BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) THE START
Fred Armisen was born in Mississippi, but his family moved to New York when he was a baby. There he’d go to School of Visual Arts for a while. He dropped out to be a rock drummer. His influences were The Clash, Devo, and others. He did the local band stuff in the mid-80s and then went to Chicago to be in a punk band. He settled in Chicago and would eventually play background drums for the Blue Man Group. From there, he switched to acting. That’s sort of amazing.
(THREE) VOICE
He has voiced puppets on Crank Yankers and characters on GTA IV. He voiced characters on adult swim shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies, and Tom Goes to the Mayor. He recently did the voice of Brainy Smurf in The Smurfs. There is a lot of variety there, but his best spot is a children’s show. The coolest role this man has ever had HAS to be recently voicing the iconic Speedy Gonzales on The Looney Tunes Show.
(TWO) I FORGOT HE WAS IN…
Armisen has done a lot of random shit. He adds to any movie or show he’s on in a positive way. Still, there are some of his roles that I have to think about and then go “oh yeah! He was hilarious in that!” He was Tino, the “yas flute!” guy in Anchorman. He was the creepy Italian guy on the bus in Eurotrip, and he was the creepy pony tail guy in The Ex. If you remember those movies you’ll have NO problem remembering Fred Armisen’s work in them. To be fair, I think it’s more of an “I forgot this movie existed” thing.
(ONE) SNL 4 EVA!
Fed Armisen is going to be on Saturday Night Live forever! That’s fine with me. He has had some really funny characters and is one of the best “supporting” actors on the show. By that I mean he’ll have a secondary role in someone else’s lead sketch and do a great job. I wish he had more of a chance to do some of his Portlandia type stuff on SNL. In time, I suppose. After being on the show forty nine years now, he’s not going anywhere. He’s going to surpass the records and eventually overtake Lorne Michaels for dictatorship. Mark my words.
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