Since Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job premiered in 2007, the subversive sketch show from the twisted minds of anti-comedy geniuses Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim has amassed significant cult acclaim. Beyond the show’s five seasons (and counting), the Adult Swim series helped spawn an album (Awesome Record, Great Songs), a major motion picture (Tim And Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie), some successful spin-offs (Check It Out! With Steve Brule and Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories), additional acting work for its eponymous stars, and well-attended nationwide tours.
The unconventional comedy duo is in the midst of Tim And Eric’s “10 Year Anniversary Awesome Tour” to celebrate a decade of disgusting debauchery and…interesting editing. Tuesday night, the tour delighted a packed Pabst Theater with songs, sketches, and (perhaps a little too much) video during a 90-minute victory lap that celebrated 10 years of old characters, while also showing the Milwaukee theater that Tim And Eric had no intentions of stopping the show anytime soon.
Following a short-but-outstanding set by ever-present opener DJ Douggpound, Tim and Eric took the stage. Donning tuxedo jackets, top hats, and spandex shorts, the comedy team teased the revelation of Heidecker’s new character, Troi, and launched into a song about how the show has “never been better”—which, of course was immediately followed by an obstacle that put the show’s future in jeopardy.
As expected, video played a prominent part in the affair, ranging from a presentation for Heidecker’s self-service hoagie bar and a new episode of Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories that was split into three parts to function as act breaks. Though most of the audience seemed excited for the new episode, as well as the first-time airing of a special from the forthcoming sixth season of Awesome Show, it’s worth noting that at least a third of the live show consisted of pre-recorded material. That said, the video inclusions predominately paid off, and allowed worthwhile cameos from Dr. Brule, Spagget!, David Liebe Hart, the Beaver Boys, and more to fit into the limited window of time.
Multimedia reliance aside, the remainder of the show was rife with songs, dance numbers, a DobisUniversity course that included the pair shaving an audience member’s beard into a goatee, and a late-show visit from the guest of honor: Troi. Heidecker’s face-clutching character bestowed amplified versions of stand-up comedian pandering (complete with two Cheese Castle references!) before a frustrated Wareheim came out to dress his counterpart down, both verbally and literally. Finally, an underwear-clad Heidecker and a dapper Wareheim decided to set aside their differences—and the untapped earning potential of the aforementioned sandwich shop (Hoagerinie’s)—to formally announce they planned to keep the show going another 10 years.
As the satisfied sellout crowd bounced two gigantic “10 More Years Of Tim And Eric” balloons around the theater and the spinning, scantily-clad humorists high-fived and spanked themselves, the response seemed to signify that if another decade of oddity was indeed in the cards, there would be no shortage of people who’d come out to see it.