Zach Galifianakis on Saturday Night Live

Okay, Zach Galifianakis on SNL. I've been hyping it up in my mind for about a month now. Probably about the most I've anticipated any show since I was in high school, so in short, yes, I overdid it.

A few thoughts:

• the monologue was maybe one of the funniest on SNL in years. It was classic Zach. Everything that his fans could ask for. I'm sure NBC will have the video up soon, if not already.
• "Here comes the choo choo!"
  
• The bidet skit was mildly funny, but never really hit its stride, and it was about the most talking he did in any skit until the very end.
• I felt like Zach was a bit under-utilized overall. A number of the skits were non-speaking parts. The flute player and the creepy guy in the background were funny, but didn't really get at his strengths. The "What's Up With That" talk show is only premise funny, which makes me wonder why they have to do it week after week when the joke is the same every time. Similarly, the Today's Show and the Situation Room skits each used him in ways that made you think the writers didn't really know what to do with him.
  
• The final skit was exactly what I had been hoping for. Zach getting to play the type of character that he is perfectly suited for. For my money, you can't beat a scene where the content is so funny the actors start cracking up and don't know what to do with themselves.
• I truly thought they had shaved Zach's beard for the last skit, but the closing scene seemed to prove otherwise. [Update: So apparently he did shave off his beard for the last skit, and then used a fake beard for the closing scenes.]
• [Edit: I've really got a growing respect for this whole beard shaving deal. In fact, SNL made a video of the whole process. Pretty classic subtle humor that makes the show better I think]
  
• If Zach hadn't been the host, I might have thought the other skits were a bit funnier, but unfortunately I was waiting for him to do something epic every second, and in retrospect, that probably wasn't the best plan. However, Kristen Wiig had some funny scenes tonight, and by no means was the episode bad like it has been in a few recent episodes.
  
• The best I can hope for is that he'll get to come back again and build on what worked tonight.
  
• "We have a great show. Hoobastank is here."

Zach Galifianakis, this Saturday, on your TV

Forget about SXSW for a second:
Zach Galifianakis is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend. Hopefully I won't be disappointed if it's not the greatest episode of all time. Have you watched his children's acting classes from Adult Swim? You should.

If you read Pitchfork:
and don't mind a little statistics. Here's a pretty cool breakdown of their ratings system from Part-Time Music.

It's a long read:
but David Byrne's blog discussing how context, more specifically physical location, affects the type of music that is created was well worth my time.

Another somewhat technical article about music, but quite interesting:
This Slate article discusses how the standardization of pianos has literally made it such that one cannot play some classical pieces as they were written. That is, the construction of pianos was once much more variable, and many famous pieces of music were written on pianos with specific structural characteristics that no longer exist on modern pianos.

Comedy:
is mostly an afterthought at SXSW, but if you're in the mood, former Denver-ite Ben Kronberg will be performing a number of times, and will be well worth your time if you have the chance to hear him.

I didn't realize:
that Willis Alan Ramsey only made one album. Pretty unbelievable, but I guess he was the one in a billion who made one album and was financially set for life.

Horrible news really:
about Roy from Lucero having his jaw broken when he and Brian were mugged. I hope he is able to take adequate time off to heal.

SXSW day parties:
are really starting to stack up. I've not gathered the energy yet to go through the current list.

If you didn't see it:
SNL's "We are the World 3" pretty much hit the nail right on the head.

In a just world

...this would have happened a long time ago. But I can't complain because this is the best news I've heard for 2010. Cue over-anticipation now.

Following the Winter Olympics, Zach Galifianakis will host Saturday Night Live. If this episode is a bust then everything I ever believed in will be called into question. I have full confidence that it will be amazing though. My hope is that this episode will be a smash hit and he'll become a regular SNL host.

March 6th is the date to put on your calendar. No word yet on the musical guest for that night, but I have to say, why not make it an all-North Carolina night and have the Avett Brothers play?























(Image courtesy of Galifianakis' Myspace)