Here's the tail end of the Zach Galiafinakis
interview, and if I hhad paid attention to how little was left I would have run
the whole thing in one go.
Q: Which is more of a challenge, a dramatic
role like this or standup?
ZG: It's different. I don't overthink things,
and I zen out for both things, not consciously. When you let worry, or you
think about how people are gonna perceive this, it gets in the way of
creativity. And that's the one device that I've come up with that has let me
have freedom. I didn't go to acting stuff. I tried to figure myself out over
the years. That's my device is to not have this monkey on your back. A lot of
people do, that's where nerves come from. And as you get older, you can control
all that. I don't even know what zen is, but I just know that I don't let
things affect me when I'm preparing. I think there's a coordination that I
have, that I can remember how I felt about a moment in my past and bring it
right up.
Q: Do you have comics that inspired you?
ZG: Growing up, my uncle had Cheech and Chong
records. My cousins and my brother and family and friends were actually more
influences than anyone. My brother and I used to do sketches about the Iran
Contra Affair and we would perform it in front of my parents. I didn't have much
access to comedy albums. People in my town weren't listening to George Carlin
or anything. It was more this very organic thing. I mean I love Eddie Murphy, I
love Steve Martin, Bill Murray, and after when I went to college I paid
attention.
Q: What about Andy Kaufman? You're kind of
like Andy Kaufman except funny.
ZG: Andy Kaufman I liked, but I never really
thought that much about it. I never really thought that I wanted to emulate
anybody or that kind of thing. But I like Kaufman, he was doing something that
I think he allowed other comics to do, which is to mess with the format a
little bit. I also like to watch old WC Fields stuff. It's super funny.
Q: Is this what you wanted to grow up to be?
ZG: Yeah, from an early age I knew I wanted
to figure out how to do it. I went to college and did the college thing because
I promised my parents I would have something to fall back on. I had a nervous
breakdown in college and quit and went to New York, with the intention of being in
show business, but I had no idea how to go about it. It's really desperate. I
mean I took a couple of acting classes, but I was laughing during them. I mean,
they're therapy sessions. People were crying. It wasn't for me. So I started
doing standup in the back of a hamburger restaurant in Times
Square.
Q: Were you working there?
ZG: No, I was a bus boy in a strip joint. I
met a woman and she said why don't you try standup.
Q: You had a nervous breakdown in college?
ZG: Yeah. Where I'm from you don't talk about
it, you just keep going.
Q: Are you looking to play more serious
roles?
ZG: I would like to. If the director's good
and the script is good I won't look for if it's a drama or comedy and go, "oh,
now it's time to do the comedy again." I just like to do different things. I
mean, next year I'm touring with Cirque de Soleil. No, I just like to change it
up, like any job, sometimes it gets repetitive.
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