Is the world ready for a Zach Galifianakis takeover?
The timing is right for the portly, bearded hipster who moonlights as an actor in between stand-up comedy shows. He’s tried his hand at sitcoms, movies, and even hosted a late-night show on VH1. The demise of that last venture is a beautiful chronicle of a man unable to fit into the system. The show imploded and was canceled after 9 weeks after being heavily promoted by the network.
The cherub comedian is now poised to take the thunder on his terms. First up is his latest role in the comedy “The Hangover” which opens this weekend and is already in talks for a sequel. The new audience for Galifianakis is perfect timing for the man who loves to incorporate the crowd into his act.
Galifianakis’ humor is a mix of awkward Andy Kaufman stints and skewed Steven Wright perspectives on life. He has a reputation of using ‘bait & switch” tactics during his shows usually involving a planted audience member causing trouble and forcing the show to a stop.
Now, let’s take a look at 5 of the best Zach Galifianakis Moments.
The bread-and-butter of Galifianaki’s’s career is on stage. It is here he is able to exorcise his demons and experiment with the crowd. He’s not afraid to push the comfort levels to the max and you may end up leaving one of his shows wondering what the hell just happened.
The 2005 “Comedians of Comedy” helped Galifianakis break out and led to his popular “Live at the Purple Onion” stand-up DVD which solidified his beard as his best act.
Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion
Zach Galifianakis from his DVD Live at the Purple Onion.
Zach Galifianakis had a short lived show on VH1 called “Late World with Zach” that didn’t go over too well with the VH1 brass. Turns out that Zach just isn’t the corporate-type of guy. Once he had a feeling that the show was cancelled the gloves were off. Shows went crazy real fast with one episode filmed with only one person in the audience (who left halfway) and another where Zach searched for a younger, hipper audience. At a preschool. Where he called the VH1 managers pigs.
Zach Galifianakis taking his monologue to a preschool.
The best way to get a first-hand experience on the awkward and unpredictable humor of Zach Galifianakis is to watch his mock-interviews with celebrities. “Between 2 Ferns” is the cheesy cable-access quality show where anything goes including trying to feel up Michael Cera, punching Bradley Cooper, or hitting on Natalie Portman’s dog.
Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis
Zach interviews Natalie Portman and her dog, Whiz.
Zach Galifianakis may looked like a disheveled hobo but that has only helped his career. One odd fan happened to be rapper Kanye West who enlisted Zach for a video of the single “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.”
What happened was pure magic. Galifianakis and indie-folk hero Will Oldham went off by themselves and created a video with Zach lip syncing the song on a farm while driving a tractor.
Pure magic.
Can’t Tell Me Nothin’
Kanye West’s music video featuring Zach Galifianakis.
The unpredictability of Zach Galifianakis and his distaste for corporate culture seem like the a great match up for an ad campaign, right?
Absolute Vodka thought so. And they gave Zach freedom to do whatever he wanted.
Of all the Galifianakis clips, gags and sketches currently in Internet orbit, none have done more to cement his reputation as a leader of the comic avant-garde, curiously enough, than a series of three ads in 2008 for Absolut vodka. “This advertising firm from Sweden called me out of the blue and asked me to do an ad,” Galifianakis said. “The one request they had was to not make it look too ’80s, since Absolut is perceived as kind of an ’80s brand.” He paused there for a moment, clearly savoring the memory. “That’s what gave us the idea to make the skits a kind of homage to ‘The Golden Girls.’
Galifianakis teamed up with Adult Swim’s Tim and Eric to create a 3-part sketch video that really is too bizarre for words but truly epic in it’s oddity
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He has a good style to team up with tim and eric, but what about the snuggler, or his acting class things, on t&e those are great too…
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