Netflix releases Eric Andre’s new stand-up set “Legalize Everything”

Netflix+releases+Eric+Andres+new+stand-up+set+Legalize+Everything

Robyn Beck/AFP

William Becker, Staff Writer

Eric Andre’s sense of humor is absurd. It’s like if someone asked you to flip the light switch, turn the heater on, and make some coffee, but you responded in turn by using their grandmother’s ashes to start a fire in the basement for both light and heat and started taking speedballs for an extra boost of energy. Eric Andre has that kind of energy. He has a specific brand of absurd shock humor that can honestly be best described by his appearance at the Republican National Convention, where he asks far-right extremist radio show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to have sex with his (Andre’s) wife. 

Andre is most famous for his adult swim show, “The Eric Andre Show” which best encapsulates everything that makes the man great. There’s a number of compilations on YouTube that aptly show the insanity of Eric Andre and serve as a good introduction to his brand of humor. After years of waiting, Netflix has finally released a full stand-up set from Andre that is entitled “Legalize Everything” and is an extreme contrast from Jerry Seinfeld’s new stand-up, which came out last month and was also reviewed by the Seahawk.

Unlike Seinfeld, Andre’s set is filled with screaming, unintelligible garbing, swearing, drug references and just general insanity; his face quickly becomes soaked in sweat. “Legalize Everything” is an hour of chaos, right from the drug-laden, extremely explicit introduction, all the way to the finale. He goes from joking about sprinkling cocaine on a kindergartener’s toothbrush, screaming frantically into the microphone, ranting about masturbating to anime on LSD, to… just about everything. Eric Andre is insane. His persona is so absurd that it’s difficult to tell what part is a joke and what part is true. If someone told me none of it was true, then it wouldn’t surprise me. It would be equally unsurprising if every single word uttered on that stage was 100 percent true. His act is just that over-the-top and nuts.

He shifts from topic to topic with no breaks in an erratic fashion, often resembling someone who is extremely high on drugs. The title “Legalize Everything” is extremely appropriate, especially when he pitches an idea for a Netflix show called “Comedians in Ubers Smoking Salvia.” 

If you want a healthy amount of absurdism and insanity in your stand-up, “Legalize Everything” is the choice for you. It’s irrelevant, hyperactive, drug-fueled, and above all things, one of the most unique stand-ups on Netflix. It’s dirty, the opposite of family-friendly and almost unexplainable with words. You have to see it to believe it.