Awe Struck

Getting down with Tim and Eric


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Published: Jan 28, 2009

Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim would just be two Philadelphia expatriate multimedia-making sketch comedians if it weren't for "Tim and Eric." The lighter-voiced Tim and the deeper-sounding Eric have crafted comic video works as well as stage events ever since they started their careers in the latter '90s. But the Cartoon Network and Adult Swim have magnified the personae of "Tim and Eric" into something deliciously bizarre throughout several series — the cheesy cut-'n'-paste Tom Goes to the Mayor and the newer sketch-ier Awesome Show, Great Job! Before their new season of ASGJ! begins, the two tour the country. Oh boys ...

City Paper: Gents, the last time you were in Philly, what was the newest thing that you noticed?

Eric Wareheim: I was there for 12 days during the holidays hanging with my friends. On South Street, right in front of our beautiful TLA they removed all the trees. And they made it very pretty instead — very unnatural. They took out the trees and put in this really cool pink rubber surface.

Tim Heidecker: That sounds neat. Last time I was at TLA was for a Guided by Voices show.

EW: The pink stuff really adds to the vibe of the street.

CP: Nothing says South Street like pink rubber. Between Tom Goes to the Mayor and Awesome Show, Great Job! you’ve been on television since 2004.

TH: If you say so. I bet you’ve done more research than I would remember.

CP: What have you learned since being on television — any new language, computer skills, dance steps?

EW: We learned to let people help us. When we started our career in Philly we shot, drew, edited — did it all. When we moved to L.A. and started making our TV show we had to find other editors and collaborators to make everything great.

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CP: What were discussions with the network like — we want to drop Tom and go Awesome?

EW: We had gone as far as we could go with Tom. We loved it, though.

TH: Remember, long before Tom, we had those live-action shorts — “The Married News,” the commercials. When we got to Hollywood, we did this skit “L.A. Guys” that convinced the network that we could do something new, a sketch show our way, a big batch of weird things.

EW: It was odd how little we had to pitch the show to the network — really fortunate. Especially since it’s so hard to put our stuff down on paper and pitch unless they’re on the same wavelength … which they were with us.

CP: To be a fly on the wall.

EW: We did have a meeting where it was like … awkward. All they asked was, “It’ll be funny, right?”

TH: And it’ll have sketches? [laughs] They know us. We might not get Family Guy ratings, but I think they believe we are an important show.

CP: Important. Toot the horn.

Tim: [laughs] It’s probably because it’s so personal to us. It’s really from the hearts of Tim and Eric.

CP: Do you think any of what you’re doing is disturbing?

TH: Yeah, but it’s nothing that people can’t get over [laughs].

CP: It’s certainly more raw-looking and dangerous-sounding than SNL.

TH: That’s intentional. There’s less of a filter between us and the network so we can hand it in as is. And it goes on air. Not a lot of conscious thought. It looking and sounding so strange is just a happy byproduct of who we are, what we want to say and how we want to say it. That’s why it comes off as so twisted.

EW: It’s also that combination of us, our guests and real people that we find in Hollywood — bad actors and lousy performers. My friends in Philly saw some previews and they laughed uncontrollably and uncomfortably [at] the people we find in L.A. It’s a difficult experience this season. Watch for our “Cinco Boy” — a product where if you lose your son…

TH: … like if your son dies …

EW: … Cinco makes you a doll. Remember Peter Stormare from Fargo? He’s our pitch man. “Do you like your Cinco Boy?” he says to this mom who just got her replacement son. Very weird. Really dark. It works because we don’t lampoon.

CP: You’re playing it with a straight face. Classic comic construct.

EW: We don’t wink. Plus it looks unfamiliar. You don’t know if you’re watching family home movies or public access.

TH: Historically comedy builds on top of itself. For us to be fresh, we need to change everything. I think we’re building a layer on top of our comedy ancestors.

CP: A layer of what? Nah, don’t answer that.

Tim and Eric | Thu., Jan. 29, 9 p.m., TLA, 334 South St., sold out, 215-922-1011, livenation.com