David Byrne Reviews Fred Armisen’s Spot-On Impression of Him
In news that will delight Documentary Now! fans, David Byrne has apparently seen Fred Armisen’s impersonation of him—and fortunately for Armisen, the Talking Heads frontman is a fan!
When Late Night host and Documentary Now! co-creator Seth Meyers welcomed Byrne to his show to discuss his new Broadway musical Here Lies Love, he couldn’t help but bring up the time his satirical IFC series spoofed the Talking Heads doc Stop Making Sense. Apparently, however, it was not that episode that first introduced Byrne to Armisen’s impression.
In 2016, Documentary Now! debuted “Final Transmission”—a spoof of Jonathan Demme’s 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense and other concert films that starred co-creators Armisen and Bill Hader as the egotistical frontman “Lee” and the timid bassist Mark, who resents Lee for hogging the spotlight in the fictional band Test Pattern. Maya Rudolph plays Mark’s ex, now Lee’s wife, and Mountain Goats drummer and comedy writer Jon Wurster plays the band’s drummer. As Meyers noted Thursday night, the real Stop Making Sense returned to theaters with a re-release earlier this fall.