Just three galaxy brains. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by Tim Heidecker/YouTube
While half-checking your phone on Thanksgiving, you may have noticed that Tim Heideckers podcast Office Hours Live was on the air, but this was not an ordinary week for the talk show. In the special episode, Heidecker moderates a meandering marathon interview with comedians Jeremy Levick and Rajat Suresh. Wearing a ball cap with the logo for Elon Musks SpaceX, Heidecker serves up stoner-friendly questions like, How much can the brain absorb when it comes to new information?, and Levick replies simply by listing different parts of the brain in pulse-slowing monotone. Elsewhere, Suresh describes an Unsolved Mysterieslevel news story about the discovery of one of the devils horns, a topic that all three agree the New York Times would be too scared to pursue (Follow the money, Levick murmurs knowingly). Heidecker reads ad copy for Quad Core, a pyramid-scheme-seeming lifestyle health system that you can sign up for with the discount code Fuddruckers, which may draw your eye to a neon sign for the burger chain green-screened behind him.
If this reminds you of another podcast hosted by a certain UFC commentator and former Fear Factor host, youre right. Though hes booked interviewees as relatively innocuous as Neil deGrasse Tyson and Jay Leno, Joe Rogans hands-off style draws in guests who like that he wont push back on their rsums and responses, whether alt-right figureheads like Alex Jones or conspiracy-prone tech magnates like Musk, whose 2018 weed-toking appearance is invoked by Heideckers hat. But this hangout vibe also means that many Joe Rogan Experience episodes clock in at three hours or more, which is a long time to listen to anyone shoot the shit. This dull endlessness is the starting point for the Office Hours version: Heidecker, Levick, and Sureshs stream lasted for nearly 12 hours, an amazing stunt to witness in real time. While digesting turkey or a meat alternative, you could drop into the eighth hour of the show and hear Suresh explaining that humans can be considered animals on a cellular level.
In reality, the special loops an hour-long base video, but this feeling that they could go on forever makes the episode such a compelling (and funny) satire of Rogan. As the three comedians nail the lethargic tone of the Experience, everything that they actually discuss is patently ridiculous, spun from smart-sounding but meaningless buzzwords Levick says to Heidecker at one point, Im glad you said countercurrent, because its a sea change (whatever it is). Even if everything resembles the real JRE, each flimsy metaphor makes it harder to ignore the void at the conversations center. Theres a scene from Surrealist filmmaker Luis Buuels The Phantom of Liberty with a similar atmosphere: Characters attend a dinner party where toilets surround the table instead of chairs, but no one in the film views this as unusual. Instead of a visual gag, Office Hours punch line is conceptual; the joke might be on you if youre willing to listen to three weirdos talk for 12 hours about The Rock ruling the U.S. as a benevolent monarch.
That kind of obsession with formal detail, but with one major screw loose, is Levick and Sureshs trademark as a comedy duo. Theyre best known for their 2020 viral-video spoof conservative lecturer DESTROYS sjw college student: Levick plays a writer who pedantically eviscerates an audience question from Suresh about the moral compass of his book called Mr. Mouse Goes on a Fun Little Adventure to Happy Town (Define special mouse, Levick snaps repeatedly). Levicks pompous character was inspired by reactionaries like Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson, but instead of mimicking anything heinous that these people might say, the video lowers the stakes to the ground. Whats left is the underlying aggression that these particular exchanges share, now hilariously displaced into a heated argument over a cartoon mouse or, in a parody of an anti-masker bystander video, the message of When Harry Met Sally. Newly-minted SNL cast member James Austin Johnson does something comparable in his Donald Trump impression videos, in which he embarks on all sorts of free-associative tangents, like how Weird Al was mean to Coolio. Since he so closely replicates the real mans bizarre speech patterns, Johnsons videos feel like staring into Trumps erratic id, which gets at something less obvious than Alec Baldwins topical caricature. These comedians are more interested in unleashing toxic energy with pitch-perfect accuracy, a better fit for an absurd political reality that cant be rationally described.
Heidecker is the perfect partner in crime for this super-dry, committed brand of satire. Across all of his series with Eric Wareheim, hes made laser-precise parodies of infomercials, sitcoms, and, for the 2013 pilot of their horror anthology Bedtime Stories (20132017), a useless aftershow in the style of Talking Bad. The closest of his projects to the Rogan takeoff might be his epically scaled The Trial of Tim Heidecker from 2017, in which his character from On Cinema at the Cinema is on trial for murder. Directed by Eric Notarnicola, The Trial is nearly five hours long and stylized exactly like a live feed of court TV, but that aesthetic only makes its core psychodrama more perverse. At its heart, On Cinema is a soap opera about the power struggles of two incompetent film critics (Heidecker and Gregg Turkington), and in The Trial, their feuds look especially pathetic when they collide with the real world. The judge, lawyers, and jury have no frame of reference for a petty argument over which Star Trek movie was set in San Francisco, but they also seem powerless to stop this bizarre lore from swallowing up the legal process. As much as Heidecker has absorbed Trumps and Alex Joness mannerisms into his QAnon-prone, alternative-medicine-hocking On Cinema character, The Trial is more focused on the total inability of conventional systems to deal with his character and, in the end, he gets away with negligent homicide for selling faulty vape pens at a terrible EDM festival.
When Office Hours drains the center of The Joe Rogan Experience, whats left behind is a soup of directionless anecdotes and lamentations about cancel culture. Suresh worries that his stand-up jokes about Einstein in antifa might attract controversy, but Levick reassures him that this hour is valid and fucking funny. This also seems to be the premise of Rogans podcast: the possibility that each guests perspective could have a kernel of validity, and listeners are free to come to their own conclusions. By following Rogans format, Heidecker, Levick, and Suresh highlight something related: JRE episodes are mainly about unchecked rambling. Topics on deck could be as banal as Rogan and Musk vaguely spitballing about the future of AI, or as potentially harmful as misinformation about ivermectin and COVID vaccines. Whatever it is, its all delivered in the same casual, conversational tone. So when Heidecker talks about the therapeutic power of crab salts crystallized DNA from decomposed crabs which, if taken in capsule form, could provide complete immunity from disease and irreparably disrupt the pharmaceutical industry its important that this idea can jump out of the shows ASMR rhythm enough to make you laugh, jolting you awake from a multi-hour galaxy-brain session. If a perfect imitation of JRE can tap into its essence, Office Hours finds three men desperate to talk, but with nothing of value to say. And if that seems laughable, then its hard to see what might make it valid.
Original post:
The Tim, Jeremy, and Rajat Experience - Vulture
- Streaming, Politics, & Philosophy | Destiny (Steven Bonnell II) - The Daily Wire - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Jordan Peterson Proposes Using AI to Determine Whether Hitler Was Right-Wing Because He Cant Figure It Out Himself - Mediaite - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- News round-up: Radical expats, Church of England anti-whiteness, and Jordan Peterson - UnHerd - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Jordan Peterson & Sam Harris Try to Find Something They Agree On - The Daily Wire - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Discussing Communism in All its Glory | Michael Malice - The Daily Wire - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Tammy Peterson's journey to Catholic conversion is really a ... - Florida Catholic - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- The hairy beer belly of the Tradwife movement - The Michigan Daily - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- How to Kill a Literary Genre | Jaspreet Singh Boparai - First Things - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Men, Masculinities and Memes: The Case of Incels GNET - GNET - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- An Alternative to Western Nihilism | His Excellency Saeed Al Nazari - The Daily Wire - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- The Future of Canada | Josh & Nick Alexander - The Daily Wire - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Thanks within Thanks - The Catholic Thing - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Here's Everything Jordan Peterson's Daughter Mikhaila Has Said ... - TheThings - October 16th, 2023 [October 16th, 2023]
- Kansas football recruiting: Jayhawk commit adding substantial offers - Through the Phog - October 16th, 2023 [October 16th, 2023]
- Have children, save the world? The right's push for the right kind of ... - Salon - October 16th, 2023 [October 16th, 2023]
- Sound of Freedom anti-sex trafficking "hero" charged with sex crimes - Daily Kos - October 16th, 2023 [October 16th, 2023]
- Jordan Peterson, explained - Vox - April 17th, 2023 [April 17th, 2023]
- UFC Champ Israel Adesanya Gives His Surprising Take On Masculinity, Lauds Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson: They Are the Ones Who Are Really Pushing Men... - April 17th, 2023 [April 17th, 2023]
- Andrew Tate Again Loses Romanian Detention Appeal: His Human Trafficking Charges Explained And A Timeline Of The Social Media Stars Controversies -... - February 2nd, 2023 [February 2nd, 2023]
- Rex Murphy: If CBC cared about diversity, it would host Jordan Peterson global warming talk - National Post - January 31st, 2023 [January 31st, 2023]
- Jordan Peterson event in Ottawa that coalition tried to cancel goes off without trouble - Toronto Sun - January 31st, 2023 [January 31st, 2023]
- Andrew Tate Detained In Romania For Another Month: His Human Trafficking Charges Explained And A Timeline Of The Social Media Stars Controversies -... - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- Free speech isn't what Jordan Peterson thinks it is - Canada's National Observer - January 10th, 2023 [January 10th, 2023]
- Andrew Tate Appears In Romanian Court: His Human Trafficking Charges Explained And A Timeline Of The Social Media Stars Controversies - Forbes - January 10th, 2023 [January 10th, 2023]
- Read the court filing by Jordan Peterson against the College of Psychologists of Ontario - Ottawa Sun - January 10th, 2023 [January 10th, 2023]
- Jordan Peterson and Bjorn Lomborg: Hunger is more pressing than ... - National Post - December 16th, 2022 [December 16th, 2022]
- Kathy Griffin on How Elon Musk Reinstated Her Twitter Account: Dont Put My Name in the Company of White Supremacists - Hollywood Reporter - December 12th, 2022 [December 12th, 2022]
- Usman, Khamzat, Gaethje and Cejudo Visited a Chechen Dictator But: Robert Whittaker & His Wife Sofias Appearance With Controversial Figure Jordan... - December 12th, 2022 [December 12th, 2022]
- Jordan Peterson | Events - November 25th, 2022 [November 25th, 2022]
- Elon Musk begins reinstating banned Twitter accounts, starting with ... - November 25th, 2022 [November 25th, 2022]
- Olivia Wilde says Jordan Peterson inspired Chris Pines terrifying ... - November 25th, 2022 [November 25th, 2022]
- Jordan Peterson Returns To Twitter, Immediately Demands The Site Censor Anonymous Trolls - Forbes - November 25th, 2022 [November 25th, 2022]
- Jordan Petersons 5 most controversial ideas, explained - October 28th, 2022 [October 28th, 2022]
- Jordan Peterson: Id Rather Die Than Delete Truthful Tweet For Cancel ... - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]
- Opinion: MRA and Incel Red Flags - Houston Press - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Arizona Governor Candidate Kari Lake: 'There's No Such Thing as Toxic Masculinity' - Jezebel - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Olivia Wilde Responds to Claims She 'Abandoned' Her Children - 22 Words - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson - Goodreads - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Looking for advice on masculinity? Try St. Joseph rather than Jordan Peterson - National Catholic Reporter - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Jordan Peterson Cried Discussing How Dont Worry Darling Incel King ... - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Remember When Jordan Peterson Was a Thing? - thetriad.thebulwark.com - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Conservative stars Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro address sellout crowd in Jerusalem - JNS.org - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- "Might be the greatest promotion on Earth" - Twitter erupts after Bloodline member takes a shot at Andrew Tate on WWE SmackDown premiere -... - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Quiet, everyone! Megyn Kelly has thoughts about Jordan Peterson and Super Bowl vaginas! - The Independent - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- The Untold Truth Of Don't Worry Darling - Looper - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Jordan Peterson Breaks Down in Tears When Asked About Olivia Wilde Calling Him a Hero to the Incel Community: Sure, Why Not? - Variety - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Who is Jordan Peterson and what is his net worth? - AS USA - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- THE WEEK AHEAD: Jews mark the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur; Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro speak in Jerusalem; and 'The Rosenberg Report'... - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- OPINION: Ego is the main problem of our political polarization - N.C. State University Technician Online - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- What is Jordan Petersons 'grandma dream'? Story goes viral 23 years on - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- Canada's Trump - The Week - September 15th, 2022 [September 15th, 2022]
- 100-year-old Wythenshawe man one of the last to receive birthday card from Queen Elizabeth II - The Manc - September 15th, 2022 [September 15th, 2022]
- How Marcus Mumford turned torment into healing on solo album - Los Angeles Times - September 15th, 2022 [September 15th, 2022]
- Olivia Wilde on creating the most controversial film of the year - Sydney Morning Herald - September 15th, 2022 [September 15th, 2022]
- The Sacred Heart of Uvalde - The Texas Observer - September 15th, 2022 [September 15th, 2022]
- Dr Jordan Peterson Launches Greek Focused Masters Programme On The Island Of Samos - GreekCityTimes.com - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Conservative Party Leader Eric Duhaime Teases An Interview With Jordan Peterson On Twitter - MTL Blog - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Jordan Peterson says he would rather die than delete his 'hateful ... - August 30th, 2022 [August 30th, 2022]
- Who is Jordan Peterson, the alt-right darling of YouTube? - August 30th, 2022 [August 30th, 2022]
- Sci-Fi Writer Patrick S. Tomlinson Instructs His Followers To Mass Report Dr. Jordan B. Peterson For "Transphobia And Dead-Naming" -... - August 30th, 2022 [August 30th, 2022]
- The top 10 audiobooks on Audible.com - Star Tribune - August 30th, 2022 [August 30th, 2022]
- I Read Robert Greene's Best-Selling Books And This Is Why I Recommend Them To Every Woman In My Life - Evie Magazine - August 30th, 2022 [August 30th, 2022]
- Beverly Peterson | News, Sports, Jobs - The Daily news - Iron Mountain Daily News - August 30th, 2022 [August 30th, 2022]
- Wingstop launches their own chicken sandwich in 12 flavors - USA TODAY - August 30th, 2022 [August 30th, 2022]
- Freeze Your Eggs: The Worst Advice Ever - The Stream - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Is Scott Galloway the Howard Stern of the Business World? - The New York Times - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- Stephen Harper may have picked the wrong horse again - Al Jazeera English - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- The Daily, American Dream, Emily DiDonato & Jordan Millington Liquorice Celebrated The August Cover With A Fun-filled Family Fte At The Maidstone... - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- Reality's revenge: The return of stagflation | Columns | timesnews.net - Kingsport Times News - July 31st, 2022 [July 31st, 2022]
- America's heart of darkness: Making sense of the nonsensical allure of MAGA - Salon - July 31st, 2022 [July 31st, 2022]
- Letters to the editor: Irony and inspiration in Pope Francis's visit - National Post - July 31st, 2022 [July 31st, 2022]
- Charles Barkley Thinks Bob Myers is the 'Second-Best Thing' to Happen to Golden State - Sports Illustrated - July 31st, 2022 [July 31st, 2022]
- Can Q&A lead us out of the opinion wars its helped to fuel? - The Conversation - July 31st, 2022 [July 31st, 2022]
- The World and Everything in It: July 29, 2022 - WORLD News Group - July 31st, 2022 [July 31st, 2022]
- Wisdom of the Ages: Email, Jordan Peterson, and a Latte - Patheos - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- Learn from these heroic saints who lived against the grain - Fox News - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- Vegans need to stop exaggerating the health benefits of a plant-based diet - Fast Company - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- Remembering the honest and natural voice of Amy Winehouse - The Daily Star - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- The Barstool Bros' Split Over Abortion Could Determine the Future of the GOP - POLITICO - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- From The Mailbag - The American Conservative - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]