Oswalt is a thoughtful comedian.  He seems to one who can get lost in his own thoughts analyzing the world around him and then translate those lucid thoughts in a way that brings new dimension to your perspective as well.  So when I stumbled upon this video of him being interviewed by Death Ray Radio on the Leno-Conan-NBC mess, I couldn’t wait to hear his feedback.

As usual, he offers a unique perspective.  He compares Leno’s rise to power at NBC to Nixon’s rise to power in the book Nixonland by Rick Pearlstein.  He prefaces his analysis with a frank confession that he’s a member of a cult of professional comedians who can’t stand Jay Leno (no surprise here – the Leno-hate in the comedy scene is notorious).

Oswalt then breaks down the comparison between Leno and Letterman by labeling Leno as being a phony, passive-aggressive douche and Letterman as being a grumpy old man who (though he may not be the friendliest character) is at least genuine.

Oswald’s insider insight (being a comedian who has done all of the shows and standup comedy in general for over 15 years) is much-needed and rings true.  It’s also viscious.  But at this point, after the way this whole talk show meltdown at NBC has played out, this acidic, honest analysis (whether you agree with him or not) is what’s needed.  After all, that’s what comedians are for — brutal honesty with a humorous twist.

Reason number 849 why I love Pat Oswalt:  after tearing into Leno and calling him everything from a love-starved, egomaniacle hack and a dissapointment to all comedians of the world, Oswald confides that he is going to be on Leno’s show as a guest a couple of days later.  His reason dissing Leno so harshly prior to visiting Leno’s show:

“I want to give him something to talk about.”

Fierce.

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