he thing that always burns me deeply inside is when someone who is extremely talented doesn’t get the proper recognition he or she deserves.

You have cats like Paris Hilton, Steve-O or Ashton Kutcher who get rich for being extreme idiots, but some people with the actual talents have to scrape burnt spaghetti noodles to feed themselves.

Comic genius Zach Galifianakis is the prime example of this. I must say that he is truly the sunshine of my life, and I plan to marry him soon.

I was first introduced to him my senior year in high school when he had his show, “Late World with Zach” on VH1 in 2002.

I’ll admit, I was a little reluctant because a) it was a late show on VH1, meaning he wasn’t good enough to go on network; b) his last name was hard to pronounce; and c) why?

But I opted to watch the first show, anyway. It aired at 10 p.m. Central time, and I had an hour and a half to kill before Conan.

Anyway, my interest piqued once I continued to watch the show. He ended his shows with his guest stars by playing the piano and cracking jokes. The guests laughed, I laughed – we were all happy.

What I loved about his shows were his interviewing techniques, such as interviewing them from trash cans or on the subway, like he did to Ed Norton.

Alas, his show was canceled. They never gave it a freakin’ chance, man! It was a horrible moment in my life.

I thought there was no justice in this world until I ran into a comedy routine he did on Comedy Central the following year.

His routines are hilarious. He’s one of those comedians whose joke you hear , and you’re like, “Huh? That makes no sense.” But then a few hours later, you repeat the joke to your friends and then laugh hysterically once you finish telling it.

That routine was possibly one of my Top Five all-time favorites. He’ll say random things or ask random questions while playing his Richard Marx-esque melody.

I think that’s what all comedians should do, anyway. Eddie Murphy should’ve done his “Raw” and “Delirious” specials by smacking a tambourine off his hip after every joke and saying, “Oooh, I’m so crazy!”

C’mon – it’d be genius!

Example of Zach’s greatness: “Why is it O.K. for a woman to say, ‘I’m going out with my girlfriend,’ and they hold hands on their way to the mall and such, but if I say, ‘Me and my boyfriend are going to go shopping with our fanny packs, everyone assumes that I’m a gay -that’s right, ‘a’ gay.’”

I laughed for 15 minutes after hearing that. In fact, I took a break from writing just to wipe the tears from my eyes.

And then he says something ridiculously off the wall such as, “My sister has multiple personalities, and when she calls me, my caller I.D. blows up.” And then he stops, thinks about how silly it was and goes on to the next joke.

So all my praises boil down to one question: why isn’t he known by everyone by now? This guy’s great.

I was really sad when my friend who attends Middle Tennessee State University told me he came to their school last year. I wanted to cry.

So hear me out, Western: the quicker you work on bringing Zach, the quicker I’ll be able to tie the knot.

Gather ’round, children. Visit zachgalifianakis.com. You’ll see the light.

Amber North is the Herald features editor and humor columnist. Reach her at features@wkuherald.com.