....
[Location - Downtown Cody Club, Night]
....
It slls like spilled beer and hot cables.
Regal stands near the side door, leaning casually against the wall in a plain gray jacket and jeans.
Nothing flashy. Just another guy in the crowd.
He checks his phone once, then tucks it away.
=====
SAMANTHA (TEXT)
[He is next. You will know it's him]
=====
No na, no photo. Typical Sam.
She trusted Regal's instinct more than any casting tape.
He appreciated that about her.
The muffled thump of a bass-heavy playlist cuts out. The host's voice crackles through the club's tinny mic.
"Alright, next up - a guy who looks like he might have wandered in from a bookstore but stayed to tell jokes... Zach Galifianakis, everyone!"
Polite applause. A few cheers.
Regal slips into the crowd near the back, arms folded.
Soon, the said man walked up taking the stage - Zach Galifianakis.
He was slightly hunched, beard full and uncombed, wearing a brown corduroy blazer that probably used to belong to a substitute teacher. He stares at the mic for a mont before adjusting it - awkwardly but with intent.
anwhile Regal looked at him with a little excitent.
He is the sa person that acted in the [The Hangover] character Alan.
It took him a week to find this person.
He is now currently working as a standup codian....
And film experience?
From the report Samantha gave him he did quite a few but all of them were characters minor then the one Regal himself did to activate the system.
...when his own character itself was even minor.
On the stage Zach gave his introduction in his style. "Thanks. Good to be here. Well... not 'good', but I am here. So let's call it even."
So chuckles.
"I have been thinking a lot about my health lately. So I switched to light beer. It's kind of like saying, 'I want to get drunk, but gently... like a soft whisper of sadness'."
Scattered chuckles grow louder.
Regal watches, still. The rhythm's familiar.
There is sothing in his pauses, in the way he seems like he doesn't belong on the stage yet completely owns it. It's awkwardly magnetic.
"My uncle used to tell , 'Zach, don't let the world change you' Which was weird because he was in prison. For tax fraud. And kidnapping. But mostly tax fraud."
The crowd laughs, so harder than others.
Regal doesn't laugh. Not because it isn't funny - it is.
But he is trying to decide if this is the guy - the one who can carry an entire third of a film on the brink of absurdity. The man who would wake up on a hotel roof with a baby in a carrier and make it feel believable.
Zach suddenly looks up from the mic.
"You ever feel like you are living in soone else's flashback? Like... you are not the main character, you're just the lesson soone needed to learn?"
The audience quiets a little. That was different. He smiles gently, shrugs it off.
"Anyway, I live with my dog. He thinks I am a failure. Which is hard because I rescued him. Like - no respect in that household."
Big laughs now. Regal's lips twitch. That was gold.
"I asked my mom the other day if she thought I was emotionally distant. She said, 'I don't know, ask your brother', I am an only child."
Zach. "So I actually tried therapy once. The therapist said I use humor to deflect. I said, 'You are just jealous because I am funnier than you'. She agreed. Then billed for two hours."
Haha, this ti Regal couldn't hold it in.
The guy is weird, yeah, but there's timing.
Presence.
A kind of sincerity hidden in sarcasm that hits deeper than just jokes.
When the set ends, Zach exits with little fanfare.
Regal waits five minutes, then slips out the back, stepping into the alley where the night air is thick and buzzing.
A few smokers hang around.
The door creaks open. Zach steps out alone, rubbing the back of his neck, cigarette already in his hand but not lit.
Regal was direct. "You got a second?"
Zach looks up, cautious. "If you are about to ask if I know where the bathroom is, it's inside. Like most bathrooms."
"...chuckle." Regal clicked his tongue in humor. Then he added not wanting to get swayed. "No, nothing that weird. I just wanted to talk. Na is Regal."
Zach pauses, eyeing him for a beat.
He asked absurdly. "You are not trying to sell anything, are you?"
Regal revealed, following the style of Zach. "Not unless you are in the market for a lead role in a movie."
Zach huffs a dry laugh, lights the cigarette. Takes a long drag. "That's original. You a director?"
Regal was taken aback by his guess. But he nonetheless confird. "Yeah. Made a couple so far. [Following], [Death Note.]"
"....!" For an instant Zach was stunned. But in a mont, he nods slowly, exhaling smoke. "That [Death Note] one? That was you? I saw it. Pretty intense stuff."
"Thanks." Regal accepted the complent. He went on almost pitching the idea. "This next one is a bit... different. A cody. Called [The Hangover]. It's going to be weird. ssy. Dumb, but smart about being dumb."
Zach lights the cigarette. The flick of the lighter's brief glow dances over his face. "Sounds like my last relationship."
Regal didn't say anything after that.
Because he is sure that by now Zach is hooked.
...after all he is desperately trying to make it into movies.
Now a chance just dropped into his lap?
Why wouldn't he want to grab it?
But first of all, is this all real? Or a prank.
"...." Zach looks at Regal, really looks at him now.
For the first ti, he is not filtering with sarcasm. "Alright. I am listening."
Regal nodded, finally getting through. "Good.... But before anything... you will have to shave your beard.
Zach nearly chokes on his cigarette. "You son of a b**ch."
They both laugh
Their laughter dies down, but the mont lingers - charged, like they both know sothing just shifted.
"You are serious about the beard?"
Regal grind. "Dead serious. For a couple scenes, at least. You will get to grow it back. Probably even make a whole monologue about it if you want."
Zach leans back against the wall, weighing it. He looks up at the stars like they might give him a sign, then back at Regal, who is watching him - not with desperation, but with quiet belief. It's almost unnerving.
Zach expressed his opinion. "Man... you must be either crazy or very, very confident."
Regal didn't shy away. "Both. I am a director."
That gets a smirk.
Zach explained, wanting to make sure one last ti. "I haven't even done a proper movie role. Closest I ca was getting punched by a mi in a student film. It didn't even make it to Vio."
Regal was strong with his statent. "I don't care about your resu."
"Anway... It's a story about three guys who wake up in Vegas with no mory of the night before, and everything's gone to hell. You would be playing one of them."
Zach asked curiously. "Which one?"
Regal. "Alan. He is... off. Socially weird, kind-hearted, says the wrong thing ninety percent of the ti. But he kind of glues the whole ss together without realizing it."
Zach flicks ash to the ground. "So... the weirdo?"
Regal nodded. "The heart. But yeah - also the weirdo."
Zach doesn't answer right away. He watches Regal, sizing him up. "You just see one stand-up set and co to offer a movie role? That normal for you?"
Regal didn't know what to say, other than confirm. "Yep..."
A beat. Zach smirks. "You are serious about this?"
Regal. "Completely. I have already got one producer. We are hunting for the other two leads now. You were the hardest piece of the puzzle, actually."
Zach seems amused by that. "You don't even know if I can act. Stand up cody, and acting are two different things."
Regal. "I am glad you are aware of that."
Zach studies him for a mont longer, then chuckles to himself, shaking his head. "Alright, screw it. I am in."
Regal offers a hand. Zach hesitates for a second, then takes it.
"Welco aboard."
Zach. "What happens next?"
Regal. "Auditions. For the other two. Doug and Stu. We need the straight man and the neurotic ss. You will balance them out."
Zach. "You an they will balance out"
Regal nodded his head.
They both laugh again. It's easy now, like the foundation of sothing strange and brilliant just clicked into place.
Zach. "Let know when I et the other clowns."
Regal. "Soon. But first - coffee tomorrow. My office."
He pulls out a card - no frills, just his na, a number, and 'LIE 120 Studios' stamped across the top.
Regal. "Contact to this number... My assistant, Samantha, will reach out. Try not to insult her. She carries a taser and has no sense of humor.
Zach. "I think I am in love already."
They share a small smile. Mutual understanding. Sothing about this just feels right.
"What is the pay?" Zach was hoping for much. But he wanted to make sure he will atleast get the sa pay as his stand up gigs.
Regal. "Decent. But if this works, you won't be asking about pay next ti."
Zach nods, tucks the card into his pocket, then walks off, still smoking, muttering to himself. "A tiger. Jesus Christ."
Regal watches him disappear around the corner, already thinking ahead.
One piece down.
....
Zach stands there a bit longer, staring at the glowing tip of his cigarette.
He opens his phone and then a browser.
He typed the [Death Note] movie director.
Few images popped by.
"Huh... so the dude is legit, I guess... and it's not that i have beco insane."
He shakes his head, flicks the cigarette into the street, and walks off with a crooked smile.
.
....
[To be continued...]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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