TIM HEIDECKER Talks Contrarian Comedy, Sincerity, and Playing the Long Game

Summary

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The Adam Friedland Show

Episode: Tim Heidecker Talks Contrarian Comedy, Sincerity, and Playing the Long Game

Date: May 23, 2026

Guest: Tim Heidecker
Host: Adam Friedland

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Adam Friedland Show features a freewheeling and irreverent conversation with Tim Heidecker, celebrated comedian, filmmaker, and creator of "On Cinema" and "Office Hours." The discussion ranges widely, touching on personal history, the evolution and misreading of contrarian comedy, the balance between sincerity and irony in creative work, the joys and challenges of independent production, and the legacy of comedy outliers from Kaufman to Stern. Tim and Adam also revisit formative moments in their careers, the contours of comedy’s current landscape, and share behind-the-scenes stories about Tim’s projects, music, and collaborative process.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Histories & Early Influences

• Meeting Stories, Early Admiration, and D.C. Memories

  • Adam recounts meeting Tim after a Comedy Bang Bang live show 12 years ago, noting how starstruck he was (01:42).
  • Tim jokes about anti-smoking zeal and admits to having the occasional cigarette now (“I was a real zealot with that back [then] because I just quit ... now I sneak one every once in a while.” - 03:17).
  • Adam shares details about his ex-girlfriend's DJing lessons and their friend group—a light, self-deprecating banter sets the tone.

• On Growing Up & Early Comedy Loves

  • Tim talks about his upbringing in Allentown, PA, a monocultural Catholic environment, and his eventual exposure to diversity at Temple University (26:39).
  • He traces his comedy roots to classic acts: “From the beginning, like Abbott and Costello. ... Anything I can get my hands on. ... Weird Al. SNL, Kids in the Hall, Monty Python. Spinal Tap.” (16:01, 16:44)
  • They reflect on how broad, innovative acts like Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman became mainstream, attributing some of their success to limited media options and cultural timing (17:51, 18:49).

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2. Contrarian & Surreal Comedy in Today’s Media

• Style & Aesthetic, Cultural Impact

  • Adam jokes about accusations that Tim and Eric “stole Sarah Sherman’s whole act,” reflecting tongue-in-cheek on the cycle of comedy influence (10:43, 11:33).
  • Tim: “Sarah Sherman was doing weird cable access kind of things... She was 10 at the time... But I love Sarah. We did... some pilot for her before Lorne got his claws in her.” (11:33)
  • Tim unpacks the collaborative nature of Tim & Eric’s work and credits the group of creatives essential to their shows: “It’s really us... and like, Doug and John. Craig Kreisel, Ben Berman, Jonathan Mugar...” (30:24)

• Commercial Work & Artistic Ownership

  • Discussion of their spectrum of influence, especially on commercial aesthetics: “When you do commercials... we’re there for, like, 10% of the Zhuzh... I don’t take a lot of... ownership.” (30:00)

• On Getting Imitated

  • Tim expresses a nonchalant attitude toward imitation, noting “There are a few specific jokes that like maybe like... I’ll tell you one: Sarah Sherman is way over the line.” Followed by a friendly dig at Jimmy Fallon’s similar “jorts” sketch (33:27-33:56).

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3. Sincerity vs. Irony – The Emotional Stakes

• Venturing Into Sincere Music

  • Adam probes Tim regarding his shift from strictly comedic to sincere music, positing that “you can insulate your feelings through irony... releasing music that’s so sincere is scarier...” (52:20)
  • Tim responds: “There’s nowhere to hide... but it’s also like... music’s just better than comedy... Can you do both? Can you go back and forth?” (52:42, 52:53)
  • Tim talks about being inspired by Bob Dylan’s disregard for audience expectations: “He just did what he wanted. He zigged and zagged and... wasn’t really worried about it.” (51:41)

• Long-Term Creative Strategy

  • “I’m a lifer and I plan to live for a long time. So I’ve got some designs on how to do that...” (53:16)
  • Adam and Tim compare experiences with feeling boxed into a hit project (Come Town for Adam, Tim & Eric for Tim): “You become... absorbed into the identity of that partnership... well, who am I in that or who am I outside of that?” (69:11)

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4. Independent Production & Network Frustrations

• Shift to Independent Work

  • Tim reflects on moving away from network projects: “It was just disinterest from those people... times have changed, interests have changed... The people that were your allies... have moved on...” (44:26–45:01)

• On Cinema as Enduring Project

  • Adam: “On Cinema seems like your opus...” (45:34)
  • Tim describes the organic, improvisational process with Gregg Turkington, and the fun of collaborating with a small devoted crew: “We just shot something the other day for it... I get the giggles with that show like nothing else...” (47:21)

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5. Comedy, Audience, and Misreading

• Misunderstandings and Persona

  • Tim discusses the blurring between his real and comedic personas due to using his own name for characters: “There are people that think I’m a terrible leather jacket, right wing type, stand up comedian because I do a lot of that stuff online.” (35:09)
  • They talk about whether audiences now have less patience or capacity for the “weird stuff,” compared to past eras (35:32).

• Comedy Then and Now

  • Tim: “Comedy... When I was in the 80s and 90s, there was like 90% kind of middle of the road crap... But then like... 10% of the time Norm Macdonald would come up there or somebody like that...” (58:05)
  • On current trends: “These guys are now all like dipping into social issues and political issues and it kind of feels like... they’re becoming like Kate McKinnon SNL, but it’s the right-wing version...” (60:18)
  • Both discuss the influence of the Howard Stern show’s “Whack Pack” on their casting philosophies (60:43).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Sincerity in Creative Work (52:42)
  Tim: "There’s nowhere to hide [in sincere music]... but it’s also like, plus, music’s just better than comedy..."

• On Being Misunderstood (35:09)
  Tim: “There are people that think I’m a terrible leather jacket, right-wing type, stand up comedian because I do a lot of that stuff online.”

• On Collaborative Credit (30:24)
  "It’s really us, and like, Doug and John. Craig Kreisel, Ben Berman, Jonathan Mugar... that were doing a lot of the work as well."

• On Independent Production (50:00)
  Tim: “It’s all independently produced now. The High Network... and it’s been working. We get to make it without anybody else involved.”

• Defining Great vs. Popular Comedy (59:12, 59:27)
  Tim: “Some things are great and popular. But most things are just either popular or great. ... It’s all personal preference.”

• On Comedy’s Copycat Problem and Playing the Long Game (34:11; 34:18)
  Tim: “They did something very, very similar to our sort of kids break thing... I’m gonna do [revenge]... There’s a Bill Cosby joke... When the kid was least—he just threw a snowball at him in July. That’s what I’m going to do.”

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Important Timestamps

• Early Banter, Tim’s Anti-smoking Zeal (03:09)
  “So down to earth. You did take a cigarette out of my mouth and said that it’s for trashy people.”

• Discussion on Comedy Influence & Origins (16:01, 16:44)
  “…Abbott and Costello ... SNL, Kids in the Hall, Monty Python.”

• On Kaufman, Steve Martin, and Mainstream (17:51, 18:49)
  “Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman are very similar… My opinion is there was not that many outlets. So everybody’s watching the same thing.”

• On “Tim and Eric” Aesthetic’s Influence (30:00, 30:24)
  “When you do commercials… we’re there for, like, 10% of the Zhuzh…”

• On ‘On Cinema’ Evolution (47:21)
  “We just shot something the other day for it... I get the giggles with that show like nothing else…”

• On Sincerity and Anxiety in Creative Shifts (52:20, 52:42)
  “You can insulate your feelings through irony… releasing music that’s so sincere is scarier... There’s nowhere to hide.”

• Comedy Critique: Then Vs Now (58:05)
  “Comedy… 90% middle of the road crap… 10% of the time Norm Macdonald would come up there…”

• On Political Comedy’s Shift (60:18)
  “...they’re becoming like Kate McKinnon SNL. But it’s the right-wing version...”

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Tone & Style

The conversation is alternately earnest, sardonic, and playful—featuring long detours, affectionate ribbing, and moments of sharp meta-comedy. Both Tim and Adam reflect the sensibility of left-field, postmodern humor, veering between sincerity and self-parody, while also exposing the anxieties and satisfactions of life in comedy.

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Key Takeaways

• Tim Heidecker views his work as part of a collaborative tradition and is comfortable with both creative influence and imitation, preferring to focus on the joy of making things with friends instead of bitterness or rivalry.
• The evolution and mainstreaming of surreal, absurdist comedy is partly due to changes in the media landscape. Tim is skeptical about whether past "weird" acts could thrive in today's fractured culture.
• Shifting to sincere music was freeing but left him feeling more exposed: “There’s nowhere to hide.” Still, he’s motivated by creative pleasure and admires artists like Bob Dylan who constantly reinvent and challenge themselves.
• Since networks lost interest, Tim has been liberated by independent production, especially through “On Cinema,” which remains a joyful, evolving project free from outside interference.
• Tim is self-effacing about his impact but thoughtful about the difficulties of being understood when one’s comedic persona closely resembles one's public self.
• Both Tim and Adam are aware of generational changes in comedy’s audience, with some lament for a perceived decline in the public’s capacity to handle subversive or ambiguous art.
• Despite the end of the most intense “Tim & Eric” era, Tim signals ongoing collaboration, albeit in new and more experimental forms: “That’s all I’m going to say. This [interview] right here is part of it.” (71:09)
• The two bond over formative influences like Howard Stern and riff on pop culture nostalgia and the ethics of casting “outsider” types.

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Closing Anecdote: Jerry Lewis and Parental Discipline

Tim closes with a retelling of a famous Jerry Lewis anecdote about spanking his son, delivered both as comedic parody and commentary on changing social mores (72:31-75:09).

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For more, check out the full conversation at [The Adam Friedland Show archives].

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Transcript

[Adam Friedland]

Did you ever consider being a rings guy when you moved to Hollywood?

[Tim Heidecker]

Get a bunch of rings and stuff?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

No, no, I don't have. Do you have any tattoos?

[Adam Friedland]

No.

[Tim Heidecker]

Do you have any piercings?

[Adam Friedland]

I had an earring.

[Tim Heidecker]

Oh, you did?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. But I took it out one night.

[Tim Heidecker]

I could see a little. The remnants of it. Very embarrass.

[Adam Friedland]

Ladies and gentlemen, this next guest is a legendary comedian, director, filmmaker. He's the host of On Cinema and Office Hours. Please welcome Tim Heidecker, everyone. You too.

[Tim Heidecker]

Hey, look at you. Hey, the five guys. It's the five guys from the burger place.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, it's my friends. Yeah. We're very, very excited to have you here.

[Tim Heidecker]

Your clapper guy said as he passed me, he says, good luck.

[Adam Friedland]

He said that?

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. I thought that's.

[Adam Friedland]

He's an intern. What is he saying talking like that?

[Tim Heidecker]

Good luck.

[Adam Friedland]

He just got out of New York University, this kid. He's got a big future ahead of him. Sure. He's a good guy.

[Tim Heidecker]

Stay on his good side.

[Adam Friedland]

I feel like I impart too much WISD since Zach started and it feels. I hope it feels genuine to him.

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, good luck.

[Adam Friedland]

I guess so. Yeah. Tim, I told you this on the phone, but 12 years ago you were in DC, I was like nauseously nervous and you ended up coming back to me and my ex girlfriend's apartment. We hung out after the Comedy Bang

[Tim Heidecker]

Bang live show with James Adomian.

[Adam Friedland]

With James Adomian, who performed. I had like a DIY venue in D.C. so he performed there before.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, you told me that. I don't remember it, but it was

[Adam Friedland]

a. I don't know, I was like. I've only acted like that twice around people.

[Tim Heidecker]

Like.

[Adam Friedland]

And it was you and Dice. I was like fumbling over my words when I met him. I was like, it's him.

[Tim Heidecker]

It was an odd move for me to go to. This would have been 12 years ago to go to an apartment.

[Adam Friedland]

I was 14 years old at the time.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, see, we smoke crack. I bought you guys beer, right?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. You? Yeah. And whippets. Yeah. Yeah. No, I was living with my ex girlfriend who's at that time receiving DJing lessons from my best friend. And they are married.

[Tim Heidecker]

Cool.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Yeah, pretty good. They fell in love behind the ones and twos.

[Tim Heidecker]

So you grew up watching. You were a fan of what I was doing?

[Adam Friedland]

I was a big fan. And like, you know, I wasn't like a celebrity yet, so I didn't know how to be around.

[Tim Heidecker]

And how was I? Was I decent with you?

[Adam Friedland]

So down to earth. You did take a cigarette out of my mouth and said that it's for trashy people.

[Tim Heidecker]

I did not really. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

And you're like, promise me you won't ever smoke again.

[Tim Heidecker]

Oh, that's so funny.

[Adam Friedland]

I think I said, I promised. I promised.

[Tim Heidecker]

I was a real zealot with that back because I just quit. Yeah, yeah. I was a real staunch anti cigarette guy.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Now I sneak one every once in a while. Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

You're like a reformed. I'm at the.

[Tim Heidecker]

At the wedding or whatever. I'll have one.

[Adam Friedland]

Whose wedding?

[Tim Heidecker]

Anybody's. I go to so many weddings. I do comedy and magic at weddings

[Adam Friedland]

now just to rip six. Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Doing a lot of magic at weddings.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. I just found out that like our Indian friend from college, I wasn't close enough to get the invite, but you get to wear like the. It's like the one time you're allowed to culturally appropriate. You're the white guy at your Indian friend's wedding.

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, I'm culturally appropriating my own culture today, but it's just from a different era.

[Adam Friedland]

What is that?

[Tim Heidecker]

This is all Amazon.

[Adam Friedland]

Amazon, really?

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

I had Blake Griffin on the show and he's doing the NBA like studio team for Amazon. And I asked him if he thought that the workers were paid enough at the factories.

[Tim Heidecker]

He's doing. Oh, well, that's. I mean, please call it out when you can.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Let's be honest about our hypocrisies.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't know. Bezos is the one I respect. The one billionaire I respect. I know people lump him in with the rest, but I just like the fact that he's still a Miami guy.

[Tim Heidecker]

He's a good looking guy.

[Adam Friedland]

He just looks insane. Yeah. His girlfriend is so Miami.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. Yeah. He's real trash.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

I mean, all due respect.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't know.

[Tim Heidecker]

I wonder how much tight he's tight.

[Adam Friedland]

I should say his body is tight. He's kind of got a roguies thing, but actually like kind of more appropriate for the size.

[Tim Heidecker]

I try to. I mean, should I get big and like big and muscly, you want to

[Adam Friedland]

start going on steroids with me?

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, I start. I do go to the gym and I lift weights and stuff because they say when you get. I'm almost 50 and they say you got to do that for longevity and everything. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely no impact. Like, I don't see any. I'm still.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, I'm seeing it right now.

[Tim Heidecker]

Lumpy and fat.

[Adam Friedland]

You look phenomenal.

[Tim Heidecker]

I look sick.

[Adam Friedland]

You And, Eric, I don't want to

[Tim Heidecker]

talk about the way I look, by the way.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, network said they want you to lose £200 before we air this.

[Tim Heidecker]

Who did?

[Adam Friedland]

The network.

[Tim Heidecker]

Oh, yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

The most odd, actually. People think right now that I'm getting paid by the dnc. Like, they think that I'm the one they chose.

[Tim Heidecker]

You're a shill.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, I haven't gotten a call yet.

[Tim Heidecker]

I wish you would stick to comedy, too.

[Adam Friedland]

I would.

[Tim Heidecker]

Funny boy.

[Adam Friedland]

No, I want money at this point. I just want money at this point.

[Tim Heidecker]

Do you. Well, do you know you're not on the social. On social media?

[Adam Friedland]

I have it. Yeah. But I try not to. I've been looking. Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

I do post a lot about all sorts of stuff. And when I do, obviously, when I do post about politics, which I'm just a guy who has opinions about the world I live in.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

And people get very upset and say, you should be. You should stick to comedy. That's. I get that every. Every time. And I'm wondering if that's now just a.

[Adam Friedland]

Shut up and dribble.

[Tim Heidecker]

They're saying, yeah, yeah, if that's now just like an AI. A bot. Is that a bot? Can we figure out if they're bots? Are those people out there who really feel that way?

[Adam Friedland]

No, those are the critics. Yeah. Those are the guys at the Times. Those are smart guys that are doing that. I like his fake talk show laugh for that shit joke that I just made.

[Tim Heidecker]

Should I punch it up for you?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Tim Heidecker]

Let's do another take of my laugh.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay.

[Tim Heidecker]

Just keep it clean.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, those guys are probably college professors. Yeah. I do wonder that, though. Cause, like, I just did. News Nation with Chris Cuomo sent me the clip.

[Tim Heidecker]

I've never seen anybody so quickly send somebody else a clip of their own talk show.

[Adam Friedland]

It was the next day. It was the next day. We were talking about it. When I was there. I sent you the picture of me and Geraldo.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

You sent me a picture of you and Odin crying. I know.

[Tim Heidecker]

We're both trying to impress each other. Calm down.

[Adam Friedland]

You sent me a picture of.

[Tim Heidecker]

Like I said, we have 10 minutes.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, no, no, no. Lock the door, please.

[Tim Heidecker]

I'm just start. I'm just gonna play to my five guys. Now lock the gates.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, they're sucking up to you. And they're like. They have no respect for me. Caleb said, put on my suit in an aggressive way.

[Tim Heidecker]

Can we just step back a sec and talk about my outfit? Because I feel like I started telling you and Then we went on Amazon and we went all over the place.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Let's talk more about you. It's just an interview I lost with you. Anyway. Yeah, go. Who are you wearing?

[Tim Heidecker]

I'm here in New York for this premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and I get very uptight about what to wear to these things and all the. Everybody look. Everybody. I don't look. I have issues with, like, when I try to dress up, I look stupid, in my opinion.

[Adam Friedland]

But it's a power move to look crap.

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, when I was trying to look good. Yeah. That's the other thing. I could go in, like, a T shirt.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. And people are like, that guy's a wild card.

[Tim Heidecker]

That guy's a real maniac. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Zuckerberg style.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Big white shirt.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Fake muscle.

[Tim Heidecker]

Boxy white shirt. But then. So I looked on the Internet and looked at Tribeca Film. I just typed in Tribeca Film Festival, you know, images, and one of the first ones that came up was this Jerry Lewis picture from, like, five, ten, like, two minutes before he died. Two minutes before he died.

[Adam Friedland]

Really?

[Tim Heidecker]

The hospital, him with Robert De Niro. They must have been doing, like, a King of Comedy retrospective or something. And this was what he was wearing, essentially.

[Adam Friedland]

Really?

[Tim Heidecker]

And so I had my friend track it down and get me. I mean, I have this girl that does costumes for us, and so I'm gonna wear this on the red carpet. So this is my little.

[Adam Friedland]

Are you gonna meet Bob?

[Tim Heidecker]

Bobby D. Bobby D, Bob Dylan.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, those are the two best ones, I guess.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know. I don't know how that works. I've done that. I've been to the Tribeca Film Festival before, and he's never. He's never. I've never met him before, so I doubt him.

[Adam Friedland]

What would you say? Let's practice your first. Your opening line.

[Tim Heidecker]

Okay.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Oh, there he is.

[Adam Friedland]

Everyone does that to him all the time. Everyone does that to him all the time.

[Tim Heidecker]

I would say. Mr. De Niro, pleasure to meet you. Pass out.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, this is good.

[Tim Heidecker]

Cause he's, you know, what a guy. What an actor.

[Adam Friedland]

I've got nipples, too. Greg, can you milk? Yeah, that'd be good. He'd like that. Meet the Fockers.

[Tim Heidecker]

Imagine the moment they said, we're doing this. Their last name is Focker. No. I don't care what the fucking studio says.

[Adam Friedland]

I watched Paris Foggers.

[Tim Heidecker]

Can't say Focker. It's F, O, C, K, R. Yes, we can.

[Adam Friedland]

His name is Gaylord Fogger. You can't make Comedy anymore.

[Tim Heidecker]

No, that's just.

[Adam Friedland]

That's just. That's, you know, the freaking, you know, Democrats, I guess. Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know.

[Adam Friedland]

They took it away. I think it's the Democrat. I think it's Pelosi.

[Tim Heidecker]

He's a little cringy when he gets into the Trump stuff. De Niro, I think. Yeah. I've also heard he's not like.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, yeah, he said, fuck Trump the first.

[Tim Heidecker]

The first he gets real. He's real.

[Adam Friedland]

He said, fuck Trump. And then there are all these videos of guys on Staten island, like, smashing, like, portraits that they had in their house.

[Tim Heidecker]

I'm so mad about it.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I had a lot of respect for

[Adam Friedland]

you when I lost it. And they have, like, those posters, airbrush

[Tim Heidecker]

paintings with Pacino, De Niro, Gandolfini.

[Adam Friedland]

If I could be on one of those, that'd be incredible. Going back to you.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. Let's get back to.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay, so, like, what do you make of the common accusation that you and Eric just stole Sarah Sherman's whole act?

[Tim Heidecker]

I've never heard that one before.

[Adam Friedland]

I believe you were at the Laugh Factory. Joe Rogan brought Sarah Sherman up on stage.

[Tim Heidecker]

This was 2004.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, 2004. This was the day before Mencia. I think the Mencia one took all the headlines, but.

[Tim Heidecker]

Right.

[Adam Friedland]

The Sarah Sherman video. And then her vagina exploded. You were like, that's a good idea. We should put this on adults.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. Eric and I were club comics.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

And we were just doing kind of like airline stuff and Vegetarians are wimpy people. That was one of my big. You remember that bit I used to do? Vegetarians are wimpy people.

[Adam Friedland]

I remember Sarah Sherman doing that bit.

[Tim Heidecker]

No, no, what I'm saying is Sarah Sherman was doing weird cable access kind of things. She was 10, I think, at the time. Youngest comic at the Comic Strip. But I love Sarah. We did, and we produced some kind of. Some pilot for her before Lauren got his claws in her.

[Adam Friedland]

Lauren.

[Tim Heidecker]

That's right.

[Adam Friedland]

Lauren Boebert.

[Tim Heidecker]

Lauren Boebert, Yeah. I love pretending that he's a woman when I talk to my friends about him. You know, like this Lauren running snl. She's gotta go.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. I want to fuck the shit out of Lauren. I'm sorry. I don't know why I went there. This guy's a father. I'm like, did you read for.

[Tim Heidecker]

Do you audition for snl?

[Adam Friedland]

No. No.

[Tim Heidecker]

Okay.

[Adam Friedland]

But can I tell you something?

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

It would have been so cool. I would have bombed. Yeah. I would have gotten so nervous. I still like, have a. It is still cool.

[Tim Heidecker]

Seems like the. The evidence to me. Seems like the bar can be low, though. Like, if you're auditioning and you just have it at the moment, you're just like, I'm the ketchup guy. And then you can.

[Adam Friedland]

Is that what you did?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

That's what I did.

[Adam Friedland]

That's what you did.

[Tim Heidecker]

I got all the way up. And then, like, you had an audition for snl. It was between me and Catan.

[Adam Friedland]

Really?

[Tim Heidecker]

And he was the ketchup guy. I had the ketchup guy.

[Adam Friedland]

I just watched Corky. I watched Corky Romano recently. Yeah. Phenomenal. Is it phenomenal?

[Tim Heidecker]

He broke his neck on snl. Do you know that?

[Adam Friedland]

No, I didn't know.

[Tim Heidecker]

Chris Kattan did. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

What happened? Everyone hates him from that era, right?

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know about that.

[Adam Friedland]

He's a coke liar. He's a cocaine liar.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know about that, but. And I don't know him. But you can look it up. What is it they do? What does PBD always do? ChatGPT.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Look it up. What's your name again? Jonah. Jonah. Look it up. Look it up. Chris Kate's neck. Look it up.

[Adam Friedland]

What did he do?

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know.

[Adam Friedland]

He was doing mang.

[Tim Heidecker]

Do a pratfall. Yeah. Yeah. Died.

[Adam Friedland]

He's dead.

[Tim Heidecker]

He was killed.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, my God. I forgot how funny the other characters

[Tim Heidecker]

in that movie are, because it's like, Porky Romano.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. He has a brother whose whole character is that. He's illiterate. He doesn't know how to read. And the other one, his entire character is that he's gay, but he doesn't realize it.

[Tim Heidecker]

Oh, and it's like he's. These characters.

[Adam Friedland]

Those are. No, well, those are the. Yeah. Like, it's really just deep stuff, but incredible. But he was actually very kinetic and physical and like. Yeah, but you called him a cocaine liar, right?

[Tim Heidecker]

I did not. You did.

[Adam Friedland]

I thought that's what he did. Right.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yes, yes. He claims he broke his neck during an SNL sketch called MSNBC Investigates in May 2001. He stated that the injury almost paralyzed him and led to a struggle with drug addiction and career setbacks.

[Adam Friedland]

He did sniz. Because he broke his neck.

[Tim Heidecker]

This. Yeah, yeah. And career setbacks. This is famous. I'm sure. I mean, if you don't want to include this, because everyone knows this already, it's fine with. But I'm sure everyone knows the story about Dana Carvey shooting Master of Disguise.

[Adam Friedland]

I think it's not true.

[Tim Heidecker]

On 9, 11. And he was in that turtle costume.

[Adam Friedland]

I think it's not true, because it is the best thing.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

It has to be true.

[Tim Heidecker]

It has to be true.

[Adam Friedland]

It's like when my dad. My dad said, like, if the moon landing wasn't real, he's like, it just has to be real. It's like, it meant so much to me.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Him being in the turtle suit.

[Tim Heidecker]

But it's been debunked.

[Adam Friedland]

I think it has been debunked. It broke my heart when I heard that. I just. Yeah. Doodle. Doodle. Yeah. That. Unreal.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Taking a moment of silence in the doodle. See what I mean? That had to have been. It has to be real. I mean, who would have made that up? Probably Chris Kattan. Coke Liar.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. Or Mike Myers might have planted it, but. Because those guys were feuding. But really? Yeah. I mean, maybe it's one of those things where it's like. Well, we were shooting that day, but I was already. I hadn't gotten into costume yet. You know, it could be one of those, like, sort of true, but not as good as we want it to be.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Yeah. You're from Allentown, Pennsylvania.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

You wanted to do comedy as a kid or no?

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yes.

[Adam Friedland]

Like, what did you see when you were a kid that you like?

[Tim Heidecker]

I mean, from the beginning, like Abbott and Costello. I'm not joking. If you wanted a real answer. It's hard to not joke around.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't have the Criterion Collection.

[Tim Heidecker]

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein's great movie.

[Adam Friedland]

Is it. It is.

[Tim Heidecker]

It is a fun movie. It's good.

[Adam Friedland]

It is really funny. I actually just recently saw Chaplin for the first time because I was like, there's no way that's funny.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

And it's funny. He's. He is really funny.

[Tim Heidecker]

He's good at it. Yeah, he's good at what he's doing.

[Adam Friedland]

It sounds like it's from the olden days, and it shouldn't be funny.

[Tim Heidecker]

I watched recently, very recently, Sherlock Jr, which is the Buster Keaton. A Buster Keaton movie.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

And that's also, like, unbelievable. Not necessarily funny, but, like, he's doing stunts and, you know, elaborate jumping off of trains and stuff. Like Mission Impossible kind of stuff.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, the clock thing. Right.

[Tim Heidecker]

That's not. That's Harold Lloyd, I think, anyways, you go through, like, a million things, but. But definitely. Weird Al Yankovic. Yankovic. Yankovic, Weird Al. Snl, Kids in the Hall, Monty Python. In my high school days, Spinal Tap. Anything I can get my hands on. There wasn't that much. I didn't have the Internet the way we do now. So I was just. Whatever was. There was no, like underground comedy that I was watching, you know?

[Adam Friedland]

Well, I was talking with Caleb before the show. It's like, interesting that like Steve Martin was like selling out Madison Square Garden and like Andy Kaufman was like huge. Yeah, he was on. I mean, those things nowadays, I wonder if they could be mainstream nowadays. Like, what was it about, like that era where like something so left field could be like, so, I don't know, embraced in the mainstream sense.

[Tim Heidecker]

Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman are very similar. Yeah, I think Steve Martin's way more palatable. Like he kind of did a lot of the same things, but did it a little broader and not in a bad way. Just is what it is. But I think my opinion is there was not that many outlets. So people were watching what everybody. Everybody's kind of watching the same thing. Right.

[Adam Friedland]

But it's weird.

[Tim Heidecker]

They work very hard. It is really weird, especially being the

[Adam Friedland]

first guy to be. To be like doing weird shit like that. Because Kaufman is kind of like emulated so many times now. But it was kind of the first guy. Right.

[Tim Heidecker]

There were a few very like brazen, artistic minded producer types that pushed for that stuff.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

I gotta give credit to our friend Lorne Michaels. He was early, early adopter of.

[Adam Friedland]

Hello.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, I mean, we'll say what you will, but it's true.

[Adam Friedland]

He was the first host at snl, right?

[Tim Heidecker]

Andy Kaufman, was it? No, it was George Carlin, but he was on the first episode. I'm writing a book about the first. First year of the first episode. So bad. So now I'm actually writing a movie about the first episode of snl. It all takes place that one night. But my other point was that they were baby boomers playing. They were the first generation to have grown up on watching television. And they were sort of the first guys that were making fun of television or making fun of entertainment, being postmodern about it. And that made sense to a lot of. Of my parents generation. They understood how they grew up with the pretense of the phoniness of show business. And it hit right at the peak of that. And there were a couple guys like Steve Martin, Andy Kaufman, Albert Brooks's talk show appearances. Have you seen those?

[Adam Friedland]

He was the second host of snl. Second episode.

[Tim Heidecker]

No, he made films for snl.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, Never hosted. Albert was like incredible as a guy. I mean, he did like a norm thing too, right? It was like high concept.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yes. Very written he did, like, the ventriloquist thing. Have you ever seen the ventriloquist?

[Adam Friedland]

Of course. Yeah. He's the best.

[Tim Heidecker]

He's the best.

[Adam Friedland]

We just, in the office, watch the Garry Marshall scene in Lost in America to take a break. Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

I could. I wish. I'm not the kind of guy that, like, I'm doing this lately. Like the Jordan Peterson thing where I close my eyes. Yeah. To try to remember trans people don't exist.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. But it is helping me these days. But I'm not the kind of guy that memorizes stuff. But I would memorize. I would like to have that scene just fully memorized.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

And be able to just tell my children, act it out.

[Adam Friedland]

It's kind of. It's kind of like one of the best, like, scenes in any movie.

[Tim Heidecker]

Like, the Desert Inn has heart. Right.

[Adam Friedland]

The desert in has heart. I was saying that. I just hate that song.

[Tim Heidecker]

I do.

[Adam Friedland]

I always remember it's not a good song. He's like, I'll write a jingle for you.

[Tim Heidecker]

I can't give you money back. You're a nice guy. You've amused me. But he's unreal. It's the best.

[Adam Friedland]

He's unreal.

[Tim Heidecker]

Speaking of Garry Marshall, I mean, we should just acknowledge who I sat in front of last night at Penny Marshall at the Glengarry Glen Ross.

[Adam Friedland]

Who was that?

[Tim Heidecker]

Arthur Fonzarelli.

[Adam Friedland]

No shit.

[Tim Heidecker]

The Fonz.

[Adam Friedland]

Tiny, right? Like five foot one.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yes.

[Adam Friedland]

I saw Scorsese once and also just five foot one and just drag so slick. And I was like, that's the coolest guy I've ever seen in my life.

[Tim Heidecker]

I felt very. Well, it's funny you mentioned the height, because we were fairly close. I saw Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway.

[Adam Friedland]

All right.

[Tim Heidecker]

It's a big deal.

[Adam Friedland]

Check it out.

[Tim Heidecker]

Let's get applause.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Maybe.

[Adam Friedland]

Give it up.

[Tim Heidecker]

I saw the play in a lot of ways.

[Adam Friedland]

And so Fonz used to one of my.

[Tim Heidecker]

If we're talking about my background the guy that we sent a videotape to was Bob. Bob Odenkirk. And Bob, to this day, is still someone very close to me. And, like, I'm just being honest with you. He was my mentor. He was almost like an uncle figure, a father figure to me and still very close. And it was very moving to get to see him in the play. Like, he was so good and everything about it was so good. And I was there as his guest, which was quite an honor. But the theater was. Sorry. These wonderful seats, fairly close. But the stage, the Stage itself was fairly low. And the seats were not. These were not stadium seats, I promise you. I'm blocking.

[Adam Friedland]

So you're blocking Fonz.

[Tim Heidecker]

So I'm blocking the Fonz. But there's a guy in front of me who's bigger head than me, higher up. And so my view is blocked. And so I'm trying to find this, like, medium where I'm not.

[Adam Friedland]

Out of respect.

[Tim Heidecker]

Out of respect for, oh, hey, Fonzie. And he was. By the way, he was very nice.

[Adam Friedland]

Do you met Winkler?

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, I did a movie with his son. I was in a movie with his son. Directed. So that was my. It was my inn. I turned around, I. And people were coming up to him and stuff. And I was trying to be respectful, but I said, I did a movie with Max. And he goes, I did this movie called Flower.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

He goes, of course you did.

[Tim Heidecker]

And then he was so sweet. And then we got along real. He wanted to know about me. And we talked for a while.

[Adam Friedland]

Mr. You hung out all night.

[Tim Heidecker]

We went backstage.

[Adam Friedland]

You went back to your DIY apartment.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't want people to say things about me. What, I'm this elitist and everything, but there are moments that you have in life where you. It's neat to be in this business show.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

And, I mean, I grew up. I don't know about you. I'm watching the Fonz every week. No, this is my generation.

[Adam Friedland]

It's your generation. I was watching. I was watching the news. Wolf Blitz 3. I was watching. No, I was watching the O.J. truck.

[Tim Heidecker]

Iraq getting bombed. And then I remember the O.J.

[Adam Friedland]

trial. As a kid, that was like, one of the first things I remembered because my dad was, like, the only white man in America who's convinced he was innocent.

[Tim Heidecker]

Really?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. I think he was projecting his own life onto the trial.

[Tim Heidecker]

Was your dad in? Your dad. You're from D.C. was your favorite?

[Adam Friedland]

No, no, I'm from Las Vegas, actually. I was born in la and then we moved to Vegas.

[Tim Heidecker]

The Desert Inn has hearts.

[Adam Friedland]

It's such a bad song. It's terrible.

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, he's desperate. He's in his robe. He's not. The first idea is not gonna be the best idea in that situation. It's.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, it kind of works, actually. If that's the reading of it. I just always. It was always just like, stop that. You couldn't make up a better song. Albert Einstein.

[Tim Heidecker]

I like it. I don't have a problem with it. I'm not with you on that one.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, those movies are so good. Real life is.

[Tim Heidecker]

I mean, this is like, I'm gonna say fairly early, maybe high school, but Lost in America was a movie that we'd watch. My parents had great taste in comedy, so there's lots of those movies on. And my cousin and I used to watch that Lost in America and that the scene where he's the crossing guard and the kids are riding their bikes around him and calling him a brillo pad fathead. We just would. We'd say brillo pad, fat head, head all the time.

[Adam Friedland]

Just like that made its way into the lexicon.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Adam Friedland]

And you bullied a lot of kids growing up.

[Tim Heidecker]

Did I bully a lot of kids? Not that I wrote. Not that I recall.

[Adam Friedland]

Were you popular, kid? Little respect.

[Tim Heidecker]

Let's get some WD40 on that door. I was at the gym this morning at the hotel, and they have the peloton there.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

And it was doing that.

[Adam Friedland]

Did you complain at the front desk?

[Tim Heidecker]

I thought about. I thought about saying not complaining, but letting them know. Seemed like no one is going to do anything about this.

[Adam Friedland]

It's too squeaky.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. And it's a small room. It's just like, even with my headphones on, I just hear

[Adam Friedland]

it. Sounds like kind of a sexual sex vibe.

[Tim Heidecker]

Was I popular in high school? Yeah, I had a mourn and no joke. Had like a closed circuit TV morning show in high school. Really? Yeah, in my last year of high school. Two years of that. Mr.

[Adam Friedland]

So you'd kind of been doing that thing too.

[Tim Heidecker]

I know. Yeah. We did like a wacky morning news show that was in everyone's classroom every morning.

[Adam Friedland]

They let you do it?

[Tim Heidecker]

They did.

[Adam Friedland]

Do you get in trouble at all?

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't remember getting in trouble. We put. Probably did or probably got told to not do things. I have a pretty bad memory about that stuff. But where I grew up in Allentown, I went to Catholic school and not very diverse, I should say, not a lot of other types of people around in allentown in the 90s. And I went to Temple University in Philadelphia, which is very diverse, lots of different kinds of people, and quickly became really good friends. Friends with a guy named Jared Alterman, who's Jewish. And when we came, I took him home to meet my parents. I didn't take him home to meet my parents.

[Adam Friedland]

Did your dad show his gun?

[Tim Heidecker]

He came back with me and he was like, hi, I'm Jared. I'm Tim's Jewish friend. I'm like his first Jewish friend.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Really?

[Adam Friedland]

What did your parents say? P. U.

[Tim Heidecker]

He was. He had to Take. He had to get fumigated and everything before he came in the house.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, it's kind of a Borat style family.

[Tim Heidecker]

No, they were. They didn't. They thought it was funny, but that was kind of the environment I grew up in. Pretty monoculture.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Did Billy Joel get it right in the song?

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, I think Billy Joel got it pretty close, but it should have been called Bethlehem, which is the city next to Allentown. Really?

[Adam Friedland]

People don't say that. You know, it's called Baba O'Reilly, actually. Baba O'Reilly, that song.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, of course I know that. And do you know why?

[Adam Friedland]

So do you think that the.

[Tim Heidecker]

Because Baba. Pete Townsend was into this child pornography? No, he's into this guru named Baba something. Baby baba. It wasn't O'Reilly.

[Adam Friedland]

Baby. O'Reilly. What, the Bhagwans?

[Tim Heidecker]

The bagwans? No, Baba Saguan? Sure, baby. For the sake of.

[Adam Friedland]

So you went to college with Eric?

[Tim Heidecker]

Yes.

[Adam Friedland]

And then it was film school, then

[Tim Heidecker]

post grad med school, and we also went to law school.

[Adam Friedland]

You're a lawyer and a doctor?

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Wow. And so then what led you into Sarah's worm style? To copying? No.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

I just. I feel like, especially growing up with your guys stuff, it's just been replicated so much as an aesthetic. And I know that you directed a lot of commercials that kind of like, were in the language of Tim and Eric.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Did you do the Old Spice commercials?

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, we. We did one of them. I don't think we did the one. We did the one with Terry Crews.

[Adam Friedland]

His breasts. Did you have him do the boob thing? I don't.

[Tim Heidecker]

I kind of feel like they're like. When you do commercials, you have these ad agency types with. That was such a weird sip.

[Adam Friedland]

Well. Cause it's dripping. And this. I just got this suit. Look at all these drips.

[Tim Heidecker]

I know. Earlier today I walked around and got my hair cut, by the way, I don't know if you noticed.

[Adam Friedland]

In the suit?

[Tim Heidecker]

No, in a white T shirt. And I got a coffee and it was just like. I had dribbles all down this white shirt. It was like. And there were girls there, huh?

[Adam Friedland]

There were girls looking and everything?

[Tim Heidecker]

Probably, yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

It's fucking embarrassing, man.

[Tim Heidecker]

But when these commercials, you have these ad guys who kind of tell. Who kind of write everything, and most like, we're there for like 10% of the Zhuzh, you know, of like the little extra push.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. I was a.

[Tim Heidecker]

And getting it done. Just kind of of like facilitating the production of the whole thing. So I Don't take a lot of, like, pride or ownership over any of that stuff.

[Adam Friedland]

But the aesthetic kind of bled itself into, like, the kind of zeitgeist.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, I mean, like, we were doing that on our own with. And I should always say, like, I always make. Try to make clear that when we say Tim and Eric or me or Eric and anything, it's really us. And like, Doug and John. Craig Kreisel, Ben Berman, Jonathan Mugar. Like, small group of people that we were. That were doing a lot of the work as well.

[Adam Friedland]

It's also very editing heavy. Yeah, I mean, like, that's kind of like a half.

[Tim Heidecker]

I was very.

[Adam Friedland]

I'd say half of the equation.

[Tim Heidecker]

I was barely a part of what we. When we said, you just showed up. I'm hired. A hired gun.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Could have been anybody.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I heard you were whacked out on

[Tim Heidecker]

keto at that time.

[Adam Friedland]

You were on keto?

[Tim Heidecker]

A lot of keto.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Keto. Mean, really? Oh, I saw this great clip on. I was watching an old movie on the plane.

[Adam Friedland]

Rat Race?

[Tim Heidecker]

No, it was Armageddon.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh.

[Tim Heidecker]

I was really watching Armageddon.

[Adam Friedland]

I love that movie.

[Tim Heidecker]

It's really good.

[Adam Friedland]

Criterion Collection.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know if it is. It is not armageddon.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, no. ChatGPT is that.

[Tim Heidecker]

I know it. I don't need to chat. Rock. It is. Okay, good. By the way, that's my pbd, by the way.

[Adam Friedland]

We gotta chill with him, dude.

[Tim Heidecker]

We gotta get on that show. Go down to Casa.

[Adam Friedland]

It's Palm beach, right?

[Tim Heidecker]

No, but there's a restaurant that he. This great YouTube guy, R.M. brown, did this video about all the time. He goes to this one restaurant called Casa d'. Angelo. We were at last night. There's no joke. Eleven of us at Casa d'. Angelo, we had a great time, great meal, great steaks.

[Adam Friedland]

He goes to one restaurant.

[Tim Heidecker]

He has a compilation of all the times. It's so funny. You're watching Armageddon and they say, like, there's this, like, where all the guys are having to get physicals before they go into space. And he's like. This one guy was on. He had ketamine in his system, and it seemed like you could. Could take that meme together. Something of Elon, you know what I mean? Jonah, let's get. Get on. That'd be funny. Blow up the end.

[Adam Friedland]

That'd be really funny. Do you think that, like, what's the. What replication of that your guy's style or aesthetic has bothered you the most? What's the worst kind of attempt at the Tim and Eric adult swim kind of language. Talk to you?

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know. I don't say the worst one.

[Adam Friedland]

You know it.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't think I know of anyone. Do you have one of me?

[Adam Friedland]

Of.

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, is anyone ripping you off yet? It's coming.

[Adam Friedland]

I hope so.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know. I don't. I can't. I'm nothing special.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. I don't know. Are there Post Adams? Probably not.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, I'm sure there are. Listen, I'll be honest with you. I'm sure there are. There's just nothing coming to mind. I don't really. There are a few specific jokes that like maybe like. I'll tell you one.

[Adam Friedland]

Sarah Sherman.

[Tim Heidecker]

Sarah Sherman is way over the line.

[Adam Friedland]

What the fuck is she doing? It's disgusting.

[Tim Heidecker]

I think Jimmy Fallon has done a few things where there's like a shorts jorts thing that he did with like. I hate to say it, with like Will Ferrell, who I love.

[Adam Friedland]

That's your friend.

[Tim Heidecker]

That's your. He's one of my closest friends. Friends.

[Adam Friedland]

He stabbed you in the back.

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, we're not talking about stabbing.

[Adam Friedland]

What was that? Oh, sorry.

[Tim Heidecker]

They did something very, very similar to our sort of kids break thing. I'm wearing jorts. These are my jorts. And they're like on green screen and dancing into bad rapping. But it felt a little lazy up.

[Adam Friedland]

Say that. Did you have revenge?

[Tim Heidecker]

Live and let live.

[Adam Friedland]

You have revenge on your mind while you're.

[Tim Heidecker]

Long term.

[Adam Friedland]

You're playing a game. Long game.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

It'll happen when they least expect it.

[Tim Heidecker]

There's a Bill Cosby joke about like Spanish fly. Yeah. No, not Spanish fly. Where he's like. He was in a snowball fight as a kid and he got hit really bad. So he took this snowball, put it in the freezer and waited for it to be the summertime. And then like when the kid was. At least he just threw a snowball at him in the. In July.

[Adam Friedland]

That's good.

[Tim Heidecker]

That's what I'm gonna do.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. What a legend. Give it up for Bill Cunning. Did you like, what's. Do people misunderstand your work?

[Tim Heidecker]

I mean, sure, why wouldn't they?

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, what. Because it's so confusing. It's so random.

[Tim Heidecker]

Obfuscate.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, what do you think is the most common, like misreading of your guys stuff or the stuff. Anything you've done?

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, well, I guess, you know, I've done a lot of characters that I use my own name for.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

So I Suppose there are people that think I'm a terrible leather jacket, right wing type, stand up comedian because I do a lot of that stuff online.

[Adam Friedland]

Do you think people can't just process, like, art anymore?

[Tim Heidecker]

No. Well, I think the hard part is that's what people probably. Excuse me.

[Adam Friedland]

Sorry, Sorry. I just want to finish before. Before you answer. But that's what comes to mind with the. With the Andy Kaufman and Steve Martin thing is like, I don't know if that could translate it into the mainstream now. I think that people had more like, kind of like capacity for it maybe.

[Tim Heidecker]

But I think back then. Well, with Steve Martin, there was a way into his work. It's just me speculating. I'm not an expert, but I felt like there was a way into that work. He set it up in a way that you're like, I get what this is. I get this is like a corny guy. There's a child aspect, childishness to it. Kaufman was a little more like, hard to figure out. I'm sure a lot of people back then didn't get it the same way they wouldn't get. Get it now.

[Adam Friedland]

You're saying that you're basically the Kaufman of today.

[Tim Heidecker]

Absolutely.

[Adam Friedland]

Yes.

[Tim Heidecker]

But he was also, like, cast on a major sitcom that was very popular.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, Taxi.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, Taxi. So it was like if Kramer. If Kramer. Jim Cramer from cnbc.

[Adam Friedland]

Cnbc, yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

No, if Kramer from Seinfeld, during its peak, would go out and do really weird pratfalls. Pratfalls. Without resorting to the N word over and over again, I thought, yeah, if you could do that in a weird way, that would be a similar experience that America would have had.

[Adam Friedland]

When you saw that the first time, did you have to remove that? It was Kramer. When you saw the Michael Richards tape, I didn't know. To me, in my mind, that character is so ubiquitous. I'm like, that's Kramer, right? Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

The funniest thing on the. One of the saddest.

[Adam Friedland]

Apology.

[Tim Heidecker]

Apology on Letterman.

[Adam Friedland]

Stop laughing.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, yeah. Hostage, video situation.

[Adam Friedland]

Have you ever seen the, like, bloopers from Seinfeld where, like, he just. He's the only one serious, like, he's the only serious actor. He's like, God damn it. Like, when they, when they break, he's like, this is unprofessional.

[Tim Heidecker]

Oh, no, I've seen that. No, that's not fun.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, no, I think it's. You wouldn't expect it out of a Cosmo.

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[Tim Heidecker]

Adam, you're great for this.

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[Adam Friedland]

Thank you.

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[Tim Heidecker]

Okay.

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[Adam Friedland]

What's interesting is like that you worked through in a network system and that you've kind of transitioned to like producing yourself independently and like, I guess was it out of frustration with working through networks?

[Tim Heidecker]

I think it was just disinterest from those people. I mean, the sequence of events is pretty linear. It's like we do a certain amount of things that eventually come to an end. There's no interest in doing more of them from those places because time, times have changed, interests have changed. Things that were desired or no longer desired at that level or there's just priorities are different. People leave. The people that were your allies or support cheerleaders have moved on or whatever.

[Adam Friedland]

White men, they won't give jobs anymore.

[Tim Heidecker]

You're reading between the lines, that's what you're saying?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

So there were a few things that were like, all right, well what, what should I do now? And there's still like still work within the system on other certain things.

[Adam Friedland]

But do you think the shoes have too much power? Is that what. I'm sorry.

[Tim Heidecker]

I mean, I knew you're going to go there.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm sorry.

[Tim Heidecker]

And I really don't know how to handle that shit.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, you can say,

[Tim Heidecker]

I mean, I'm a little uncomfortable on cinema.

[Adam Friedland]

Seems like your opus, like, it's like a project that can. Keeps growing.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Like, how'd you meet Greg?

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, really,

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I've never heard it.

[Tim Heidecker]

Oh, no. I mean, we've listened to a bunch

[Adam Friedland]

of interviews we've never heard.

[Tim Heidecker]

Really?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. I don't think you.

[Tim Heidecker]

So you're not on all the Reddit AMAs that I do, which I do quite frequently.

[Adam Friedland]

Sam, does he say it on Reddit?

[Tim Heidecker]

I'm just kidding. I've seen it.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, you have? I have.

[Tim Heidecker]

No, I was a huge Neil Hamburger fan. The best. And so I would say like 2004 or something. Eric and I were doing awesome show and I was a fan of Neil's, went to go see him. He had relocated to la or he was living in LA and went to go see him. Like I would see anybody and met him afterwards. And we knew some of the same people and just kind of new. I think that our bridge together was his wife was Australian and my soon to be wife was Canadian and we were, you know, breaking the ice, talking about who are foreigners? Foreigners, yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Getting.

[Tim Heidecker]

And I wanted some advice on, like, immigration stuff, actually for my wife or for my potential wife, my fiance, whatever. What's that damn Bongino clip where he's like, I'm divorced from my wife. Not divorced from my wife, but we're separated. Not separated, but I'm not with my wife.

[Adam Friedland]

I love how red that guy gets.

[Tim Heidecker]

I know.

[Adam Friedland]

His head is so big.

[Tim Heidecker]

It's like Vinny. Vinny gets red like that.

[Adam Friedland]

I guess that was a bad question.

[Tim Heidecker]

How'd you. No, it's fine.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm sorry.

[Tim Heidecker]

But we just became friends, you know, and like, as you become friends with funny people, you tend to like, goof around.

[Adam Friedland]

And that project has grown so much. I mean, like, you guys are.

[Tim Heidecker]

And we still. We just shot something the other day for it. And I swear to you, like, I get. I get the giggles with that show like nothing else because of how funny Greg is and how funny I am when I'm in that character.

[Adam Friedland]

The basic premise is he's. He's a snob, but he's only seen, like. Like, he's a snob about Raiders of the Lost Ark. He's a snob about just like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he considers himself like Criterion Collection. Is that like.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. His takes are just like, wildly. The Smurfed and the Smurfs clip everything. All movies are equal. That's One thing. The only way you could be a better movie in another movie if the only thing that makes a movie better is if it's longer. So he's like, really in a runtime. Like, spiral. Death spiral. You guys talk about runtime so much. And he's comparing runtime and why something. And then sequels versus prequels and something remake. Like, it's just garbage.

[Adam Friedland]

And then your characters, you just have never heard of movies. Is that, like.

[Tim Heidecker]

I think I'm just, like, so preoccupied with other things in my life. You're like a narcissist, severe narcissist with, like, many problems, many physical and mental problems and. And with rage issues and all sorts of man problems.

[Adam Friedland]

It's just. I just hope you guys never stop doing it.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't see a way to stop. Like, we just kind of.

[Adam Friedland]

Is your opus.

[Tim Heidecker]

I would think that's for the historians to determine. But, yes, you can do it super affordably. I enjoy everybody involved so much. Eric Tornicola, who we write it with and direct, he directs it. And I mean, again, like, you shot some the other day, and I was, like, crying, laughing halfway through it, just like, why would you stop doing something that makes you that happy?

[Adam Friedland]

I can't imagine. Like, it'd be so hard not to break.

[Tim Heidecker]

Oh, I break. And sort of.

[Adam Friedland]

He's so good at that character.

[Tim Heidecker]

He does a thing that we've talked about for years, which. And I do it, too, but if. Because a lot of it's so improvisational. If you get into this drone where you start talking and you're just talking for a while and you're going on and on about something and you're waiting. You're just like, wrap it up. Because if you're gonna laugh, you're gonna spoil a minute of footage because so you're just like, just get through it. But sometimes you just break.

[Adam Friedland]

There's a clip from the last season where he was talking about the Chalamet. Wonka should be considered Wonka 4. That he's just.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

What did you say?

[Adam Friedland]

There was something about, like, wonk.

[Tim Heidecker]

Like, Wonka heads.

[Adam Friedland]

Why am I doing this right now?

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, it's all independently produced now. The High Network, Highnetwork TV is where you can for five bucks a month. And it's been working. You know, we get to make it without anybody else involved.

[Adam Friedland]

You've been doing music at a certain point. Like, you really sincere music.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. And, like, making all the. Have you found irony boys very uncomfortable?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Yeah. What was that like? Is it like Dylan, like, Royal.

[Tim Heidecker]

Royal no, not the music. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

It's just like.

[Tim Heidecker]

Just the feeling of it.

[Adam Friedland]

Seeing those clips of, like, the people being like, I came here for folk concert.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

It's just like, you, Rocky Rule.

[Adam Friedland]

They're, like, mad about a guitar.

[Tim Heidecker]

So mad. I love that stuff. Bob, we've talked about this over the phone, but he is one of my guiding lights.

[Adam Friedland]

He's my favorite.

[Tim Heidecker]

And when I was thinking about making that shift or, you know, I mean, this all starts with you just sitting around. For me, at least, writing music, because I like doing it. And when something comes up that's, like, not funny, the decision is, like, do I. Do I pursue this or do I abandon it?

[Adam Friedland]

Was that stressful at first?

[Tim Heidecker]

No, no. I thought it was cool. I thought it was like, this is an exciting thing to try to do. Because I never. I think I got to a place where I was 40 and had gotten married and had a kid and was like, all right. I'm, like, living life. I'm not just, like, all about the goofs in my personal life.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

And maybe I have things to say or a perspective that's not all clowning around. So I'm sorry I cut you. No, but that's all right. I mean, but looking at Dylan and being like, oh, that guy didn't give a shit. He just did what he wanted. He zigged and zagged and, like, tried shit and wasn't really worried about it. Now, maybe he was worried about it, never talks about it, but it didn't look like that. And I had enough people around me that, like serious music, people that were, like, very encouraging and supportive. So I continue to do it because I get pleasure out of doing it, Mr.

[Adam Friedland]

I guess what I'm probably projecting onto your decision to do that is that there's kind of a. Like, you can insulate your feelings through irony, right? So, like, someone could be like, this sucks. And you're like, it's supposed to be bad. Right. But, like, releasing music that's so sincere is scarier in my mind, at least.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. There's nowhere to hide. I mean, but it's also like, plus,

[Adam Friedland]

music's just better than comedy. So, like, it would be like, I would want to do a good job for this. I'm like, you know, I've pooped my pants and stuff.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. I mean, I thought the interesting thing was, like, can you do both? Can you go back and forth whenever you want? And maybe some people have a hard time with that for me, you know?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

But did you think about. I planned this For a long time. You know, like, in the biz of making. I was literally gonna say in the biz of making show.

[Adam Friedland]

That's right, baby.

[Tim Heidecker]

So gross, right?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

You know, like, I'm a lifer and I plan to live for a long time. So I've got some designs on how to do that. Medical things that we're going to be talking about very strongly.

[Adam Friedland]

What have you been doing?

[Tim Heidecker]

But the weights.

[Adam Friedland]

The weights, yeah. You probably get 140 years.

[Tim Heidecker]

I always. I mean, we talked about Andy Kaufman before, but it's like. Don't you think, like, Andy Kaufman got out early because of cancer? Yeah. Yeah. So, like, if he's, like, 48 and he's, like, still going on Letterman doing, like, weird guys.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

You might be like, all right, it'll play itself out a little bit.

[Adam Friedland]

We kind of felt that we. I was on. We did come town before this and was that for the last, like, four or five years, we just.

[Tim Heidecker]

And now.

[Adam Friedland]

What's that? It was a. It was a podcast.

[Tim Heidecker]

Okay. For like, WTF or pretty much like that.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, but like, each other. Yeah. For the last of six years. For the last four years. We're like, oh, we're going to do this crap again. It was like a little bit like, what if Elvis Presley was Chinese? It would go a little something like this. Loved it. But it was just like.

[Tim Heidecker]

It felt like you could play the. You figure out what's working and then it's the balance of how much do I continue to play into what's working versus, like, stretching and trying new things and. Right, but so you've made. You've also. Have you. I have. Really navigating, like a journey of the sincere to some degree.

[Adam Friedland]

This show feels like the first time I've ever tried.

[Tim Heidecker]

Right. Because you're tried. It tried just doing anything.

[Adam Friedland]

It's scary. Yeah. It's like if something sucks, then it'll hurt your feelings if you work really hard on it.

[Tim Heidecker]

But people seem to, like, like, where you're going. Do you have people that are like, this sucks because why don't you go back to, you know, like, being offensive for the yucks?

[Adam Friedland]

No.

[Tim Heidecker]

Maybe. But you don't pay attention at this point.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't pay attention. If my friends like it, I'm happy. And my dad can watch it now.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. And he's becoming a little bit of a stage mother about it. It's a little bit annoying.

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, let me send a personal message to your dad who's watching right now. Fuck off of Adam Old. What's your name?

[Adam Friedland]

Take a look at his name, old man.

[Tim Heidecker]

Take a look at my life.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm a lot like you. I'm not like him at all.

[Tim Heidecker]

What's his name?

[Adam Friedland]

Max.

[Tim Heidecker]

Max.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Let me speak to you for a second. Max.

[Adam Friedland]

Careful.

[Tim Heidecker]

Your son Adam met me with a gay man at his apartment 12 years ago.

[Adam Friedland]

You and a gay guy?

[Tim Heidecker]

James Adomi. Openly gay, Proudly gay. And Adam was such a fan of mine. I inspired who he is to this day.

[Adam Friedland]

Not much, actually.

[Tim Heidecker]

And I'm here to tell you that he's made good on that by having his hero come on his little podcast.

[Adam Friedland]

Sarah Squirman's not done the show yet,

[Tim Heidecker]

but he's a good son, and you should be proud of him. And if there are any allegations coming out about him. I was unaware of these allegations before I came in the studio.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, you heard.

[Tim Heidecker]

Do you have anything coming out? Because these people all the time are coming out with bad stuff, you know, I always feel like I never had

[Adam Friedland]

the gumption to do anything bad.

[Tim Heidecker]

Right. It was just a single man.

[Adam Friedland]

No, I'm engaged.

[Tim Heidecker]

Oh, you are?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Okay. Where's the ring? You don't wear an engagement ring like a man should.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, no, I don't. I never actually want to wear a ring, really, because I don't.

[Tim Heidecker]

Like, the only reason I got married, I like the idea of having a ring on.

[Adam Friedland]

You're like. I'm like Depp.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, it was like a Depp style. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Like a Criss angel kind of Depp kind of rings guy. Did you ever consider being a rings guy when you moved to Hollywood?

[Tim Heidecker]

Get a bunch of rings and stuff? No, No, I don't have. Do you have any tattoos?

[Adam Friedland]

No.

[Tim Heidecker]

Do you have any piercings?

[Adam Friedland]

I had an earring. Oh, you did? Yeah. But I took it out one night.

[Tim Heidecker]

I could see a little. The remnants of it. Very embarrassing.

[Adam Friedland]

It's pretty embarrassing. I thought it was cool, actually, but I thought. Yeah. I kind of want to talk about, like. I don't know. I've heard you speak about where you've seen comedy go the last couple years

[Tim Heidecker]

and gonna be like Mark Norman again. Oh, okay. Where'd I see it go?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, I mean, like, you deal with it a lot in office hours. Like, you know, you do do it sort of in the sense of, like, parody. Like, you did that Rogan parody, and then, you know, you did the Mar parody, which is so funny. But, like, does it suck? Do you think it sucks? You know it does, but it's always kind of sucked. No.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yes. Well, sure. I guess, I mean, I guess the thing that's changed from my perspective, I mean, yeah, comedy. When I was in the 80s and 90s, there was like 90% kind of middle of the road crap that was filling time or was fine. Wasn't for me. But then like, you know, 10% of the time Norm MacDonald would come up there or somebody like that and you'd be like, this is crazy, this is great. Like I love this guy. Like so I'm always gonna have that kind of, I guess refined or like I love comedy so much that I don't accept stuff that's just hacky. But I also don't mind. I mean, but it's also my definition of that.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

So there's that whole thing of just like personal preference and there's, you know, comedy that are playing to a wide audience is generally not going to be for me. But it's not that it's terrible.

[Adam Friedland]

But I think as a hipster that's kind of hipsters to say that there's

[Tim Heidecker]

plenty of the hipsters stuff that isn't for me either.

[Adam Friedland]

There's definitely stuff that's for a wide audience that you like. Norm was pretty wide audience.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

That's true.

[Tim Heidecker]

But again, I mean, some of these guys break through and they can like the Beatles were very. Were incredibly innovative and crazy, but they're also hugely popular, right?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

So some things are great and popular.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

But most things are just either popular or great. Maybe that's one way of thinking about it. Easier for your.

[Adam Friedland]

No, I just, I think that like, you know, you could also have crap that has fewer fans too, right?

[Tim Heidecker]

Absolutely. Yeah. Well, most things, I don't think the

[Adam Friedland]

amount of people that I would say

[Tim Heidecker]

are crap that nobody knows knows about. I don't think that most things that are made.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't think that anything that's being created is defined by like the size of the audience. I think it's just, is it good or bad? Right.

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, it's all personal preference. What do you actually like? What makes you entertained or happy or thought provoking. But then, I mean, the real. I mean, otherwise I wouldn't probably care. Except that these guys are now all like dipping into social issues and political issues and it kind of feels like

[Adam Friedland]

they're becoming like Kate McKinnon SNL. But it's the right wing version of it.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, but it feels a little more hypocritical or something because they're coming from this, hey, we're just asking questions. I just, you know, and it's also

[Adam Friedland]

Just not funny too.

[Tim Heidecker]

It's boring.

[Adam Friedland]

You grew up listening to Stern. Do you think there was any influence on, like, the casting that you guys did? Like from the whack pack?

[Tim Heidecker]

Absolutely. Those. Yeah. I mean, the whack pack you had high pitched Eric. Right. Never had that was one of our rules. Was like, don't poach from that squad.

[Adam Friedland]

Really. You had too much reverence for it.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, that was his domain. And it felt like we got organically, you know, people came into our world kind of organically with somebody would come in as like a small character and we'd be like, that would be a great host of a kid's TV show or something.

[Adam Friedland]

In retrospect, do you ever feel like, oh, this guy's just a little bit.

[Tim Heidecker]

A little bit, Yeah. I mean, I think there's.

[Adam Friedland]

But it's still. It's so funny still.

[Tim Heidecker]

But like, at the time, you know, it was very. This was 20 years ago or something like that. 15, 10 years ago.

[Adam Friedland]

15 years.

[Tim Heidecker]

Whenever it was, we weren't thinking about, like, you know, we weren't thinking about anything except what we thought was funny. And on the set we always tried to be fun. We tried to be, you know, respectful and polite. And we knew we were trying to make something very strange and disturbing. And so that would push, you know, we'd bring in people and tell them to say crazy shit and they were pleased, happy to do it. Everybody was throwing. Thrilled to work and do something weird.

[Adam Friedland]

You worked with Tommy Wiseau, right?

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, one day. One day with Tommy.

[Adam Friedland]

What was it like?

[Tim Heidecker]

I mean, he's an interesting guy. Smart guy. Smart guy, really talented guy. He was kind of a weirdo.

[Adam Friedland]

The room, weird. When I was in college, we were the perfect demo for it. It kind of broke our brains. Yeah, I watched the it like 10,000 times.

[Tim Heidecker]

I watched it many times. It was. We were just starting to make our stuff when that. When we were made aware of that show or we were like, you know, done. Tom Goes to the Mayor.

[Adam Friedland]

Probably. Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

But yeah, I mean, we came in and, you know, we fucked around with him a little bit for sure.

[Adam Friedland]

Like, how could you not.

[Tim Heidecker]

Couldn't resist. Like, I think our bit with him was like, let's make him the director of that episode and just do whatever. Because what we really wanted to do was let him try, like, create the vacuum for him to do what he does. But he wanted, in all fairness, and I understand he wanted real production. He wanted the infrastructure of a real TV show. But we were like, but if we give you that, then you're not going to get what you are so good at making, so you can't. It's like the quantum physics thing about, like, as soon as you observe something at a quantum level, it changes, so you can't really control. I say that all the time. Yeah, I mean, look, look, look.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, about the room, especially.

[Tim Heidecker]

So we kind of played with the idea of working with him in some way more.

[Adam Friedland]

Did it feel bad afterwards? You were like, it wasn't as cool as we thought. I feel like it was just. It sounds to me like you're saying it was just a drag to meet this guy.

[Tim Heidecker]

No, it was not a drag. It was very interesting.

[Adam Friedland]

Were you laughing a lot?

[Tim Heidecker]

I like being around eccentric weirdos. Yeah, whatever you want to. This is the thing. We start. You go down, you pull the thread of, like, what do you mean by weirdo?

[Adam Friedland]

Right?

[Tim Heidecker]

And then you go, well, I. Maybe that person. You don't know what their background is. You know, if they had some kind of. You know.

[Adam Friedland]

I guess it's like, does someone have. I guess the threshold is probably. Does someone have a developmental disorder?

[Tim Heidecker]

And I would be much more.

[Adam Friedland]

As a teenager, it was. I was listening to Howard, and it was like.

[Tim Heidecker]

Exactly. And my position on that is. Probably has evolved, and it's not something I would want to do anymore. But at the time, it was what everybody. Not everybody was. But it didn't feel like this is. This is wrong. You know, I just felt like these are interesting weirdos that I want to put on TV and treat like they're celebrities or something, you know, like.

[Adam Friedland]

And also, LA is filled with just like, those kind of people with headshots. Yeah, desperate.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, desperate, maybe. Or just, like, I don't know, just people that wouldn't get cast in a lot of other things. But I grew up, like, not only Howard Stern, but. But, I mean, a lot of, like, the Coen Brothers or Woody Allen movies or a lot of. Like, there were just always interesting people in those movies that felt like sort of outsider types.

[Adam Friedland]

Fellini esque.

[Tim Heidecker]

Fellini esque.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

So that's where we were coming from. And we were, you know, just trying stuff. And when things work, do you do more of it?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, I listen to a lot of Howard growing up, and I've been, like, listening to, like, an archive of all of Trump's appearances.

[Tim Heidecker]

Oh, right.

[Adam Friedland]

Recently. And it's. First of all, I mean, it's pretty obvious. It's so funny. He's the president. I mean, like, it's obvious. Like, it's crazy. He's the president. Right. But, like, second of all, it's like it kind of is, in retrospect, seeing Howard shift to sincerity. Like, people hate it. Right. I want people fucking hate it. You know, And I wonder, like, to what extent he feels, like, partially responsible for, like, prompting that, like. Or, like, kind of propping him up and, like, you know, helping. Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

I mean, he was one of many that did.

[Adam Friedland]

It's not. He didn't get Trump elected, obviously, and he was pretty.

[Tim Heidecker]

I mean, I remember the Stern right after he got elected the first time. That period is maybe the weirdest period of all time because they didn't know what to say.

[Adam Friedland]

Say they were lost on Howard.

[Tim Heidecker]

On Howard, from what I remember. Well, he's the president, so. Yeah. Anyway, what else is going on? You know, it was like that. It was very.

[Adam Friedland]

He's like, the Voice is on tonight. He, like, loves talking about the Voice.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, I. There's a p. There's a pure. There's stuff about him that I love, and I don't really listen that much anymore, to be honest with you.

[Adam Friedland]

I haven't really listened since high school, but.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah, since high school. Really?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Because we would be late to first period because we just, like, want to stay in the car and listen.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. What years would.

[Adam Friedland]

Those are, like, graduated 2005.

[Tim Heidecker]

That's arty years.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, Arty years. The best.

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, I'm a Jackie the Joke man guy myself.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, I've gone back through now with the Wait.

[Tim Heidecker]

No, that's bad, Jackie.

[Adam Friedland]

Sorry. But I did, like. I did love it so much. Like, said, I. I got really sad. Well, not sad, but I got really emotional when Beat, like, went back on recently, and there was, like, this tenderness.

[Tim Heidecker]

Oh, yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

And like, this, like, love there, old pal. Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

But I love Richard and Sal. I think they do great.

[Adam Friedland]

Sal's prank calls are the best, I would say.

[Tim Heidecker]

Richard and Sal's prank calls.

[Adam Friedland]

Richard. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

They're very creative. And, you know, I like when Howard's yelling at Gary about something petty and, you know,

[Adam Friedland]

one of the ugliest guys of all time, bop, bop.

[Tim Heidecker]

Gary Delavati.

[Adam Friedland]

Sorry.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't like to comment on people's looks.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. All right.

[Tim Heidecker]

It's just a better way to live.

[Adam Friedland]

He has a legendary first pitch at a Met game.

[Tim Heidecker]

I've seen that shot. Yeah, you can't. I mean, I don't like talking about people's looks, but you gotta think he's got bad breath.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. And a hog. Just an absolute.

[Tim Heidecker]

Absolutely packing big wang.

[Adam Friedland]

Huge dick. You live in Hollywood. Who's got the biggest in town?

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, I've watched these pornographic films. Some of those guys.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know where they live though. I'm actually having a terrific time, by the way. And I know you have to cut this shit down, but. But I think you should. Do you have a Patreon you could put the whole thing up for, you know. How are you paying for this?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

State of Israel.

[Tim Heidecker]

State of Israel.

[Adam Friedland]

Gelman's guy. Yeah. I guess like the last thing I would really ask is like. I guess like what I really find inspiring is like that you. That you really got bored, it seemed. And correct me if I'm wrong, at what point? Well, you just like wanting to put out music is like in like.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know.

[Adam Friedland]

I think that that's like very cool to me.

[Tim Heidecker]

Thank you.

[Adam Friedland]

I suppose because like it must get tiring to have a niche that you have to fill for people and stuff.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. I mean, I think when I have a creative partner like you become. You get absorbed into the identity of that partnership, into that thing. And for you it was come town. For me it was Tim and Eric. And then I'm like, well, who am I? Who am I in that or who am I outside of that?

[Adam Friedland]

Did you guys break up?

[Tim Heidecker]

No, we're still friends and we're trying to write a movie and thinking about doing stuff. But it's not like that white hot. Like we. I mean, we did a lot. We made a lot of shit, you know. We made a lot of horrible shit.

[Adam Friedland]

Do you think it's a product of youth, like feeling like more free to like make horrible shit, you know?

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, no, we just were like. We were in the middle of something and that was the only thing we had going. It was the only thing in our lives.

[Adam Friedland]

And it was also your world. You had like a whole squad of guys and then you. Kind of a self contained world and

[Tim Heidecker]

then that comes to an end, as it naturally did. Not out of any kind of strife and not out of any kind of.

[Adam Friedland]

You said it was your. When you had a kid. You said it was your child. Ruined everything.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yes. Well, we had agreed if we were going to do this, we wouldn't have children. Really. And then I disobeyed him.

[Adam Friedland]

I thought you guys said that you're not going to get married until gay people can get married.

[Tim Heidecker]

But things come to an end and that like I want to make stuff with him and he wants to make stuff with me. But it will be probably very different than what we're not going to go, like the band Pavement or something where you're like, well, those are the six albums Pavement made. And we're going to probably tour and we're going to do stuff maybe together, but we're not going to do another Pavement album or the Pixies or something, or Talking Heads.

[Adam Friedland]

So something like more traditional narrative, like,

[Tim Heidecker]

it's more of like a kill.

[Adam Friedland]

Tony.

[Tim Heidecker]

Well, elaborate pranks, I will say elaborate.

[Adam Friedland]

Very Jackass style.

[Tim Heidecker]

More like in the fielder realm. More abstract, more long form, very cerebral. These are long plays. Like, I don't want. This is part of it. That's all I'm going to say. This right here is part of it.

[Adam Friedland]

Really?

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. You're in the show.

[Adam Friedland]

You got hate in your heart.

[Tim Heidecker]

I've Hate. Do I have what?

[Adam Friedland]

Nothing. You got hate in your gut.

[Tim Heidecker]

Is that a reference? No. I don't know.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

No, I don't know what we'll do. We've got a couple things that we have plans for, but if it doesn't happen, I'm proud of what we've done.

[Adam Friedland]

Will it culminate in Donald Trump going to prison?

[Tim Heidecker]

Let's just say the third act of our movie is a little bit something that happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, but a little more. I'd say it's a little more of an accurate depiction.

[Adam Friedland]

That nerd. The nerd looked like Elizabeth Warren a lot, don't you think?

[Tim Heidecker]

The shooter. Give me a break.

[Adam Friedland]

Give me a break, dude. So, false flag.

[Tim Heidecker]

I want to end on a reading from Paul Simon. No, I sent you this clip. Bring it back to Jerry Lewis. I sent you this clip of him on the Joan Rivers. Joan Rivers Show. Did you watch it?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, yeah. He talks about beating his son.

[Tim Heidecker]

Yeah. He tells the story, he says, because he's on with a child psychologist, and this is 1968 or something like that. And the child psychologist is introducing a fairly novel concept of, like, not beating your kids. You know, like love your kids and, you know, be a positive influence.

[Adam Friedland]

Did your parents watch that or no?

[Tim Heidecker]

Did they watch that clip?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

I don't know. Probably not.

[Adam Friedland]

Mine didn't.

[Tim Heidecker]

No. Well, my parents never hit me, but.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, never mind.

[Tim Heidecker]

Jerry Lewis said. Well, let me tell you my perspective.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

My son, Gary.

[Adam Friedland]

Della Botta.

[Tim Heidecker]

Gary Lewis from Gary Lewis and the Playboys.

[Adam Friedland]

That's really his son's name. That's so funny.

[Tim Heidecker]

Came home with some grades that weren't. Let's do it without the sniff.

[Adam Friedland]

Sorry I didn't take Clarits in today.

[Tim Heidecker]

My son Gary came home with grades that were below my expectations for him. And he knew that he did not live up to my expectations. And he came into my office, and I have a belt. I have a big Western belt. Nice. And I took the belt off, and he pulled his pants down, and I gave him a whack for each grade that disappointed me. And they left three fairly sizable welts on his roof.

[Adam Friedland]

That's hot.

[Tim Heidecker]

And I said, gary, you've taken your punishment. Now go up to your room and stay there until I say you can get out.

[Adam Friedland]

Gary Lewis.

[Tim Heidecker]

Gary Lewis from Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Now, I went up. We have an intercom system in our house so I can listen in when they're sleeping and whatnot. And I went over there to listen to hear him cry. And it's okay to cry, but by the way, I always say that real men cry. Sissies don't.

[Adam Friedland]

That's true.

[Tim Heidecker]

And I listened, and his mommy came in. Because we have the relationship where when his mom is down on him, I will go and be with them. But when I'm down on the kids, she'll go and be with them and let them know that we're not ganging up on them. And I listened in, expecting to hear my son crying, but I only heard this. I heard him say. She said it's okay to cry. And he said, no, I don't have to cry. I know that Daddy did that to me because he loves me.

[Adam Friedland]

Why do the French think that's funny? Why is he the best American comedian?

[Tim Heidecker]

To them, he's a bad, bad guy.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Tim Heidecker]

Good news is he's passed on.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Rod in hell.

[Adam Friedland]

Jerry Lewis, thanks a lot so much.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Great to be here.

[Tim Heidecker]

Give it up

[Adam Friedland]

one more time,

[Tim Heidecker]

Sam.