# Eric André
**Eric André** (full name Eric Samuel André, born 1983 in [Boca Raton, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/boca-raton-florida)) is an American comedian, actor, and musician best known as creator and host of [Adult Swim](https://www.edgepedia.org/adult-swim)'s *The Eric André Show*, a chaotic deconstruction of the late-night talk show format which premiered in 2012.[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) • [2](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/eric-andre) His screen work spans the hidden-camera prank film *Bad Trip* (2021), the Netflix stand-up special *Legalize Everything* (2020), three seasons of FXX's *Man Seeking Woman* (2015–2017), and voice roles in *Disenchantment* and Disney's 2019 *The Lion King* remake.[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) In 2024 he won a Creative Arts Emmy for performing in a short form comedy series.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/eric-andrc3a9)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983, Boca Raton, Florida; Black and Jewish heritage, father from Haiti[4](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/27/884213555/eric-andre-makes-his-netflix-comedy-special-debut-in-legalize-everything) |
| Training | Studied the double bass at Berklee College of Music in Boston, playing upright bass in college[2](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/eric-andre) |
| Signature show | *The Eric André Show*, Adult Swim, premiered May 2012; sixth season announced for June 4, 2023[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) |
| Stand-up | First special *Legalize Everything*, Netflix, June 23, 2020[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/movies/eric-andre-netflix.html) |
| Film | *Bad Trip* (2021), co-written with director Kitao Sakurai; #1 most viewed feature worldwide on Netflix in its first week[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) |
| Awards | 2024 Creative Arts Emmy, Outstanding Performer in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series; the show was also nominated as Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/eric-andrc3a9) |
| Music | Performs under the alias Blarf[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2765191/) |
## Early life and education
André was born in 1983 in Boca Raton, Florida, to an African-Haitian father and a Jewish mother; his father came from a Catholic background and his mother is Jewish.[4](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/27/884213555/eric-andre-makes-his-netflix-comedy-special-debut-in-legalize-everything) He has described growing up in a segregated Florida environment marked by racism, including hostility toward Haitian immigrants who arrived in Florida during the Aristide era, and says this shaped his worldview.[4](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/27/884213555/eric-andre-makes-his-netflix-comedy-special-debut-in-legalize-everything) He has also described his upbringing in Florida's "boring homogenised suburbs".[7](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/27/comedian-eric-andre-we-dont-tell-guests-a-thing-they-waltz-into-a-house-of-horrors)
**Music came first.** He studied the double bass at the [Berklee College of Music](https://www.edgepedia.org/berklee-college-of-music) in Boston, playing upright bass in college, and received a bachelor's degree in double bass performance in 2005.[2](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/eric-andre) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2765191/)
## Career beginnings
Before comedy, André made Jackass-style videos with his friends.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/27/comedian-eric-andre-we-dont-tell-guests-a-thing-they-waltz-into-a-house-of-horrors) His turn to stand-up came around age 19 or 20, on a whim, at open-mic nights held in the Boston venues where his band played; he has said he had to get over stage fright but loved it immediately.[2](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/eric-andre)
## The Eric André Show
*The Eric André Show* premiered on Adult Swim, Cartoon Network's after-hours block, in May 2012, and was announced to return for a sixth season on June 4, 2023.[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) The pilot was created with comedian [Hannibal Buress](https://www.edgepedia.org/hannibal-buress), shot in the basement of a Brooklyn bodega, and edited by André himself.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/27/comedian-eric-andre-we-dont-tell-guests-a-thing-they-waltz-into-a-house-of-horrors)
**The format.** The show is structured around a desk-bound host, a desk-less co-host (Buress), and a bizarro jazz house band, with guests ranging from the real [Dolph Lundgren](https://www.edgepedia.org/dolph-lundgren) to a [George Clooney](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-clooney) impersonator.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/27/comedian-eric-andre-we-dont-tell-guests-a-thing-they-waltz-into-a-house-of-horrors) [The Wall Street Journal](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-wall-street-journal) describes it as a parody of a public-access program.[8](https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/eric-andre-interview-af85875b) Guests are not told what to expect; in André's words, "We don't tell guests a thing – they waltz into a house of horrors".[7](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/27/comedian-eric-andre-we-dont-tell-guests-a-thing-they-waltz-into-a-house-of-horrors)
**Editing as the engine.** André credits editing as central to the show's comedic impact: "They say television is a writer's medium and movies are a director's medium. I think 'The Eric Andre Show' is an editor's medium. So much of the comedic impact of the written jokes comes from the editing, the tone, the aesthetic."[9](https://variety.com/2024/awards/features/eric-andre-show-emmy-wild-card-1236110105/)
## Film and television roles
André starred on FXX's *Man Seeking Woman* for three seasons from 2015 to 2017, opposite [Jay Baruchel](https://www.edgepedia.org/jay-baruchel).[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) In 2021 he starred in and co-wrote the Netflix narrative prank comedy *Bad Trip* with director Kitao Sakurai; the film, co-starring [Lil Rel Howery](https://www.edgepedia.org/lil-rel-howery) and [Tiffany Haddish](https://www.edgepedia.org/tiffany-haddish), was the #1 most viewed feature worldwide on the platform in its first week of release.[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) Jackass co-creator and director Jeff Tremaine was instrumental in helping André and Sakurai on the film.[9](https://variety.com/2024/awards/features/eric-andre-show-emmy-wild-card-1236110105/)
His voice work includes the demon Luci on [Matt Groening](https://www.edgepedia.org/matt-groening)'s Netflix animated series *Disenchantment* and Azizi in Disney's 2019 remake of *The Lion King*.[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) He played Lyle Lissons, a Texas megachurch pastor, in season two of HBO's *The Righteous Gemstones*, and appeared in 2022's *Jackass Forever*.[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) • [9](https://variety.com/2024/awards/features/eric-andre-show-emmy-wild-card-1236110105/) He also co-hosted ABC's *The Prank Panel* and collaborated with TruTV's *Impractical Jokers*.[9](https://variety.com/2024/awards/features/eric-andre-show-emmy-wild-card-1236110105/)
## Stand-up and music
Netflix released André's first stand-up special, *Legalize Everything*, on June 23, 2020.[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/movies/eric-andre-netflix.html) At the time he described himself as likely "one and done" with stand-up specials, saying "It's so hard, stand-up".[4](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/27/884213555/eric-andre-makes-his-netflix-comedy-special-debut-in-legalize-everything) On the music side, he performs under the alias Blarf.[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2765191/)
## Comedic style and reception
André has described his own approach as that of a "benevolent attacker" with no malicious intent, seeking "an element of a sleeping danger – you want there to be something at risk".[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/movies/eric-andre-netflix.html) The New York Times identifies a "certain appetite for confrontation" running through the stunts and half-assed interviews of his series and into *Bad Trip* and *Legalize Everything*.[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/movies/eric-andre-netflix.html) Interview Magazine describes the show as "perhaps best described as a deconstruction of the typical talk show", with André playing a delusional, crazed host alongside Buress.[2](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/eric-andre) The Wall Street Journal frames absurdist humor and gross-out antics as the show's "bread and butter".[8](https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/eric-andre-interview-af85875b)
**Lineage.** The Guardian writes that since 2012 André has "placed a stack of ACME dynamite sticks beneath the conventions of late-night chatshows and unceremoniously blown them all up", and locates the show's closest relatives in Vic and Bob's anarchic mid-1990s British work and Chris Morris's *Brass Eye* sit-down interviews.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/27/comedian-eric-andre-we-dont-tell-guests-a-thing-they-waltz-into-a-house-of-horrors) André's own cited influences include [Tom Green](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-green)'s pranks, [Joan Rivers](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-rivers), and *Chappelle's Show*.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/27/comedian-eric-andre-we-dont-tell-guests-a-thing-they-waltz-into-a-house-of-horrors) Within American prank comedy, he has been placed alongside the *Jackass* and *Impractical Jokers* tradition of hidden-camera stunts.[9](https://variety.com/2024/awards/features/eric-andre-show-emmy-wild-card-1236110105/)
## By the numbers
The quantified record of his career to date: *The Eric André Show* premiered in May 2012 and reached a sixth season in 2023.[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) *Man Seeking Woman* lasted three seasons on FXX, 2015 to 2017.[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) *Bad Trip* reached #1 most viewed feature worldwide on Netflix in its first week.[1](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en) In 2024 he won the Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, and the show itself was nominated for Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series with André credited as executive producer.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/eric-andrc3a9)
## What has changed since 2023
The sixth season of *The Eric André Show* coincided with André's heightened stature in the prank comedy world, built on the *Impractical Jokers* collaboration, *Jackass Forever*, and *The Prank Panel*.[9](https://variety.com/2024/awards/features/eric-andre-show-emmy-wild-card-1236110105/) In 2024 he won the Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/eric-andrc3a9)
## References
1. [Eric André | Pressroom, Warner Bros. Discovery](https://press.wbd.com/us/na/bio/eric-andre?language_content_entity=en)
2. [Eric Andre, Off the Air, Interview Magazine](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/eric-andre)
3. [Eric André | Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/eric-andrc3a9)
4. [Eric Andre Makes His Netflix Comedy Special Debut In 'Legalize Everything', NPR](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/27/884213555/eric-andre-makes-his-netflix-comedy-special-debut-in-legalize-everything)
5. [Eric Andre Isn't a Prankster, He's a 'Benevolent Attacker', The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/movies/eric-andre-netflix.html)
6. [Eric André, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2765191/)
7. [Comedian Eric André: 'We don't tell guests a thing – they waltz into a house of horrors', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/27/comedian-eric-andre-we-dont-tell-guests-a-thing-they-waltz-into-a-house-of-horrors)
8. [Comedian Eric André on the Best Piece of Advice Dave Chappelle Gave Him, The Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/eric-andre-interview-af85875b)
9. [Eric Andre's Emmys Moment: How the Adultswim Host Reached the Academy, Variety](https://variety.com/2024/awards/features/eric-andre-show-emmy-wild-card-1236110105/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Stand-up comedy and comedians › American stand-up comedians, contemporary › Stand-up comedians born 1980 onward › Surnames A to M*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license