If you know Tim Heidecker from his beloved cult comedy show Tim and Eric Awesome Show: Great Job!, you would probably expect him to take a starring role in a movie filled with absurd humor, featuring the kind of jokes that you either get or can't connect to at all. But in The Comedy, the new indie from director Rick Alverson, Heidecker tackles that kind of humor head-on, playing a man who isn't just obsessed with bizarre humor, but incapable of connecting to the rest of the world because of it.
In this exclusive red band clip from The Comedy, you can see Heidecker's character Swanson doing some fairly effective flirting in a bar-- though the fact that he's flirting by talking about Hitler might indicate how this guy could use some more normal conversational skills.
The Comedy premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to some strongly positive reviews, though as you might guess for a movie about a deeply unlikable character, it got some mixed responses as well. Joining Heidecker in the film is his Tim & Eric co-star Eric Wareheim, as well as, of all people LCD Soundsytem frontman James Murphy. Check out the film's official synopsis below, and catch The Comedy on VOD starting October 24, and in limited theaters November 9.
On the cusp of inheriting his father's estate, Swanson (Tim Heidecker, "Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!") is a man with unlimited options. An aging hipster in Brooklyn, he spends his days in aimless recreation with like-minded friends (“Tim & Eric” co-star Eric Wareheim, LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy and comedian Gregg Turkington a.k.a.“Neil Hamburger”) in games of comic irreverence and mock sincerity. As Swanson grows restless of the safety a sheltered life offers him, he tests the limits of acceptable behavior, pushing the envelope in every way he can. Heidecker’s deadpan delivery cleverly masks a deep desire for connection and sense in the modern world. The Comedy wears its name on its sleeve, but director Rick Alverson's powerful and provocative character study touches a darkness behind the humor that resonates with viewers long after the story ends.
