Since 2008, Zach Galifianakis has been asking A-list celebrities the tough questions that other talk show hosts are too scared to ask. On his incredibly classy online talk show Between Two Ferns, Galifianakis has discovered that Jon Hamm does, indeed, like websites, Justin Bieber thinks about Cops while he’s onstage, and that Christoph Waltz uses racial slurs more in real life than when he’s in Tarantino films. With all of these famous friends gracing the darkened space between Galifianakis’s pair of ferns and several million views per episode, it’s no wonder that the federal government wanted a piece of that cripplingly awkward pie when trying to promote enrollment for the Affordable Care Act this spring. It was time to make history…or at least make a ton of people laugh, and a few sign up for healthcare.
Even with the American people already being largely aware that President Obama is a suave guy who knows how to pander to the internet crowd—lest we forget his adorable rendition of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together”—having our commander in chief sit down with Galifianakis in a public-access style set was intriguing for possible humor, and possible disaster. Thankfully, our president proved that he could make a few great quips with the best of them including a particularly good jab about the Hangover franchise. The pair tackled subjects like North Korea, football injuries, presidential pardons and term limits, and more within one six-minute video. With progress like that, it seems like this Galifianakis fellow might have a position in a future presidential cabinet…at least he’s been hanging out there long enough to have one.—Bailey Pennick
