Eric Wareheim celebrates 10 years of ‘Awesome Show’

Half of surrealist comedy duo Tim and Eric reflects on a legacy of horror and glee

On Feb. 11, 2007, the first episode of “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” aired on Adult Swim, and the show’s nightmarish distillation of rampant consumerism, public access television and culture’s awkward underbelly became a cult hit. In the decade since, creators Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim have broadened their influence through their follow-up show “Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories” in addition to personal projects such as Heidecker’s “On Cinema” and Wareheim’s role on Aziz Ansari’s Netflix comedy “Master of None.”

This Fri., July 28, Tim and Eric will be celebrating “Awesome Show“‘s 10th anniversary with a live performance in Atlanta every bit as absurd and hallucinatory as the show. Wareheim stopped by to chat about the awkward horror behind their aesthetic, going to Onyx with T-Pain and what “Awesome Show” feels like a decade later.

How has it been performing “Awesome Show” material after a decade?

Tim and I had talked about it for many years. We were always like: “Are we too old to get into these spandex costumes, dancing around like kids?” We had kind of a revelation this year, realizing it was 10 years later, and we were like: “Let’s do this. Let’s get back out there.” Most people know us from that show and “Bedtime Stories” and “Master of None” now. But I think our core fans consider “Awesome Show” to be the first thing that was powerful to them.

Considering who our president is, do you ever feel that a decade later your satire has become a reality?

Tim and I were talking about this yesterday with the way Trump looks. He looks like a character from “Awesome Show” with his crazy hair and the way he handles himself and the way he purses his lips. It’s a full exaggeration that we were satirizing 10 years ago with the way things were being commercialized. What’s scariest is when corporations take our style and use it. The ad guys grew up liking our shit, and now they’re promoting whatever, Mountain Dew, and they’re using tricks they learned from our comedy show.

Do you ever find yourself reacting to the way your style has been co-opted?

That’s why we made “Bedtime Stories.” We felt we made five years of “Awesome Show,” and we never wanted to be like “Saturday Night Live,” like repeating characters to death until they become not funny. So we switched to this horror comedy we’re doing right now with “Bedtime Stories” as a statement of another thing we could do.

Do you have any particular influence who exemplified that blend of humor and horror?

Well, “Mr. Show” was our favorite show and they were more topical, but they would dive into some dark personalities. We also liked directors like Lars Von Trier, who bring nightmares out through different media, which is where we came from. When we made our first show, we weren’t TV makers. We made video art for ourselves. We always gravitated toward the dark sides even though we are very cheery. You see all the gross things on TV and those little moments are the stuff we bring to life because it’s funny and very disturbing.

Are there any personal experiences that inspired the “Awesome Show” aesthetic?

There is this one story from when I was a bar mitzvah videographer. One time, this mom passed out, and she fell on her face, broke her nose, and blood was streaming out of her nose. There was chaos that happened around that event with how the mom was like, “I don’t care I’m still going to the bar mitzvah,” and she still did the camera lighting with the blood coming out of her nose. It was crazy. And I’m filming this thinking that I’m watching a fucking nightmare unfold. People have so much pressure under these situations, and those moments are what I’m drawn to.

People typically portray “Awesome Show” as this drugged-out thing, but it feels like you guys expose an underlying authenticity that people mask.

That is the exact thing we’re doing. We don’t mind that people get high and watch our stuff, but we never get high when we perform. Some of the abstraction and psychedelic stuff is sort of a response to the way we see the world, which is fucking chaotic and noisy and messy and dirty. That’s our way of communicating that. It’s not like, “Oh, let’s just freak out now.” We’re really serious about it.

What have your experiences been working in Atlanta?

Thank god Adult Swim is in Atlanta, because everyone that works there is not into the entertainment business like in L.A. They think about things in a totally different way. Sometimes Adult Swim Vice President Mike Lazzo can be like: “Fuck it, just try it. Let’s put it on TV. Who gives a damn?” So that attitude is very much like us and our friends, in Atlanta have that vibe. Last time I was in Atlanta T-Pain took me to Onyx and changed my life.

I love T-Pain, and he wanted me to direct one of his music videos. So he takes me to Onyx, and I’m the only white guy in there, 6 feet 7 inches, and sticking out like a sore thumb. He takes me to his VIP area, and he literally puts on a booty show for me. His wife was there, and his wife’s friends all worked there, and they did this crazy booty performance and then right when I was in heaven he gave me some of his chicken wings. They make them just for him. And I took a bite of that chicken wing, and I melted into the ground. And then T-Pain took a picture with me, and it’s one of my prized possessions. To me, that’s Atlanta.

Tim and Eric: 10th Anniversary Awesome Tour. Sold out. 6 and 9 p.m. Fri., July 28. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave. N.E. www.variety-playhouse.com.






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