Tim And Eric Chrimbus Spectacular at the State Theatre
CJ Foeckler
Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim’s TV show, Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, relies so much on its medium—crazy editing, low-budget commercials, the weird shit that happens on cable access late at night—that even the most hardcore fans seemed wary as they filled the State Theatre last night to see the duo attempt its bonkers style live and in-person.
The fans need not have feared. The two-hour show was, for the most part, a freak-stravaganza of the same caliber they’ve come to know and love, a clever mash-up featuring new videos of beloved TAEASGJ! characters and Cinco products, homoerotic musical numbers, a satisfyingly corny “Chrimbus” plot (which continues on the duo’s Dec. 5 TV special), and performances by Tim and Eric alter egos like the douchey Jim and Derrick, and trip-rock band Pusswhip Banggang. Just as Tim and Eric get meta on television, they got meta onstage, calling on vaudevillian tropes like performers regularly claiming to “quit” and walking dramatically into the wings. (One such false ending occurred about 20 minutes into the show, when Tim and Eric took their bows, the house lights came up, and a few people left their seats, before the giant, projected head of David Liebe Hart appeared to “reboot” the show.)
One thing that didn’t translate, however, was the live audience itself. TAEASGJ! attracts a certain kind of viewer: young white males who watch the show alone at home, most likely stoned, in a reclining position. (One dude in the theater literally looked like he had just rolled off his couch—bloodshot eyes, sweatpants, and all.) It’s not a real “audience participation” crowd. Except, that is, for the bevy of young comedians in attendance, who took it upon themselves to yell loudly throughout, as if, as Tim put it, “they think they’re in the fucking show.” But in a way, even this potent awkwardness fit with the TAEASGJ! aesthetic. If, during the post-second-encore costume contest, the audience was surprised when Tim And Eric dangled free T-shirts overhead, only to yank them away to cries of “Nooo! Nooo!” and F-bombs, it shouldn’t have been. That’s Tim And Eric: mean, gross, sweaty, greasy, phlegmy, gropey, and weird.
