piece of cake with its roots tangled in the traditions of Johnny Carson David
Letterman Monty Python jackass the Tom Green Show and various forms of
avant-garde performance art the Eric Andre show is a seemingly endless bag of
tricks some of theorize that Eric is trapped in
hell others choose an existentialist frame but no one theory could apply to
every element of such a sprawling project as the Eric Andre show in this
video I'm going to focus in on one interesting trend I've noticed in the
show style that sets it apart from its wide range of influences Eric Andre
first and foremost puts us on edge catches us off-guard and leaves us
feeling well like this
to create these feelings the show ranges from funny to weird - boring - gross -
just purely insane but in my opinion none of these
adjectives quite capture the magic of the Eric Andre show as much as the word
random and to fully dig into the range and depth of the show's intense and at
times mind-bending randomness we'll have to look back at a character I personally
think Eric Andre takes after even more than johnny Knoxville or Tom Green Bugs
Bunny at his core is a modern manifestation of the traditional
trickster archetype according to scholars like Paul mattock and Lewis
Hyde the trickster is a type of boundary crosser one who isn't afraid to break
societal rules one who in maddox words actively violates principles of social
and natural order playfully disrupting normal life remind you of anyone nice
cozy Paisano I'm mr. burrito the human pizza we spoke
earlier central to bugs is modernization as a cartoon trickster is his ability to
pull literally anything he needs out from just beyond our view a technique
Eric Andre is equally fond of to translate this Bugs Bunny as trickster
quality from cartoon to live-action the show's directors use a clever
combination of misdirections and a continuous editing style for clips that
couldn't have possibly occurred one after another in real time but the
moments I'm more interested in are those when Bugs as opposed to simply pulling
out random physical objects pulls out a new narrative or character or intention
breaking the initial logic of the situation
in this clip bugs establishes the logic of the interaction very clearly him and
elmer fudd are going back and forth seeing who can threaten each other with
a bigger weapon but his true weapon is to completely undermine the logic
they've established switching his character and intentions from an enemy
into a romantic partner and only through the confusion this logic breaking
creates does he ultimately win the battle when Eric Andre ventures out into
the real world this is often the Bugs Bunny esque technique he uses to
maintain control over every situation he enters or at least to maintain attention
by constantly catching his subjects off-guard changing his character his
narrative and his intentions moment to moment even those unwilling to put up
with his ridiculous antics are caught on the back of their feet for a moment like
Elmer Fudd giving him room to take the comedy a step further check out how many
times he completely breaks the logic of the following interaction in a matter of
seconds somebody ordered this beats a ball dude I'm not paying for this this
thing is straight farm to nut Grove rule exercise let's talk Scientology
karate callenge you in your dojo you gotta let me take when he switches from
delivering the pizza ball to preaching Scientology Ramadan Steve takes a moment
to hear him out if only because this new character is just purely confusing the
same happens in the following clip when Eric takes his car to the mechanic the
initial bit already subverts the logic of the interaction but really it's only
just slightly more creative than a jackass praying only when he suddenly
switches up his character and his intentions breaking the logic of a
situation that already had so little do we venture out into the truly
mind-bending world of Eric Andre
the same often happens when Eric translates this technique to interview
questions fluidly moving from one situation to the next without any
obvious coherence undermining the most basic conventions of not only talk show
interviews but even just normal human conversation your mom is Paula Deen who
said that that's what it says in my notes so I
don't know who told you that Paula Deen Paula D Pauly D Pauly D huh
I'm panicking what it's time to play the quickness with which him and Hannibal
can continue breaking one situation to get to the next seems like it might have
torn a few fundamental threads in the fabric of Pauly D's reality huh and you
can often see his guests trying to choose a certain logic to hold on to
anything to get a foothold in reality but Eric is a master in his trickster
role and anytime they try to ground the conversation he switches it up again why
don't you do Rwanda is Got Talent I would imagine they do it is the number
one syndicated show in the world in Rwanda No Got Talent cuz Don Cheadle was
in that movie and he was fantastic right I mean you gotta get Don Cheadle on the
show on America's know I got ultimately this same logic breaking concept could
equally be applied to our relationship with Eric Andre our expectation in
watching the Eric Andre show or any show for that matter is that he's supposed to
entertain us in some way but sometimes rather than simply breaking the
conventional logic of an interaction with a guest he goes further and subvert
even the very purpose of the show itself not making even the slightest effort to
entertain us his true audience
hey you got another guest no equally and with just as little fear he might catch
us off guard with an obviously unfunny bit just to keep us on our toes just to
never give the viewer exactly what we're expecting the lady tap on his shoulder
hey you swing bolsa how can I see him that guy's a yoga shop for you thou
changest otaku Taj Oh your answer can be found gender sir Hall Condon iike
ancient oppression don't see it so what kind you can the peak of this concept
occurred in season 3 episode 10 when his least popular and least funny side bit
bird up actually took over the show these moments though often abrasive and
uncomfortable are crucial to the Eric Andre experience in the end even the
viewers buttons are pushed by this all-powerful trickster just as much
subject to his logic breaking as Jack Black or Howie Mandel so if he's willing
to trick even us then what is the deeper pleasure in
watching the Eric Andre show is it his relentless commitment to his role as the
trickster that we admire are we inspired simply by his dedication to the craft
but it can't just be that all great artists are dedicated to their craft
maybe we're just so tired of conventions both in television and in everyday life
that something which escapes almost all of them is profoundly refreshing
maybe his subversion of conventional interaction is a way for us as viewers
to live momentarily outside these limitations maybe it even inspires us to
bend and break the constant rules of our everyday reality to live as complete
individuals with all our own personal weirdness and insanity or maybe there is
no deeper pleasure maybe every once in a while I really do just want to feel like
this
because at the end of the day that's all this guy seems to care about
that's all