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Youre performers of color, and you dont have the shroud of presenting as celebrities.
Were there times you thought you were going to die?Many times.
I would say that Maria Bakalova isbrave.Sacha is incredibly brave, but she had never done prank movies.
So shout-out to the both of them.
They deserve all the accolades theyre getting, and then some.
What they did was no small feat.
He almost quit the movie.
So that was incredibly stressful.
Its a nightmare, I shouldnt have done this.
And then he called Tiffany Haddish, who wasnt in the movie yet.
He just called her to vent to her.
He was like, Im doing this Eric Andre movie.
Its very stressful; this guy pulled a knife on us.
I dont want to do this anymore.
She starts dying laughing.
They finish the phone call.
She calls me five minutes later and she goes, Dude, you almost got Rel killed doing pranks?
I go, Yeah, I kind of want to keep that hush-hush.
Then she goes, Hell no, thats awesome.
I live for that shit.
I want to be in your movie.
I was like,What?
Tiffany presented herself as an option, and she was incredible in the movie.
So it was definitely stressful and hairy, and got pretty violent.
We were shooting in open-carry states, where people were armed.
I want to talk about the gorilla scene at the zoo.
They were so on the hook that it was tough to beat.
And then I just happen to make my way into the gorilla cage in front of them.
Craigslist was a great tool for us.
Like Free Taco Truck!
and then Tiffany hangs me off a roof.
We put a big sign out, like Free Tacos.
Youll see a lot of free food or food-adjacent things off in the peripheral in the movie.
Its just a way to corral people into the proper location so that we can pull our pranks.
There was the doughnut shop …There were a lot of free doughnuts at that doughnut shop that day.
All the reactions in the movie are genuine.
And anybody that had to be in on the prank for any production purpose was out of frame.
But honestly, the people dont have to work hard.
Any examples?Its a bummer.
We had Chris Rock do a prank in the movie.
We got one guy inside the car, and immediately he could tell we were fishy.
and plant drugs on him and light the guy up and freak him out.
But the guy recognized Chris Rock.
Chris Rock is super famous!
So it just didnt work, and we couldnt get people in the car, and the prank failed.
That kind of stuff happens all the time.
Its almost so common that Im numb to it a little bit.
You have a 20 percent chance when you go out and film a prank that it works.
This is the lastBorat-based question Im going to ask …Oh no, ask away!
Okay, 100Borat-based questions then.Thats the name of the segment.
of theBoratmovies is exposing the ignorance, or stupidity, or hypocrisy of so many average people.
We show the Good Samaritan nature of people, and the humanitarian nature.
This is a great story: We showed Sacha Baron Cohen a very early cut of the movie.
It was kind of in shambles, and he was helping us piece broken parts together.
Your movie shows how beautiful and sweet and genuine Black and working-class people are.
I think thats the major difference.
So even the king of rock and roll himself pointed out the very same point you made.
It felt like this great release of tension.
Shout-out to Meg Ryan.
So much of the humor ofThe Eric Andre Showis postproduction based.
Youre with each episode for such a quick burst that its kind of like anarchy.
The rules of storytelling felt like a straitjacket at first, and then you realize their importance.
You realize the pranks that are on story are actually the most satisfying to pull off.
Im nervous and out of body.
Im in a heightened state of reality.
Tiffany was the most disguised.
She had the face tattoos and cornrows, and she was dressed like a construction worker.
Not a mom on Earth knows I exist.
Do you see yourself writing a more traditionally scripted, non-prank movie, afterBad Trip?Yeah, absolutely.
I have no loyalty to any particular medium.
Music videos, prank phone calls, fine art …
I want to build the worlds biggest hamster cage at the Guggenheim.
Thats been a dream of mine.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
