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