By Siddarth Puri
Daily Bruin Reporter
Jay Leno, Jon Stewart and David Letterman, prepare to meet your
newest competitor: Zach Galifianakis.
Host of VH-1’s new late night show, “Late World with
Zach,” Galifianakis combines crude humor, self-mockery and
naked honesty to create his own entertaining environment. His
comedic stylings stretch from the television screen to the stage
when he opens for Janeane Garofalo in “An Evening With
Janeane Garofalo” this Saturday.
“Janeane Garofalo was great to work with ““
she’s very down-to-earth, nice and funny,” Galifianakis
said. “When we hang out we go get our eyebrows
done.”
Doing a mélange of old as well as new material,
Galifianakis looks forward to performing with Garofalo and hopes to
intrigue the audience just as he does in his VH-1 late show.
Galifianakis’ show consistently opens with his signature
move, reciting a monologue about everything from American life to
world politics while playing the piano. Galifianakis tries to
create a relaxed environment for his audience. The comedian employs
everything from making the audience chant when guests arrive to
interviewing guests on location in South Central in an attempt to
keep audience members on their toes and waiting in anticipation for
his next move.
“The show is sort of an experiment, a kind of an anti-talk
show,” Galifianakis said. “It makes fun of the stupid
town we live in and makes fun of celebrity lives. In fact, I try to
make it as goofy as possible so people remember it, for example, in
one show, we only had one audience member.”
“Late World with Zach,” furthermore, is not
organized in a strict manner. Galifianakis talks to his stage
directors during the show and has casual discussions with audience
members. By keeping the show structured in this fashion,
Galifianakis attempts to do away with the regular constrictions of
a talk show.
“He’s the type of guy who will say or do anything to
get a laugh, but won’t be obnoxious doing it, unlike Tom
Green,” said Steven Phillip Waldon, a third-year political
science student.
Galifianakis’ comedy career started at the back of a
hamburger restaurant seven years ago and has propelled him as far
as opening for Garofalo.
Before getting his eyebrows done with Garofalo, Galifianakis was
raised in a close-knit family in North Carolina. More enthralled by
his numerous favorite cartoons than concentrating on his future
acting career, Galifianakis centered his time on “Waldo
Kitty.”
“”˜Waldo Kitty’ was my favorite show growing
up,” Galifianakis said. “It was about a cat that had
nine different personalities, because of its nine different lives.
With its nine different lives, there were also nine different
heroes he portrayed ““ it was great!”
After moving on from “Waldo Kitty,” Galifianakis
moved to New York to pursue his interest in acting. Realizing that
he hated acting (mostly because of the rejections) a friend
introduced Galifianakis to the world of comedy. Soon after, he was
performing stand-up acts and gaining not only experience, but also
an audience.
Inspired by comedic successes such as W.C. Fields, Steve Martin
and Bill Murray, Galifianakis is best known for uttering Steven
Wright-like one-liners. His comedic career has taken him to
numerous cities, and he even stopped by Westwood’s own Gypsy
Cafe about a year ago, where he performed a comedy routine with
some of his writers.
After VH-1 asked him to host “Late World with Zach,”
Galifianakis joined the VH-1 team and began creating comedy shows
to reach an audience that would appreciate a new type of humor.
Now, Galifianakis is currently working on a new project: a movie
about death and how funny people treat and overreact to it.
For audience members who wish to know him on a more personal
level, the one interesting fact he will leave his fans with is:
“I drive a station wagon.”
THEATER: Zach Galifianakis is performing with
Janeane Garofalo at the Wiltern Theatre at 8 p.m. Saturday. The
Wiltern is located at 3790 Wilshire Blvd. and tickets range from
$25-$45. They can be purchased by phone by calling (213)
480-3232.