What does a stand-up comic look and sound like? If your knowledge of them comes from Eddie Murphy concert films and toned down versions “making it” on a primetime sitcom, the picture is pretty skewed. Even Comedian, the documentary about stand-ups, offered an idealistic point of view as it relied heavily on the star-factor of the richest comedian of all time – Jerry Seinfeld.
I can’t pretend to be an expert in stand-up I have seen a few and I don’t know if you can define a specific look and sound to them. They come in all shapes and sizes, and in the case of Zach Galifianakis, with a tremendous amount of facial hair. Yes, it’s a beard that first draws you to the pianist with a knack for one-line observations and “bad character” ideas.
Sometimes subtle, sometimes more blunt than Dave Chapelle talking about racism, Zach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion is an intelligent concert film that combines on-stage entertainment with a little off-scenes action. Ultimately, it creates a strong and lively picture about one artist and shows that stand-up concert films can have a little variety and spice added to them.
Most of Galifianakis’ routine in the film simply has him plucking away at the piano, sipping on a beer and cracking one-line observations. The drawn-out jokes are few. Instead Galifianakis takes a more streamlined approach where he spits things out. The result is that you never really know where he’s going to end up next. It’s too bad I didn’t have anything in my mouth at the time, because if I had I would have spit it out in a fit of laughter when he connected philosopher Noam Chomsky and oral sex in the same sentence.
Previous to Live at the Purple Onion, my viewing history of stand-up films had been limited to Eddie Murphy’s Delirious and Raw, some Richard Prior and a couple of others here and there. All of them were pretty much the same: the comedian roams the stage, giving a 90-minute routine to a huge and appreciative live audience. If there’s any footage that’s not on stage, it’s most likely a catering delivery or a chitchat with wardrobe.
Galifianakis talks a lot about characters he’s thought of. One of them comes to life with his clean-shaven “twin” who is “interviewed” offsite. Although I found the material better suited for a Christopher Guest mockumentary, it felt fresh given the context of the genre. I also think the constant one-liners would have gotten tiresome after a while if not broken up.
Like any successful comedian, Galifianakis proves to have a keen eye for the world around him. He also does a good job of making the personal universal, thus enabling someone who might not otherwise relate able to understand his world view Someone like me. There are times where his open acknowledgment of the camera and its purpose are a little much, but even then he manages to throw down a couple of jokes to point out some of the camera’s ironies.
Live at the Purple Onion is a quick jaunt into the world of comedy. Short and sweet, it’s also intelligent and a welcome departure from the typical material found in the genre’s bigger stars.
Zach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion Trailer
