Zach Galifianakis live at the purple onion: Suprisingly unfunny
It's not terrible, but I kind of expected to laugh a lot more than I did. I have seen clips of his stand-up routine in the past and it was normally a lot better than this. I have to say that there were long stretches where I didn't laugh at all and the time he spends improving about various people in the crowd was almost cringe.
Perhaps I expect too much from him because he just seems like such a naturally funny person and I had recently seen him in an episode of "Comedians in cars getting coffee" where I laughed a lot and it actually inspired me to try and find some stand-up of his.
I have to admit that I didn't even finish the special because it starts out so slow at the beginning where he isn't even telling jokes but is just making silly faces for the cameras.
I do admire the fact that he plays piano (as is his standup trademark) while also telling jokes. For many people doing either one of these things is difficult or impossible so both at the same time is pretty epic.
I dunno, maybe I hold him to a higher standard than other comedians because he is such a legend but this thing was just kind of a flop in my mind. I wouldn't really call his comedy situational because very few of his bits have long lead ins. In that regard I would really consider a vast majority of his comedy to be one-liners but they are delivered so slowly that you just get bored.
This isn't a trailer so much as it is the first 10 minutes of the show. I guess it is ok. I'm not going full "meh" on this because even though it isn't great, that is only the case because of who Zach is. It's like Dave Chappelle doing an "ok" show. It is only ok by his own standards, compared to most other comedians it is still pretty great.
Rating = "Decent"
If you are interested here is a list of the specials I have watched that are currently available on Netflix (for my region anyway.)
Stuff I rate as "excellent"
Ricky Gervais- Humanity
Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh
Joe Rogan: Strange Times
Dave Chappelle: Equanimity, The Age of Spin, and Deep in the Heart of Texas
The "decent" stuff I have seen includes
Zach Galifianakis live at the purple onion
Ellen Degeneres: Relatable
Ken Jeong: You Complete me, Ho
And the really not so good to awful stand up is
Amy Schumer: The Leather Special (quite possibly the most unfunny thing I have ever seen)
Donald Glover: Weirdo
Hannibal Buress: Comedy Camisado
Thanks a bunch for this review and the list at the bottom of your post. Is it in order of awesomeness? Ricky Gervais at the top, Adam Sandler second place etc. ?
i hadn't thought to do that. Inside each subcategory they are likely listed in the order I watched them, not what I consider to be best. I think I actually believe that Sandler's special was the best but this has a lot to do with production value.
Okay, I will for sure check out your top category, Thanks!
I don't know as though anyone can compare to Victor Borge when it comes to piano playing comedians. :) I remember seeing the specials of his on PBS when I was a kid. I've always had a bit of a love hate relationship with Zach. When he is funny, he is really funny. When he isn't though it is just weird and awkward. If I watched a ton of comedy specials, you would definitely be saving me some time lately! :)
Yea man I didn’t think this was very good at all to be honest... I don’t know if I think Zak is funny anymore, since the hangover anyway he’s still playing that guy. Either way fair play to the dude !
Thing about comedy is that there is always a peak and a climax, an ability to dazzle an expectant crowd but sometimes it doesn't happen, it could be personal reasons, but definitely something may be shading his creativity, he's been dashing in the past vultures he may just have had a bad day at the office or going through a block really
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