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John Flansburgh (left) and John Linnell will participate in a smorgasbord for the sensorium on Ap

They Might Be Giants has tried its hand at TV theme songs, children’s music and an homage to dead president James K. Polk. Maybe it was only a matter of time before the band gave literature a shot.

Well, TMBG isn’t publishing a novel or a poetry collection, but it has teamed up with Dave Eggers, best-selling author and editor of McSweeney’s Literary Journal, for the music-and-literature event, “McSweeney’s vs. They Might Be Giants.” This multimedia performance will be on April 24 at Royce Hall.

The performance features several authors reading selections of their works, as well as a slide show of images meant to compliment the readings. All of this will be accompanied by They Might Be Giants’ music, which is meant to specifically fit each visual and literary work, creating for the audience a sort of multisensory experience of sounds, images and words. If that sounds strange or confusing, that is exactly what the artists are going for.

“All of us were really interested in doing something beyond the regular boundaries of a rock show or lecture,” said John Flansburgh, the singer and co-founder of TMBG. “We want this show to really be a ‘happening,’ in that old school, ’60s sort of way.”

TMBG first joined up with Eggers when the band did some music for McSweeney’s “Art & Music” issue. The journal came with a disc by the group, which featured music inspired by the journal’s writing and artwork. The idea was for the reader to read through the journal with the accompanying CD playing in the background.

“It’s a cool, sort of psychedelic experience to read a book while you listen to music inspired by that book,” said Flansburgh.

That artistic venture grew into the “McSweeney’s vs. They Might Be Giants” touring performances. The traveling multimedia circus first performed in London to a strong reception. This inspired them to perform more shows in New York, Philadelphia and several other major cities, with Los Angeles as their most recent target.

But the “McSweeney’s vs. They Might Be Giants” performances are just the latest jaunt by the band, whose unpredictable career has become only more unusual in recent years.

TMBG is probably best known for its catchy, but weird songs about shoehorns and particle men, and especially for their pre-grunge hits “Birdhouse In Your Soul” and “Istanbul (Not Constantinople).” But TMBG has been plenty busy since its first big successes, touring almost nonstop since the beginning of the ’90s, and consistently releasing new music.

In an apparent attempt to reach out to younger audiences, TMBG’s latest album, “NO!,” is actually a disc of children’s music featuring songs like “Bed Bed Bed” and “Where Do They Make Balloons?” TMBG has even tried taking a few dates off of regular touring to do specialty shows just for kids, though apparently they did not go particularly well.

“The thing is, I enjoy the creative part of writing for children, but I really can’t say that I have a natural affinity for performing for children,” said Flansburgh. “Maybe I just enjoy swearing on stage too much. I really feel like Krusty the Clown up there.”

In addition to their attempts at children’s entertainment, TMBG has also taken on several television projects. TMBG is the band who sings the “You’re not the boss of me now!” theme song to “Malcolm in the Middle.” In addition to several other projects, Flansburgh has most currently been putting together music for the Learning Channel.

“All these different things really just give us breaks from the road, or ways to do something more fun than the same rock show over and over,” said the singer. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t having a really great time doing it, and I think that comes out in the kind of music we make.”