Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and writer. With his comedy partnerCarrie Brownstein, he co-created and co-starred in theIFC sketch comedy seriesPortlandia. He also co-created and starred in themockumentary IFC seriesDocumentary Now! and theShowtime comedy seriesMoonbase 8.
Armisen received aGrammy Award nomination forBest Comedy Album forStandup for Drummers in 2019. He has also won twoPeabody Awards, one in 2008 as part of theSaturday Night Live political satire cast[1] and one in 2011 forPortlandia.[2] From 2019 to 2022, he co-starred and served as writer and executive producer on the Spanish-language seriesLos Espookys, which he co-created.
Armisen was born inHattiesburg, Mississippi, on December 4, 1966, the son of schoolteacher Hildegardt Mirabal Level andIBM employee Fereydun Herbert Armisen.[3][4] He moved with his family to New York as a baby,[5] and briefly lived in Brazil in his youth. He was raised inValley Stream, New York,[5] where he was a classmate of fellowSNL alumnusJim Breuer.[6] He attended theSchool of Visual Arts inManhattan[7] before dropping out to begin a career as a rock drummer.[5] He said that he was inspired to perform after seeingthe Clash andDevo perform on television, and wanted to be a performer since he was a child.[8]
Armisen's mother was Venezuelan, born inSan Fernando de Apure,[9][10][11] while his father was born inSoltau to a German mother and Korean father.[11][12] For much of his life, Armisen thought his paternal grandfather Ehara Masami was Japanese. However, Masami (better known by his professional name Masami Kuni or birth name Park Yeong-in[11][13]) was actually Korean and came fromUlsan; he adopted a Japanese name and persona after themassacre of Koreans in 1923 when he was a high school student.[14][11] Park studied aesthetics atTokyo Imperial University and became a professional dancer before moving to Germany.[15][13] After the war, he returned to Japan, and formed a premier modern dance company. He eventually immigrated to the US, where he taught dance at what is nowCal State Fullerton from 1964 to 1975.[13][12] Park Yeong-in's family were members of theKorean aristocracy, and Armisen's Korean lineage can be verifiably traced back to the 1600s.[12]
In 1984, Armisen played drums in a local band along with his high school friends inValley Stream, New York, but the group soon ended. In 1988, he moved to Chicago to play drums for thepunk rock bandTrenchmouth,[16] and in the 1990s he played background drums withBlue Man Group.
Armisen is the music director and frequent drummer[20] ofthe 8G Band, the house band forLate Night with Seth Meyers, since February 24, 2014.[21] However, the band was laid off at the end of the 2023–2024 season due to budget cuts from NBC. They will still pre-record music for the show, but will not perform live.[22]
In 2018, Armisen played drums as part of Devo atJohn Waters'Burger Boogaloo festival in Oakland, California.[23][24]
While not playing with the band Trenchmouth, Armisen's interests switched to acting. In a January 2006 interview, he said, "I wanted to be on TV somehow. For some reason, I always thought it would be an indirect route; I didn't know that it would be comedy andSaturday Night Live. I just wanted to do something with performing that would lead me there."[26]
Since 2014, Armisen has been music director and sometimes bandleader and drummer onLate Night with Seth Meyers, for which he received positive reviews for hisdeadpan comedy and especially for his interplay with the host.[34]
In the same year, Armisen appeared in the first season ofOur Flag Means Death as Geraldo, a barkeep in the Republic of Pirates and one of Spanish Jackie's husbands. Spanish Jackie was played byLeslie Jones.
In 2024 he appeared as FDA representative Mike Puntz in Jerry Seinfeld’s Unfrosted.
Armisen joined the cast ofSaturday Night Live in2002.[38] He was promoted to a repertory player in2004. After 11 years as a cast member, he decided to leave the show. At the time of his2013 departure from the show,[39][40] Armisen was the third-longest-tenured cast member (behindSeth Meyers andDarrell Hammond), and he appeared in the second-highest number of sketches (856) of any cast member. Since then, Armisen has come back for multiple cameo appearances on the show, including when he hosted the season 41 finale on May 21, 2016, with musical guestCourtney Barnett.
The following is a partial list of notable roles Armisen has played inSaturday Night Live sketches.
Leonard – the strange European host of the foreign music showClub Traxx.
Mackey – a senile drummer who often does rimshots at inappropriate moments and appears in the "Rialto Grande" sketches.
Nooni Schoener – a quirky, foreign art dealer who appears with his wife Nuni Schoener (played byMaya Rudolph) in "the Schoeners" sketches.
Frondi – a mentally challenged character who criticizesBen Affleck's movieGigli to Ben himself.
Manuel Ortiz – host ofThe Manuel Ortiz show on Television Dominicana where he "helps with whatever it is" his audience members are going through.
Nicholas Fehn – a political commentator whose mind wanders so much that he is incapable of finishing a sentence without starting a new one.
Roger A. Trevanti – a greedy studio head andAMPTP member who rails against the2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. The character's onlySNL appearance was on the last episode of season 33, before the show went on hiatus for the WGA strike, but he appeared in several Internet videos around the same time.
Rodger Brush – a producer of multiple "Dr. Phil"-type talk shows, each focused on a different topic (teen, marital, sexual, and pregnancy issues), who fills in when the hosts are sick. He repeatedly tells guests relating their problems to speak up, and, unable to relate to their problems, offers them either useless advice based on his experience or no help at all.
Garth – part of Garth & Kat (withKristen Wiig), a musical duo who appear onWeekend Update unprepared and make up songs on the spot.
Giuseppe – the saxophone player forWhat's Up With That?
Stuart – homeowner fromThe Californians, a soap opera parody featuring Armisen,Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and others as wealthy blondes withValley girl accents.
One of the "Dictator's Two Best Friends from Growing Up" (withVanessa Bayer) who come toWeekend Update to secretlytrash-talk the various dictators (such asMuammar al-Gaddafi andKim Jong-un) with whom they grew up.
Regine – a pretentious and condescending woman who exhibits blatant euphoric and erotic facial expressions when touched on certain parts of her body.
Ian Rubbish – A late-1970s/early-80s British punk rocker, a parody ofSex Pistols'John Lydon, who caught heat from his bandmates Derek Gash (played by Bill Hader) and Keith Grimshaw (played byTaran Killam) and fans for writing and performing songs supporting Conservative Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher.
Armisen's list of notable impressions has included:
Barack Obama – recurring in Season 33 and Season 34 episodes as the Democratic presidential candidate (Season 33), the Democratic nominee, President-elect, and President (Season 34), beginning on February 23, 2008. As of season 38,Jay Pharoah replaced Armisen as Obama.
Prince – parody of the musician as the host of a talk show calledThe Prince Show, withBeyoncé Knowles (played byMaya Rudolph) as his co-host. Armisen, a fan of Prince since childhood, created the sketch as a way of improving his chances of meeting the musician.[26]
Steve Jobs –Apple CEO who appears onWeekend Update to show off strange new technology. Armisen has stated that Steve Jobs is the celebrity he most enjoys portraying.[41]
In 1998, he posed as a music journalist for the short filmFred Armisen's Guide to Music and South by Southwest. It was filmed by then-girlfriendSally Timms and featured Armisen's "pranking musicians and industry types" during theSouth by Southwest festival inAustin, Texas.[43] In various segments he asked self-described "stupid" questions, pretended to be German, and also acted blind.[44] A year later, Armisen starred with alternative rock legendSteve Albini inChevelle'sPoint No. 1 EPK.
Armisen is part of ThunderAnt, a comedy duo withSleater-Kinney guitaristCarrie Brownstein. The duo specializes in creating comedic short skits often about independent vocations such as one-man shows, feminist bookstores, and bicycle rights activists. Armisen founded ThunderAnt.com, a website that features the comedy sketches created with Brownstein.
Armisen has directed music videos for bands such asthe Helio Sequence. Armisen also had a role in theWilco documentaryI Am Trying to Break Your Heart, which featured footage from his stint opening for front manJeff Tweedy's 2001 solo tour. He also appeared in video segments onBlue Man Group'sHow to be a Megastar Tour 2.0. Armisen occasionally writes forPitchfork Media and interviewedCat Power for that company.[45] He appeared as Jens Hannemann onJimmy Kimmel Live! on October 19, 2007, promoting a 28-minute DVD calledFred Armisen presents Jens Hannemann: "COMPLICATED DRUMMING TECHNIQUE".[46] In 2010, Armisen briefly joinedJoanna Newsom's tour for her albumHave One on Me as his character Jens Hannemann.[47] OnSNL, Armisen often plays musical instruments in sketches, has two recurring characters who are musicians (Mackey the drummer from the Rialto Grande and Ferecito fromShowbiz Grande Explosion), or impersonates famous figures in the music world such asLiberace,Phil Spector,Lou Reed, andPrince.
Armisen appeared in the official music video forMan Man's song "Rabbit Habits", playing a man who charms hisblind date (Charlyne Yi) but runs away after she turns into awerewolf.[48]
In 2013, Armisen appeared in the official music video for Portland, Oregon-based bandRed Fang's song "Blood Like Cream". In 2021, he appeared as the protagonist in the official music video for the 2020 mix ofGeorge Harrison's song "My Sweet Lord".[49][50]
Armisen performed as a singer/drummer/comedic actor in the Blue Man Group's "How to be a Megastar Live!". He played the part of a salesman on TV who advertises for the Megastar Rock Manual. He also drummed in the performance and was a backup singer.
In 2015, Armisen was the recipient ofSmithsonian magazine's American Ingenuity Award for Performing Arts.[51]
In 2018, Armisen provided the foreword toThe Yacht Rock Book by author Greg Prato.[52]
Armisen appears as Michael on the sixth episode of the revival ofThe Kids in the Hall, released on May 13, 2022.[53]
In 2024, Armisen made a cameo as DJ Carl inFallout, living in a shack surrounded by bespoke traps and playing colonial-era violin music, a reference to the oft-hated Classical Radio station fromFallout 4.
Armisen was married to English musicianSally Timms from 1998 to 2004,[54] and American actressElisabeth Moss from 2009 to 2011.[55][56] In 2014, Moss described their time together as "extremely traumatic, awful and horrible".[57] "One of the greatest things I heard someone say about him is, 'He's so great at doing impersonations. But the greatest impersonation he does is that of a normal person,'" Moss added.[58] During a later interview withHoward Stern, Armisen said, "I think I was a terrible husband. I think I'm a terrible boyfriend. [...] I feel bad for everyone I've gone out with."[57]
Since working together on ThunderAnt, Armisen andCarrie Brownstein developed what Brownstein has called "one of the most intimate, functional, romantic, but nonsexual relationships [they have] ever had".[59] According to Armisen, their relationship is "all of the things that I've ever wanted, you know, aside from like the physical stuff, but the intimacy that I have with her is like no other".[60]
Armisen started dating actressNatasha Lyonne in 2014.[61][62] Lyonne confirmed that they had ended their relationship in April 2022: "We love each other just about as much as two people can love each other and we're still talking all the time."[63] Armisen began dating and married comedianRiki Lindhome later that year, and they purchased a home together inLos Feliz.[64]
^abcHoffmann, Frank (2015).Berlin Koreans and Pictured Koreans(PDF). Koreans and Central Europeans: Informal Contacts up to 1950, vol. 1, ed. Andreas Schirmer. Vienna: Praesens, pp. 107-127.ISBN978-3-7069-0873-3.Archived(PDF) from the original on April 12, 2019. RetrievedNovember 17, 2020.
