PORTLANDIA: The dream of the '90s is alive!

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PORTLANDIA: The dream of the '90s is alive!

POSTED: Thursday, February 17, 2011, 6:00 PM

Filed Under: Critical Mass | TV

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Fred Armisen and Sleater Kinney co-frontwoman Carrie Brownstein's situational sketch comedy show is so much more than a bunch of post-Jeff Foxworthy "You might be a hipster if..." jokes strung together. Although, if that's all it were, it would still be funny because, after all, our culture is certainly prime for a little good-natured joshing towards the dominant personality continuum of the '10s. The success of Stuff White People Like has certainly shown us that the average 28-year-old white Obama voter is a stereotype rife with intricately consistent patterns. And since they have more momentum and unity than ever, it's time to tap in for some satire. But Portlandia is more than all that, and works as great sketch comedy even if you've been living on a military base in the Middle East for the last decade or have never seen a Life is Good sticker, craft brew-pub or ultimate frisbee. The characters deal with such absurdly exaggerated pre-occupations that the humor exists in two realms at once: the satire realm and the absurdist realm (note: I've never been to Portland, but I pray to the goddesses that this is the case).

Jason Sudeikis guest stars in a sketch

Playing an array of characters from themselves to adult hide-and-seek league players, Armisen and Brownstein traverse the bicycle-flush landscape of vegan-friendly music-snobbery. They both play members of the opposite sex during the show sometimes simultaneously, which is ridiculous enough to be enjoyable despite the harsh fact that they both make brutal transvestites. They take trips such as getting up from a restaurant to visit the nearby free-range farm of the chicken they're considering eating for dinner, as well as searching for Porlandia's mayor who they find playing bass with a roots-reggae band. Produced by Lorne Michaels and directed by SNL digital short-maker Jonathan Krisel (who also directed the seminal [Philly-bred] adult swim shows Tom Goes to the Mayor and Tim & Eric Awesome Show), Portlandia utilizes trippy editing to bolster its comic rhythm and create absurdist atmospheres. Frequent guest appearances are made by Kyle MacLachlan and Funny People/Parks & Rec darling Aubrey Plaza. I was happy to find that Brownstein really backs up her indie-cred with outstanding sketch acting, including but not limited to superb comic timing and a bevy of nuanced faces from deadpan to bitchy to seemingly all-encapsulating feminism. Portlandia should be poised to be a flagship show for IFC. It airs Fridays at 10:30 p.m., but if you don't have the Independent Film Channel (guilty!), do what I did and check it out free on Comcast On Demand. In the meantime, lets get you started with a sketch...

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