Janeane Garofalo June 18, 2007

Janeane Garofalo is a brilliant stand-up comic and actress whose many movies include 'The Truth About Cats and Dogs,' 'Reality Bites' and the hilarious 'Mystery Men.' Garofalo's comedy shows involve her and her notebook, which is filled with years' worth of article clippings and random observations she references for direct quotes during her act and uses current events to enhance the improvised, fully conversational aspect of her standup. Garofalo feels she does not tell jokes but makes observations and hopes to get laughs. In her act, she once told of getting mugged and having her notebook stolen. "So, if you see two guys bombing at the Funny Bone, that's them." Best know for his role as Spence Olchin on nine seasons of 'The King of Queens,' Patton Oswalt's style of stand-up comedy is often described as acerbic and sarcastic, and it covers topics ranging from pop culture frivolity such as comic book supervillains and 1980s hair metal to deeper societal issues like American excess, rampant materialism, foreign policy, and religion (Oswalt is an avowed atheist himself). Quite a few of his routines are about vice, especially pornography and alcohol. A famous line: "Do you think you have a problem when you refer to all alcohol as 'pain-go-bye-bye-juice'?" Oswalt has described himself as a "man without a country" in that he hates both George W. Bush and hippies. In February 2004, some jokes critical of hippies got him booed off the stage in San Francisco, while a diatribe against president George W. Bush got him booed off in Pittsburgh. In a subsequent tour with 'The Comedians of Comedy' he returned to Pittsburgh and was well received. Recent projects include the Pixar animated comedy 'Ratatouille,' plus the films 'Balls of Fury' and 'All Roads Lead Home.'