A&O Productions brought comedian Eric Andre to Cahn Auditorium for a standup performance Oct. 29. Andre showcased his raunchy (to say the least) sense of humor throughout his set as he joked about topics ranging from getting high at Coachella to his experience with a prostitute in Amsterdam.
A&O Productions, a student group that regularly brings artists and speakers to campus, booked the show during the summer. Weinberg senior and A&O Head of Speakers Sydney Monroe was excited to book a comedian with a strong fanbase at Northwestern.
“It says a lot about Northwestern that the show sold out, because he is kind of a niche comedian,” Monroe said.
Andre is best known for his work on Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show. It parodies late-night talk shows, involving Andre using shocking tactics to elicit reactions from his guests. These include eating his own vomit and destroying his set. While Andre didn’t do any of this during his standup set, he didn’t hold back his crude jokes during the performance.
“I’m the Bernie Sanders of PornHub,” Andre declared after explaining his idea for a reverse bukkake.
Comedian and Eric Andre Show writer David Gborie served as the show’s opener. While not as chaotic as Andre, he delivered his own brand of crude humor as he pondered whether or not Donald Trump and himself were the only people who ever tried to have sex with a bowl of oatmeal.
After Gborie’s set, Andre burst onto the stage and asked the audience who Northwestern’s dean was (the crowd enthusiastically replied “Morty,” despite the fact that President Morton Schapiro is not, in fact, the dean). He later told the dean to “deal with it” as he exposed his nipples on stage.
Andre often referenced the fact that he was performing at a University as he addressed the audience.
“You guys are just really fucking polite nineteen-year-old Communication majors,” Andre said to the audience early in his set. “Have you ever even done cocaine? You guys haven’t even had an STD yet.”
Andre’s interactions with the crowd didn’t stop there. Audience interaction was a huge part of Andre’s set, from asking A&O members to show him their nipples (which he referred to as “pepperoni”) to inviting an audience member to recount a time she walked in on her parents having sex.
One notable moment occurred when Andre asked for an audience member’s phone, which he used to play a text prank on her mother (who he then FaceTimed). During this bit, revealing photos from the audience member’s camera roll briefly popped on the screen. This caused some controversy among event attendees.
“The mom bit was very funny until there was a bit of a breach of privacy,” said Communication freshman Drew Johnston.
Another (less controversial) crowd interaction came during the show’s encore, during which Andre invited audience members to the stage to participate in the “Ranch Challenge.” Inspired by Andre’s infamous “Legalize Ranch” skit, the challenge involved participants competing to chug a bottle of ranch dressing the fastest. Among them was Medill sophomore Oscar De Leon.
De Leon, who had seen Andre perform before, sat in the front row in hopes of participating in the challenge. After aggressively downing a full bottle of ranch, De Leon emerged as the victor.
“It feels disgusting, but it also feels fucking incredible,” De Leon said after winning the challenge.
Despite some controversial moments, audience reactions to Andre’s set were largely positive.
“I know Eric Andre but I’ve never seen his standup, so I didn’t really know what to expect,” said Communication freshman Sam Buttress. “I was crying laughing at points.”