Western Courier

Issue date: 4/6/07 Section: The Edge

Media Credit: Steve Scapardine Zach Galifianakis telling the crowd "The word abbreviation is pretty long for what it means."

Hilarity ensued Wednesday night as Zach Galifianakis walked off the stage in the Western Illinois University Union Grand Ballroom in his red "Annie" dress. Confused? Don't worry, it will make sense soon.

It was anticipation that pumped up the students while waiting for Galifianakis after the show started about 15 minutes late, and for the "Dog Bites Man" star, you need a "warm-up" act, so to speak.

Western's own Ryan Budds opened for the bearded jokester with great response. Budds had recently won a contest allowing him to open for comedian Dennis Miller, and with a job well done, the University Union Board thought it was good idea to bring him back to help students forget their troubles and laugh.

"It's like the bouncer puts you with a pre-determined dance partner as soon as you walk in the door," Budds said about the local bar A Change of Pace. "It's like, 'Hey, tall, black guy. You're gonna be dancing with that overweight, white girl tonight."

To break the ice with his fellow students, Budds did what any great and wise comedian does to feel at home - he talked about bowel movements. To say the least, students laughed till they cried.

"So I've come to the conclusion that some girls don't take shits," Budds said. "It's like these girls have adapted to the point where they don't have to shit."

While Budds is young, he is well on his way. He has a great stage presence, and with so much on his resume already, he should have no trouble opening for comedians like Galifianakis again - maybe soon, he could be opening for Budds.

"He was pretty funny, and I was actually glad that Zach Galifianakis had an opening act," said Dan Kolb, Western alumnus.

For students interested in Budds' standup, Budds is selling DVDs with his opening act for Christian Finnegan (another recent Western show) and Dennis Miller for $5.

With Budds' trail still behind him after jumping off stage, UUB comedy representative Paul Zanotti, without further adieu, practically screamed the name "Zach Galifianakis!"

For those who don't know Galifianakis and how he does things on stage, he has two set-ups: one, a piano with a microphone in place to bust out his one-liners, and two, a microphone in the front of the stage for the characters he calls "chair-icters."

Continued...

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