, but, you know, doesn't seem like talk show host jobs are a dime a dozen right now.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I think.

[Brian Green]

I think they're slimming down, not ramping up. Unbelievable. We need Stephen Colbert. He's going to be somewhere. He's going to.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Oh, he's totally going to pop up.

[Brian Green]

As John Oliver said in his weekly address to the world on hbo, he said, I am just one of the late night talk show hosts that doesn't know he's doing a podcast yet. True story.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

True story. John Oliver. Oliver's a good one too.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

So good.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, I watched the whole thing about the my pillow guy and how he started something called mystore.com and how they're selling all of this, you know, colloidal silver and copper disinfectants and dog toys. We should go over it one day. It's really funny actually.

[Patton Oswalt]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

All right. Congratulations to Travis and Taylor on your upcoming nu. Godspeed, my children. Godspeed. You never forget your first.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

This makes me happy. I did want them to make it, so I'm happy.

[Brian Green]

It looks like they're. This will be the wedding of the universe. Yes. Where will they get married? Will it be will they rent out Venice or will they do a small little ceremony in one of her many mansions around the world? Who knows? 212-4333TCB tcbpodcast.com for your free sticker YouTube.com the commercial break for all the episodes on video and at the commercial break on Instagram. Okay, Chrissy, that's all I can do for today.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

I think so.

[Brian Green]

I'll tell you that I love you.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

And I love you.

[Brian Green]

Best to you and best to you out there on the podcast universe. Until next time, Chrissy and I will say. We do say and we must say goodbye.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

Thanks for selling your car to Carvana. Here's your check.

[Patton Oswalt]

Whoa.

[Brian Green]

When did I get here?

[Patton Oswalt]

What do you mean?

[Brian Green]

I swear it was just moments ago.

[Patton Oswalt]

That I accepted a great offer from Carvana online. I must have time traveled to the future.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

It was just moments ago. We do same day pickup. Here's your check for that great offer.

[Patton Oswalt]

It is the future. It's. It's the present.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

And just the convenience of Carvana. Sorry to blow your mind.

[Patton Oswalt]

It's all good. Happens all time.

[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

The the time sell your car the convenient way to Carvana. Pick up. Times may vary and fees may apply.

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[Chris Enjoy Hoadley]

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[Patton Oswalt]

Olivia loves a challenge. It's why she lifts heavy weights and like likes complicated recipes. But for booking her trip to Paris, Olivia chose the easy way with Expedia, she bundled her flight with a hotel to save more. Of course, she still climbed all 674 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower. You were made to take the easy route. We were made to easily package your trip. Expedia Made to Travel Flight inclusive packages are atoll protected.