The GQ&A: Patton Oswalt

GQ: It must be harder though to develop new material when you're not able to perform as often.

Patton Oswalt: No, because if I'm just doing sets in and around LA I'm doing little 5-7 minutes at free showcases and that's when I'm working stuff out. I'm talking about going out to the actual paid gigs at theaters. I can't do that 'till I have the new hour. But up until the new hour, I do little sets everywhere.

GQ: Is it at all nostalgic to do those smaller comedy club sets?

PO: It's what I've always done so there really isn't any sense of nostalgia to it. It's what I've always done as a standup. It's like asking a writer like, "Wow is it weird to go back and write 5 pages a day?" It's like "No, I've done that since the beginning."

GQ: Do you differentiate between your job as Patton Oswalt the standup comedian and Patton Oswalt the actor?

PO: It's absolutely separate. It's like, standup is its own thing; acting is its own thing. If I took a job as a carpenter, I would start from zero and learn carpentry. I mean, each is its own thing. But I think a lot of comedians and actors mess themselves up when they go "Well, I've mastered comedy. How hard can acting be?" and vice-versa. I see each thing like its own thing. They are really completely separate disciplines.

The GQ&A: Patton Oswalt / BY DAN HYMAN / December 14, 2011