Will our economy bounce back? Will vampire movies still be run into the ground? Will Tiger Woods recover? These are just some of the things on our mind as we take a look back at some of the best and worst of 2009 and reflect.

Maybe it’s the moonshine, but we’re feeling a little nostalgic.

We’d like to point out that the movie 2010 with Roy Scheider was full of crap.  We are no where near the ability to cruise around the moons of Jupiter much less have crazy-ass computers going on killing sprees or have the technology to give John Lithgow a full head of hair.

It’s all a crock!

Since we can’t go into space or fly around the city in our hovercar or personal jet pack, we are forced to stay here on Earth and take the best that society has to offer.  And by society we mean the Internet.  Pop culture had a big year in 2009 and here’s some of the highlights over the last 12 months.

December 2009: Japanese Nurse Prank

November 2009: And the Tiger Woods Scandal Begins

October 2009: Five Reasons Chicago Was Rejected For 2016 Olympic Games

September 2009: Rejected Titles of Sarah Palins New Book

August 2009: From Hell: Christian-Newsom Murder Trial Begins In Knoxville

July 2009:  Why is Captain Kirk Climbing a Mountain?

June 2009: 5 Best Zach Galifianakis Moments

May 2009:  Ferris Bueller Fight Club Theory: You Sir Just Blew My Mind

April 2009: Great Japanese Fluorescent Light Fights

March 2009: Padma Lakshmi Sexy Hardee’s Burger Commercial

February 2009: Lily Allen Performing in Blue Lingerie

January 2009: Johnny Knoxville detained for inert grenade at airport

We say that because waaaaaaaaay back in 2002 [remember that kids ?!] there was a show on a channel called VH1. You know that channel now as the Crack–Ho Channel.

This show was aimed at making a late night talk show staring an up-and-coming Zach Galifianakis. The show wasn’t great but the fact that the show got canceled and Zach just started to do whatever he wanted the last few weeks knowing he’s canceled is pure comic gold.

You can see some of that gold with the #4 entry on our 5 Best Zach Galifianakis Moments. It’s fantastic!

Here’s a clip with Alan Tudyk Zach looking baby soft with his future Hangover star Bradley Cooper talking about Cooper’s Alias gig.

If one thing can be learned from this video is that sometimes a beard is necessary.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

Watch Part 2
Watch Part 3

6 Comments

1. What did she just say? | Dave’s Pub & Grub says:
   June 4, 2009 at 6:47 pm

   [...] 5 Best Zach Galifianakis Moments [...]

   Reply
2. 9-to-Fried » Blog Archive » Oaky Afterbirth for June 4th says:
   June 4, 2009 at 7:51 pm

   [...] 5 Best Zach Galifianakis Moments (Dave and Thomas) [...]

   Reply
3. FoundryMusic.Com » Friday Links: MÖTLEY CRÜE and CHICKENFOOT live videos, New O&A Audio, Zakk Wylde Playing the National Anthem, Christine Mendoza, Annette Schwarz Ass Shaking says:
   June 5, 2009 at 7:24 am

   [...] 5 Best Zach Galifianakis Moments [...]

   Reply
4. Mantastic Links | Tasty Booze says:
   June 5, 2009 at 1:02 pm

   [...] Revolution of the 90s (Lifestyle) The Worst Dinner Ever (Food) David Carradine RIP (Celebrity) 5 Best Zach Galifianakis Moments (List) An Ant On A Turntable (Weird) 10 Greatest Conan O’Brien Characters of All Time (TV) [...]

   Reply
5. brian says:
   June 6, 2009 at 5:00 pm

   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…

   Reply
6. Big Frosty Dumps « Logic says:
   June 9, 2009 at 5:19 am

   [...] 5 best Zach Galifianakis movies. I hate how big and mainstream he is going to get. Mostly because I hate sharing common interests with 12 year olds. Or do I? [...]

   Reply