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  Fred and Carrie in a real record store for Portlandia's season 2 skit 'Wanna Come to my DJ Night?' Everyone’s favorite TV show poking fun at our hometown, Portlandia, is gearing up for a second season (a mere 3 weeks away) on IFC and the marketing has just begun. They say the more likes they get on their Facebook page the more tidbits they’ll pre-release. Normally I’m patient enough not to care (and I’m a “fan” already anyway) but seeing as the next clip in the rotation has the nerdgasm-worthy title The Full Motherfracking Portlandia BattleStar episode I’m willing to give in to the hype.
But most of you are probably not quite the geek that I am and the internet is an impatient world, so you’ll want to see the clips already released below for Wanna Come to my DJ Night and My Dog Survived a Tsunami, as well as the season 2 preview, which are all currently making the internet rounds. Folks in my circle are especially excited about DJ Night…Did I mention we have a DJ of the Week column. I’m not kidding. But at least I don’t have my own night!
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  New contributor Hans Ryan got a chance to sit and have a telephone conversation with Scott Thompson, the openly gay actor best known for his sketch comedy on Kids in the Hall. He discusses the inanity of his Fruit Blog, how tough it was to be gay in the 90s and how much he loves Portlandia. He is currently on tour with Kevin McDonald performing their new touring stand up show, Two Kids, One Hall. The show plays this Thurs – Sat at the Helium Comedy Club (details below).
On Being on the road with Kevin:
It’s a thrill being on the road with Kevin and his girlfriend, because they’re so madly in love that they text up to 200 times day. Two and half years and they’re still like that. They just can’t let go of each other for a second. It’s really very nice. Kevin and I don’t really fight. On stage, it’s very much like the fights that we do have, which is basically about Kevin’s passive-aggressive nature and my aggressive nature. And so what happens, because we turn it into comedy every night, there doesn’t seem to be as much need to have actual fights. The most talented thing about Kevin is his food issues. He is a vegetarian almost Vegan. He’s almost one of those Gluten People. He’s very healthy. You know, I mock veganism and vegetarianism a lot. But, with Kevin, I look at him and say “Wow it’s working for him!” It kind of bugs me, because I really wish it wasn’t working. Most comedians if you look at them are just a wreck. And it’s not just the booze and the drugs and the lifestyle, it’s those chicken fingers!
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  Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein in 'Portlandia' Well that didn’t take long. The Independent Film Channel used Valentines Day to express its love for newly running original Portlandia by announcing it would pick up the show for a second season. IFC must really be in love as this is the first time that they’ve ever agreed to a second season while the first was still running, according to senior VP of original programming Debbie DeMontreux.
Airing at 10:30 p.m. Fridays, Portlandia is averaging 235,000 viewers among adults 18-49, nearly quadruple IFC’s primetime average in a demo it has aggressively begun courting, and has built upon its lead-in, fellow original series Onion News Network.
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  The Dream of the 90s is alive in Portland Those of us that missed the special Portlandia premiere that Portland’s Hollywood Theater got this weekend may be sad, but we have this coming weekend’s television premiere to look forward to. And besides, web savvy qPDXers can watch the first episode now on Hulu (and right here below!) for 3 more days.
The early leaked opening video, Dream of the 90s, did end up being the funniest part of the first episode but it was a great first start. The sketch with SNL‘s Jason Sudeikis as a polygamous organic chicken farmer was pretty hilarious. I have faith that it will grow as we get to know our mirror town and its inhabitants.
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  In episode 2 they fall in with a cult leader played by guest star Jason Sudeikis, center. This summer the Independent Film Channel announced that it would be producing a sketch comedy show starring Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen and our own rock goddess Carrie Brownstein, called Portlandia. Now not only does it have an air date, but video clips to give us a sneak peek and Brownstein singing fantastically silly theme song.
Premiering January 21st and continuing every Friday at 10:30/9:30 central, Portlandia introduces us to ourselves, our adbsurd, PDX selves. Each episode’s character-based shorts draw viewers into “Portlandia,” the creators’ dreamy campy rendering of the town we know and love.
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  Brownstein and Armison as part of Thunderant The world’s love affair with quaint little Portland continues as the Independent Film Channel swoops up SNL’s Fred Armison and local guitar goddess Carrie Brownstein for a new show taking place in and shot locally called Portlandia.
Brownstein and Armison have been working together in a comedy project called Thunderant for awhile now parodying some very Portland-esque characters. Initially I was underwhelmed with mediocre skits lackadaisically making fun of feminist bookstores or bicycle protests, but I’m hopeful a new infusion from collaborators and writers has inspired them to grow beyond the obvious. And IFC execs wanted a cohesive setting to pull these divergent sketches together.
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