From his early days of performing standup in small, New York clubs to the international spotlight in which he now resides, Zach Galfianakis has always done things his way. So when we had the chance to chat with him as he reflected on his time on campus - including advice for current NC State students - we jumped at the chance.

http://www.ncsu.edu/features/2010/11/hanging-around-with-zach-galifianakis/

11/8/2010 8:19:08 AM

Fun read.

11/8/2010 9:00:52 AM

Quote :

"ZG: There is more to life than college. Use your time in college and grow. There are some people who are still playing beer pong in their late 20s. Do not do that"

11/8/2010 9:45:56 AM

I had no idea he was a State alumnus. The more you know =?

11/8/2010 10:14:54 AM

Quote :

"If I were to do it all over again, I would have studied something specific in agriculture, because I live on a farm now and do not know what I am doing."

hahaha

11/8/2010 11:25:03 AM

^^ don't think he graduated

11/8/2010 11:52:08 AM

Quote :

"a·lum·nus [uh-luhm-nuhs] Show IPA –noun, plural -ni [-nahy, -nee] Show IPA . 1. a graduate or former student of a specific school, college, or university. 2. a former associate, employee, member, or the like: He invited all the alumni of the library staff to the party."

11/8/2010 11:55:31 AM

^

Quote :

"the more you know =? "

[Edited on November 8, 2010 at 1:27 PM. Reason : ]

11/8/2010 1:27:48 PM

Quote :

"A collaborator named A.D. Miles went to NC State when I was there. He was one of my friends. We moved to New York City, lived together and kind of came up through the ranks together in the comedy scene, and eventually worked professionally on a couple of jobs. If I had not met him at State I think things would have worked out differently. We see each other from time to time. He is the head writer of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and I do what I do, and the two of us used to be kids running up and down Hillsborough looking for nothing."

did not know that.

11/8/2010 1:54:25 PM

6/19/2011 10:14:56 PM

Does anyone really use the word alumnus that way?

6/19/2011 10:40:24 PM

only intelligent people

6/19/2011 11:07:48 PM

^^it's the definition, so yes. That's pretty much how you use it.

6/19/2011 11:57:08 PM

Alumnus used in that manner typically denotes graduation from a certain university. (and that is how most people interpret it.)

6/20/2011 10:49:12 AM

I bet that group you identified as "most people" probably didn't go to college, and have no idea what a lot of words mean. I've always understood 'alumnus' to be a fairly non-specific term.

6/20/2011 10:53:32 AM

I don't hang around with people who dropped out of school or people who know someone who dropped out of school, so in almost all the situations where the word alumnus was used it was used to describe someone who actually graduated from a school.

6/20/2011 11:01:16 AM

As much as I love that photo.. it kind of looks Photoshopped.

6/20/2011 11:12:51 AM

that's what I thought until I found multiple pictures from other angles and with other people from the show and he is wearing the same visor.

6/20/2011 11:28:58 AM

Quote :

"There was a legendary establishment there during my time called The Five 0, and I spent too much time there."

I, too, spent a lot of time at Five 0.

/old

6/20/2011 11:39:14 AM

All graduates are alumni, but not all alumni are necessarily graduates.

I swear to god, you folks are smart most of the time, but your lack of some common knowledge astounds me.

6/20/2011 11:46:05 AM

being insulted by a guy called Slave Famous on an internet messageboard in a discussion about Zach Galfianakis.

6/20/2011 11:47:03 AM

Any way you slice it, it was a gap in your memory banks until today

6/20/2011 11:48:38 AM

I asked if people use the word alumnus that way. I didn't say it was incorrect or wrong to use the word alumnus that way. I stand by my belief that most people don't use the word "alumnus" when they talk about a guy who took classes at a college but didn't finish. I think, and go ahead and correct me, most people would say "yeah, he took some classes at State" and not "yeah, he's an alumnus".

But fuck, who cares.

6/20/2011 11:51:23 AM

People who fit the alternate definition's profile are more likely to use to term to make themselves appear in a better light. Alumnus sounds a lot better than "dropout".



[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 11:54 AM. Reason : Unless you're Kanye West.]

6/20/2011 11:53:26 AM

you people

6/20/2011 11:55:03 AM

I have a friend that has a NCSU Alumnus license plate cover, even though he failed out of school.

All of my friends pick on him for it, even though based on the definition he is an alumnus.

6/20/2011 12:06:35 PM

alumnus isn't even limited to academia. Corporate alumni networks are huge, and being an alumnus of certain companies/firms and open lots of doors.

For example, being a Mckinsey Alumnus is possibly more prestigious than being an Ivy League alum. Goldman Sachs, IBM, GE, and many others have massive alumni networks.

6/20/2011 12:09:04 PM

Not sure if he was joking or not because it certainly seems like he would do this... but ZG mentioned that he used to wander the subway tunnels because he felt like they were spacious.... what an odd dude, but a total genius.

I can't get the link to come up... but if you get Rolling Stone.. an interview with him is in the most recent issue

Finally, I don't know what his drug history is... but I get the strange notion that he may go all Chris Farley on us

[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 3:12 PM. Reason : ZG]

6/20/2011 3:08:21 PM

4/25/2012 8:24:55 PM

Quote :

"Unless you're Kanye West."

Fixed it for ya

4/25/2012 11:39:49 PM

Quote :

"There are some people who are still playing beer pong in their late 20s. Do not do that."

4/26/2012 7:33:27 AM

Even worse are the 30s frat boys that still play beer pong and wear their hat backwards.

4/26/2012 7:41:35 AM

Lessons in maturity from Zach G is like getting dating advice from TWW.

[Edited on April 26, 2012 at 10:25 AM. Reason : TWW]

4/26/2012 10:24:40 AM