Fred Armisen

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert – Episode Featuring Fred Armisen

Episode Information:

• Title: Fred Armisen
• Release Date: August 9, 2025
• Host: Stephen Colbert
• Guest: Fred Armisen
• Description: Stephen Colbert engages in a lively conversation with Fred Armisen, exploring his recent projects, including his role in the hit Netflix series "Wednesday," and his unique creative endeavors, such as releasing an album of sound effects.

---

1. Welcome and Opening Remarks

Timestamp: [02:34 - 02:35]

Stephen Colbert warmly welcomes Fred Armisen back to "The Late Show Pod Show." He highlights Fred's impressive resume, including his work on "Saturday Night Live," "Portlandia," and his current role in Netflix's "Wednesday." Fred responds with enthusiasm, expressing his excitement to be back after his last appearance in 2016.

Notable Quote:

• Stephen Colbert: "The last time you were on was in 2016. This is like nine years ago." [02:35]
• Fred Armisen: "Wow. Yeah, yeah. I've just been kind of waiting in the wings." [02:39]

---

2. Recent Travels and Work in Ireland

Timestamp: [02:53 - 03:08]

Fred shares his recent experiences filming "Wednesday" in Ireland, specifically near Dublin. He expresses his love for the country and its culture, mentioning his fondness for dark beer and traditional Irish songs. The conversation touches on the challenges and perks of driving on the left side of the road, a nod to Fred's adaptability and sense of humor.

Notable Quotes:

• Fred Armisen: "We shot this Show Wednesday in Ireland." [02:54]
• Stephen Colbert: "Do you enjoy dark beer and songs about hard labor?" [03:05]
• Fred Armisen: "Yes. It's the only kind of music I like, but I taught myself to drive there a little bit on the left side of the road." [03:08]

---

3. Reflections on Sketch Comedy and "Portlandia"

Timestamp: [03:32 - 04:19]

Stephen reminisces about Fred's eight-season tenure on "Portlandia," applauding the longevity and success of the sketch show. Fred discusses his ongoing passion for sketch comedy, sharing ideas for new sketches involving characters like Kath and Dave. These characters exemplify propriety and attentiveness, particularly in settings like airplane safety demonstrations, blending humor with everyday scenarios.

Notable Quotes:

• Stephen Colbert: "That the last time you were here, it was for Portlandia... for how many seasons did you do that for?" [03:32]
• Fred Armisen: "We did eight. Eight seasons." [03:43]
• Fred Armisen: "There was one I was thinking we had these characters called Kath and Dave who did everything right. They're just really proper about everything." [03:53]

---

4. Introduction of Fred’s Sound Effects Album

Timestamp: [05:01 - 08:36]

Stephen brings up a unique headline from People magazine about Fred releasing an album of 100 sound effects. Initially skeptical, Stephen appreciates the added clarity in the headline and delves into the concept behind the album. Fred explains his inspiration, aiming to go beyond traditional Halloween sound effects by incorporating everyday sounds like bottles breaking and doors closing. Together, they humorously demonstrate a few sound effects from the album, including "Romanian rock audience stomping for an encore" and "car door closing at a car rental."

Notable Quotes:

• Stephen Colbert: "Fred Armisen is releasing an album of 100 sound effects. Yes. You read that, right?" [05:07]
• Fred Armisen: "Yeah, that's not a prop. I was thinking about those Halloween sound effect albums, then I sort of missed them." [05:55]
• Stephen Colbert: "We are done. This is so useful. I can see putting this album on at a party." [07:11]
• Fred Armisen: "Yes, September. It's available in September. Make a great Christmas present... Make a great Halloween present, actually." [08:21]

---

5. Discussion on "Wednesday" and Playing Uncle Fester

Timestamp: [08:36 - 10:02]

The conversation shifts to Fred's role as Uncle Fester in the Netflix series "Wednesday." Stephen inquires about Fred's approach to developing the character, given Uncle Fester's mysterious and beloved status within the Addams Family universe. Fred shares his preparation process, including watching the original TV shows and studying Christopher Lloyd's portrayal to honor the character's legacy. He also delves into his personal interpretation of Uncle Fester, highlighting the character's adventurous spirit, love for mischief, and enjoyment of life "in the underground."

Notable Quotes:

• Stephen Colbert: "Is like, I never thought of the Addams Family as having, like, backstories. They're just. The Addams Family." [09:08]
• Fred Armisen: "I really did do this on my phone. I watched the original TV show with Jackie Coogan... I just tried to honor the tradition of the role." [09:12]
• Fred Armisen: "I like that he's got, like, all these passports. He just sort of travels everywhere... He's enjoying life in the underground." [09:38]

---

6. Closing Remarks and Season Tease

Timestamp: [10:02 - 10:26]

As the episode wraps up, Stephen teases the upcoming second season of "Wednesday," slated to premiere the following day on Netflix. He playfully mentions Fred's hidden talent as a drummer, hinting at a possible performance that doesn't materialize during the episode. The hosts exchange light-hearted banter, emphasizing the camaraderie and mutual respect between them.

Notable Quotes:

• Stephen Colbert: "Season 2 of Wednesday premieres tomorrow on Netflix." [10:08]
• Stephen Colbert: "He's gonna take us out. We'll be right back with J.B. Pritzker." [10:26]
• Fred Armisen: "I'll do it." [10:26]

---

7. Conclusion

Throughout the episode, Stephen Colbert and Fred Armisen engage in a dynamic and entertaining dialogue, seamlessly transitioning between discussions of Fred's current projects and his creative side ventures. The conversation is enriched with humor, personal anecdotes, and insightful reflections on the craft of comedy and acting. Notable highlights include Fred's innovative approach to sound design and his dedication to embodying iconic characters with depth and authenticity.

For listeners who haven't tuned in, this episode offers a comprehensive glimpse into Fred Armisen's multifaceted career, his passion for creativity, and his contributions to contemporary comedy and television.

---

Additional Information:

• Exclusive Offer: Late Show Pod Show listeners can use discount code "TLS20” for 20% off all The Late Show with Stephen Colbert products on ParamountShop.com.
• Watch Live: "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" airs weeknights at 11:35/10:35c on CBS and is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Stephen Colbert]

It's the Late Show Poncho with Stephen Colbert.

Ladies and gentlemen. Folks, you know my first guest tonight from Saturday Night Live, Portlandia and documentary now. He presently stars in the new season of the hit Netflix series Wednesday. Welcome to Willow Hill. We have a very long journey ahead of us.

[Fred Armisen]

Nothing like a good jolt to get this party started. Any chance I can get a second round? Please.

[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome back to the Late Show. Fred Armisen. Excited to be here. So excited for the friend Ross.

[Fred Armisen]

So nice. Hi guys.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, hey, nice to see you again.

[Fred Armisen]

Nice to see you.

[Stephen Colbert]

The last time you were on was in 2016. This is like nine years ago.

[Fred Armisen]

Wow. Yeah, yeah. I've just been kind of waiting in the wings.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Fred Armisen]

You know, whenever you're ready.

[Stephen Colbert]

I've been waiting to get this thing right.

[Fred Armisen]

Yes. Let's go.

[Stephen Colbert]

So I'm ready for Fred Armisen. How have you been, Fred Armisen?

[Fred Armisen]

Really good.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Fred Armisen]

Having a great time getting to travel, do stuff.

[Stephen Colbert]

Where have you been? Where have you enjoyed?

[Fred Armisen]

We shot this Show Wednesday in Ireland.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, that's lovely.

[Fred Armisen]

Which is great. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Where in Ireland?

[Fred Armisen]

Near Dublin.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, that's a lovely town. Do you like the Irish?

[Fred Armisen]

I love it. I mean, I love the country.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah. And I.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you enjoy dark beer and songs about hard labor?

[Fred Armisen]

Yes. It's the only kind of music I like, but I taught myself to drive there a little bit on the left side of the road.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, that is nice. That is. That is. That is nerve wracking.

[Fred Armisen]

Have you tried it?

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, yeah, I've done a bunch of it.

[Fred Armisen]

You have?

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, yeah. No, I've driven. I've gone to a lot of colonial, like, countries.

[Fred Armisen]

It's sort of opposite.

[Stephen Colbert]

It is opposite. It's the other side.

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

The last time you were here, it was for Portlandia, the fantastic. Thank you. And now lamented sketch show we did with Carrie Brownstein. For how many seasons did you do that for?

[Fred Armisen]

We did eight. Eight seasons.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. That's a lot.

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's a long time. Congratulations on that. That is a great. Do you miss doing sketch? I do sketches.

[Fred Armisen]

Still think about it. There was one I was thinking we had these characters called Kath and Dave who did everything right. They're just really proper about everything. And every time I get on a plane, I think I want to do a sketch with Kath and Dave where they really are attentive, you know, with like, the flight attendants, like, with everything they're doing. Safety demonstration, even telling about other passengers if they're on their cell phones and stuff. Just being like, you know, I think there's a sketch in there.

[Stephen Colbert]

I think so, too.

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Just do it in real life and see if anybody laughs, you know?

[Fred Armisen]

You know what's weird? I do kind of feel that way on a plane sometimes. Like when they're doing the, you know, demonstration, I do feel like. Let me just pay attention for this minute.

[Stephen Colbert]

I feel bad for them. I feel bad, too, because they're trying to save our lives and we don't care. We don't care.

[Fred Armisen]

And they're performing. I'm like, they're doing a thing.

[Stephen Colbert]

Performing.

[Fred Armisen]

It's Steven.

[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, I like that. That's pretty good. When they pretend to blow it up.

[Fred Armisen]

We need it. We need it.

[Stephen Colbert]

I really want them to wrap their lips around that thing once and just really blow.

[Fred Armisen]

Or really blow it up.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure. Or just.

[Fred Armisen]

I want to know what's supposed to happen.

[Stephen Colbert]

Have you ever had one of those things deploy on you?

[Fred Armisen]

No. Have you?

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, it's fantastic. Very exciting. Okay. I want to ask you about Wednesday Obviously, Tim Burton. You know, the Tim Burton series you're in right now. But first, I want to ask you about this headline that caught my attention. This is in People magazine, where I get most of my Fred Armisen, of course, you being a person. Fred Armisen is releasing an album of 100 sound effects. Yes. You read that, right? And I'm glad they added that part.

[Fred Armisen]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because I wasn't sure.

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah, it's real.

[Stephen Colbert]

So what? It's real. It's a vinyl album of 100 sound effects. Do you care to explain yourself?

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah, that's not a prop. I was thinking about those Halloween sound effect albums, then I sort of missed them. I was like, what? Yeah, the chains and what happened to those? And then I thought, oh, I should make one. Right? Not just haunted stuff, but I should just keep going. And so I just went to a couple recording studios and I recorded sounds like bottles breaking, doors closing. Yeah. Some music ones, like walking through a guitar center.

[Stephen Colbert]

Some people bring a clip. Yeah, some people bring a clip, like, of a TV show or a movie. You actually brought some sound effects. And these are what they are sort of in the order we have them. Do you want to say what they are and then we hear them.

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah, that sounds right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Fred Armisen]

Or do you want to play it first? No, no, no. Let's say what they are. So then you get a picture of what's happening.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Fred Armisen]

So.

[Stephen Colbert]

And we also have a lower. Maybe we put up the. We have a lower third of what it is, too.

[Fred Armisen]

Ooh, nice.

[Stephen Colbert]

Ooh, let's try the first one without the lower third. First one without the lower third. We want to read.

[Fred Armisen]

That one is Romanian rock audience stomping for an encore. Right. So like, at a rock show, as opposed.

[Stephen Colbert]

Can I read this?

[Fred Armisen]

Yes. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Music venue employee kicking everyone out while throwing away bottles.

[Fred Armisen]

If you don't have an orange wristband, please leave. If you're not gonna send me worth of proof, please leave. We are close. Out you go. You know that sound, right?

[Stephen Colbert]

We are done. This is so useful. I can see putting this album on at a party.

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah, it's a party album.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Do you want to do one or two more?

[Fred Armisen]

This is a car door closing, but a car rental, because you're sort of gentle with car rentals. You don't know it's not your car.

[Stephen Colbert]

So you're like, exactly.

[Fred Armisen]

So this is what this is like. You don't know the door's locked. You're sort of testing it out kind of.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, this is my favorite. And maybe let's End on this one. This is my favorite sparsely attended show. Encore. Was someone shouting, where's Jim?

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Where'S Jim?

[Fred Armisen]

You know, there's always someone in the.

[Stephen Colbert]

Audience saying, is this available now?

[Fred Armisen]

September. September.

[Stephen Colbert]

In a couple months, they have in September.

[Fred Armisen]

Yes, September.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's available in September. Make a great present. Make a great Christmas present.

[Fred Armisen]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Make a great Halloween present, actually.

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah. That's where it lives.

[Stephen Colbert]

Exactly. Play that. No kids would come to your door.

[Fred Armisen]

No.

[Stephen Colbert]

That would really freak them out.

[Fred Armisen]

Yes. Car doors.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, so you're now starring in the hit Netflix show, as I said, Wednesday.

[Fred Armisen]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

And you return tomorrow for its second season. You are playing the beloved. Beloved character of Uncle Fester. Incredible. I mean, let me ask you something. Is like, I never thought of the Addams Family as having, like, backstories. They're just. The Addams Family.

[Fred Armisen]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

How do you prep for such a mysterious character?

[Fred Armisen]

I really did do this on my phone. I watched the original TV show with Jackie Coogan. Sure, sure. And I just, like, watched his expressions, just to get into it and get the voice and everything. And Christopher Lloyd also did the character. So I had some of that in there. But I tried to just sort of honor the tradition of the role. I just wanted to deliver on it. So I'd watch a bit of that and just kind of. Okay. All right.

[Stephen Colbert]

And who is Fester to you? What do you like about Fester?

[Fred Armisen]

I like that he's got, like, all these passports. He just sort of travels everywhere, and he's like. And he's always giggling like he's laughing at all the mischief that he's up to. There's like. He's enjoying life in the underground.

[Stephen Colbert]

It implies a rich history.

[Fred Armisen]

Yes, yes. But that he's got some enjoyment of it. He's got Glee.

[Stephen Colbert]

Speaking of enjoying, we were talking before. I was talking with Lewis before, when we were in rehearsal about, you know, everybody knows you as this great comedian. Not everybody knows that you're a really good drummer. And I'm just curious. I'm just curious. Would you rather, like someone said, proof it. Prove it?

[Fred Armisen]

Would you like. No, we did not bring her in. Oh, my Madness.

[Stephen Colbert]

We didn't play.

[Fred Armisen]

We didn't want.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wait, you don't have to. I'm not trying to.

[Fred Armisen]

I'll do it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Go on. Season 2 of Wednesday premieres tomorrow on Netflix. Fred Armisen. He's gonna take us out. We'll be right back with J.B. pritzker. Fre. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Fred Armisen]

This is what I do.

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[Fred Armisen]

Bon appetit.

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[Fred Armisen]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Fred Armisen]

You say in hip hop went worldwide from right here.

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Fred Armisen]

I would have never imagined that hip.

[Stephen Colbert]

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