Results tagged “fredarmisen”

In an exclusive interview with NY1, Governor Paterson discussed his 2010 prospects and revealed that he wouldn't mind appearing on Saturday Night Live, which has skewered him repeatedly. In fact, Paterson also dissed the show, "I've offered to come on 'Saturday Night Live' because I thought I would help them get the ratings. Because clearly that humor that they had when they first had Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi... has gone [with] this [current] cast of characters. I thought I would show some benevolence as governor and help them out a little bit."

Last week's season premiere of Saturday Night Live may have had America's Most Overhyped Sexpot Megan Fox as host, but this week's second episode ended up being the true Ladies Night, with divas in full force. Host Ryan Reynolds did that thing you do when your spouse is an even bigger star than you and brought along his wife (and soon-to-be Broadway actress) Scarlett Johansson, who reprised her role as a local saleswoman pitching "Chandeliers!" for dad Fred Armisen's Long Island business, that has now apparently expanded to porcelain fountains.

Last night, Fred Armisen reappeared on Saturday Night Live's Thursday Weekend Update as a now-mustachioed Governor Paterson. If you don't remember, his schtick was complete with references to President Obama (allegedly) asking him to step aside in 2010—"It’s like the pope calling a local priest and telling him to go to Hell"—his blindness, and his hatred of New Jersey!

After a showstopping debut that broke Amy Poehler during a sentimental farewell and pissed a lot of people off by using the governor's blindness a punchline, Armisen's send-up might have finally begun running out of steam. Last night's appearance saw him as one half of a comedy duo, alongside his predecessor Eliot Spitzer (played extra creepily by Bill Hader). The New Jersey punchlines were back in full effect, along with the idea that Governor Paterson's best chance at getting reelected is that New York voters will enter the booth next November with a "Sanjaya mentality."

The rollout of Eliot Spitzer 2.0 continued with an appearance on last night's Saturday Night Live. All right, so it may not have been the actual "Love Gov," who has been popping up recently on various talk shows. But even just having Bill Hader as Spitzer show up in a signature left field ending in this underage bar sketch last night felt like further confirmation that the former governor has returned to the conversation.

Recently engaged Fred Armisen's impression of Governor Paterson seems to to have really touched a nerve in the zeitgeist. Today the Times was going after the slapstick portrayal saying it was put on by "comedy writers with frat-boy sensibilities " and was a "level of humor might fairly be described as sophomoric were that not an insult to sophomores." Despite this week's sendup focusing on satirizing the governor's penchant for one-liners, the Times echoes some of the same criticisms lobbed SNL's way in December when the sketch was dubbed so offensive by many that even the governor went out of his way to criticize the show's treatment of the disabled. But Armisen has nothing on BBC host Jeremy Clarkson who many across the pond want fired for calling British Prime Minister Gordon Brown "a one-eyed idiot." (He's blind in one eye.) Meanwhile a Newsday blog puts forth a conspiracy theory that a show as big as SNL going after a local figure as Paterson could be revenge for Lorne Michael's friend, Caroline Kennedy.

With Governor Paterson's reelection prospects appearing to dwindle as the months go by, there's a very realistic possibility that he could end up a footnote in history as the man who merely finished up Eliot Spitzer's disastrous administration. But SNL's Fred Armisen seems to be doing his best to see to it that his caricature of the "accidental governor" as a Catskills comedian makes its mark and lives on in SNL political specials and DVD compilations of days to come. Last night Armisen's Paterson said he wasn't too worried about his reelection chances because, "I don't really do elections. I'm more of a 'oh no what are we gonna do?!' last resort type of guy."

Not surprisingly after two months of buildup and a tumultuous road to get to its finish line, the conclusion of selecting a replacement for Senator Hillary Clinton did not go out with a whimper. Instead, many of the storylines that had manifested themselves culminated this week with Governor Paterson's ultimate selection of Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand.

Though some people may have laughed at Saturday Night Live's depiction of Governor David Paterson—which did include Fred Armisen as Paterson stumbling around due to his blindness and saying "I'm a blind man who loves cocaine who was suddenly appointed governor of New York. My life is an actual plot from a Richard Pryor movie."—Paterson himself was not one of them.

If Fred Armisen plays any black politician, please let it be NY Governor David Paterson! His impression of our "accidental" governor debuted on Weekend Update last night and it absolutely killed. For reference, we've placed a photograph of Paterson above—compare it to the SNL bit below:

"You thought I was gone, didn't you?" That was the opening line on last night's SNL as Amy Poehler proved reports wrong that she would be leaving the show following the delivery of her baby and the end of the election season. Seeing a svelte Poehler in the cold open as new Secretary of State Clinton as well as back in her Weekend Update chair was a welcome sight after the show had a rough last outing with previous host Tim McGraw.

We wondered if last week SNL's Joe Biden cold opening might be signaling the end of Fred Armisen's tenure as Barack Obama. Now word comes that Lorne Michaels is in fact auditioning four black comedians to take over the role. Speculation is that the four contenders are The Colbert Report's Jordan Carlos, The Daily Show's Wyatt Cenac, (recently canceled) MAD TV's Jordan Peele and 30 Rock writer/Derrick Comedy's Donald Glover. There's no word if casting for an ebony comedienne to portray Michelle is likely to follow. But with Armisen out as Barack, that's one less politically incorrect hurdle for the show. As for SNL being called out for their recent "homoverload," the show's guy-on-guy action probably isn't going away any time soon. We realized this upon stumbling upon a famous NY Mag cover story on the show from 1995 where then cast member Janeane Garofalo said, “They love the anal sex here. That’s considered incredibly funny.”

With less than 48 hours left before the election, John McCain stopping into Saturday Night Live to perform in a couple of sketches seems like it should be huge news. But with so much attention being showered on the show this year throughout the campaign season, somehow it just felt par for course at this point in a period that Tina Fey for one calls "the weirdest time in my life."

Last night's Saturday Night Live had its work cut out for it after the last few weeks. Weaving in actual Mad Men stars Elisabeth Moss and John Slattery alongside host Jon Hamm was a nice touch, but this is a week after the show featured cameos from Sarah Palin, Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin. And it was a welcome return for Maya Rudolph, stopping in as expected to play Michelle Obama and sing a duet with Kenan Thompson dedicated to Amy Poehler's new baby. But that came on the heels of former cast members Bill Murray, Will Ferrell and of course Tina Fey all making high profile returns in recent weeks.

It's been a long time since one cast member on Saturday Night Live has grabbed almost all the attention focused on the show and Tina Fey technically isn't even a cast member right now. But for the third time in four weeks since the show returned, Fey was front and center in the opening sketch as the doppelganger she seems to refine and heighten a little every week, Sarah Palin.

Last night's episode of Saturday Night Live is not likely to get people talking nearly as much as last week's heavily hyped season premiere that opened with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. The McCain ticket was again the satirical target of the opening sketch with Darrell Hammond playing McCain as reluctant but desperate to go along with any and all untruthful claims about Barack Obama in his ads, including one that made Charles Barkley the butt of an SNL joke for the second straight week.

In between campaign stops for March 4th primaries, Hillary Clinton put on a happy face about the recent Saturday Night Live skits that aired during the show's return last week, adding that "it's so nice to be a fashion icon at my age" (video here). Last night the SNL troupe was at it again with an opening skit that mirrored last week's. As Clinton (Amy Poehler) faced off with Obama (Fred Armisen), it became less clear who SNL might be supporting; their Fauxbama is pretty lifeless:

Saturday Night Live is back! Wasting no time digging into primary season, the opening skit was a debate between Hillary and Barack, immediately answering the big question posed this week: who will be our Fauxbama? The answer: Fred Armisen! The Huffington Post raises the controversial points of this decision, given the previously-noted lack of minority players on the show (Armisen is not black - he's Venezuelan and Japanese - but has played Prince on SNL) and the whole "Is Obama black enough?" debate. As for the sketch itself, it was about the media's infatuation with Obama - and it even included Obama Girl!

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on 20th Ave. and 37th St. in Queens, a hate crime on East 9th St. and Ave. H in Brooklyn, and a missing child on Decatur Ave. in the Bronx.
• Hyperactive performer Robin Williams is David Letterman's guest tonight, in his first new show in weeks. Letterman, as well as Craig Ferguson, have worked out pacts with the Writers Guild of America, allowing writers to come back. Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien are crossing picket lines to come back. Riffing on Robin Williams' routines are not as funny when hard to distinguish from KKK impersonations in the deep south.
• A Port Authority policeman in the department's K-9 unit was involved in an auto accident that killed the woman driving the other vehicle. The officer was hospitalized and his partner was taken to a veterinarian for treatment.
• A man with a hunting knife was arrested after entering and then exiting Hillary Clinton's Iowa campaign headquarters. There was no overt violent action, but local police described him as a local unpredictable character.

We may have to wait until next April for Comic Con in New York, but there's plenty of comic goodness over at the Puck Building this weekend at the MoCCA Art Festival. Their well-punctuated description promises a generous dose of the genre: "Meet comics and cartoon artists! Four full ballrooms of cartoonists and publishers! Get sketches and autographs from Bill Sienkiewicz, Joe Staton, Arthur Suydam and others at the MoCCA Fundraising Sketch Table! Buy comics, comix, cartoons, graphic novels as well as prints and original artwork! Sit in on our always entertaining and educational panel sessions!"

THEATER: A revival of Patrick Hamilton’s thriller Gaslight has just begun at Irish Rep; some may remember the award-winning 1944 film version starring Ingrid Bergman and Angela Lansbury. The chilling study in domestic domination to the max concerns a diabolical husband who, not satisfied in exploiting his wife’s savings to buy their house, plots her murder. But while he’s out the police inspector comes in to warn the poor bride that her husband is suspected of another “black-hearted murder” committed fifteen years ago... in the very same house! - John Del Signore

, it's always a joy to see Bateman on screen, and he does some hilarious work as the obnoxious, wheelchair bound Ex. You want to punch him in his ascot-wearing face nearly every time he's on screen, and that's quite a feat for a guy who most recently played such a winning TV lead. In addition to Bateman nearly every other supporting part is filled by a solid comedic performer like Rudd, Charles Grodin, Donal Logue, Fred Armisen, Amy Poehler and Amy Adams. Each of them take totally throw away moments and sell them with such comedic sincerity. Also the plot line about career woman Sofia trying to adjust to being a stay-at-home mom is done with welcome deftness. It'd be great to see Peet in even more roles like this where her sensitivity and likability can shine through. Producers Ted Hope, Anne Carey and Anthony Bergman (ie. former nurturers of directors like Ang Lee, Nicole Holofcener and Michel Gondry) obviously understood that even though screenwriters David Guion and Michael Handelman as well as Jesse Peretz are just starting out in the biz, they all have the goods.

THEATER: This week is your last chance to see Roundabout’s acclaimed revival of George Bernard Shaw’s comedy Heartbreak House, which dips into the unlikely romantic combos that blossom on an estate on the English countryside. But amidst all the clever conversation and flirtation, Shaw hones in on the stunning complacency that pervaded the privileged classes at the dawn of World War I. Heartbreak House stars the brilliant Swoozie Kurtz, who the Times says “may just be the most seductive woman on a New York stage right now.” - John Del Signore

FILM: The Picture Start Film Festival is bringing us 2 nights of indie shorts this week. Both tonight and tomorrow night eight films will be screened, awards will be given out, and afterparties will be attended. Full schedule here.

Whether the parody is funny or just sad, one must appreciate Fred Armisen portraying Lou Reed.

EVENT: Rev Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir have been unleashing their rowdy anti-corporate exorcisms at the Spiegeltent, “a wondrous 1920’s venue of billowing velvet, stained glass, teak, and a thousand mirrors.” But righteous consumers beware: The Spiegeltent is part of the South Street Seaport Mall, which is made unclean by wicked corporations like Victoria’s Secret – all the better for the Rev’s antics. He chastises the company for clear-cutting Canadian boreal forests to produce one million catalogs per day. (A Village Voice blog reports on Victoria’s Secret’s struggle to silence the Rev) On this day he rests from damning their unmentionables to observe the fifth anniversary of 9/11. - John Del Signore

What? No New Year's plans? Leaving it a bit late, no? Forget the overcrowded bars, the swarms of amateurs, the lame-o house parties. There are a ridiculous number of shows happening around town, some of which are worth your time and some of which not so much. Many of them are sold out, but it's highly possible you could score with the scalpers. Let's have a little look-see, shall we?

Last night Gothamist headed down the street to Pianos for the Tinkle show. We figured it was worth our 6 bucks to hear Todd Barry makes fun of blogs. So we got right up there and sat in the front row. We laughed, we drank, we even cried a little (that dude from LA was not funny.) And a few hours later we ended up with a bottle of Donald Trump cologne (smells like money!) and a secret Wilco show. We'll let the pictures tell the story...

Just a reminder incase you didn't see this post last month: Gothamist has missed far too many sold out shows to know that buying tickets ahead of time is imperative. In that vein, every month or so we'll make it a point to update you with a list of shows we think may sell out. This way you can buy tickets ahead of time and avoid that last minute Craigslist surfing.

Gothamist won't be at Southpaw later, as we totally flaked on getting tickets to Tinkle tonight. So if you're attending please let us know how awesome it was.