“It’s not a joke. This is real,” said Fred Armisen last night, gazing upwards at a photo of what the audience thought was Armisen himself. As part of their sold-out promotional tour for IFC’s cult hit Portlandia, Armisen and comedy partner Carrie Brownstein created a traveling variety show that included a slide show presentation of personal photos. On screen above him at the 9:30 Club was a black-and-white photo of a young man who bore an uncanny resemblance to Armisen, splayed hands crossed, framing his face. “This is my grandfather,” he explained. “He was a famous Japanese choreographer; this was a publicity photo.” As the audience remained mostly stunned by this revelation, he seemed frustrated and prompted the next slide to appear.

A live variety show of this kind is a natural fit for two career musicians who also act (Armisen is a long-time cast member of Saturday Night Live). The show bounced from banter between the pair to talking and playing live songs with special guests, to a slide show presentation to never-before-seen outtakes from Season 2 of Portlandia. Brownstein and Armisen are of the indie-rock set that honed their performing chops with their bands in the 90s, and so guests on the TV show skew towards musicians making bit cameos in the dialogue. Last night’s performance featured mostly musical guests. Perhaps this was an act of mercy, as the one musician-as-guest, Ian Svenonius, did not play an instrument but bantered for far too long with the pair. They were joined on guitar and keyboards by another two-quarters of Brownstein’s Wild Flag, Rebecca Cole and D.C. native Mary Timony, and touring companion Eleanor Freidberger of Fiery Furnaces.

The audience Q&A towards the end of the performance was the most illuminating, not because of answers revealed, but what the questions revealed about the audience. “What was with that Sparkle Pony lady?” asked one man in attendance. “Yeah, who was that?” called out audience members. “Who was that?” Armisen and Brownstein asked, incredulously. The broad appeal of the visual humor of the TV show brought the audience to the 9:30 Club, but it would appear many would not recognize Jenny Conlee of the Decemberists if she beat them over the head with a miniature horse.

“Why does it never rain in Portland on Portlandia?” asked someone else. “Well,” said Brownstein, “Portlandia is an idealized version of a real city. It can never rain in Portlandia.” The performance was a real show, a live act that appeared quickly conceived but derived from good intentions and a strong body of work together as ThunderAnt. The show was good. Was it better than any single episode of Portlandia? Not really. The novelty of the surprise guests wore off quickly when they weren’t utilized in the funny ways they are on the actual show. Some jokes fell flat and some transitions were stilted in the live context, in a way we would never see on screen.

But as Armisen said after Brownstein revealed he required a stunt double for his scenes playing an indignant cyclist, “That’s Hollywood.”