Name: Fred Armisen | Office Hours with Tim Heidecker (Episode 263)
Uploaded: 2023-08-10T17:00:10.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Fred Armisen | Office Hours with Tim Heidecker (Episode 263)' from Office Hours Live with Tim Heidecker on Comedy Buff. Published 2023-08-10. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Fred Armisen | Office Hours with Tim Heidecker (Episode 263)' from Office Hours Live with Tim Heidecker on Comedy Buff. Published 2023-08-10. Transcript available.

Fred Armisen | Office Hours with Tim Heidecker (Episode 263)

Office Hours
Hi, hi, Fred. So sorry, man.
- No problem. - What's going on?
- Good to see you. - Thank you for doing this.
- Thank you for having me. - Good to see you.
Yes, yes. - Yeah.
You got everything you need here.
I gotta get mic'd up.
- All right. - Ugh.
I had some fucking guys doing shit on my house up there,
and they wouldn't let me get out of it.
But anyway.
Well, maybe they'll watch this and they'll say,
you know, he's talking about us.
All right. And now, did you help yourself here?
I'm good.
You're good?
Mm-hmm.
I'm gonna have a little of tequila here.
Oh, I got glasses down there.
How do people sit here?
Whatever you want.
Whatever makes you happy.
Whatever is comfortable.
Where's the ice?
I don't know.
I shouldn't have ice here.
I don't see the ice.
Oh, there it is.
So, you come all…
Is it hard for you to get over here?
Was it crazy with the 405 and everything?
No, it's pretty…
It's easy.
Yeah?
I don't want to say where we are,
but let me, you know,
if we're in that part of town where it can be crazy on a Friday.
Yeah, I know.
It was totally fine, and you have a very nice place.
And…
Well, this isn't…
I mean, this is just a little…
You know, I don't…
I really only use this space here to do this.
Yeah, no, I understand, but thanks for having me.
And, you know, it's…
So, you…
I'm trying to get a sense of how I know you.
I mean, I know that I saw some of your early internet videos, like, years ago.
You were in a band, or…
Yeah, I've done, like, a lot of, like, band stuff.
And, you know, it's comedy mixed with music and stuff.
So, there's, like, a mix of it.
Why is it that all…
Like, everybody now wants to do everything?
You can't just be a comedian.
You can't just be a musician.
You can't just be an actor.
You can't just be, you know, one thing.
Everybody has to divert…
Is it diversifying, or is it…
Are you scared that you're going to fail at one thing,
so you have a backup plan,
and then you have a backup plan for another backup plan?
No, I don't think that's why people do it.
I think it's more like…
Why did you do it?
I mean, who said that, you know, why didn't you stick with music?
Just because I felt like I wanted to do comedy.
So, I just kind of mixed the two together.
But it's such a crowded field.
Which one?
Well, music and comedy.
And it almost feels like you would have just wanted to stay put,
and then, and not sort of jump ship and start over.
Well, I didn't jump ship and start over.
I just mixed the two.
And by the way, it's not like I, you know, direct movies and like,
I don't act in dramas.
But even now, you feel, I feel like you're…
I saw a clip of you playing guitar.
And…
Yeah.
Well, I, you know, I play some guitar and it's just…
Listen, you can do whatever you want.
I mean, I'm just saying from an outsider,
if I'm a fan of yours, I'm a Threat Armisen fan.
Yeah.
Uh, you would think that they would want clarity on what it is you want to do,
and what it is you will do in the future.
That's all I'm saying.
It's a good point, and who knows, you know.
Mm-hmm.
Maybe if, uh, if I make, uh, you know, if I do enough business,
I could just stay doing comedy.
Right.
That would be great.
So you're doing, so you started, you got on SNL,
and that was before Portlandia.
Yes.
You want it?
I'm good, thank you.
You don't drink.
Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Now, is that…
I never liked it.
You never liked it?
No.
You never got, like, I mean, is it sort of like, you won't drink?
I just don't want to.
But if somebody said, this is the greatest wine, uh, you know,
it's the finest wine, or the best vodka ever made in Russia,
and the, you know, Putin comes, or whoever, I'm just kidding, of course,
but I don't know what, I don't know what circumstance you'd be in,
where you have Putin come into you asking you for,
to try the best vodka, but would you, you would say,
no, I don't drink this, I'm a, you know, I'm Saint, uh,
Saint Fred, and I don't touch the stuff, or…
To your point, if anyone was like, this is an incredible glass of wine…
So you do, you would.
Yes.
So, I think it's, for me, I drink because why the fuck not?
You know, like, I mean, first of all, it's good shit,
and I don't put shit in my body that is coming from man,
you know, Monsanto, uh, genetically engineered shit.
But some people can't drink, some people…
Well, I think that's, see, I disagree with that.
I disagree with that.
I think that there are, that that's, that there's a perception
that not drinking, or doing, you know, smoking weed,
or, you know, even the harder stuff, that, that we've been conditioned,
and that society has created this, uh, these rules that say,
oh, you're an addict, or you're, uh, you know, that's a disease.
But, you know, in reality, it's, it's, it's the nanny state,
uh, and it's sort of everyone being too careful and too, uh, nervous, you know.
Sure, I mean, if it, you know.
But, I mean, you don't care, do you?
You don't, like, you're not one of these guys that start shaming people
if they start, if they light up, or they have a drink.
No, no, no.
Okay.
It's not my place to, you know, judge other people if they're,
they're drinking or whatever.
Good, you know.
So, you get into SNL.
And, what years are you in SNL?
What, what part?
2002 to 2013.
See, that's a long time.
And, and you were, you weren't really, like, one of the main cast members at
first.
No.
And then, gradually, they kind of see that you've got something to bring,
and then what, what happens?
Yeah, I mean, that's the way to put, I mean, it's just sort of longevity.
If you're, they're long enough, you know, after a few years, they put you in
the, in the main cast.
But, I mean, the thing I think people don't understand about that show is that
it's, at least now,
and probably when you were there, it's not live.
A lot of it's not live.
I mean, let's be honest.
It's live.
A lot of it isn't, though.
Some of it is the, the, the, the fake commercials.
Believe me, they pre-tape out the ass.
Right?
They pre-tape.
They pre-tape commercials and music videos.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Andy Samberg, come on and do the digital shorts, whatever those were.
Yeah, yeah.
So a lot of the show, not like back, you know, I, when I was a kid, not a kid,
when I was,
when I was younger and you'd see the replays, you'd see the original season
with Belushi and
Aykroyd, Billy Murray, Radner.
Yeah, yeah.
They, that was when, for me, that was when Saturday Night Live, I wasn't around
when it was on,
but I, I remember seeing, you know, seeing the replays, that that was when that
show really had
juice.
It had dangerous, it had teeth.
But they had pre-tapes then too.
They had little fake commercials and stuff.
Yeah, but it, it lacked the, I mean, it, it didn't have the history behind it
at that time.
Yeah.
Right?
It just was, it was so fresh and so, so dangerous and it was like punk rock.
It was great.
Yeah.
It really was amazing.
The cast was great.
Those sketches were great.
And then it went on and on and on.
And so who were the guys and, and gals in your, who was in your class?
I mean, cause.
I always think, um, you know, Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader and.
Well, Hader's good.
Hader's good at what he does because he does impressions and he does, uh,
characters.
Yeah.
Uh, and, and he can do a lot.
And now he's acting and he's doing.
He's brilliant.
He's brilliant.
Yeah.
I'd love, I'd love to have him on the show.
Um, but a lot of the people, who else?
Cause there were some.
Kenan Thompson.
He's still, he won't leave.
I think it's a smart move not to leave.
I mean, you know, that's.
But I think there's a lot of people from that generation that didn't rise to
the occasion
with that opportunity.
And I wonder, were they given?
Why were they, you know, who got them in?
Was it because of their talent or was it because of who they knew?
No.
You don't think so?
No, I don't think it, not at that show.
It can't be who you know.
It's funny because, you know, 40 years ago, you had three channels, right?
You had ABC, NBC.
CBS.
CBS.
PBS.
That was it.
You had PBS.
Um.
And now, how many channels?
I mean, how many channels are there?
Hundreds.
Infinite.
Right.
Infinite.
Do you think that has caused us to go, fuck it?
Like, fuck it.
I'm not going to watch shit.
I'm not.
You know, there's too many.
Yeah.
Because that's what happens to me.
I turn it on.
I turn it right off again.
But there are shows that have like.
But the internet's doing so much of the, you know, podcast like this show and
all these other
shows where people are just kind of watching whatever the fuck they want.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I mean, you know, good shows find their audience, you know, and.
Speaking of that, you're on this Addams Family show.
Yeah.
Now, what's that about?
Because I saw a little bit of this and when I was younger, we'd have the Addams
Family.
Now, this isn't the Addams Family.
This is what?
It's Wednesday.
It's like a sort of, they take one of the characters and sort of focuses on
that character.
Right.
And it sort of departs from the ethos or the sort of, the spirit of the
original,
which was a sitcom, black and white sitcom, laugh track, three cameras, you
know, is a classic sitcom.
And this, do you feel like this and listen, I'm happy you're getting paid.
But, you know, let me just finish my thought because it feels like it's one of
those.
The now shows have to be dark and they have to be serious and they have to be
about everything.
It has to be about politics.
It has to be about, you know, it has to check all the boxes of diversity.
Sure, sure.
And is it, do you think that because the, the, I think it's this, you know,
epidemic right now,
with sort of the woke mob mentality, the woke mind virus, that's, that these
executives are being
gunned to their head, asked, I say asked, but I mean told, how to structure the,
uh, uh, you know, the, uh, how their shows are going to be written, produced
and performed.
Well, I mean, you haven't watched the show.
I've seen enough to know that it ain't in black and white and it ain't a comedy.
Yeah, it's not in black and white.
And yeah, that's a, that was like a golden time of that show.
And this is just like an interpretation.
It's just like a sort of, you know, other way of, of looking at the show.
But that's the thing because you're such a funny fucking guy.
Thank you.
And you're, I mean, listen, you could be doing so much more with that, uh,
talent on that show,
I assume, because I don't know what you're playing on that show.
Who are you playing on the, who do you play on the show?
Uncle Fester.
Right.
Now that's a funny part, but you don't, you probably are not given the leash.
Sure, sure, yeah.
I mean, for real though?
Yeah, for real.
They let me, so they let you do whatever you want.
In other words, you can say whatever you want on that show.
I, I don't want to say anything outside of what the script is.
All right.
You know, I'm not looking for that.
I'm, uh, I want to, you know, I wanted to be a good fester and just do my best,
you know?
That's all.
But I, yeah, there's other shows I've done where I've gotten to-
Because Netflix has got to come to you and say, hey, tone it down.
They've got to.
Listen, I know what, I know that you can't, there's shit that you can't say.
And there's shit that you don't want to say because, hey, you know what, it's a
paycheck.
It, I like doing it.
I had a fun time with it, so.
Good for you.
Yeah.
You know?
I feel like I get to do a lot of fun stuff and I, in general, like I, I have
many opportunities to,
you know.
But they don't let you for, so they don't like, with the difference between
Wednesday and the other show you did, which I'm blanking on.
Portlandia.
That's it.
Which was hilarious.
Fucking hilarious.
Thanks.
That's a different environment for you.
Yeah.
That's a different, that's a, you know, hey, we're going to go out there and we're
going to take,
we're going to take pointed shots at, at sort of the woke mindset and take, you
know,
because it's got, listen, I'm as liberal as anybody and you know