What's Our Podcast? with Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney

Episode: Tim Heidecker (Nov 12, 2025)
Host: Headgum

Overview

In this episode, Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney—a comedic duo best known for their work on Saturday Night Live and as former roommates—are joined by comedy legend Tim Heidecker (Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Office Hours Live). As with every What's Our Podcast? episode, Beck and Kyle try to figure out what their podcast should be about, this time soliciting Tim Heidecker’s guidance, exploring their careers post-SNL, dissecting comedy trends, exchanging honest career anxieties, and indulging in plenty of meta-riffing and affectionate roasts. The conversation slips naturally between sincere, hilarious, and sometimes playfully contentious, offering a unique blend of industry insight and absurdist banter.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Eternal Search for a Podcast Purpose

• The running bit of the show is that Beck and Kyle don’t know what their podcast is about, so they invite guests to pitch concepts.
• Quick riffs on generational differences, trends, and the absurdities of trying to “figure it out.”
• Notable recurring joke: “That is so Adley”—riffing on a young, out-of-touch friend and how references fall flat across generations.
  [03:05]

2. Parenting, the Grind, and Modern Life

• The trio discusses the chaos of being working parents, managing routines, kids starting school, and pressures of creative work.
  • “Especially with… kids, it is traveling and like, we're about to go to New York and… the routine is this stabilizing thing in all the chaos.” (Beck, [08:57])
• Lighthearted spa on parental apps, school video updates, and the struggle to keep things normal as performers.

3. Tim Heidecker Joins: Banter about Comedy Roots

• Tim recounts his Adult Swim/Tim & Eric era—the lo-fi look, awkward editing, and discomfort as a “cable access” anti-style, and how that aesthetic became influential.
  “It was almost like a kind of a cable access lo fi thing.” (Tim, [26:36])
• Beck and Kyle credit Tim & Eric as an inspiration; Beck recalls being shown “What’s Your Dad Like” in college, staking Tim & Eric as a rooting point for a generation of sketch.

4. The Podcast “Reset”: Career Anxiety, Self-Doubt, and Industry Pressures

• Tim pitches the idea of Reset, a podcast where Beck and Kyle ask highly successful SNL alumni (e.g., Bill Hader, Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy) what they did right—and what Beck and Kyle could/should have done differently.
• The conversation morphs into an earnest discussion about career trajectories after SNL, opportunities seized or lost, and regret as a necessary part of growth.
  • “The biggest mistake is this. No regrets. Oh, we need to regret, right? To grow.” (Tim, [73:40])
  • “Do you have an idea of what our podcast should be about?” (Beck, [59:34])
• Tim good-naturedly ribs them both about not being “the next Anchorman or Billy Madison” but tempers it with respect:
  “I think you guys are talented. I don’t know where the opportunities are going to come where we do see a Billy Madison from you two.” (Tim, [69:14])

5. SNL and Sketch Comedy: Self-Deprecation & Industry Analysis

• Playful debate on SNL cast rankings; Tim ultimately dubs them “top 50” out of 167 cast members, sparking faux anxiety and meta humor.
• “Would you put yourselves in the top 50?” (Tim, [47:44])
  “I could probably be in top 50.” (Beck, [47:51])
• Digression on impressions, recurring characters, and the formula for post-SNL movie stardom.
• Tim fakes a regret: turning down SNL for Adult Swim, joking about being a “ready for prime time” player.

6. Office Hours, Touring, and Comedy Collaboration

• The guys recall their crossovers: Tim’s Office Hours Live, Kyle opening for Tim’s band on tour, and the complexities of influence (“Are you thanking me for your tour?”).
  • “I do want to say thank you for putting me on that pedestal and let me open for you.” (Kyle, [38:02])
• Joking tension and the ambiguous sincerity typical of comedian circles: is Tim fishing for credit, or just keeping the bit alive?

7. New Projects & Creative Resilience

• Tim hints at relaunching Real Time with Bill Maher… starring Tim Heidecker as a new HBO project, satiric and self-aware. “It’s me. Well, it’s Real Time with Bill Maher starring Tim Heidecker.” (Tim, [49:01])

8. Vulnerability and Open-Ended Futures

• Beck and Kyle reflect on the instability of creative careers, echoing Tim’s annual fears of professional extinction:
  • “My wife always tells me this. She's like, you always say this, like every year you're like worried about what is happening, what's next. But then it's been 10 years of that.” (Tim, [54:19])
• Tim suggests regret and self-examination are integral for growth, and jokes, “I regret the choices my wife made when it came to raising my children.”
  [76:30]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tim on influence and comedy’s changing landscape:
  “I think pride in the work that we made an impact and that there’s people that we inspired… but I don’t like to look back.” (Tim, [31:15])

• Kyle, on still searching for their post-SNL path:
  “It hasn’t happened exactly in that way for Beck and I. We are doing the podcast…” (Kyle, [66:04])

• Tim’s career advice on the “reset” scenario:
  “You could really change… it could have gone better from both of you—to see you in, like, small parts in Superman or lugging your guitar around… you should be the next Anchorman or Billy Madison.” (Tim, [61:16])

• Meta anxiety about rankings:
  “Where do you rank yourselves in the list of the all time cast members?” (Tim, [44:41])
  “I could probably be in top 50.” (Beck, [47:51])

• Playful roast about career regrets:
  “The biggest mistake is this. No regrets. Oh, we need to regret, right? To grow. Yeah, you need to regret to grow. It’s my little T shirt.” (Tim, [73:40])

• Absurdist button: “Poop beef” story
  [79:01–80:11]: Extended riff about finding “beef” in the bathroom, morphing into a discussion on the visual nature of bodily functions—classic Tim & Eric-style body humor.

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | Description | |---------|-----------|-------------| | Clueless/Adley Riff | 01:36–03:14 | Kyle explains generational disconnect with a friend, launches “That’s so Adley” running bit. | | Tim Enters, Comedy Roots | 12:04–18:12 | Tim and the hosts reminisce about early sketch comedy, Tim & Eric’s impact. | | Tim Describes Adult Swim Style | 26:00–31:05 | Discussion of the “awkward, editing-driven” style of Awesome Show and its influence. | | Riffing on SNL & Career Trajectories | 44:41–47:51 | Tim questions Beck and Kyle’s all-time SNL rankings; leads to meta anxiety. | | “Reset” Podcast Concept | 59:34–65:38 | Tim pitches a podcast about career resets, dissecting missed post-SNL opportunities. | | Real Anxiety & Regret in Comedy | 73:40–76:07 | Honest admission by all three about fear, instability, and the necessity of regret. | | Absurd Finale: "Poop Beef" Bit | 79:01–80:11 | Playful, corporeal humor to end the main conversation. |

Tone & Language

The conversation is laid-back, improvisational, and often deadpan—steeped in the language of working comedians who oscillate between honesty and parody. Tim’s wry, “straight-faced” delivery keeps even sincere topics tinged with irony, while Beck and Kyle’s earnestness anchors the chaos. The trio let meta-commentary, awkwardness, and affectionate roasts do much of the heavy lifting.

Conclusion

This episode is quintessentially “What’s Our Podcast?”: equal parts inside baseball about the comedy world, meta-podcast about podcasts, and absurdist free-for-all. Listeners are treated to stories about sketch comedy’s evolution, SNL’s treadmill of fame, the weirdness of professional reinvention, and the realities of creative anxiety—always delivered with playful self-deprecation and improvisational warmth. As always, the show’s “lack of format” becomes its real format, and the episode closes with the sincere, ridiculous, and relatable reality that nobody quite knows what’s next—but at least they can laugh about it.