This will be Oswalt’s fourth time hosting the show, which extends his record as the Webbys’ most frequent host.
Patton Oswalt will host the 24th Annual Webby Awards on May 19. The show, typically held in New York City, will instead be an Internet celebration with a focus on those using the Internet to respond to the impact of COVID-19. This year’s show has been dubbed WFH: Webbys From Home.
In a statement, Oswalt joked: “It’s going to be the same as every other night lately — sitting around in my pajamas, marveling at amazing stuff on the Internet — except I won’t even have to find it myself.”
“No one on this planet gets the Internet and can make it funny quite like Patton Oswalt,” said Claire Graves, executive director of the Webby Awards. “His comedy is the perfect combination of smart, profane, earnest, and absurd…”
This will be Oswalt’s fourth time hosting the show, which extends his record as the Webbys’ most frequent host. He previously hosted from 2012-14. Comedians Rob Corddry and Seth Meyers are runners-up, each having hosted the show twice.
May 19 is a big day for Oswalt, a stand-up comedian, actor and writer. That’s also the day his new stand-up special I Love Everything debuts on Netflix.
Oswalt will open the show and be tasked with keeping tabs on winners’ five-word acceptance speeches, a trademark of the annual awards show.
The Webby Awards, which were first presented in 1997, honor excellence on the Internet, including websites, video, advertising, media & PR, apps, mobile, voice, social, podcasts and games. The Webbys are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. This year’s Webby Awards received nearly 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 70 countries.
Oswalt’s credits include appearing on NBC’s Parks and Recreation and voicing the dog Max in The Secret Life of Pets 2. He currently stars as Principal Durbin on the NBCUniversal comedy A.P. Bio.
Oswalt won a Grammy for best comedy album for Talking for Clapping (2016). He was also nominated in that category for My Weakness Is Strong (2009), Finest Hour (2011), Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time (2014) and Annihilation (2018).
