T.J. Miller’s ‘Meticulously Ridiculous’ Tour Hits Atlanta
The realistic flair that has earned the HBO series “Silicon Valley” critical praise occasionally revisits one of the program’s stars when he’s out in the real world.
Actor and comic T.J. Miller, who plays the abrasive technology entrepreneur Erlich Bachmann, said a relentlessly confident developer once tried to demonstrate his beta project to him, only for the app to crash repeatedly.
“It was so very Erlich,” Miller said in a “City Lights” interview with host Lois Reitzes. “It showed me how real this really is.”
But when Miller steps back into a stand-up role, as he will be Friday and Saturday at The Atlanta Improv, he tries to get as far away from that notion of bracing reality as he can.
“I do satire that is just so far from being real … absurdist comedy,” Miller said, describing that what he does is “mapping what’s real,” even on serious subjects like suicide.
Hence the title of his current “Meticulously Ridiculous” tour.
Miller said his aim is to have the audience not “feel like they’re watching a show that has an agenda.”
“Silicon Valley,” which was just renewed for its third season, definitely has an agenda – to puncture a technology culture of self-importance that’s been criticized as often as its products are revered.
Erlich – whom Miller calls “an arrogant blowhard who constantly offends people” – runs a company that invests in a music app called Pied Piper.
The program revolves around how the characters deal with the travails and stress of the startup culture, and Miller said “Silicon Valley” resonates for three reasons:
“It’s [co-creator] Mike Judge, it’s satire and it’s very timely.”
And like the technology world it jabs, the program gets its dynamism from operating on the fly.
“About a third or at least a quarter of the show is improvised,” Miller said. “We’re all pretty good improvisers.”
9(MDAxODM0MDY4MDEyMTY4NDA3MzI3YjkzMw004))
Top Stories
