- Zach Galifianakis started his so-called career in back of a hamburger joint in New York. Well-known and loved by the Comedy Central crowd, he is one of the Comedians of Comedy, played director Alan Finger in the series Dog Bites Man and wowed the critics with his acclaimed VH1 show, Late World With Zach. A master of the one-liner, with an absurd rambling style, Zach’s sharp, resonating humo
Product Description
Zach Galifianakis started his so-called career in back of a hamburger joint in New York. Well-known and loved by the Comedy Central crowd, he is one of the Comedians of Comedy, played director Alan Finger in the series Dog Bites Man and wowed the critics with his acclaimed VH1 show, Late World With Zach. A master of the one-liner, rivaling Steven Wright, with an absurd rambling style reminiscent of Andy Kaufman, Zach s sharp, resonating humor makes his show at the f… More >>
Zach Galifianakis – Live at the Purple Onion
Tags: Galifianakis, Live, Onion, Purple, Zach
#1 by Chris Cloutier on March 10, 2010 - 11:27 am
I first saw Zach Galifianakis on Comedy Central Presents. That was one of the best CC shows I’ve ever seen. His jokes were funny, and the way he blended the piano into it was beautiful. I bought this hoping to see more of that. If you liked the Comedy Central show, skip this one and save your money. You won’t like it.
To say that this DVD does not match up to the CC performance is the understatement of the year. There are a number of things which cause me to give it a “Hate it” rating (I would have given it zero stars if possible):
1. It’s not continuous stand-up. There are bits of a stand-up routine with “bonus” materials mixed in.
2. The stand-up routine just isn’t funny. I could count the number of times I laughed on two hands. At 35 minutes into it, with 25 minutes remaining, I found myself hoping it would end quickly; that’s how bad it was.
3. The “bonus” materials aren’t funny at all. In fact, they’re annoying. Interviews with “Seth” and videos of them driving down the road; yeah, that’s why I bought the “Live at the Purple Onion” DVD…
4. A good part of the stand-up routine is simply him making fun of the audience. And not in a good way (like when he said there was a hyena in the audience in the CC show), but in a “move on, already, because this isn’t funny” kind of way.
All-in-all, this DVD just wasn’t funny. Maybe this is the normal Zach, and if so, I’ll have to look elsewhere. It certainly isn’t the Zach that I saw on Comedy Central Presents. In fact, I don’t see how the two could be further apart.
Rating: 1 / 5
#2 by r on March 10, 2010 - 1:22 pm
I’ve really enjoyed his movies (especially the recent ones) and the stand-up I’ve seen on TV.
But he was really obnoxious in this video… I didn’t even watch the last ten minutes because I wasn’t laughing at all. He picked on one guy in the audience really hard the entire time who obviously didn’t take it very well, and insulted the audience repeatedly to the point of being awkward. And to be honest, even aside from that, his speech delivery was off and the jokes just weren’t very funny. Maybe the pressure is getting to him? I just never had such a bad impression of him before, but this performance has almost completely ruined any draw I had to him and his work. Not at all like what I’ve seen of him previously.
Buy/rent The Hangover or Visioneers instead.
Rating: 1 / 5
#3 by unclemonty on March 10, 2010 - 1:58 pm
Enjoyable set from Zach G. A bit self-indulgent and lazy, but hey – he’d be the first to admit to that! Funny pop culture writer. There’s also an ongoing segment with his “twin brother” Seth, who seems to be channeling Christopher Guest.
Overall, 3 & 1/2 stars.
Rating: 4 / 5
#4 by Devin Adams on March 10, 2010 - 4:52 pm
As far as the content of the DvD goes, it was not that great. It is the first stand up that I have actually turned off half way through. I always thought Zach was awesome in all of his movies, but I guess his stand up wasn’t right for me. Rent this one.
Rating: 1 / 5
#5 by Becky B. Lewis on March 10, 2010 - 7:41 pm
so–apparently if you like his comedy central special and not this it’s b/c you’re too stupid to get the subtle “humour” on display here. you don’t get “the real zach.” well, the real zach is just not as funny as the “mainstream” zach–i think this special showed a burned out man who had had little sleep and far too much to drink and forgot he had a dvd to film–yuck. i wasted ten dollars on this. but nice too know it’s too “highbrow” for me, what with the cruel mockery of a paying audience member for being old and bald and the uproarious hilarity of inventing an effete rube “twin” brother to ape on. haw haw.
there is one joke where he says he asked his costumer for an outfit that would highlight his alcoholism,and i happen to think that is what this dvd does. i enjoy this man’s unique comedy so very much but this just wasn’t very funny and goes nowhere, and worst of all is rather mean spirited, which i always appreciated the lack therein of such in zach’s comedy. i would say this is worth a rental but not a purchase. he seems touched by nihilism, extreme sorrow, and an oddly misplaced anger and woebegone bitterness throughout this performance… but that might be “your thing” -if so, do buy away, amazonians!
Rating: 2 / 5