Fred Armisen Pranked Martin Short at ‘SNL50’
John Mulaney had advance knowledge that “Paul” would be performing at SNL50, he said on a recent Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast. But which Paul — Simon or McCartney? Lorne Michaels broke a broom in half and told the two to fight it out, Mulaney joked. Of course, both Pauls got a chance to sing.
The Paul talk reminded Mulaney of a wicked prank that Fred Armisen played on Martin Short that weekend. Short had the honor of doing the goodnights at the end of the show, and he thanked everyone, including McCartney, the evening’s final musical act.
“It's big applause and all crazy,” Mulaney explained. “And then right after the credits are done, Fred runs up to Marty and he goes, ‘Dude, what did you say?’”
Don't Miss
Short had no idea what Armisen was upset about.
“You said Tony McCartney!”
“What???” exclaimed Short. “Oh my god! Damn it!”
“You said Tony McCartney!”
Short admitted he fell for the bit when he guested on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast. “He completely convinced me,” Short said. He racked his brain to remember the live moment. “Did I?”
Short told Bill Hader about his dumb mistake, who passed the news along to Armisen that Short completely bought the lie. “Fred sent me a text a couple of days ago,” Short said. “Sorry, I thought you knew that was a joke!”
“I literally thought I’d said Tony McCartney,” Short said. “The stupidest thing in the world. Tony McCartney! I wish I had said it.”
Poehler, O’Brien and Mulaney couldn’t get enough. “Such a funny joke,” giggled Poehler.
“Fantastic!” enthused O’Brien. “It’s such a good bit because I would immediately believe that. Who would lie about that?” (Spoiler alert: Fred Armisen.)
“And when you’re speaking in a setting like that, live on TV, you really do feel slightly disconnected,” said Mulaney. “It all feels like air coming out of you.”
The funniest part of the joke, to Mulaney? The alternate reality of an audience half-applauding a thank you to Tony McCartney while thinking, “Has Marty lost his mind?”
Poehler recounted several times Armisen has pulled similar pranks on her, texting her nonsensical travel information or treating her at a party like a sycophantic fan. “He’s so funny,” she said. “He loves a bit.”
“He does a million of them too,” said Short. “And every one (of them) is funny.”
