In Honor of Zach Galifianakis's 42nd Birthday, Let's Rediscover His Short-Lived VH1 Series

Zach Galifianakis is a riot on the big screen today (even in last year’s rather staid It’s Kind of a Funny Story), but I’m willing to bet that the 42-year-old comedian’s strongest fans were just as fervent nine years ago, when he was but a piano-playing standup with a failed VH1 talk show. For those of us who watched that damn show every night for its two-month run in 2002 and remember when he interviewed Bradley Cooper in studio and singer Natalie Imbruglia on a crane, Galifianakis is a prized treasure. Let’s revisit the old gem in honor of his 42nd birthday. Here’s an average episode of Late World with Zach. The shout-out to his “twins” is particularly great, and the genius of the Sorority Boys roundtable speaks for itself. Here, Galifianakis conducts what I will gauchely call a “meta-interview” with his future Hangover costar Bradley Cooper. And finally, here’s his stress-releasing interpretive performance to “Under Pressure.” The line, “I have a show on a channel that thinks Creed is cool” should take you right back to ‘02.

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