Fred Armisen Stars in Official Video for George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord”

Fred Armisen has a sweet new project…

It only took 50 years, but George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” finally has its first official video, with a special appearance by the 55-year-old half-Venezuelan American actor/comedian/musician.

Fred ArmisenIn the star-packed effort directed by Lance Bangs and executive produced by Harrison’s son Dhani Harrison with David Zonshine, the new “My Sweet Lord” video stars Armisen and Vanessa Bayer as “metaphysical special agents” searching for something that can’t be seen. Sending them on the mission: Star Wars’ Mark Hamill himself.

With seemingly most of Hollywood and New York celebrities showing up for cameos, the video includes appearances by Darren Criss, Jon Hamm, Rosanna Arquette, Joe Walsh, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Reggie Watts, Moshe Kasher, Natasha Leggero, Patton Oswalt, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, Garfunkel and Oates (Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome), Taika Waititi, Shepard Fairey, Aimee Mullins, Rupert Friend and Harrison’s wife Olivia Harrison and their son Dhani.

Harrison’s former bandmates Ringo Starr and Jeff Lynne also appear

“Making this was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life,” said director Bangs in a statement. “The approach was to represent the song visually while these agents and inspectors kept missing the metaphysical wonder around them. Images are choreographed to the sounds of vocal melodies, guitar strums, drum patterns, chord changes.

“George threaded a sense of humor through all of his videos, so we kept that spirit and filled the cast with friends and admirers of his music, many coming from the current comedy landscape. I tracked down vintage prime lenses from some of the films George’s HandMade Films had produced, and I hope that viewers can feel a sense of wonder and searching while they watch it, and that the song continues to add to all of our lives.”

The video for “My Sweet Lord” features the new 2020 mix of the song mixed by engineer Paul Hicks released August 6 for the 50th anniversary editions of Harrison’s All Things Must Pass.

Armisen to Participate in Comedy Central & Superfly’s “Colossal Clusterfest”

Fred Armisen is preparing for a colossal cluster

The 50-year-old half-Venezuelan American actor/comedian will take part in Colossal Clusterfest, Comedy Central and Superfly’s comedy event.

Fred Armisen

It’s slated to run June 2-4 at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza and Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, culminating with a live Comedy Central special.

Colossal Clusterfest aims to do for the icons of Millennial comedy what Burning Man and Bonnaroo have done for music and other contemporary art happenings: Bring folks together for a paid communal experience featuring a wide range of programming, tons of food and ancillary experiences that will promote diversity and, not coincidentally, their brands.

In addition to Armisen, the inaugural lineup includes Sarah Silverman & Friends, Ice Cube, Hannibal Buress, Tig Notaro, Pete Davidson, Natasha Leggero, Tegan and Sara, Chromeo, Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, Bob Odenkirk, Vince Staples, Chris Hardwick, Reggie Watts, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Princess featuring Maya Rudolph, and Gretchen Lieberum. The full lineup is available at http://www.clusterfest.com.

“For a long time we’ve been really looking at the festival space,” Comedy Central president Kent Alterman said, discussing plans for the event at Superfly’s Midtown New York office. “It’s a great opportunity to connect directly with our fans and utilize the talent that is part of the fabric of what we do on a daily basis.

“We’ve had experience with comedy festivals in different regards – those festivals are always very fractured experiences that are all over town,” Alterman added. “Several years ago we got to know these guys at Superfly by going to Bonnaroo [and] Outside Lands, and those festivals are just complete holistic experiences that bring people together, where everything is happening in this almost communal atmosphere.”

The festival includes interactive attractions featuring three iconic comedy shows: Comedy Central’s South Park, FXX’s It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Seinfeld. It will also incorporate musical performances and collaborations between musicians and comedians across five indoor and outdoor stages.

“Music is in our DNA,” said Superfly co-founder Jonathan Mayers. “And we’ve always had comedy as an ingredient at Bonnaroo and Outside Lands.” Mayers said that San Francisco was chosen as the site of the new festival because of Superfly’s decade-long experience presenting Outside Lands in the city’s Golden Gate Park.

On June 4, as the festival comes to a close, Comedy Central will present a live 90-minute on-air special hosted by @midnight’s Chris Hardwick and will feature a team of on-the-ground comedian correspondents, taped performances, collaborations, highlights, interviews and behind-the- scenes segments from the Colossal Clusterfest weekend, as well as live wrap-arounds from the last day.

“Comedy has become such a huge part of the Millennial audience lives, in terms of how they identify themselves,” Alterman said. “In our generation growing up it was all about music…comedy over the last decade or so overtook music.”

Plaza to Star in Vimeo on Demand Comedy Special “Crash Test”

Life’s a crash for Aubrey Plaza

The 30-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/comedian has been cast in Paramount Digital Entertainment’s new comedy special Crash Test, which will be available exclusively through Vimeo on Demand on August 18.

Aubrey Plaza

Crash Test is adapted from the UCB show of the same name from Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel and takes place on a moving bus traveling throughout Los Angeles, with improvised stand-up at stops, a comedic “tour” of celebrity homes, and more.

In addition to Plaza, the special will feature appearances by Aziz Ansari, Rob Corddry, Natasha Leggero, Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant, and Jack McBrayer, along with musical guest Earl Sweatshirt from hip hop collective Odd Future.

Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld and Mike Rosenstein of Red Hour are executive producing the special, which will be available for $3.99.

It’s the latest entry into the digital space for Paramount. Recent PDE comedy events include Resident Advisors, The Hotwives of Orlando, and Burning Love, as well as the upcoming The Hotwives of Las Vegas.

Trailer Released for Sanz’s Comedy “A Better You”

Horatio Sanz isn’t afraid to pull the “I don’t speak English” card… Well, at least the character he plays in his latest film.

The trailer has been released for Matt Walsh’s second directorial comedy A Better You, which features the 45-year-old Chilean actor and former Saturday Night Live cast member.

Horatio Sanz  in A Better You

Sanz appears as Hugo in the film, which follows Dr. Ron (Brian Huskey), a Hollywood quack hypnotherapist.

The only thing worse than Dr. Ron’s methods are his disrespectful patients who loiter around the neighborhood as seen in this clip.

The film, which was co-written by Huskey and Walsh, made its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Joe Lo Truglio, Erinn Hayes, Rob Huebel, Morgan Walsh, Natasha Leggero, Reid Scott and Mo Gaffney also star.