Zach Galifianakis rocks Queens of the Stone Age
Dear Rock Stars: You might want to think twice before asking Zach Galifianakis for freebies. The star of The Hangover movies gave Queens of the Stone Age a little more than they asked when they called his manager for free tickets to his sold-out stand-up gig at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles Wednesday night. They got prime seats in Row F and a whole lock of mockery to boot. “I don’t know you f—-ing guys!” the comedian yelled at the band, seated in the all-ages crowd of 270 fans, which ranged from hoodie-wearing hipsters to bearded, bespectacled burly men to indie chicks and comedy nerds. “Can we get tickets?” he mocked in a whiny voice as Queens of the Stone Age members Josh Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, and Michael Shuman laughed on. “Let me Google them and see who the f— they are! I don’t know you motherf—ers!”
Galifianakis jumped into the crowd to mix it up with fans, spotted two empty seats and screamed, “Two empty seats? I used to be someone in this town!” Then he spotted Homme, pulled him onstage, sat him on a piano bench, and carefully positioned a sideways mike in front of the singer for a little Q&A.
“Where are you from?” asked Galifianakis, looking his casual self in a baby blue baseball cap, dark button down shirt, and rumpled tan pants, with a drink in one hand and a green notebook of “Goof Abouts” in the other. “I’m from Palm Springs,” Homme replied sheepishly. With his head cocked sideways, Galifianakis quipped sarcastically, “Palm Springs, one of those great heavy metal towns. Isn’t Warrant from there?”
“Can we get tickets?” he squealed again, as the crowd erupted again in laughter. “I was in a band. We were called ‘Marching,'” the funnyman deadpanned, admitting that while he knows nada about Queens of the Stone Age, he listens to Al Jarreau and longtime L.A. DJ Rick Dees.
Galifianakis, who returns as Ray Hueston on HBO’s Bored to Death on Oct. 10, performed a shorter surprise set at Tuesday night’s show at Largo as well. (“Tonight’s set was better, but he’s always good,” said fan Kristin, 28, from Long Beach.) Wednesday’s show, billed as “Zach, Doug, Jen and Joe: An Evening of Comedy,” was the comic/actor’s last L.A. gig for the year and featured his comedian friends Doug Benson, Jen Kirkman, and Joe Wagner.
Queens of the Stone Age weren’t the only recipients of his comic wrath. He described the crowd as people you’d see “in line at a kissing booth at Comic-Con — bunch of geeks!” Elsewhere in the 35-minute set, Galifianakis poked fun at DJs (“I hate DJS! F— you! Get a job!”), was politically incorrect (“Know any good 9/11 anniversary parties?”), nearly knocked us off our seat by this declaration, “I love Sarah Palin,” before jumping in with perfect comic timing, “Excuse me, I like parasailing” and even took a shot at little people (“I just did a short film with Peter Dinklage.”)
“I gotta say, I have a real coolness about me tonight. I’m really impressed with the way I am,” added the actor.
And, so was the crowd. “That was amazing!” said Jennifer Landry, 22, a student and regular comedy club-goer. “It’s nice to see that with all of his success, he still does small clubs like this and he hasn’t lost his comic edge. And, the tickets were only $20! What?”
We couldn’t agree more, Jennifer.
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