Taking It to the Streets
Comedian Billy Eichner on His New Pop-Culture Quiz Show, Billy On the Street.
By Lauren Lumsden
Photographed by Max Fauconnier
"The Kardashians are the bane of my existence," comedian Billy Eichner says over Diet Cokes at a bar near his Upper West Side apartment. "I watched their show on a plane once and jumped out. Kim is feces with shoes on -- and you can put that in your headline."
With an arsenal like that, it's no surprise the 33-year-old Eichner landed his own Funny or Die-produced pop-culture-related game show, Billy on the Street, premiering December 22nd on Fuse. Each half-hour unscripted episode features Eichner asking New Yorkers with the urgency of a war correspondent -- celebrity trivia questions. If they get it right, they get cash; wrong, and he usually scoffs and runs away in a huff. During the show's final round, the answers are subjective, so the contestants must agree with Eichner to win big. Shouting matches often occur over questions like "What's the greatest Christmas movie of all time?" (Elf, obviously) or "Kate Winslet or Kate Hudson?" (Winslet).
Eichner, who grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, has always been a pop culture junkie. "I literally got a subscription to Entertainment Weekly when I was seven," he says. He studied theater, took improv classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade and in 2004 co-created a popular variety stage show in New York, Creation Nation. During the latter's run he started producing his popular "Man on the Street" videos (Google them immediately) that would later inspire the show.
Eichner considers Billy on the Street "Cash Cab gone completely haywire," and "a twisted love letter to New Yorkers, even though that sounds cheesy." He's effusive when talking about the intelligence of contestants and his team of collaborators (one of whom is Julie Klausner of How Was Your Week podcast fame). "Even if Billy on the Street is canceled after one season," he says, "it's a miracle it happened. If nothing else, I'm glad a very outside-the-box, gay, male comedian could break through. I'm very, very lucky."
Quickly he adds: "I don't want to be a Pollyanna or anything, but I think somewhere between that and my Kardashian comments, you got the real me." ★
Billy On the Street airs Thursdays at 11 p.m. on Fuse.
With an arsenal like that, it's no surprise the 33-year-old Eichner landed his own Funny or Die-produced pop-culture-related game show, Billy on the Street, premiering December 22nd on Fuse. Each half-hour unscripted episode features Eichner asking New Yorkers with the urgency of a war correspondent -- celebrity trivia questions. If they get it right, they get cash; wrong, and he usually scoffs and runs away in a huff. During the show's final round, the answers are subjective, so the contestants must agree with Eichner to win big. Shouting matches often occur over questions like "What's the greatest Christmas movie of all time?" (Elf, obviously) or "Kate Winslet or Kate Hudson?" (Winslet).
Eichner, who grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, has always been a pop culture junkie. "I literally got a subscription to Entertainment Weekly when I was seven," he says. He studied theater, took improv classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade and in 2004 co-created a popular variety stage show in New York, Creation Nation. During the latter's run he started producing his popular "Man on the Street" videos (Google them immediately) that would later inspire the show.
Eichner considers Billy on the Street "Cash Cab gone completely haywire," and "a twisted love letter to New Yorkers, even though that sounds cheesy." He's effusive when talking about the intelligence of contestants and his team of collaborators (one of whom is Julie Klausner of How Was Your Week podcast fame). "Even if Billy on the Street is canceled after one season," he says, "it's a miracle it happened. If nothing else, I'm glad a very outside-the-box, gay, male comedian could break through. I'm very, very lucky."
Quickly he adds: "I don't want to be a Pollyanna or anything, but I think somewhere between that and my Kardashian comments, you got the real me." ★
Billy On the Street airs Thursdays at 11 p.m. on Fuse.
Your Comment