Fred Armisen @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC | pics

He sucked and the crowd was right in booing him off. He also wasn't funny at Wilco on NYE and the few times I have seen him on SNL he was bad too. I am not sure why he continues to try and do stand up.

He sucks on SNL. Hope he's not on the next season.

come on people he's not that bad...

Dude he is that bad. This guys doesn't understand what it means to be funny. The Native America comedian bit he was doing, was so bad I couldn't believe that this guy actually has a profesional career.

You guys are right. I am sorry to have subjected you to it.
Fred

Well it's hard to judge the projector bit since it didn't happen. As for the characters...I think Fred Armisen is excellent at assuming a character (see: Anchorman), but that type of act isn't laugh-out-loud standup sort of funny. I think that if it wouldn't be perceived as ripping off Andy Kaufman, either or both of Armisen's characters that night would have been better if they were introduced in character. Like, instead of Fred Armisen appearing with Les Savy Fav, Saddam Hussein or whatever the name of the Native American comedian was.

Of course, the other problem is that we were all riled up after a great Thunderbirds Are Now set and ready for Les Savy Fav (evidence of the excitement: did you notice Tim Harrington [sic] had to disassemble the drumset during the encore so we wouldn't ask for a second one?)

So no, it wasn't that funny, but it wasn't awful. I think Armisen just needs to play more to his strengths as a Kaufmanesque assumer of characters.

And anyway, Tim Harrington appeared to be loving it, and he led us all in cursing out the projector. So maybe that's what matters.

Thanks Nick for the kind words. The band asked me to perform and I said yes. I thought it would be fun. I loved watching Thunderbirds are Now! All the bands were great.

Fred Armisen is hilarious as Ferecito and he is also one of the nicest and most humble entertainers I've ever met. I bet for every one who doesn't get/enjoy his act, there are five more who do - I can count them as my friends...

fred armisen is hilarious. i guess this is what he gets for playing with shitty bands

Fred is great. These kids didn't deserve him.

unnecessary, even if i thought fred armisen was not funny (which is a complete 180 of my opinion!) i wouldn't feel the need to be rude. booing and such vociferous expressions of disapproval in such a situation are just plain silly.

Fred is hands-down the funniest man on SNL, and his standup is discomfiting but kind of brilliant. It's not like conventional standup, it's more like...performance art. Plus he is, as people have noted, the sweetest.

he blows balls

I didn't see the show you guys are talking about. But, I did see Fred Armisen perform at Bonnaroo. I guess I've been a fan since seeing him in the features on Melvin Goes to Dinner.
I grew up watching SNL, and I think that the current cast is one of the funniest yet. I adore Amy Poehler, Horatio Sanz and Fred. I guess everyone in the cast cracks me up. I think Fred Armisen has a genuine talent for developing/playing entertaining and unpredictable characters. (Lundford Twin in Variety Vault, Jasper the Parrot, Franklin the Cat to name a few)

When I bought tickets for Bonnaroo I really looked forward to seeing his stand up. I had no idea what to expect, and I wasn’t disappointed. I laughed harder than I had in a long time. I especially liked the character Billy Smith.

Does anyone happen to know how to go about finding a copy of his SXSW work? I happened upon this site in hot pursuit.
-Jamé

Too all you people who don’t “get” Fred Armisen. I say this, in order to appreciate Fred’s talent; creativity and performance you have too have an IQ above "challenged”. He is considered an “intellectual" comic. The problem is no one takes the time to appreciate anything other than “mind numbing” silly slap stick. It is so much easier to depend on sight instead of listening.

Too all you people who don’t “get” Fred Armisen. I say this, in order to appreciate Fred’s talent; creativity and performance you have too have an IQ above "challenged”. He is considered an “intellectual" comic. The problem is no one takes the time to appreciate anything other than “mind numbing” silly slap stick. It is so much easier to depend on sight instead of listening.

Too all you people who don’t “get” Fred Armisen. I say this, in order to appreciate Fred’s talent; creativity and performance you have too have an IQ above "challenged”. He is considered an “intellectual" comic. The problem is no one takes the time to appreciate anything other than “mind numbing” silly slap stick. It is so much easier to depend on sight instead of listening.

fred... he was the drummer in "trenchmouth"... now that shit was funny !

Apparantly mother nature isn't working hard enough on natural selection because there are still people on this earth that don't appreciate Fred Armisen. He's one of the best things to ever happen on SNL and a brilliant stand-up.

Fred . . You're a true comedian and a true inspiration.

Fred Armisen is not funny. I hope he doesn't play Obama on SNL again this year; it's hard to watch.

He's really, really funny in "The Promotion."

I think that he has a dryness that may not translate well in a live setting.

He's the 21st century's Chevy Chase.

Remember, Chevy started out as a Drummer too - and when he left it Walter Becker and Donald Fagen change its name to STEELY DAN.

Um... Fred Armisen is no Chevy Chase.

SNL is so awful now it makes me want to vomit. The only semi-funny castmember is Kristin Wiig. SNL has been awful since Ferrell left, and when Ferrell was on the only good skits were Ferrell/Tracy Morgan skits. The last time this show was genuinely funny was back in the Farley/Sandler/Hartman/Myers/Carvey days...

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