Zach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion

Shaggy, scruffy, surly Zach Galifianakis, a breakout star (albeit a small one) from Comedy Central's Dog Bites Man, is the focus of this sporadically funny program, which combines live performance footage shot at San Francisco's famed Purple Onion, a faux interview with Galifianakis' “twin brother” Seth (conducted by The Daily Show regular Brian Unger), and brief glimpses of the comic's seemingly bizarre personal life. Galifianakis is an intimidating figure who occasionally draws audience members (willing and unwilling) into his act, which hails from the rock-em-shock-em school, and consists of rambling routines peppered with profanities and politically incorrect diatribes. Not all of his bits score, but he seems to resonate well with the live audience, and the performance footage here is more effective than the offstage stuff. DVD extras include roughly a half-hour's worth of bonus material. Optional. Aud: P. (E. Hulse)