Tim And Eric at Pabst Theater
CJ Foeckler
In wake of a brain-searing five-season run of Tim And Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim kept fans waiting on their next move for months before announcing that a feature-length movie, a one-hour “Chrimbus Special,” and a massive 30-date tour were all in the works. After Tuesday’s tour stop at Pabst Theater on Tuesday, I still have no clue what “Chrimbus” is. (Heidecker and Wareheim did inform the crowd that if it didn’t keep its “Chrimbus bushes wet and trimmed,” “Winter-man” wouldn’t be leaving any presents.) My brain still feels a little out of wack, to be honest, which I suppose is the highest form of praise you can give Tim And Eric.
The surrealist comedy duo entered the stage dressed in the same Dr. Seuss nightmare ensembles they wore to an appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Kimmel back in October: blue, ultra high-waist pants, banana-yellow silk shirts, sparkling vests, and hideously fake hair, and (possibly) teeth. Tim and Eric ran through a couple of choreographed musical numbers about giving and receiving Chrimbus gifts that ended with Wareheim chasing Heidecker across the stage in a skin-colored suit adorned with patches of fake pubic hair, a fake bruised ass, and a massive stuffed phallus (with balls). After about 10 minutes of this, the pair thanked the audience, said goodbye, and walked offstage. The lights came back on and Creed starting spilling out of the house speakers for a couple minutes before the lights dimmed and Liebe Hart popped up on the video screen again to inform the crowd that it’d been faked out.
Unlike last year’s “Awesome Tour 2009,” this year’s outing didn’t feature special guests like “comedian” James Quall. The only appearances made by Awesome Show regulars (besides Neil Hamburger’s opening set) were done via pre-recorded bits on a giant screen during costume changes. One recurring segment was called “Remembering Worf,” where Hart, Quall, and Zach Galifianakis gave bullshit, shoot-interview accounts of hanging out with Lieutenant Wharf from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Galifianakis’ account involved Michael Dorn accidentally drowning his son at a party, feeling bad, and getting him his first acting role. Other videos included an ad for a new useless Cinco product called the Pasta Bear—a teddy bear stuffed with “Italian-style pasta,” with John C. Reilly’s “Dr. Steve Brule” encouraging everyone to shave off one pound of hair to leave for the “Winter-man” for Chrimbus.
Not everything was about Chrimbus this time around. The duo revived Jim and Derrick—its scathing and spot-on parody of MTV bro culture—and also came out as creepy, turtleneck-wearing new-age philosophers H. Donna Gust and Dr. Jimes Tooper. Tim and Eric also “revealed” that their upcoming feature film would be called Blues Brothers 2012 and would be about Jake and Elwood Blues becoming bug exterminators (of course, the hypothetical film is sponsored by Terminix).
The final portion of the show featured the Tim and Eric-fronted Pusswhip Banggang, which began as a fictional southern-rock band in a skit on Awesome Show. The set was a massively ironic attack on cheesy blues-rock clichés ranging from pucker-faced, pentatonic guitar solos to synchronized stage moves to hilarious crowd-pandering. “Am I in Milwaukee?” Heidecker asked the crowd, before the band jumped into a blues shuffle and he repeatedly sang, “I’m gonna drink a Pabst Blue Ribbon and have myself a slice of cheese.” A second improvised shuffle arrived later in the set when Heidecker caught a kid talking on his phone in the front row between songs. “Are you talking on your fucking cell phone?” Heidecker shouted, before wrestling the phone out of the kid’s hand and destroying him for an entire song, singing things like, “Respect me when I’m performing! What kind of douchebag stands in the front and talks on his phone?”
After Pusswhip Banggang wrapped up, the duo reemerged one final time to thank the audience and bring a few of the diehards that dressed up as characters from the show onstage for a costume contest. After “Bloody Nips” appropriately won a new T-shirt, Wareheim hugged the contestants and the duo walked offstage. “I’m gonna come out and hug all of you. Not really, but I wish I could.” Wareheim declared.
