Zach Galifianakis: Look Who it Isn’t

by Dylan P. Gadino

There’s three possible conclusions one can render about Zach Galifianakis by the end of Look Who it Isn’t; Galifianakis is egomaniacal to the point of dragging us through his successful career; Galifianakis, as he writes on the DVD’s back cover, really does think failure is funny and is showing us clips of his defunct VH1 show “watched by 23 people,” Late Night with Zach, to simply make us laugh; Galifianakis is not egomaniacal enough to just put out a DVD of what he’s best at- stand-up comedy.

Through this faux-sullen retrospective of the comic’s last three years in the business, Zach steals the stale art film formula to make fun of the genre and of himself. Check out Zach alone at a bar drinking a pint and shooting pensive stares to no on in particular or sitting alone in a cavernous bingo hall looking forlorn or walking – hands in pocket – along a highway, a low-flying jet directly above him tearing toward Zach’s origin. It’s odd enough to keep your attention though rarely funny.

The second half of the disc – after a few mostly painfully dry Late World sketches and a few gems: see Sarah Silverman interview a vaginal rejuvenation doctor and a purposely-awkward Adam Goldberg interview in front of a one-person audience – features Zach doing standup at two unnamed joints. Though the audio is so bad – and maybe that’s the point – you can still hear him squeak out quickies like: “I have a lot of growing up to do. I realized that the other day inside my fort,” and “That’s the look my parents had when I told them I was getting an abortion.”

If you’re new to Galifianakis, Look Who it Isn’t may not be the greatest introduction. Rather pray that Comedy Central plays his 2001 Comedy Central Presents special soon; it’s superb. For hardcore fans, this disc is a must, if only to see Zach outside the stage, TV and film. Or buy it and consider yourself minor humanitarian. The proceeds go to the Sri Lanka tsunami relief effort.