Eric Andre

THE FOUR-YEAR HIATUS BETWEEN SEASONS OF THE ERIC ANDRE SHOW saw the comedian take time away from hosting his surreal talk show spoof to complete feature film Bad Trip, standup special Legalize Everything, an album as Blarf and more. Now that the show is back on Adult Swim, stars continue to line up for the twisted, at times torturous, chance to be Eric Andre’s special guest.

What are your current fixations?

I taught myself how to make cocktails in quarantine, which is a dangerous thing to get good at. I feel like Truman Capote: at my house, all pent-up, just drinking exotic gin drinks all the time. I just saw the new Borat, which was super funny. Been watching Curb Your Enthusiasm. I’m reading this book, Open Veins of Latin America, about the past 500 years of Central and South America — it’s a bummer!

What has been your most memorable or inspirational concert and why?

One of the best concerts I ever saw live was the Beastie Boys at Madison Square Garden in 2004, right when I moved to New York City and I graduated college. That was incredible.

I think the first Eric Andre Show live tour was magical because it was the first time I had fans. I was going into that tour thinking, “All right, it’s okay if nobody comes to the first few shows. This is your first tour.” But the tour sold out, and there were lines around the block, and I was like, “Oh my god, I might have a career.” I wasn’t playing arenas — I’m not Kevin Hart. I was playing small, DIY venues. It was such a cool feeling to finally be understood.

What advice should you have taken, but did not?

I’m very hard on myself, and people say, “Don’t be so hard on yourself, be kind to yourself,” you know. It kind of sounds like white noise after a while, people deliver all these maxims — “Happiness comes from within.” You hear all that shit growing up and go, “Yeah, yeah, sure, sure.” But the older you get, the more you realize that is the truth, and those proverbs are around for a reason. I wish that I were more kind to myself in my 20s.

What do you think of when you think of Canada?

I love Canada. I love Canadians. I have had an overwhelmingly positive experience for all my times in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver; I’ve been in the countryside. I have very fond memories of all the times I’ve filmed and toured in Canada, and I always have my eye on the North whenever I think about the current political climate in my country. I always fantasize about escaping to Canada.

Where’s home base, should you ever make that decision?

It’s a toss-up between Toronto and Montreal… Vancouver’s pretty nice… or Winnipeg! Final answer.

What was the first album you ever bought with your own money?

It was a “Weird Al” Yankovic compilation called The Food Album, which only featured his hit songs about food.

What was the best song off of that one for you?

Probably “My Bologna,” which is a parody of “My Sharona” about baloney.

What was your most memorable day job?

This was my early days in New York City. I had a job where I was a paralegal for this company… It’s like a database of court cases, and lawyers can pay for access so they can reference those old cases as precedent when they’re in court. So all I had to do was go to the nearest New York Supreme Court and make copies all day.

There was this older guy there that was kind of strange and eccentric, and he would give us petty cash to make copies of these old court cases. So I didn’t even have to check into the office. I would go with a stack of papers to this rogue guy, hand him a stack of cash, he would make the copies, and I would go back home, sleep in and work on comedy. He’d do all my work for me, and at the end of the day, I’d show up at the office with this stack of copies. My coworker and I would bring them to my boss and he’d be like, “Man, you guys are more productive than anybody else we have at the company, just cranking ’em out.” Everyone was happy: there was no loser in the game, no victim. It didn’t last forever, it was too good to be true, but it was perfect for when I was a young, starving, 22-year-old comedian.

What is the greatest song of all time?

There’s this Miles Davis song called “Little Church,” which I believe is written by Hermeto Pascoal. And I think it might be the most beautiful song ever recorded.