Eric André is rolling around on the floor. The comedian and creator-host of The Eric Andre Show, Adult Swim’s brilliantly anarchic chat-series-cum-prank-show, dangles a webcam above his face as he speaks to me about the imminent return of the series. “It’s the most satanic season yet,” he says, before sinking into a fit of giggling. “We brought the Devil in as a creative consultant. It’s season 666, baby. Season of the beast.”
Over the course of five – soon to be six – seasons of The Eric Andre Show (streaming in the UK on Channel 4), I’ve watched André wrong-foot countless celebrities, from Jack Black to Mel B. I’ve watched him draw a swastika on his forehead while interviewing US reality star Lauren Conrad (André is Jewish), and nearly get beaten up by The Sopranos’ Bobby Baccalieri (Steve Schirripa) after holding a microphone to his penis. I’ve watched similarly madcap out-of-character appearances, including an episode of the YouTube interview series Hot Ones in which he smashed crockery over his head while belting out Tay Zonday’s viral 2007 song “Chocolate Rain”. I assume, naturally, that these antics are a performance for the cameras, that our conversation will be more of a conventionally down-tempo chat about his life and career. I am wrong.
