Let the record show: Eric Andre is desperate to become a Canadian citizen.
"I'm trying to fucking escape there because my country is going to shit," the Florida-born, chaotically absurd comedian tells us.
While he's been sorting that out, Complex Canada sat down with Andre to discuss season five of The Eric Andre Show, which premieres October 25th on Adult Swim (and returns after a four-year hiatus). He dished on having Montreal's own Grimes on the show as a musical guest this season and torturing her, only to find out she was pregnant afterwards. He also talks about spending time in Toronto shooting Man Seeks Woman, his bromance with Jay Baruchel, his outspoken stance against homophobic and misogynistic lyrics in hip-hop, and how comedy specials and morals have evolved. Oh, he also recounts the story of how his penis ended up in a fan's mouth. Check out the interview above.
On torturing a pregnant Grimes:
“She’s great. You know, we’re friends and she’s a fan of the show. I had a BBQ at my house a few years ago and she goes to me, 'You know, you never have women on as the music guest.' And I explained to her, it’s because we always torture the musical guest. I’m always beating them with bats or electrocuting them, so it’s not a good look if I’m like torturing a woman. [Laughs.] And she goes, 'Yeah, that makes sense but I wanna do the show. Fuck it, you can torture me!'
"I was like, 'Alright, fuck it. Let’s go.' So we did a bit called 'Grimes and Punishment,' where she’s tied to like a medieval torture rack and she’s being like stretched and we’re like burning her feet and all this shit. She was totally down. [Laughs.] And then later I found out she was pregnant and hadn't announced it yet! I was like, 'You just talked me into torturing a pregnant woman!' And she was like, 'Yeah, but it was fucking awesome!'"
On homophobic and misogynistic lyrics in classic hip-hop songs:
“You just gotta, like, grit your teeth while you get through the homophobic, misogynistic, and racist parts. It’s the same with metal. You’re like, I guess I have to shut up because I’m the only one who gives a shit about equal rights. I’m torn. I experience cognitive distance during those songs.
On whether he's already pushed the envelope as far as it can go:
"I feel like it's the opposite. I feel like I'm just getting started. I feel like I'm really figuring it out now. I've demystified the process of writing and performing and filming in a way that I feel like I could look at the project objectively. I'm just now calming down and feeling comfortable making television and film."
On one of his most fucked up fan stories:
"I had a fan in New York, I was doing The Eric Andre Show live. It was like season one, I just started. I jumped off the stage butt naked. And he was in the front row like, “Nooo!” And he said for a millisecond my dick was like GOAWWW!, flicked the back of his tonsils. And I had no idea. He told me this story years later in the street. He’s like, “I’m a fan and I have to be honest with you: your penis has been in my mouth." And I was like, "What are you talking about?!" He had to backtrack and tell me the whole story and I was like, “Well, thanks for coming to the show!" [Laughs.]
