Fred Armisen: Standup For Drummers

2/7/18. I didn't know what to expect from a Fred Armisen standup. Oh, yes, I do in a way. I have watched him for years on SNL. This was like watching him playing Garth (without Kristen Wiig's Kat). Basically, he was all over the place, with occasional funny bits. The only saving grace was when he talked about and played his drums. He is actually quite a good drummer. Nice he had other drummers do their thing, especially Shiela E. So, it's a toss-up. Watch it if you like his humor, or watch it if you like drums.

I'm a drummer and standup fan and this special let me down on both accounts. Topical drumming observations that often don't ring true, jazz bashing, pretty weak standup bits, and some drumming shoehorned in. Guy is a good enough drummer but this special just didn't really work.

Edit: Also, he has his 3 guest drummers all on drumsets at the end and you think they're going to do some cool soloing or trading fours or something but then they literally just play the same simple rock beat for like 3 minutes... It'd be like if you had 3 professional guitar players come out and play the "Smoke on the Water" riff over and over. What a waste!

This reminded me of the drum clinics and workshops I attended as an excited little drummer kid in the 90s and early 2000s. Definitely a drummer's sense of humour throughout, though other musicians would probably be able to relate to some of it too.

It did get a bit too random at times. Fred Armisen was funniest and best when talking drums and music. But then all of a sudden he turns around and starts doing accent impressions and just really bizarre, not-so-funny standup away from his music theme. It seemed lost and was full of cringe.

Loved anytime a drumkit was playing, especially the 'drumkits through the ages' segment. Recommend for all drummers out there!

A show about drummers, sounds great! Oh dear... After a few somewhat decent impersonations of famous drummers, he decided to imitate nearly every single American accent, following -yes- a map. I'm not english native, but I promise you, it was pittiful. He then loses himself in a serie of unconnected 'should be jokes' to end up shivering on the floor, impersonating a dying fox, through time-lapse. Although I admit the idea seems unconventionally interesting, it was unfortunately poorly executed. Yes, we didn't talk drums for the past 20 mins now, and I don't even seem to understand what we've been talking about. There it goes, showing us the pier in the crowd full of drums from every decades... but playing 4 bars on every kit with an unconvincing storyline has certainly not quench our thirst. Surprise, some famous guests! Perhaps it is not the end!? But it is one thing to embarrasse yourself, quite another to take some of the best drummers in the world down with you. Even as a drummer, you shouldn't bothered, quite sadly.

Not your typical comedy special. I got the impression that this was a collection of drum related humor that he had come up with over the years that made him laugh but he couldn't use at the time because it was too esoteric. I don't know that to be true, it's just what it felt like. Kind of random and disjointed.

I am guessing Fred Armisen knew this would not be particularly popular but did it anyways as a passion project. I think the results were mixed. If you like Fred Armisen or the drums (preferably both) give it a shot.