What Fred Armisen has said about Saturday Night Live

Armisen said his rude-interviewer character was based on real experiences of promoters telling his band how poorly they were doing.

“they'd always say like, oh, your group is not so good. Yeah. fugazi was here a week ago and it was very crowded and that's not so crowded today”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Fred Armisen (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 32:40

Armisen said that having toured in a band for years made his SNL salary feel enormous rather than low.

“Where some people would say, like, that's not a lot to get paid for your first year. I was like, are you kidding me? To me, it was so much money”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Fred Armisen (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 36:03

Armisen said his connection to SNL as a viewer came largely through its musical guests, which felt like a message from Lorne Michaels.

“I really connected to the B-52s and Devo and Talking Heads”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Fred Armisen (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 36:53

Armisen said he refuses to name the best or worst hosts when asked in interviews.

“And people ask it like in interviews, like who's been the worst host of best? And I always keep it”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Fred Armisen (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 44:35

Armisen said SNL is the one show he is religious about watching live.

“The thing that I'm most religious about of like actually catching is SNL”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Fred Armisen (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:25