Movies

Tim And Eric Had A Hilarious Method For Convincing Bob Odenkirk To Work With Them

Bob Odenkirk tells Bedtime Stories Adult Swim
By Joe Roberts

Believe it or not, before Bob Odenkirk became mega-famous as Saul Goodman on "Better Call Saul" or an older, gruffer version of John Wick in "Nobody," he had quite a career in comedy. In fact, the actor, who is gearing up for his new series "Straight Man," won a couple of Emmys for his writing on "Saturday Night Live" and "The Ben Stiller Show." He even influenced arguably a whole generation of comedians with his and David Cross' sketch show "Mr. Show with Bob and David." Two such people were Pennsylvania natives Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim who, as it happens, reached out to the man himself when they were looking to break into the business.

Now better known as Tim and Eric, the pair have become idols of alt-comedy, creating a whole comedic style that would pervade much of popular culture in the wake of their seminal "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" But before any of that could happen, they had to get Odenkirk's attention. Luckily, they had a crafty, and hilarious, way of doing so.

Billing Bob Odenkirk

The stars of Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie Magnet

Since meeting in College, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim had been making sketches together for some time, even compiling them on self-made DVDs. It was one of those DVDs that the pair decided to mail to Bob Odenkirk, who at the time was all the way in Los Angeles. As Odenkirk told Pedestrian, he received the DVD in the mail and whereas he would usually "throw it in the garbage," he actually opened it. But it wasn't just the DVD that caught his attention. As the actor recalled: "there's a video, a DVD, and along with it they had an itemized bill for the DVD and mailing [it] and everything."

The invoice sealed the deal for Odenkirk, who flew the boys out to Los Angeles, beginning their journey towards becoming comedy legends and starting their own production company: Abso Lutely Productions. The story of the invoice has gained a kind of legendary status in Tim and Eric lore, and Odenkirk himself included the whole episode in his biography "Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama: A Memoir."

These days you can still find Odenkirk dipping his toes back into the comedy pool with appearances on Tim Robinson's exceptionally funny "I Think You Should Leave" — a show that has also seen Heidecker show up a couple of times. Odenkirk has also appeared in innumerable Tim and Eric sketches, shows, and even their 2012 movie "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie." Who'd have thought that if it weren't for the boys billing their hero for the privilege of receiving their DVD, none of that would ever have come to fruition? Great Job!

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