Image: IFC
A trip through Portlandia was right at home in Netflix Is a Joke. For starters, the half-hour IFC comedy continues to attract new fans to the streaming service.
The series debuted 15 years ago, but Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s series is still fresh for new viewers. time is already kind portlandiaWhich was appropriately celebrated with laughter and music by its creators during Netflix’s Comedy Festival.
How a former presidential candidate brought them together
Armisen and Brownstein first collaborated around 2003, which was also when they first met. “We met at SNL,” Brownstein recalled. “I’m in a band called Sleater-Kinney. We were playing a show in New York, and Fred was on SNL. We couldn’t go to SNL and Fred couldn’t come to our show. So, he said, ‘Come to the afterparty.’ Jennifer Garner served as host and Beck served as the musical guest. When we met, Fred was wearing a little button up on my face – not scary but actually very cute. Fred asked me to make a video with him. I assumed we were going to make a musical film, but he had something more creative in mind.
“I was actually asked by the John Kerry campaign to make a video,” Armisen said.
John Kerry in 2004 against George W. The Democratic presidential candidates were against Bush. When Kerry’s campaign wanted to have fun with the Democratic National Convention, they reached out to Armisen, who understandably wanted to collaborate with Brownstein on a skit.
“I had this idea. Remember what Saddam Hussein looked like when he was captured and put on trial?” Armisen asked. “He was not like a dictator [we know]; He was in a suit, big black beard and black hair. To me, he looked like a rock star – a British rock star. I thought, why don’t we make a video on that? We went up to Portland.”
Brownstein played a cable access show host in Ohio by the name of Cindy Overton in the video. “I got my first interview with Saddam Hussein after the bunker,” Brownstein said.
Candace and Tony return
The creators of Portlandia are still in comedy lockstep. Even when they have heated arguments, they still keep it feeling relaxed and loose. It was nothing but joy to see these two bouncing off each other live. One of the biggest surprises of the night was that the pair transformed back into feminist bookstore owners Candace and Toni.
Behind a prop counter, he questions the validity of a science-fiction novel by a guest author (played by Vanessa Bayer). It’s too ridiculous to do justice to on paper, but Armisen and Brownstein still have some of their signature characters available at their fingertips.
We’ll all soon be the forgotten band
If there was one thing Brownstein clearly couldn’t find, it was dedicated to the bands of the past slipping away in the sea of time. The longer the gag – or cautionary call, if you will – about how we are all, as individuals, about to be forgotten like someone’s favorite band of the past, the funnier it became.
Brownstein clearly could spend hours talking about bands of the past that we shouldn’t forget. For those curious, here is a list of the bands highlighted by Brownstein and Armisen:
The Association, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Dave Clark Five, Buffalo Tom, The Patrol Emotions, Firehouse, The Plimsolls, Lone Justice, Black Babies, Poe Dog Pondering, The Call, Guadalcanal Diary, The Sugarcubes, Possum Dixon and the Flat Duo Jets.
It was pure to turn these bands into reminders of our own fragility in the universe. portlandia And a highlight of the night, full of good tunes – including a cover of Riot Spray.
Remembering Peter and Nance
Nance is the character Brownstein remembers most. Nance and her husband Peter were a good couple – a feeling the Sleater-Kinney co-founder remembers. “They loved each other very much,” Brownstein said. “They were very friendly. There was no friction between Peter and Nance, which is very rare. It’s a nice place to be for a moment, just to realize what a frictionless way it is to be with someone you love.”
when the gang stops laughing
As portlandia Gone is the improvisation on set. In the beginning, Armisen would notice whenever the crew stopped laughing after a long improvised take. “For the first few seasons, the time will be 35 minutes,” Brownstein said. “They’re long hours, especially to ask someone to do a handheld camera. Sometimes we had guest stars, Tony and Oscar winners, come to Portland and memorize the script. We’d throw it out right away, and it didn’t go over well. We started scripting things a little more.”
Thanks to Danzig!
portlandia Fans no doubt remember the appearance of Danzig, who played Radu, a beach-loving Romanian, in the sketch “Weirdo Beach.” Years after filming the sketch, Armisen and The Misfits frontman remain good friends.
“One time we were at dinner and he said to me, ‘Why don’t you have that portlandia Merch, shirts and stuff?’” Armisen recalled. “I started having an answer that was very, you know, when you don’t have an answer, like, ‘We have to get the rights to this thing…’ He shut me down. He was kind of bugging me, but in a funny way, like, ‘Oh, so you have all this money, $10,000, you don’t need any of it?’ Because of him pushing me, we have portlandia they sale. So, thank you, Glenn Danzig. Oh, and I make so much money I don’t need $10,000.”
The Portlandia Podcast is coming!
Don’t expect a Portlandia movie. Sometimes. Brownstein quickly shot down that idea. However, more collaborations between Armisen and Brownstein are coming – including for the Portlandia podcast. “It’s really rewarding, because we’re great friends,” Brownstein said. “We get a chance to hang out, talk about it and go into depth about it. We have a lot of guest stars who come and talk about their experience. It should come out in June.”
