You can now watch Pauly Shore's Richard Simmons short film online

Earlier this week, Pauly Shore made headlines with news that he and Warner Bros. subsidiary The Wolper Organization were moving forward with plans to make a full-fledged biopic of reclusive fitness guru Richard Simmons—news that was quickly met with Simmons himself posting a message on Facebook, making it clear he had nothing to do with, and had not given permission for, the film in question.

Now, Shore has rolled out what could be considered his public audition for the part, with the debut of his new short film The Court Jester at a Sundance-adjacent theater as the festival kicks off in Utah this weekend. The film, directed by Jake Lewis (of The Lewis Brothers, who previously made headlines with a similarly stunt-y short film that starred Jamie Costa as Robin Williams) is also now online, allowing the internet as a whole to pass judgment on Shore’s Simmons impression. (After all, this is all pretty much the internet’s fault in the first place, after people online noticed that Shore and Simmons shared at least some superficial physical similarities, and Shore took the idea and jogged with it.)

The short film actually centers on a character named David. (Jesse Heiman, whose performances and distinctive appearance in shows like The Big Bang Theory have paradoxically made him weirdly famous as a background performer.) A segment producer on a daytime talk show that is, basically, Ellen, David ends up in a pep talk/conversation with Shore’s Simmons during a commercial break, giving those of us in the audience a chance to evaluate what Shore is actually bringing to this, aside from some frizzy hair.

The result comes off as manic, committed—and kind of facile, as Shore hits all the Simmons-y beats without giving much of a real glimpse at the person hiding underneath the platitudes. It’s engaging enough—none of Shore’s old slacker affect bleeds through here, and he resists the urge to make Simmons a figure of ridicule, or play his goofy optimism as a joke. But it’s also not clear what he has to offer with this quest, beyond some cheap inspirational material and a touch of novelty.

Shore debuted the film last night, noting, per TMZ, that he’s supposedly been texting with Simmons, who supposedly told him “good luck” before the premiere.