Sign up for The Believer’s mailing list and get free essays, comics, interviews, and more, right in your inbox. “THE NOTION THAT WE WERE RAISED BY FUNNY WOLVES OBVIOUSLY ISN’T TRUE.”. You’re just inundated with them in L.A.! It’s a better fit. The difference is we didn’t come up through an established comedy group, such as Second City or the Groundlings or the Upright Citizens Brigade. He made his first appearance on the season 1 episode Salame. If we were going to parody, say, a commercial for a local car dealership, we’d want to hire a real person who would just read what we told him to read. Always. Why are they performing this? There’s a real person up on that stage; it’s not an actor in front of the camera. He doesn’t stick out as the biggest part in that movie. When it comes to making promos and DVDs and commercials, there’s certainly a place we go where we’re mocking this modern form of oversaturated screaming at you. Why are they shooting this? Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim want you to know they're not high. 15 Snaps. Tim: It depends what the project is. So we generally sometimes hear from that fringe category that can be very obsessive, and then also very negative, because that’s the type of person they are. That’s the way we approach most sketches. We’re here to talk about something that we think is important, that we kind of care about or whatever. Howard Stern sometimes does this, and we don’t like how he treats his gang of crazy people. THE BELIEVER: I watched your early videos on TimAndEric.com, and what really struck me is that no matter how bizarre you acted in public, the locals never seemed to take much notice. That’s the main reason we haven’t hired a professional sketch troupe for the Awesome Show. EW: We hope so. I’m thinking in particular of your “enthusiasm” for Papa John’s pizza. Both: Right, yeah. BLVR: Woody Allen once said that the perfect length for a movie comedy is less than ninety minutes. Brody Ryan A.K.A. You can get away with anything in Philadelphia! EW: More than anything, you can see how the editing has changed with some comedy shows. Eric: 12 years and 23 years, respectively. Thumb through this week's dead-tree edition of the Scene, and you'll find an excerpt from my interview with filmmakers/comedians/weirdo luminaries Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, aka Tim and Eric. I think after time, you keep doing that, it gets a little redundant and tiresome, you know? TH: Well, insular only goes so far. The kids were barely able to put a sentence together, but they were made to sing old standards. Everyone is so desperate to be a star. For instance, we did this sketch called “Burps,” where we played ourselves in a sort of Charlie Rose–type set, talking about how one can get away with burping, as long as you burp out the words you want to say. Were you drawn to film really young, and were there some particular filmmakers — aside from Christopher Guest — who inspired you, individually and both of you? We kept doing it and kept doing it, and forty minutes later it evolved into something completely different, something that became very funny. But I have to buy the book to know what the seven steps are? And Robert Altman and Kubrick and Scorsese. It was more important that we put our show on the air; this would pay off in the long run, even if we weren’t making that much money in the short term. BLVR: What comedy shows do you currently find funny? Tim & Eric are sunburned from all the nude skiing they were doing at Sundance in Utah. I was president of the A.V. It was important to have as many people see the work as possible. BLVR: I find your material less strange than most of what’s broadcast on television: sitcoms, local TV newscasts, advertisements. BLVR: A lot of your humor is soft-edged, but certain subjects really seem to upset you: advertising, for one. We’ve had a lot of success stories. With Bedtime Stories, we were trying to do a little grander of a theme, of life itself being kind of a challenge and horrifying at times. Absolut had approached Zach, and they were basically paying all of us to make an anti-ad. We can do a thirty-second bit, whereas SNL might have to run a four-minute segment to fill up that hour and a half. When you now go out in public as your various characters—say, the smarmy show-business types LA Guyz, with their gelled hair and open shirts, or the Beaver Boys, with their skimpy bathing suits—do you receive any reaction from passersby or onlookers? Why Tim And Eric Are Voting For Donald Trump In 2016. club in high school, and I came to fall in love with that amateur style—in both the production and entertainment sense. Our faces are covered in Vaseline. with Dr. Steve Brule is an American comedy television series starring John C. Reilly as Dr. Steve Brule. That’s sort of an answer to your question. They'll appear tomorrow, Sept. 11, at OZ Arts Nashville as part of the Film:Masters series, where they'll discuss Christopher Guest's brilliant 1996 bar-setting mockumentary Waiting for Guffman. and "Check It Out! BLVR: Watching the Awesome Show reminds me of the late-night jams that would take place in New York jazz clubs in the ’50s and ’60s. I see that same sense of freedom with the actors who appear on your show. TH: We both despise advertising and marketing. Is that’s what coming up next? I’d think eleven minutes just might be the perfect length for a comedy show on television. BLVR: Were you a fan of Mr. Show when it aired on HBO, from 1995 to 1998? It was this ultimate, pure art form. It’s a great feeling. He later went on, and he had bigger parts in, like, Best in Show. There was a show I loved called Al Alberts Showcase, which was on on Saturday afternoons. The show is a spin-off of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, originating in a segment called Brule's Rules. Job Interviews. It’s a process that allows us to make changes up to the last moment—we’ve done that many times. Are there any that you like? I think we really identified with some of the really weirder, smaller elements of it. These weren’t photocopy cutouts of people purposefully acting strange. an excerpt from my interview with filmmakers/comedians/weirdo luminaries Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, aka Tim and Eric. I hope people realize we didn’t exactly invent this type of humor. The musicians felt a freedom to let loose. It was about a British guy answering questions in a really strange voice. I’d attempt to summarize them, but I don’t think there’s time. Eric: Yeah, we got tons of inspiration from the way he played the characters that were not so over-the-top, Hollywood-style comedy. TH: Probably. Real people, for better or worse—mostly worse—will always be preferable. Tim and Eric provided a few faux interview pieces with Maynard James Keenan that were used during Puscifer's 2009-2010 live tour. BLVR: Have you seen the influence of your work on other shows? Shop Tim & Eric merch, get the latest news, and browse archives of our projects and tour dates. Interview. Follow on Twitter https://twitter.com/chasewhale if you hate him, too. They asked to try a couple things and if I had a denim shirt. Most immediately, however, Tim and Eric are hitting the road behind the penultimate season of Awesome Show. But if you have the freedom to improvise and take chances then magical things can happen. Because I could see it was just this one guy making these movies, and he’s putting himself in them, and it’s just his view of the world. Like, “Well that won’t get a laugh.” and Tim and Eric Nite Live. There is no other opportunity for these people to appear on TV. He took us under his wing and gave us a lot of advice—not only about humor but about the business end. I would think that the transition to other mediums, such as movies, might be very difficult. David is known for his beliefs in extraterrestrials (known as Corrinians). Playing next. Created by college friends Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, Awesome Show is an eleven-minute deluge of sketches, songs, and other assorted routines that are perhaps odder than anything before seen on television—not including the mid- to late-career shenanigans of Dan Rather. To buy it. BLVR: Sounds similar to what your fans now say about your work. I mean, why hide behind irony? He also told us that creative control was vital. II. By Chris Branch. These are sort of sad characters that you know aren’t going to get what they want ever out of life. When you guys were on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast about a year ago, Tim, you said — and it was in the context of you guys talking about the sort of art you make — “We’re all fucked, and most things are garbage.” It seemed like you were saying that a lot of things insult the audience’s intelligence and talk down to us. It definitely felt like a more artistic film, because of the documentary style. You see more jump-cutting and video scratching. by Mike Sacks Illustration by Charles Burns. An Interview with Tim and Eric Mike Sacks. Cinedelphia interviews Eric of Tim and Eric fame. We never put ourselves on a pedestal and make ourselves look like the cool guys. TH: Not to sound too mushy, but we are also fulfilling a lot of these performers’ deepest dreams and wishes—which is to be on television. A show filled with hair snacks and too-tight shorts may not sound all that hilarious on the page. I’ve seen it on Saturday Night Live. Tim: Yeah, I liked anybody who seemed like they were telling their story and communicating their ideas as directly as possible. BLVR: How did you come to work with Bob Odenkirk, who became one of the producers of Tom Goes to the Mayor and now appears as various characters on the Awesome Show? Tim and Eric reflect on their dark comedy: ‘Life is a real nightmare’ Sam Thielman in New York. There’s a few moments — what was that guy’s name that we met in LA that has a small part in it. TH: Very much so. Tim: I have been alive for 40 years, 26 of which have been spent obsessing about all things skateboarding. Hart, full name David Nkrumah Liebe Unger Hartmann) is an actor/puppeteer on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Tim and Eric Interview 01/31/11. But the secret to Tim and Eric’s comedy is in the details. It seems like there is genuinely a lot of thought in all the projects you guys go into. Tim and Eric tell Uproxx about their new riff on multi-camera sitcoms, why they want it to last a long time, and what's keeping them busy. If you watch the video closely, the only people who seem to take notice are a young couple riding in the back of a rented horse-drawn carriage, enjoying a romantic afternoon. We loved Late Night with David Letterman; we loved Steve Martin; we loved many things. These vignettes were also included on the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Keenan's 2010 wine-making documentary Blood into Wine. We tell them to just act normal. He was not laughing, and he was very, very sincere. BLVR: It also helps that you’re down in the mud pit along with the rest of them; it’s not as if you’re lording above them with your intellect and good looks. Yes, I guess. But I think when we were out doing the Billion Dollar Movie press, we created this perception that we’re to be feared. Maybe The Kentucky Fried Movie. Our type of humor is not for everyone. And I think a shorter bit is better in the long run anyway—especially in this fast-paced world. An interview with comedians Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim about their new Adult Swim series, ‘Beef House,’ why they wanted to make a sitcom, and how they’re handling quarantine. They can't wait to cast a ballot. What's the story behind the Tim & Eric creative partnership? This is it. BLVR: Has that changed over the years? It’s pretty simple. Literally, practically every person who lives here has some sort of acting aspiration. The reason? It was riveting. The show parodies 1980s’ public-access television programs and follows Dr. … There was no irony involved. But when you’re growing up in the suburbs and you don’t have any Internet, those movies are really important. Five years ago, you would not have seen the deliberate awkwardness on that show that you see now—such as actors staring at the camera for an extended amount of time. “WHY HIDE BEHIND IRONY?” In the absurdist’s tool belt: Pizza dips VHS copies of The Al Alberts Showcase British serials Vaseline. We run digital video through the VCR to make the end-product look less crisp. ERIC WAREHEIM: [Laughing] Oh yeah! TH: Even when we were doing Tom Goes to the Mayor, from 2004 to 2006, we would bring in nonprofessional actors and record their voice-overs. For whatever reason, we both think that’s hilarious. Do you spend much time here? The Brits push the envelope far beyond what we do. And you can see that the kids are now editing differently than they used to. Eric: We tour there whenever we tour the States, and I’ve been there a couple times just to visit friends, be in the city, eat the foods, get the hot chicken, go to Robert’s. In my 15-minute chat with Tim and Eric, we discussed the influence of Guest and other filmmakers, the duo's reputation as pranksters and more. I. Bob was the only one who ever got back to us.[1]. The Believer spoke with Tim and Eric by phone, in their Absolutely Productions office in Los Angeles. Any fans of comedy duo Tim And Eric know they've had unique guest appearances on their shows over the years. And that was just great to see. Tim: And there was also like a darkness to it, and kind of a sadness. Shop Tim & Eric merch, get the latest news, and browse archives of our projects and tour dates. BLVR: The great thing about your shooting and editing style, even as early as in your first show, Tom Goes to the Mayor, is that it’s always allowed for a higher degree of error: even if you make a mistake, it’s still going to work. It wouldn’t be for someone who wanted to go see the new Rob Schneider wedding-theme film. I’m sure it’s available online, that information. TH: That was incredible. Bizarre. We have to guard against that all the time. The impetus for my chat with the duo? BLVR: I’d imagine it’s not too difficult to find these types of performers in L.A. EW: Oh, it’s so, so, so easy. Verification on that please! He is one half of the comedy team of Tim and Eric along with Eric Wareheim. When these actors come in, they more or less don’t know what the hell they’re doing. There was never any scheme, any design. In fact, it would be really lame. EW: And on the Internet. We’re just in awe of all those guys and girls in that movie. EW: Exactly. Right, all of his characters seem kind of lonely in a way that it seems like most directors would be afraid to do that, afraid to show you that. Do you feel specifically you have a lot in common with Christopher Guest, or identify with him as far as artists and filmmakers who blur the line between what’s real and what’s sort of an act? If you do the math, you’d be like — we would’ve met ’94, ’95. EW: Oh, sure. Every once in a while, Tim and I will sift through these low-end websites and pick out hundreds of amazing headshots. EW: We wanted to work with the comedian Zach Galifianakis, who we love. Eric: It’s a wonderful self-help book that we recommend to all men. Club talked to them about their fat, sweaty fans; posing for pictures during … (The show airs every Monday morning at about 12:30.) Describing Eric André's comedy ends up being a lot like watching the opening credits for his show: a confused jumble of comedy snippets cobbled together into a crazy quilt. This was also an idea you couldn’t just stumble upon by sitting in front of your computer and writing. Sometimes it’s funny, but mostly it just feels exploitative to us. It was about a hot-air balloon company run by one woman [played by Kristen Wiig]. how long have you been on planet earth? Tim and I still have this theory that the realistic will always outdo the inauthentic. I had to try and remember what I did after watching myself on a tape. In my 15-minute chat with Tim and Eric, we discussed the influence of Guest and other filmmakers, the duo's reputation as pranksters and more. I’ll just say that they involve lots of screaming, beehive hairdos, and, in one instance, the death of parents. We hold these little contests every couple of months where viewers send us their own videos of themselves covering songs from our show. III. You can’t avoid it, and it’s always so inane. I find most of what’s on television to be very odd. Most people just experience your work and then have a busy day ahead of them. We shot a video called Humpers which consisted of the two of us running around downtown Philly in skimpy outfits, humping trees, light poles, and other objects. Sometimes we have no idea what will work or what won’t. Tim: Yeah, we’re getting into it in a couple weeks. Any podcasts interviewing Tim and/or Eric? We’re disasters. If certain ideas look too sleek and precious, they’re not as successful. All you have to do is watch one commercial, or any game show, to see what we’re doing is not such a stretch from what’s out there. Absurdist comedy—any comedy, really—does not translate well in the retelling. I saw one video on YouTube recently of a fat teenager performing a version of our “Sit on You” dance from Awesome Show. It definitely doesn’t have a happy ending. It made everything just sound better. We have a ton of influences. Tim and Eric were there watching me and at one point Eric told me what I was doing was not sexy. These guys are amazing, and I would love there was an interview somewhere, ideally free and accessible, where they talk, out-of-character, about their origins and their process for creating the show. Philadelphia’s favorite comedy duo, the always polarizing Tim and Eric, graduate to the big screen with their first feature film, Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie.. They’re willing to put themselves out there, and they’re willing to make themselves look ridiculous. Eric: Film was, for both of us, the ultimate goal. I can’t remember too many sketch movies that have really been a hit with audiences and comedy fans. ACRN interviews Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, and John C. Reilly from the shows "Tom Goes to the Mayor," "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" (Also part of the Film:Masters program will be Sandra Bernhard talking Purple Rain and The Black Keys' Patrick Carney talking Caddyshack; more on that in our Fall Guide film section.). That could be a very dramatic, serious situation. I remember first seeing it on videotape, and it was just the best sketch comedy ever. I had never seen anyone curse in a sketch before, let alone say “fuck.” That show seemed aimed directly at us, almost as if Bob and Dave had infiltrated our brains. Some of these actors want to act in a certain way, either to play up a joke or to sell a certain line—and it’s our job to tell them not to do that. Sometimes you get nice feedback and considerate feedback. Let’s just keep shooting and exploring and having fun with it. Do they think you guys are always riffing, or when you collaborate with people, do they understand that about you guys? They screamed, “Tim and Eric rule!” and then sped off. BLVR: And yet you shot three short films for the Absolut vodka website. There’s an authenticity and a sadness. Tim: Not at the TLA, ’cause that would’ve been a place to go see bands. Yeah, we just couldn’t get enough of that movie, and we watched it several times once it came out on video. We ended up using a couple of lines, but that just goes to show that once we get an idea, we don’t really need the script. In fact, a lot of ideas need to look bad to work. Woody Allen, for me, was big as a kid. Are you guys working on more Check It Out? We emerged on our own terms, in our own way. And, in a creative sense, they usually bite off more than they can chew. It’s kind of like what The Office based their whole show on, was this mockumentary kind of vibe, where people could just sit and improvise. Since I wasn't able to fit the full interview transcript into the print edish, see our full, uncut conversation below. TH: Terrible. Follow. Do you find that people don’t expect you to have as much of a creative process as you do? Is there much you can tell me about that? We never, ever want to seem like we’re manipulating them too much. Sketch movies are not usually successful—in the business sense, anyway. Eric: ’96. We were in the middle of a shoot the other day—it was a big, complicated shoot—and I said to one of the writers, “Give me the script for a second.” And I thought, Wow, there are actually some funny ideas in here. Even if we tried to do that, it would be impossible. Tim and Eric eventually ended up busting a gut and said that what we are going to film. He usually sings with his puppets for different reasons such as for children to stay in school, the new love … They’re in the section of Blockbuster that’s like “Staff Picks” or something like that. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim Photo: Chris Ragazzo, courtesy of IFC Salvaging Ideas By Changing Them Collaboratively, 2007 After Tom Goes to the … What you’re trying to find is the Ritz 5, I think. As soon as he found out he could be intentionally funny, he ceased to be. Tim currently hosts Office Hours, a live weekly call-in show and is set to release Fear of Death, his debut LP for Spacebomb Records. TIM HEIDECKER: The Awesome Show is one of the few shows on television where you can really just go for it—you don’t have to worry about failing. But if anybody wants to join the party, they’re welcome. 15 Snaps. If they do end up winning the parts (Eric as an FBI agent, Tim as a friend of Matt Damon’s), their characters will no doubt come across as awkward, bizarre, and extremely funny in ways that are almost impossible to describe. Tim Heidecker is a U.S. actor, comedian, musician, writer and director. An Interview with Tim and Eric [AWESOME SHOW, GREAT JOB!] We were also allowed to do anything we wanted. I told them yes and they asked me to come back tomorrow after thinking about it over night. I’m not into that idea of mean comedy. EW: I’m blown away by some of the shows that the Brits have made, especially in the last decade, like the BBC’s Look Around You, which features parodies of educational films from the ’70s and ’80s. BLVR: Why was this amateurish style riveting for you? We were talking about this the other day. Everything was so earnest and yearning and, in the end, very sad. We sent each of them early versions of Tom Goes to the Mayor. BLVR: Are you concerned that once these actors become too self-aware, they’ll stop being funny? The same can be said of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, a cult favorite on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim since early 2007. The joke was that this guy didn’t know any of the answers, but pretended he did. We’ve been there ourselves. Tim and Eric Shortened Interview. I mean, the scene where he has to ask for more money from the city council, and his perception of what he needs versus what they have is so [laughs], so opposite from each other. It’s only seven steps. I love all that shit. Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! I find that we’re constantly being treated like children, even with other forms of media. In their first two seasons, Tim and Eric have taken satirical aim at everything from local TV news to advertising to telethons, instructional videos, and—perhaps most satisfyingly—high-school talent shows. You said you guys enjoy Nashville. Off the page, maybe even less so. Tim Heidecker Chats About the Comedy Influence of ‘Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!’ and Working with Eric … You’ve produced a few fake commercials about them—one featuring a montage of you both eating “pizza dips” to Bob Seger’s “Night Moves.”. And that's 100 percent by design. Just atrocious. The official website of Tim and Eric. BLVR: One of the things I like about the Awesome Show is that even though most of these performers are quite bizarre, you don’t mock them. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, the creators of Adult Swim’s ‘Bedtime Stories,’ discuss the role of ‘Awesome Show’ ten years after its debut. There’s a new Pizza Hut commercial, speaking of pizza, with a slogan that goes something like “Get more, not less!” Or that McDonald’s campaign: “I’m lovin’ it!” What the hell is that? How long have you been on a board with wheels? We had no idea how the system worked. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim of 'Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories' explore an interesting coping mechanism to deal with Tim's recent divorce. Report. BLVR: Your philosophy sounds like the opposite of most other sketch-comedy shows, especially Saturday Night Live. We were doing a sketch for the show recently that was very rough at first. An interview with comedian Tim Heidecker about his new movie ‘Mister America’ and his thoughts on being labeled as an “anti-humorist.” I think we saw it together at the TLA [in Philadelphia]. There’s a frailty behind the madness that only becomes more evident the closer you dare look. Shit, why am I watching this? In one of the most interesting and visually bizarre interviews we've ever had on our show, the two stars of "Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job" stop by to talk a little bit about skiing, their groundbreaking new film at Sundance, and the trick to turning Hollywood's biggest stars into putty in … Interview: Tim and Eric Are Not Making Comedy For Their Moms Charles Webb 05/09/2012 "All the moments in the movie are made for us, and we didn't make this movie for our moms." Is that something you try to highlight and mock in the work that you do? with Steve Brule." And that’s really important to us. And we hope you get it and buy a couple for your friends, too. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim started making videos to entertain each other and alleviate film-school tedium, and wound up stumbling into comedy careers almost by accident. EW: [Laughing] Not very closely. It’s not so much what their characters are saying, but the vacant look in their eyes, the extended silences, their clumsy attempts at sincerity. I interviewed Tim and Eric for their movie TIM AND ERIC'S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE over three years ago and I am still asked to this very day if this interview was staged. It had to develop from something else—which was building the set and having a basic idea and then just hitting it harder and harder until the joke emerged intact. SNL did a fake commercial during an episode when Tina Fey hosted. This would be for our TV audience. Tim: Yeah, I think years ago, when we were starting out and coming up and a little younger, we just had so much energy directed at trying to be confusing and funny in every way that we were represented, if it was an interview or something. I … It just makes us cry laughing. Tim: I think that most people can appreciate it, but the people you hear from are oftentimes not the brightest bulbs. TH: We would love to pitch a sketch movie, but it’s very tough to get such a thing produced. We think, Let’s try this idea here and see where it goes. It didn’t occur to us that we could ever do anything like that, but I think it set us on a course for doing the kind of stuff we do now. We stick them in front of the camera and just experiment. We’re wearing makeup. Why not just put yourself out there? TH: And that’s why it was so important that Bob give us a lending hand. Anything we edit, whether good or bad, really works well with this style of comedy. Eric: I think we saw what Christopher Guest was doing —. What can you expect from a typical episode? BLVR: How bad, or good, was local Philly-area cable TV when you were growing up? Tim and Eric Interview. is an American sketch comedy series created by and starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, which premiered February 11, 2007 on Adult Swim and ran until May 2010. The guy that just starts screaming, “Corky!” His name escapes me. But it’s not just advertising. By Joey McGarry. Browse more videos. It was better than TV, it was better than — I guess we only had TV at that point, because there was no Internet. You know, it’s funny, because those sound like such stock answers. Did you find an authenticity with these old videotapes you couldn’t find elsewhere?