Comedy duo's Tim and Eric shock value

If you're thinking about attending Tim and Eric's upcoming live show, you might want to brush up on their unique brand of comedy.

Nightmare comedy duo Tim and Eric are dedicated to pushing boundaries at upcoming Auckland show, discovers Chris Schulz.

If you're thinking about attending Tim and Eric's upcoming live show, you might want to brush up on their unique brand of comedy.

"You're either going to love it and respect it for its uniqueness, or you're going to walk out saying, 'This is really f***ed up'," sniggers Eric Wareheim down the phone from his Los Angeles office. "If you don't know anything about Tim and Eric you're going to be pretty shocked by what you're seeing."

Wareheim and his partner Tim Heidecker have spent the best part of 20 years trying to shock fans by making some of the most bonkers TV around, including five seasons of their cult Adult Swim series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and three of spin-off show Check It Out! with Dr Steve Brule.

Their shows are known for low-budget sets, awkward pauses, surreal segues, bizarre characters and random quotables. But Tim and Eric's shows feature high-profile fans in roles you might not expect, like Will Ferrell, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Will Forte, Zach Galifianakis, Weird Al' Yankovic and John C. Reilly, who plays the lead role of Brule.

Each skit seems to push boundaries further than the last - either for awkwardness, bad taste, or dark, gross-out humour. Wareheim describes their latest project, Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories, as "nightmare comedy".

None of it seems weird when they're dreaming up the shows together, he says.

"To us it's not really strange. When we think up stuff, we never sweat about whether or not this is going to be weird. It's the process that we go through that it gets messed up and weird. In our heads it's always funny and based on something in reality even though it's presented in a strange way."

Yes, the pair have suffered their fair share of bad reviews along the way. Some critics don't get them: one said of their 2012 foray into film, Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, "this amateurishly made unpleasant gross-out comedy stinks and is degrading"; another simply said: "One of the worst movies I have ever seen."

But they're never put off. They're planning a sequel, along with two Christmas Bedtime Stories specials, and a new season of Check It Out! with Dr Steve Brule due next year.

Wareheim admits he and Heidecker are amazed they're still going after they met at film school 20 years ago and formed a unique connection.

"Every day I pinch myself and thank the heavens that I'm doing it. We're so lucky people are so into it. Instantly when we met, we thought the same things. It's very weird. Sometimes we have the same mind when it comes to comedy and timing, we know how to riff off each other."

It's a connection they rely on when fronting their live shows, which take in characters from all of their creations but eventually erupt into absolute chaos.

"You go to a Tim and Eric live concert and you know it's a Tim and Eric live concert," warns Wareheim. "There are all of these flaws to it, there are emergencies, we fight in the audience. Most of the time it's fake, but there are a lot of crazy moments. Sometimes security has to be called."

It is, says Wareheim, a chance for fans to hang out with them. Audience participation is encouraged, and the stage is often packed.

"It's a chance for our fans to get together and get to see us and hang out. It reminds everyone that we're all in this special club and that makes the tour really fun."

Like their shows, there's an individuality to Tim and Eric's fans.

"Everyone's a little whacky, they kind of look like each other. They're very expressive about how they dress, and act.

"They live on the fringe, which is kind of where we're at."

Who: Tim & Eric 'Stralia-Zealand Experience
Where and when: December 18, Skycity Theatre