It was a comedy and indie-rock fan's wet dream last night at the Museum of Natural History, the scene of the epic IFC-hosted Portlandia season two premiere. Several hundred attendees gathered in a large screening room to watch two insane and amazing episodes -- featuring, among others, our current cover gal Kristen Wiig as a
crazed kid-/cat-napper named Gathy. After watching the episodes, we made our way upstairs to a post-screening cocktail party, held in a massive room littered with set pieces from the show, including a sign for "Women and Women First," the show's famous feminist bookstore, and "random chairs" (a joke that won't make sense to those who haven't seen any of the new episodes). After taking our pic in front of the "Women and Women First" sign, It was time for some celebrity spotting/stalking. First we started with the musicians: Joanna Newsom, Annie Clark (of St. Vincent), Thomas Bartlett (of Doveman), Dave Longstreth and Amber Coffman (of Dirty Projectors), Nick Zinner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Rostam Batmanglij (of Vampire Weekend), Janet Weiss (of Wild Flag) and Eleanor Friedberger (of the Fiery Furnaces). Then it was onto (as Mr. Mickey would say) a "veritable pupu platter" of actors and comedians: Carrie Brownstein, Fred Armisen, Lorne Michaels, The Entire Cast of SNL (including Jason Sudeikis who notably wearing a North Face backpack -- he's dating Olivia Wilde, he can do whatever he wants), Reggie Watts, Mike Birbiglia, Amber Tamblyn, David Cross, Jeff Goldblum, Ben Stiller, Todd Barry, Julie Klausner, Tom Scharpling and Jon Glaser. Also, Connie Britton from Friday Night Lights was there! We were too busy drooling over all these bold-faceders that we didn't notice some of the shenanigans taking place around us. Luckily, PAPER's Alex Scordelis kept it together, and noted that:
Neil Rosen of NY1 cornered Vanessa Bayer!
Janet Weiss, Wild Flag drummer, remembered the time she did a phone interview with PAPERMAG while vacuuming.
Lorne Michaels admired the Portlandia artwork on the walls with Andy Samberg.
Bust editor Emily Rems remembered that she read PAPER as a kid growing up and dreamed of moving to NYC.
Jeff Goldblum smooched a hot blond near the coat check after the screening.
A fun evening was had by all. We left with some Portland beer, a very exciting and rare Joanna-Newsom-with-Andy-Samberg sighting, and a strong urge to pickle something.
Portlandia premieres tonight on the IFC Channel.
Photos from Patrick McMullan.
Neil Rosen of NY1 cornered Vanessa Bayer!
Janet Weiss, Wild Flag drummer, remembered the time she did a phone interview with PAPERMAG while vacuuming.
Lorne Michaels admired the Portlandia artwork on the walls with Andy Samberg.
Bust editor Emily Rems remembered that she read PAPER as a kid growing up and dreamed of moving to NYC.
Jeff Goldblum smooched a hot blond near the coat check after the screening.
A fun evening was had by all. We left with some Portland beer, a very exciting and rare Joanna-Newsom-with-Andy-Samberg sighting, and a strong urge to pickle something.
Portlandia premieres tonight on the IFC Channel.
Photos from Patrick McMullan.
