Comedy duo Tim and Eric generally drum up controversy simply because their comedy is
so bizarre, and it may not always sit well with a typical stand-up comedy fan.
But the work of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim has taken some strange turns, and their various
TV projects have made plenty of people genuinely irate for many reasons.
Here’s the untold truth of Tim & Eric.
Think Of The Children
The fifth season of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! on Adult Swim explored some pretty
dark comedic territory.
On at least one occasion, Tim and Eric got into some trouble for it.
A sketch called "Dream Cream" cast a young boy to attend a dream-sequence barbecue with
Pierre, a recurring character who's really into barbecued meat and meeting your dad.
“Hi beautiful boy.
Welcome to my dream.”
During a questionable scene, the kid eats hot dogs and turkey legs out of Pierre's hands,
which made the kid's parents very uncomfortable.
The episode only aired once before the parents complained, forcing the show to replace the
kid with an animated figure instead.
During their first Reddit AMA, Tim and Eric said that it was just easier to make the change
than to hurt anyone.
Taking Advantage
During the run of Awesome Show, the most common allegation made by viewers and critics was
that the duo took advantage of the mentally ill or intellectually disabled.
But while much of the show's comedy relies on the unusual personalities of amateur actors,
only one of their stable of repeat guests has ever said anything about not being treated
professionally.
Alien-enthusiast and puppeteer David Liebe Hart has occasionally accused Tim and Eric
of not paying him enough or not taking him on their national tours.
And those allegations were dropped pretty quickly when Hart became a regular on Tim
and Eric's Check It Out!
With Dr. Steve Brule.
“I’m afraid of puppets.”
“Well, you don’t have to be afraid of them.
My puppets are very well trained.
They won’t scare you.”
“No way Jose.”
Other strange appearances have included The Room’s Tommy Wiseau, and Robert Axelrod,
the voice of Power Rangers’ Lord Zedd.
“Two of this weeks movies to watch.
I saw a dand stranger.
I give it two kisses and three wet mouths.”
“I am Lord Zedd, emperor of all I see.
You have failed to complete the mission assigned to you.”
The unusual guest stars find themselves in pretty good company, but the duo do admit
to an unusual casting process.
They told their 2012 audience at the Sundance Film Festival,
"We dig through to the bottom of the pile [of headshots] and find them, then give them
lots of lines."
Not everyone stuck around to ask questions at Sundance, though...
Sundance Fury
It's not just parents that have been upset with Tim and Eric.
According to Entertainment Weekly, at least one-third of the audience left their 2012
Sundance screening of Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie.
Many of the remaining audience members were apparently hostile, accusing the filmmakers
of taking drugs, or genuinely trying to upset paying audiences.
Tim and Eric fired right back, however…
“Are you trying out new material for Q & A’s.”
...and the film went on to earn a respectable 38% on Rotten Tomatoes; a solid score for
a movie that was intentionally unwatchable.
“Shhhhhhrrriiiimmmmmppppp!”
“Shrimp”
Tiny Hats
Weird as they are, Tim and Eric have garnered the attention of mainstream comedy shows like
Saturday Night Live, making Will Forte, Will Ferrell, and Fred Armisen all cast members.
Because of Tim and Eric's unofficial associations with SNL, it's not too surprising that, in
2012, the long-running sketch show was accused of stealing a popular Awesome Show sketch
concerning tiny hats.
While Heidecker himself wasn't upset, he called the incident "very interesting," and said
that he looked forward to seeing the repercussions on the internet.
Go With The Flo
Even if you don't recognize Tim and Eric themselves, they do regularly work with a face you have
to recognize: Flo from Progressive Insurance.
Before she started grinning maniacally for Progressive, actress Stephanie Courtney provided
the monstrous voice of Joy Peters, the oppressive and cruel wife on their original Adult Swim
show, Tom Goes to the Mayor.
“Nice work, Idiot.”
She would also appear as a music video dancer in the same show, a casting director on Awesome
Show, and even followed the duo when they made an appearance on The Simpsons, backup
singing about food blogs during Tim and Eric's rap … which they also wrote.
(Tim and Eric Simpson's episode song playing)
Eric Dated A Much Younger Woman
Fans of 2010-era MTV may remember a two-season, faux-reality show called My Life as Liz, starring
high schooler Liz Lee as she ventured off to college from small-town Texas.
Not long after the show was dropped in 2013, 22-year old Lee was spotted just about everywhere
with 37-year old Eric Wareheim.
While the relationship didn't seem to last long, both MTV-hungry teens and Tim and Eric
devotees savagely criticized the relationship for the huge age disparity between the two.
Tim's Secret Life
It's not that Tim Heidecker is hiding any deep dark secrets (probably), but he only
recently revealed that he has a wife and child—a big surprise to his legions of fans.
While Vice made brief mention of this back in 2013, the full revelation came in the lyrics
of his most recent album, In Glendale, a serious soft-rock album about his life in California.
Previous Heidecker albums have been exclusively about bodily excretions, Herman Cain campaign
songs, or parodies of basically everything else, so In Glendale's honesty came as a shock.
Many fans still aren't sure about what it all means, especially since Heidecker usually
maintains an Andy Kaufman-like wall of inauthenticity about him.
Tim Was Stabbed
The only other time that Heidecker has been truly and transparently honest about his actual
life was when he was almost killed in 2006.
In both his now-defunct personal blog, and a later live storytelling session, Tim mapped
out the deadly assault.
The attack was made by a neighbor's son who was evidently high on PCP, and included some
pretty gory photos of where he was knifed twice in the shoulder.
“Umm, I have to this day no memory of the actual impact of the knife which is kind of
a fascinating thing to me, that, um, I have no, you know, the the adrenaline running through
my, through my veins, uh, as I’m being, as I’m running up fountain I think prevented
any feeling of pain.”
After being stabbed and making a sprint through the streets, Heidecker ran into a bar for
assistance, where the assailant was tackled by a group of patrons.
“The real Heidecker can never die because he is a child.
Who is this?
He is gonna be alive.
This is just a crank.”
The Mystery Of Dr. Brule
“Hey I’m Dr. Steve Brule with some of the Brules Rules.
Does your milk taste sour when you take a sip of it?
Check the expiration date dummy.”
One of the duo's most popular characters is Dr. Steve Brule, played by John C. Reilly.
The good doctor is so popular, even viewers who despise Tim and Eric can appreciate Brule's
off-kilter exploration of modern life.
“Ham”
“H, the letter of A, bunch of other letters S S S S P P P P, the end.”
After many appearances on Awesome Show, Dr. Brule got a spinoff and was invited to do
a ton of alt-comedy interviews. The only problem is that Reilly outright refuses to answer
any questions about the character, instead representing himself as an acquaintance of
Brule, in order to maintain the goofy mystery about Steve.
“John that is clearly you. No, he was wearing glasses, Conan.”
We'll probably never know the influences that helped create the character, and Reilly's
refusal to disclose a single idea makes him that much stranger.
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