I want more strangeness.
May 9, 2015 11:36 PM   Subscribe

Surrealism recommendations: If I like Adult Swim's "Off The Air" and anything by Tim and Eric, and I also like Famicon's "Bart the General," what else would I probably like?

Comedy is appreciated but not required. Weirdness is.
posted by mreleganza to Media & Arts (26 answers total) 33 users marked this as a favorite
 
You can do anything at ww.zombo.com

Did you see the Todd Terje FPP the other day?

Adventure Time

The works of Matt Berry, such as Garth Merenghi's Darkplace, Snuff Box, and (to a lesser surreal degree), Toast of London.

Comedy Bang Bang (the TV series)

Look Around You

Anything by Don Hertzfeldt: Rejected, It's Such a Beautiful Day
posted by JauntyFedora at 12:31 AM on May 10, 2015




Worker and Parasite
posted by spork at 12:57 AM on May 10, 2015


Frankly I haven't seen any of those but Twin Peaks and Louie are the first things that come to mind when I think surreal TV. Both are on Netflix if that helps.
posted by STFUDonnie at 2:08 AM on May 10, 2015


Cboyardee's Dilbert 2 and its sequel are very similar to Bart the General in many ways, although they have a little less of the unsettling dread that BtG deals in. Cboyardee is also responsible for Barkley, Shut up and Jam: Gaiden, also pretty marvelously weird.
posted by ltisz at 4:06 AM on May 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Adventure Time.
posted by amro at 4:46 AM on May 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


The 'Look Around You' and various Matt Berry vehicles noted by JauntyFedora above are heartily seconded, and to them should be added The Mighty Boosh.

If you enjoy... uh... vicious satire in your bizarre, try Brass Eye. I take no responsibility for your reaction to Jam, however. Nor can I describe it in any other way than 'scarifyingly hilarious and altogether wrong'.
posted by prismatic7 at 5:07 AM on May 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


China, IL.
posted by escabeche at 5:35 AM on May 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Don't Hug Me I'm Scared might scratch your itch.
posted by RGD at 6:26 AM on May 10, 2015


Wrong Cops by Mr. Oizo. It's on Netflix. Eric Wareheim is in it, and Grace Zabriskie and Ray Wise both have small roles. This was the clip that sold me on it.
posted by ludwig_van at 6:34 AM on May 10, 2015


Anything by the Brothers Quay. Here's Street of Crocodiles, their masterpiece.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:04 AM on May 10, 2015


Nthing Adventure Time.

You should check out On the Cinema with Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington, if you haven't already. All available on adultswim.com for free.

I also recommend Eagle-Heart.
posted by glaucon at 8:04 AM on May 10, 2015


The Tom Green Show, aka Tom Green's House Tonight.
posted by zippy at 8:08 AM on May 10, 2015


Mefi's Own Greg Nog has an online series called Lil Friendys. It's wonderful. (Previously)
posted by mochapickle at 9:02 AM on May 10, 2015


The Chris Gethard Show. Chris Gethard's 10 favorite Chris Gethard Show Moments. My favorite: TCGS #124 — "15 minutes of people chanting 'Eat more butts' while a man dressed as a unicorn felates a red white and blue dildo."
posted by Lorin at 9:16 AM on May 10, 2015


So implicitly I guess you are looking for TV shows/video series, but in terms of surreal comedy I think A Lesson Is Learned but the Damage Is Irreversible is amazing.
posted by sudo intellectual at 9:22 AM on May 10, 2015


Seconding The Mighty Boosh.
posted by baseballpajamas at 10:03 AM on May 10, 2015


In case you're unfamiliar with some of adultswim's other stuff:
posted by johnnydummkopf at 11:35 AM on May 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Comedy Bang Bang if it isn't already in your viewing (and listening) rotation.
posted by General Malaise at 12:20 PM on May 10, 2015


[Ctrl]+[F] "xavier" ... ?!

Xavier: Renegade Angel is absolutely the weirdest of the weird. "Surrealism" doesn't even touch the hem of its desperately creepy, sometimes genuinely unsettling garment. Here is episode one. Its creators also made Wonder Showzen, which is also deeply strange, but mostly live-action (and puppets!) whereas Xavier is all CGI. The creators appear to have published the entire run of Wonder Showzen in HD on YouTube.

More on the straight-up comedic side, Frisky Dingo is wonderfully surreal, occasionally a little melancholy, and probably my favorite animated show of all time; kind of like an alternate universe version of Archer. Here's episode one. From the same production company (70/30, R.I.P.) came Sealab 2021, which is frequently bizarre although (imo) a bit less persistently odd than FD (suggested episode: Radio Free Sealab).

And if you haven't already, please check out Too Many Cooks, with Lars Von Trier as "Pie."
posted by divined by radio at 12:54 PM on May 10, 2015




Weirder followup to Boosh: Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy. E.g. check out the Jelly Fox concept.
posted by Ian Scuffling at 6:42 PM on May 10, 2015


The podcast "Welcome to NightVale"
posted by slateyness at 6:52 PM on May 10, 2015


The League of Gentlemen (including, if not especially the Christmas Special)

Psychoville !!!!!!!!! (protagonists include a one armed, alcoholic clown; an incestuous mother and son serial-killer duo; a dwarf ex-porn actor with psychokinetic powers; a blind millionaire who collects beanie-babies and the siamese twin sisters who are his collecting rivals; several murders; a mystery involving the sadistic nurse of the asylum where they were all once patients.)
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 11:24 PM on May 10, 2015


David Lynch's forgotten TV series On the Air features this sort of weirdness with humor. His series Rabbits is more strange, but not funny. Both are on YouTube. This has been Adult Swim's wheel house for a while, so I assume you know, but The Heart She Holler and their Infomercials are both as you describe. Wondershowzen too.
posted by codacorolla at 2:23 PM on May 11, 2015


Oh, maybe the film Holy Motors, which was at least previously on Netflix.
posted by codacorolla at 2:26 PM on May 11, 2015


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