Zach Galifianakis goes on actual public access shows to promote Between Two Ferns: The Movie
Part of the appeal of Zach Galifianakis’ “Between Two Ferns” was how its chintzy Windows 95 aesthetic clashed with the sanitized polish of celebrities like Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and Ben Stiller. It’s odd, then, to imagine the show refashioned for a platform as shiny as Netflix; then again, it’s weird to imagine it airing on anything aside from a VHS plucked from a dumpster. To help compensate for this anachronistic necessity, Galifianakis is padding out the promotional rounds for Between Two Ferns: The Movie by visiting a few honest-to-goodness public access shows.
One finds a host named Mr. Let’s Paint painting a portrait of Galifianakis as he huffs on a treadmill in a suit while also making a smoothie. It’s extremely sweaty and disgusting—the kind of thing you’d expect to see on the Found Footage Festival—and finds Galifianakis oscillating between his petty fictional version of himself and a more a genuine one who can’t stop himself from laughing at the sweat pouring from Mr. Let’s Paint’s gloves. You can bid on the guy’s painting on Etsy, though as of this writing it’s going for a whopping $800.
The funnier and less retch-inducing clip comes from a show called Bubbies Know Best, which, as if this writing, boasts 12 Twitter followers. The full episode doesn’t drop until September 30, but you can watch Galifianakis snap at one of Bubbie Linda for yawning as he describes his new film’s premise below. “How’s your concert at the Acropolis, Yawny?” he asks, a reference, as you all know, to Yanni’s 1994 live album, Live at the Acropolis.
Between Two Ferns: The Movie is streaming on Netflix as of today.