Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!: The Passing of Pep Pep

June seventh marked a sad day for surreal pop-comedy fans as Richard Dunn, known mainly for his character Pep-pep on the Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! died at the age of 73. The passing of an incredibly obscure character actor best known for his role on a late night cable tv show was significant enough for USA Today to publish a full online obit. The attention mustered for such a seemingly ephemeral event is a testament to the main-streaming of surrealist and dada-like comedy. Dunn’s former employers, the comedy duo of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, epitomize this brand of bizarre "nightmare television" comedy. Their aforementioned Cartoon network sketch show has already been so successful in both ratings and merchandising, that a spinoff Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule premiered this May. John C. Riley’s amazing turn as the recurring character Dr. Steve Brule, has inspired cult fandom, and has arguably had a lot to do with his recent comedic film oeuvre-Walk Hard, Step Brothers, etc. Another of the show’s principal actors, collaborator Zach Galifinianakis, a comedian with a blend of dead-pan and off-balance humor of his own, has made appearances on this weeks MTV movie awards and recently hosted Saturday Night Live, and of course his appearance in the Hangover made waves. The trio also filmed a semi-successful group of Absolute Vodka commercials. Galifinianakis’ success is very much his own, and he has been a popular stand up comedian of the past decade, but it’s important to note the stylistic, referential, and presentational connections between the three.

Tim and Eric have also proved valuable enough for primetime, adopting several sketches from there show for the first season of the new Funny or Die sitcom on HBO. Here they are as Skott and Behr, co-hosts of a campy religious show who worship a God named Hosanna.

Morning Prayer with Skott and Behr - Black Francis from Tim and Eric on Vimeo.

Religious programming and acting seminars seem disparate objects to satirize but all of Tim and Eric’s material cuts into the banalities of the same middle-class and mainstream that have embraced them so wholeheartedly. Yes their comedy is weird, very stilted, and requires some acclimation, but why has their body of work proven so wildly successful? It could be a testament to the time we live in, to the disenchantment that characterizes the generation and to a general disdain for the generation itself. Some bits can lead to gut wrenching humor, while others are just… weird, and very scary/unfunny, but the peaks are always much higher than the valleys, and the show is definitely one of the most unique experiences on television today, if not for its unbelievable number of cameos alone. Witness their take on brands, energy drinks, marketing, and memes, all in a heavily satirized pop-mtv-esque format. (Warning: there’s vomit plus cameos from John Mayer/Elisha Cuthbert).

There use of non-actors and uniquely bizarre but affable and endearing actors-like Richard Dunn-further communicates a realism that says ‘yes this is weird, but we’re not that far from a sad reality’. Who are the duo actually satirizing though, the object or the subject? The objects’ of irony in all three sketches are a little stale, but the motifs-in your face graphics, exaggerated pop characters, and frenetic editing draws a picture of a culture that has created and now must live, a sort of David Lynch brand of 'nightmare television'. Tim and Eric themselves have cited Lynch as an influence in their work and worldview.

Tim and Eric may very well be the Jeff Koons of the comedy world. They create successful comedy, and reap the notoriety and prosperity it affords. What they do most successfully though, is provoke the audience to question whether the joke is actually ultimately on us.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show is currently syndicated on Cartoon network. The season five finale aired on May 2nd.