Fred Armisen’s ‘Comedy for Musicians’

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Photo © Team Coco

Fred Armisen

Fred Armisen

Comedy and music have paired well in countless ways. Fred Armisen’s unique way of bringing them together is “Comedy for Musicians but Everyone Is Welcome.”  

“The show that I’m touring came from this special I did for Netflix, ‘Standup for Drummers.’ I felt like I had so much content on this subject, and it’s kept going,” explains the former ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast member (2002-2013) regarding his current tour that will take him to Turner Hall Ballroom for an 8 p.m. show on Tuesday April 23.  Though Armisen may be best known for his comedy, his affection for it and music came about in his life more or less concurrently. 

Certainly, Armisen’s sense of humor influenced the attraction he felt to some bands. “I liked bands that had a visual component and had a somewhat comedic tone. Bands like Devo and Talking Heads. I also idolized Keith Moon. He seemed so funny, dressing up in costumes for no reason,” he recalls of bands who doubtless impacted his stint in 1990s Chicago post-punk outfit Trenchmouth. Armisen’s dual affections for comedy and music likewise drew him to, as he says, “band parodies on TV shows like ‘Saturday Night Live’ or ‘SCTV’; he cites Gilda Radner’s Patti-Smith-esque Candy Slice character on SNL as one such parody he has enjoyed. 

“I also liked watching musical guests on those sketch shows. The show ‘Fridays too,” Armisen adds of ABC’s early ‘80s ratings competitor to NBC’s SNL. Television, however, isn’t the only formative influence in the breadth of Armisen’s taste. Nor has his appreciation of many genres narrowed with age. 

“My parents bought me Beatles albums when I was a kid. This was after the band had broken up, so their solo albums were also in my little collection. To me, I always thought they were still kind of together,” recollects of another formative musical influence. As for the kind of broad appreciation he has for music now that informs his comedy about it, he offers, “I feel like any genre, even if I’m not that familiar with it, has something to offer. If it’s something I don’t understand, I think I can still find an element that I can at least try to appreciate. I used to think I didn’t understand musicals, but then I heard Godspell. ‘Day by Day’ is such a great song.” 

Not every comedy lover may be a music lover to the extent Armisen is, but simple curiosity could be a legitimate hook for some to check out the novelty of his show. 

Niche-Specific Shtick

Drawing a parallel between Comedy for Musicians and a hypothetical set of niche-specific shtick, he offers, "I sometimes imagine it like if I went to go see a comedian/chef do a show about the restaurant world. I don’t know anything about cuisine, you know, the details and inside references, but I’d want to see that. I’d want to hear about that world. Because this is being presented as ‘but everyone is welcome,’ there’s an acknowledgement that not everyone there is a musician.” With that stipulation in mind, Armisen will also be joking about other subjects. “There’s a part of the show where I talk about accents, not having anything to do with music. When I talk about music, it’s not just about playing it. Sometimes it’s about how people react to different kinds of performers.” 

Drumming isn’t the only kind of musical performance in which Armisen engages in his comedic musicality. As he has on the late-night talk show circuit, he also picks up guitar to funny effect. But he won't be a one-man orchestra at Turner Hall Ballroom either. “I’m going to stick to guitar and drums. Nobody will be accompanying me on stage, but I do have an opener who is a good friend and brilliant artist. Her name is Azita, and she’s on Drag City Records, from Chicago.” 

Armisen’s mingling music and comedy may have first come to great fruition in the 2010’s shows he helped create for IFC. He says his involvement in the music direction for “Portlandia” and “Documentary Now” was “a lot.” The subject figured into the show’s plots, too. “Some of the sketches on ‘Portlandia’ were specifically about band dynamics and music trends. ‘Documentary Now’ had a few fake band episodes, based on specific documentaries." 

Regardless of whether anyone seeing Armisen crack wise about music is passionate about the subject as he is, he wants to be approachable to all who take in his act. Apart from a potential lesson in music appreciation, what does he most want everyone in attendance to get out of their evening out? "That they’ve gotten to know me better and that I’ve gotten to know them. I want each show to feel like we’re just hanging out in my practice space or record room." 

While he's in Milwaukee, there may be another place Armisen will want to hang out, too. 

 "I love the Milwaukee Art Museum. I booked a show there a few years ago, just to have the opportunity to visit that museum. There’s something about the way it’s planned out and arranged that feels exactly right. I hope I get to visit it again."

In this bit, Armisen muses on doo wop vocalizing must have been heavy for early rock 'n roll listeners as metal is today...

In Memoriam

Some people don’t set out to be funny but end up amusing multitudes. Without drawing much attention to himself other than his portrayals of hilarious characters, Joe Flaherty made an immeasurable impact on TV and movie comedy.  

It should be added that the Pittsburgh-born actor/writer/comic was in the right place at the right time to make the impression he did. Though he thought of himself more as an actor than a comedian, he ended up at Second City’s original Chicago locale after a stint in the Air Force. Starting as a Second City stage manager in 1969, he later starred in several mainstage productions for the improv comedy troupe. He also assisted in opening Second City's Pasadena branch, and his early performing years also included a stint on “The National Lampoon Radio Hour” with many of “Saturday Night Live’s” early Not Ready For Prime Time Players.

While he was with Second City Toronto, Flaherty became a cast member of SCTV, the sketch show that originated on Canada’s Global TV and made its way into U.S. syndication and NBC’s weekend late evening schedule. Set at a fictious TV station—later, network—in the equally bogus city of Melonville, the series afforded Flaherty the opportunity to play a gamut of characters including station co-owner Guy Caballero, news anchor Floyd Robinson, and horror movie host Count Floyd. 

 After SCTV, Flaherty kept working on shows such as “Freaks and Geeks” and “The King of Queens” as well as movies including Back To The Future II and Happy Gilmore. 

More curiously, perhaps, Flaherty became beloved enough in the word of hard rock that he merited a thank you in the liner notes of Alice Cooper’s 1981 album, Special Forces, and starring in a video featured in a Rush tour. 

Flaherty died after a spell of illness on April 1. Here he is on SCTV as Guy Caballero making an announcement of how his networrk got in on the collectible coins market...