Most of us think that we can do accents really well. At one point in time I really felt that I could do an amazing Russian accent, but the reality was that I could simply say the word “vodka” in a vaguely-Russian sounding manner, but every word I said around it sounded like gibberish. I’ve met some people who actually speak Russian and sad to say, my accent was trash. Then again, I’m not Fred Armisen and I’m not taking on a wide range of characters to entertain people for a living. It’s… for the best.
If there ever was a place for the SNL-alum and one of the crazy minds behind Portlandia to flex his accented muscles, it would be sitting on a chair on the set of CONAN with Conan O’Brien. Conan was prepared to put Armisen to the test and see if he really could tackle any accent in the world like he was rumored to. The results? See for yourself. They are pretty damned impressive. What did he tackle?
- Minsk, Belarus — Yeah, this blows my crappy Russian accent away, that’s for damned sure. He even busted out a Moscow accent to show how different they were. Whoa.
- Hamburg, Germany — Once again, seems pretty good. He pulled out an accent from Munich to show the difference.
- Fargo, North Dakota — Look, thanks to my wife I’ve met a bunch of people from the Dakotas. My god, he nails it.
- Jamaica — Well, you can’t win ’em all, can you, Fred?
Conan seemed pretty stoked to be able to stump Armisen on one of his specialties. Was he really stumped or was he just cracking up, though? That’s the real question. Sitting next to Conan and Andy just seems like a tough situation not to be laughing in.
