I Heart David Liebe Hart

It is so peculiar to see something online and then stumble across it in life. I became aware of this strange sensation, the feeling one gets when the online world and "real" world collide, when standing on line for "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny" back in 2006. Pamela and I saw this guy:



... who had existed only as a YouTube video before this. (There should really be a term for this. It's not a new sensation. It's the feeling you get whenever you encounter in the real world what you've known only from secondary sources.)

I remember the first time I saw David Liebe Hart. It was the following video, linked to by puppeteer Andrew Young. You don't have to watch the whole thing to get the idea:



I think the video speaks for itself.

I have IMMENSE respect for David Liebe Hart. Criticize his skill, his song lyrics or his theology all you want, the guy gets it done. And he's been getting it done since the 1980s, apparently. To paraphrase Darryl Philbin, David Liebe Hart is a very brave man. It takes courage just to be him.

And he is beloved, perhaps for his work on the Tim and Eric Awesome Show. But I have a feeling that many of us who consider ourselves fans of David Liebe Hart find the huge ripple of pathos present in this, the under-est of underdogs quite endearing:




I got to meet the man at Peepshow Menegerie last Sunday night, where we both performed. I'm most likely going to build him a puppet.

He's definitely his own person, and I respect that.

(The camera man said "ready?" and we both smiled. Then David started talking, just as the flash went off. I think this picture is perfect.)