Patton Oswalt's new movie, "Big Fan", is all about celebrity and fandom gone wrong.

Celebrity stories are always of inherent interest to an audience. In fact, when I was producing Beth's daily radio show, a big-time radio consultant told us that there are only 4 things people care about: celebrity, sex/love, work and money. We resist defining things that narrowly, but he isn't all wrong.

We admit, there has been a good amount of high-quality name-dropping at the Un-Cabaret. Among Patton's many great stand up storytelling performances is this one about his Hollywood encounter with Elizabeth Taylor:

Hear more Patton performances on the Un-Cabaret compilation CDs, "The Un & Only" and "the Good, the Bad and the Drugly" and on several episodes of the Un-Cabaret podcast on audible.com (including one episode called "Close Encounters" that's all about celebrity encounters). You can also see free video detailing the anatomy of a great standup performance by Patton about falling in love - another one of the 'only 4 things people are interested in'.

Listening is simultaneously something you use to help you make comedy, and something that COMEDY TEACHES YOU.

Every good comedian knows how to listen to an audience. Not to STEP ON THEIR LAUGHS. To be in dialogue. An audience can tell you if you are giving them a good set up but not paying off, or giving them a good punchline but not setting it up.

Quiet audiences can tell you things too. But you have to listen carefully, because there are many kinds of quiet audiences. The 'we’re too tired to laugh but we really like you' audience. Sometimes quiet crowds are the most appreciative after a show.

An audience will tell you they are restless. They will tell you something is funny sometimes that you did not even realize was funny.