Testing his standup skills, Patton Oswalt takes the stage

Patton Oswalt is a triple force in Hollywood as an actor, comedian and writer. He’s also an open book, willing to talk about every aspect of his career and his personal life.

But there is one thing Oswalt, 49, won’t readily talk about: What you can expect at his two stand-up shows tonight at the Blue Note Hawaii.

“It will be me telling jokes,” he said after a faux-dramatic pause during a phone call while puttering around at home in Los Angeles the day after Christmas.

“I get asked that a lot when I talk to reporters. I don’t like to talk about what I’ll be doing. I don’t want audiences to expect anything — that’s the point of comedy.”

Still, he acknowledged that his show “depends a lot on what is going on in my life at my time, just like other comedians.”

If you’re curious, his 2016 Emmy- and Grammy Award-winning comedy special “Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping” — his fifth of six specials, released on Netflix — is a good indicator of Oswalt’s stand-up style, which can be described as both introspective and passionate.

Oswalt has the same personable, though more serious, presence on social media, where he often delivers his views on topics that have gotten under his skin enough to pound away on the keyboard.

“I never know what’s going to hit me,” he said of his posts. “It’s me processing willful ignorance. Cruelty. Some absurdity that I just can’t believe.”

The Virginia-born Oswalt took his observational comedy first to the Washington, D.C., area before breaking into comedy in Los Angeles in the 1990s, all without a back-up plan. By the mid-’90s, he was a club headliner. The early flush of success was intoxicating, and he pictured a lifetime of being on stage delivering stand-up routines.

“That’s just the way it happened,” he said, “The plan was stand-up, just comedy. No plans; no safety net. When there isn’t a safety net, it makes for better art.”

TODAY, THE multi-tasking Oswalt says who he is on a given day depends on what project is at the forefront when he wakes up in the morning. “It depends on how I feel when I get up,” he said. “If I have to be at a 6 a.m. call, then I’m an actor. If I have a show at the Blue Note Hawaii, then I’m a comedian.”

For Oswalt, different inroads into show business came about as word of his talent got around. He began doctoring and punching up both TV and movie scripts — often going uncredited — after powers-that-be learned of him.

One of his first visible writing jobs was for the FOX sketch comedy television show “MadTV” in the early 2000s, which also cast actors such as Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, later to make their marks with “Key and Peele.”

Oswalt was also a ghostwriter for well-received films such as “Monsters, Inc” (2001), “Shrek 2” (2004), “Shrek the Third” (2007) and “Rango” (2011), along with the more dubious “Shallow Hal” (2001).

“People would see me doing stand-up and say, ‘He’s funny. Bring him in.’ That’s how it happened,” said Oswalt. “I’ve written screenplays since the ’90s; I’ve sold stuff that’s never been made.”

He added matter-of-factly: “If you look for opportunities, they’re there.”

Opportunities that have come his way over the years include roles on the TV shows “King of Queens” (1998-2007) and on the Syfy crime/comedy show “Happy,” (2017-present), along with voiceover work on animated fare such as the movie “Ratatouille” (2007),” TV series “Kim Possible” (2003-2007) and as the narrator of the current TV comedy series “The Goldbergs” (2013-to present). He also does voiceover in “The Secret Life of Pets 2,” out next summer.

Notable movie roles have included co-starring in “Young Adult” with Charlize Theron (2011), lead role in the sports movie “Big Fan” (2009) — one of Patton’s personal favorites — and appearances in the black comedy “Observe and Report” (2009), “Starsky and Hutch” (2004) and “Zoolander” (2001).

Then there are the two New York Times best sellers he’s written, “Zombie Spaceship Wasteland” (2011) and “Silver Screen Fiend” (2015).

Oswalt said reflectively, “I’ve never really had that big break. But there have been great moments. It’s been a series of fortunate events.”

One of his current projects is playing the role of principle Ralph Durbin on the darkly funny NBC TV comedy series “A.P. Bio,” which was renewed for its sophomore season next year. It’s Durbin’s job to reel in Jack Griffin (Glenn Howerton), a teacher who runs amok.

“It’s so funny. I’m a fan of creator Mike O’Brien,” Oswalt said of the show. “That’s why I signed on. It’s fun to get to act out these wild scenarios.”

Oswalt said that scripts that are too funny to put down are what makes him sign on for a project.

IF YOU’RE FEELING envious of Oswalt, not so fast.

Oswalt has spoken openly about suffering from depression at times, and over the last few years his life has included some extreme challenges.

His late wife, Michelle McNamara, had been writing a book centered around the Golden State Killer, a nickname she gave to the California-based serial killer of the 1970s and ’80s who was alternately known as the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker. She died unexpectedly in her sleep on April 21, 2016 while working on the book. Her death, at age 46, has since been attributed to an undiagnosed heart condition and a mixture of prescription drugs.

Oswalt hired investigative journalist Billy Jensen and researcher Paul Haynes after McNamara died to complete the project, “I’ll be Gone in the Dark,” which was published in February after a year of editing her voluminous notes and research. The book debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

“The (book) was mostly written,” said Oswalt. “I wanted to preserve Michelle’s voice. We just arranged the notes.”

Former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. was arrested on April 25 of this year, just over two years after McNamara’s death, in connection with the crimes.

“It feels good that he was captured,” Oswalt said. “I hope his victims and their families get some kind of closure. I think he did far more than he was charged with.

“It’s bittersweet for Michelle,” he added.

“She didn’t do it for the attention, but she didn’t live to see how it turned out,” he said. “I credit her with putting a spotlight on the crimes. I know that some of the investigators credited her, too.”

Oswalt’s life took a major upswing when he met Meredith Salenger in 2017, and the couple married later that year.

“We were married last November,” he said. “It’s hard to believe it’s been a year.”

At the time of his first wife’s death, Oswalt never pictured getting remarried. With McNamara, he has a daughter named Alice, now 9.

In 2017, however, a mutual friend, actress Martha Plimpton, attempted to introduce Salenger and Oswalt at a dinner party. Oswalt didn’t make it to that gathering, because he was on the road. But later, he and Salenger connected via Facebook after discovering they had numerous friends in common.

In going from being heartbroken over his late wife to becoming a newlywed again in two years, Oswalt said with a rueful laugh, “It’s been exhausting. Just exhausting.”

And once more the comedian was quiet for a moment, but in reflection.