Zach Galifianakis

With one of the hardest surnames to spell in stand-up Zach Galifianakis, is now an in-demand comedic actor as well as respected stand-up.

After failing his last college course by one point at North Carolina State University, Zach moved to New York City. His first stand-up gig was in the back of a hamburger restaurant in Times Square.

In order to pay the bills, he worked as a nanny and house cleaner while doing stand-up at night in clubs and coffee houses in the city.

While working as a bus boy, he got his first acting job on a sitcom called Boston Common for NBC. He has since been seen on a number of late-night talk shows including Letterman, Conan and Jimmy Kimmel.

In 2005 he headlined the Comedians of Comedy tour, a live alternative comedy show that toured through various rock venues across America.

The tour was the subject of a self-titled documentary film for NetFlix and Showtime and a series on Comedy Central U.S. They recently were also the first comedy show to be a part of the world-famous Coachella Music Festival.

His early film appearances include Heartbreakers, Bubble Boy, Below, Corky Ramano, Out Cold and The Comedians of Comedy. He was also a series regular playing Davis on Tru Calling for Fox.

But it was in 2009 when he hit the big time in box office smash The Hangover playing Alan, the hilarious soon-to-be-brother-in-law that’s a beer can short of a six pack.

Galifianakis has now featured alongside Steve Carell in Jay Roach’s Dinner for Schmucks and is on-board for The Hangover 2.

Check out his Between Two Ferns video series on Funny or Die for a guaranteed laughter fix.

Galifianakis lives in Venice Beach, California and also lives part-time on his farm in the mountains of North Carolina. Cool!