As he’s proved on SNL, Portlandia, and elsewhere, Fred Armisen is as funny as he is musical. The best example of that versatility is his punk-rock pastiche-character Ian Rubbish, who rose to obscurity in the late ’70s along with the other titans of British punk, The Sex Pistols and The Clash. In a new video called “The Clash: The Last Gang in Town” (released today on Funny or Die), Rubbish shares hilarious stories of the glory days.
Between reminiscing about the punk explosion (noting that The Clash were influenced by him), Rubbish spends some quality time with Mick Jones and Paul Simonon at Electric Lady Studios, interviewing the duo and even squeezing in a jam session of Rubbish’s classic hit “Hey Policeman.”
Armisen is a huge Clash fan. According to a press release, he first saw the band play The Pier in New York City on September 2nd, 1982 (and later as an audience member at an SNL taping that October).
Check out the video below:
