Former SNL, Portlandia Star Finds Humor in Music World
Fred Armisen unexpectedly strolled right onto the Bijou stage at showtime on February 6 – sans opener or walk-on music – and launched right into his first bit in a warm, conversational tone, as though he was returning to a room he’d just left to continue a talk with a close friend.
This was the first of many delightful surprises for the Knoxville audience on Armisen’s “Comedy for Musicians But All Are Welcome” tour, a revelatory experience for hardcore fans of both music and of Armisen, the whimsical, inventive comedian and former Trenchmouth drummer responsible for critically-celebrated shows like “Portlandia” and “Documentary Now.” He’s also the star of Alan Yang’s “Forever” and Nick Kroll’s “Big Mouth,” and the writer and star of many folks’ favorite “Saturday Night Live” sketches of the new millenium, during his tenure there from 2002-2013. The set contained multiple bits from Armisen’s Netflix special “Standup for Drummers,” but also featured many new and specific-to-Knoxville moments.
Disclaimer: Spoilers follow.
Upon entry, the Bijou stage was set up with a full drum kit, guitar amps and various effects pedals, as well as an iPad Armisen used to cue up various examples of corporate music beds, protest brass band audio samples, and other songs he’d affectionately skewer, to the raucous laughter and applause of the crowd.
Physical humor, in conjunction with the audio, was often employed, like Armisen’s impression of the second guitarist for Kansas attempting to learn “Carry On Wayward Son” for the first time and starting to rock out, then stopping, and getting increasingly confused as the song continues as more and more parts proceed to follow the ones he was just getting the hang of, and comically reacting to his imaginary bandmates.
Another highlight of this segment of the set was a bit in which Armisen played either the Genesis drummer Phil Collins or a huge fan hungrily circling the drum kit to the tune of the build-up to “In the Air Tonight” and then sitting down right at the moment of the incendiary fill to play a simple, dumb beat with a ridiculous look on his face — a moment that enjoyed thunderous laughter from the crowd. Armisen also took turns asking where the bassists, horn players and other specific musicians were in the audience, or various genres’ fans, and riffing on those.
In a unique twist, Armisen brought fellow comedian Jacqueline Novak out in the middle of his set, rather than as an opening act, and sat at the drum kit to watch and interact with her as she did a short, mostly brand new, improvisational 10-minute set. Arisen often joined in or laughed loudly at her jokes before resuming the set when she left.
Later, Armisen showed off his eclectic musical taste and chops, taking requests for some of his most famous comedic songs from his various shows, including “Gentle and Soft” and “Catalina Breeze” from “Documentary Now!’s” fake 1970’s soft-rockers the Blue Jean Committee, playing all parts from the latter with the help of looping pedals to work up to playing all the instruments on the song. He played Crisis of Conformity’s “Fist Fight in the Parking Lot” from the wedding scene in the “Saturday Night Live” skit with Ashton Kutcher, Dave Grohl and Bill Hader where their punk band had destroyed his daughter’s wedding.
Armisen also wowed the audience with his impressive “US tour” of accents, using a pointer on a map like a high school geography teacher as he changed accents and made jokes about each group of people in each voice. He even did his best Knoxville accent, but, with the help of the audience, learned that he had been bamboozled in the streets of Market Square hours earlier when a mischievous Knoxvillian gave him some false Knoxville colloquialisms. No, we don’t say “I live over (ital.)chonder.(end ital.)” Regardless, the audience seemed impressed with Armisen’s commitment to first-person research. He even mentioned facts he’d learned about the Krutch Park statues and time he’d spent in the East Tennessee History Center.
In the final section of the show, Armisen had the house lights brought up for a Q&A with fans, taking further requests and answering questions, including explaining for one person the origin of Nina and Lance’s safe word “Cacao” from season two of “Portlandia.”
At request, an audience member even had the privilege of being lectured by the character Candace from “Portlandia,” for a few glorious moments, and another savvy person in the crowd was able to get Armisen to participate in an impromptu improvised song in the style of Garth and Kat from “SNL Weekend Update.”
When Armisen left it was to warm applause and a standing ovation — and a Knoxville crowd that seemed to feel as if they’d not just spent an hour with a comedic hero but a new friend. The chatter outside and on social media afterward from many folks seemed to share consensus that this was one of audience members’ favorite live experiences they’d encountered in a long time.
