One need only try a cursory search of the name Tim Heidecker on YouTube to be swept into the surreal whirlwind of his many artistic endeavors.
The first videos to pop up feature his comedy duo, Tim and Eric, stars of the Adult Swim show. Then episodes of his web series and podcast, “On Cinema,” a hilarious skewering of Siskel and Ebert-style film reviews featuring Heidecker and Gregg Turkington (a.k.a. Neil Hamburger). Also, there are entertaining, longer episodes of his weekly call-in show, “Office Hours Live with Tim Heidecker,” featuring interviews with famous friends such as Marc Maron, Jack Black, and Weyes Blood.
Scroll further down and you stumble across clips of Heidecker’s acting, either in big Hollywood movies such as “Bridesmaids” or Jordan Peele’s “Us,” or starring in indies like “The Comedy,” by Richmond’s own Rick Alverson. You can also spot his cameo on the hit IFC show, “Portlandia,” where Heidecker played an ant exterminator named Scout who conducts “humane extermination” by introducing a kombucha blend to “encourage” ants to seek another home.
Just a little further and you get to his music videos. After being discovered somewhat by a pre-“Breaking Bad” Bob Odenkirk, Heidecker has spent the last two decades forging a diverse career as a comedian, actor, director, and now as a serious musician, whose last two critically acclaimed albums, “Fear of Death” (2020) and “High School” (2022) were released by Richmond’s own Spacebomb Records.
“It’s an honor for us to work with him and we’re lucky to have done that with someone who is so exciting, talented and hyper-creative,” says Spacebomb owner and founder Matthew E. White. “He takes his album-making side really seriously. Musically, [the ‘High School’ album] is really poignant, it’s sincere, well-crafted, and I think that’s what appeals to me and Spacebomb.”
Heidecker will be bringing his summer tour, the Two Tims, to the National in Richmond on Monday, Aug. 7 for a concept that might please fans of absurdist comedian Andy Kaufman. The chockfull night of entertainment features an opening set by Heidecker’s failed stand-up persona, the “No More Bullshit” comedian (which he told The Guardian he thinks of “as a one-man play about a pathetic comedian.”) The following second set will feature Heidecker, the singer-songwriter, backed by the Very Good Band, playing songs from his entire catalogue.
We spoke with this unorthodox Renaissance man by phone recently to ask about the tour, his latest music, and his several connections to good ‘ole Richmond, VA.
Style Weekly: I love shows that aren’t afraid to mix things up or do things differently. You’ve done this tour in the U.K. already, right?
Tim Heidecker: Yeah, and I did it last summer around the States. You know, there’s so many cities to hit in this country, you can kind of do the tour twice. So yeah, we’re back.
How did this unusual mixture of comedy and non-comedic music come about and how did it go over with crowds?
[For me] it was kind of a process of elimination. I really wanted to go on the road and I had never toured either of these sides of me in this way. I’ve done little shows here and there, but never a full-on-bus-out-on-the-road kind of tour. So it just felt like it was worth trying. It definitely felt experimental. I didn’t know if it was going to work, but it did work pretty much right away. And it felt very creatively satisfying for me, and the audience seemed to love it. So it works out good.
I figured there would be people who know your comedy first, and if they aren’t that familiar with the music, they may think you’re trying to be funny with that as well.
Yeah, there is a contingent there that might feel that way, at least at the beginning of the music set, but then things kind of loosen up. I’ve spent the last few years kind of drilling home that there’s definitely a side of me that is interested in being taken seriously as a musician. And as we toured, we found people right up front singing along. There are definitely people who are saying: “The comedy is good, but I really love the band.” Overall, I think by the end of the night, people are still there, standing up, singing along. So it’s a lot of fun.
Have you heard these pearl-clutching stories in the nightly national news media lately proclaiming, “What is wrong with American concert audiences?” They’re pelting artists with cellphones, or someone threw their mother’s ashes at singer Pink.
Oh, no. Well, I really, generally, love my audience. They’re pretty reserved and cool and know how to behave in public, you know? And in the standup portion for sure, I’m pretty strict when it comes to behavior from the audience. If you’re acting out, I will come down on you hard.
What can you say about your touring band, the Very Good Band? Is there an MVP holding it together?
Oh, I don’t want to pick favorites, I’ll get in trouble. The great thing about putting this band together – it was kind of another risk. I knew them all independently and had played with them, but we all hadn’t played together. A lot of them didn’t know each other that well. Pretty quickly, we gelled and found, “oh, we’re actually a band,” it’s not just a bunch of hired guns that I’ve assembled. We really play well together and love spending time together, which is important for the 22 hours out of the day when you’re not playing and stuck together on a bus. Part of this tour is kind of selfish on my part, because it’s just a really fun hang with these people.
Maybe your boy Eric Slick will show up? I’m not sure if he lives in Richmond or Nashville now, but it would be cool if he brought Wendell, the world’s original Steely Dan drum machine, with him. That was a good segment you guys did on “Gaucho” for your “Office Hours” show.
Oh yeah, that was cool. I think he lives in Nashville, but I can’t guarantee where he’ll be … [after being told his Facebook page lists his home as Richmond] Well, he may be trying to throw off the scent.
That’s another reason I thought it would be good to talk to you – you have a number of personal connections to Richmond. First, there’s Rick Alverson, who featured you in his breakthrough 2012 film, “The Comedy.” More recently, there’s your label, Spacebomb, and you also have friends in the band Pavement, like Bob Nastanovich, who is from here. I guess I should start with the most obvious though: How has it been working with Spacebomb on your two most recent albums?
Great! They sort of came into the picture on “Fear of Death” when I was kind of lost at sea. I got connected to them by this artist, Azniv [Korkejian], who goes by Bedouin. They reached out and we ended up getting along really well, and they’ve been very helpful and supportive and put out a couple of records.
Speaking of your movie with Rick, I thought you delivered a great lead performance in “The Comedy.” Did that movie spur you to seek out more dramatic roles, or what kind of future do you hope for yourself in film?
Well, I take what I can get, you know? Rick saw something in me and took a risk, certainly at that time, over 10 years ago now. It was something I’ve always wanted to do. I love acting, whether dramatic or comedic, I love all those things. I don’t think of myself as just one thing. But the way [Rick] works is so collaborative and instinctual that it made it very easy and fun. As much as people might have a hard time believing there was fun going on there, there really was, because there was playing, experimenting with stuff and improvising. And I knew I was in good hands, because I had seen Rick’s earlier work and knew he knew how to make a movie.
So, I think there’s always going to be people out there making movies or shows, who’ve seen my work and respond to it, or know what I’m capable of and know I can bring something to a character. It’s kind of hard to plan for that stuff, because sometimes it just comes out of the woodwork. You take opportunities as they present themselves. On the acting side, there’s only so much you can do – you just have to be around and open to taking chances with people.
Did I see on Reddit that you aren’t writing new content for shows in solidarity with the writer’s strike?
Well, yes and no. I’m not a member of the WGA [Writer’s Guild of America], and never have been. But for “On Cinema,” our creative writing collaborator Eric Nortarnicola is, and our production company is a signatory of the writer’s guild. So they won’t produce anything while the strike is going on. So for that, I think we’re pausing until this resolves.
I enjoyed listening to your “High School” album, the music definitely has a laid-back vibe with some nice, evocative lyrics; at times, it kind of reminded me of a less venomous Warren Zevon. It’s funny, I respond to songs musically first, then pay attention to lyrics later, if ever. When I heard your lead single “Buddy,” which is an upbeat song about a serious topic – a friend of yours that died – I couldn’t help what came to my mind. I saw a mockumentary of you moving to Key West and busking, or finding your inner Jimmy Buffet, weed pirate [Both of us laugh] It’s like a drug overdose song with an upbeat island vibe. What was the process like for you, exploring that early period of your life during high school?
Well, I think when I’m writing music, it kind of comes from a subliminal place. There’s something very meditative and therapeutic about writing music, where you dip into part of your brain that isn’t super on the conscious level. Words come out, I usually have a voice memo going, just sort of singing. I listen back and think, “Oh interesting, I’m drilling into a part of my brain that I don’t access often.”
The song “Buddy” I think started with the word “Buddy,” which is a word I use with my son a lot, so I like the sound of it. But as it progressed, it brought up this memory of an old friend and that snowballed into thinking about that period of my life. This was during the pandemic, there was a lot of time to sit around and waste and think. I thought it was interesting, because the public persona of me kind of begins with Tim and Eric stuff after college, in my 20s, and I was the same person I am now, in high school. I was thinking about what I was into, what I wanted to be, what I thought I’d be … and I thought that it might be interesting to explore and there might be some relatability [for listeners] there. Certainly for my audience that is my age. The ‘90s kind of gets overlooked a bit as an interesting period.
Yes it does … Do you have a favorite high school movie? Like are you a “Dazed and Confused” or a “Fast Times” guy, or … ?
Umm, there was this movie. What was it, “Over the Edge”? That has a great soundtrack.
Oh yeah! Cheap Trick all day. That is a great high school movie. I also heard that Spinal Tap is your favorite flick, speaking of mockumentaries earlier. Do you have any hope for Spinal Tap II, the sequel?
Well, I don’t want to be mean, but I do not have high hopes [laughs].
Between all the fields that you’re involved with and had a level of success with – acting, comedy, music, and writing – do you have a preference for one to become your go-to career? Or are you shooting for that EGOT, big pimpin’ level?
[Laughs] Well, I just think you’ve got to try not to worry about that kind of stuff … you know, it all starts with an idea. And if I have an idea that feels like it’s a song, or a TV show, or a tweet, or whatever, I just always try to see it through to the best of my abilities and put it out into the world.
I think I’m practical about it. If I think something’s good enough to warrant putting a lot of time and energy into it, that’s what I’ll do. But yeah, I’m a little scattered with it. I will get bored quickly of something, and get anxious to try something new. I think that’s the best way to understand my career. I keep pushing forward toward things that are interesting and exciting to me. I’m always, I guess, a little ahead of my audience, you know, where they’re like, “Oh why don’t you just do that again, or do more of that?” People always want more of what they like, and that doesn’t always interest me.
Anything else you want to say to folks who might be considering coming out to your Richmond show?
Eric and I played Richmond maybe ten or more years ago. So I’m happy to come back and excited to see everybody. Yeah, just come on down. It’s guaranteed to be air-conditioned [laughs].
Tim Heidecker and the Very Good Band perform on Monday, Aug. 7 at The National. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show is at 8 p.m. All ages. For tickets, go here.
