Billy Eichner Talks About ‘Billy on the Street’ and Mainstream Success with Vulture

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Billy on the Street and Difficult People star Billy Eichner recently sat down for an interview with Vulture in which he elaborates on his mainstream success, his editing process, and his larger-than-life character on his hit Fuse show. If you’re at all interested in Eichner’s work (which you should be) then you will love the full interview.

In the interview, Eichner opened up about his character on Billy on the Street, explaining that the Billy Eichner we see on that show is an over-the-top, only-in-New-York-type character that represents only a small part of his actual personality, and acknowledges that it’s a personality type that doesn’t click with everybody.  “This is like Ratso Rizzo. He’s an only–in–New York type of guy. You either have affection for that type of person, or you’re so removed from who that person is that all you hear is a loud, gay guy screaming at you through the TV, and you don’t understand why other people think this is so funny. But it’s because you don’t have the vocabulary, and I understand that. Not everyone needs to be obsessing about the nuances and intricacies of Cate Blanchett’s career. But for those of us who do, this shit’s pretty funny,” Eichner explained.

And, as those with an appreciation for subtlety have surely noticed, there’s a lot more to Billy on the Street than just a gay guy screaming about Cate Blanchett:

“The downside to creating this loud, larger-than-life character is that people gravitate toward the loudest element of it. But there is some very smart, subtle social criticism and cultural satire that is happening on the show that sometimes goes under-appreciated because people tend to focus more on the shouting. If I were just screaming randomly, this would be a piece of shit. I’m the last person who would want to watch that. To be honest, I wasn’t a big Sam Kinison fan — I mean, rest in peace, I’m sure he was lovely — but that’s not my type of  comedy. When the Billy on the Street persona is screaming, it’s about something specific. We talk about that a lot  in the writers room: It’s not about the screaming, it’s about what you’re  screaming about.”

Eichner also revealed that he has the final say about what parts of the show make it to television, something he’s very proud of. This is in part because the show can sometimes crack jokes that are bound to insult someone, and Eichner wants to take full responsibility for those jokes, i.e. with his “Queen Latifah or Brave Person” bit.

He went on to say that “Part of the reason I insist on that is because we do do outrageous things, and I need to be able to get behind all of that. If something makes it to air that someone has an issue with, I’m able to say I made the decision and I can defend it.”

The full interview is funny, insightful and interesting, and really goes to show the level of thought that Eichner puts into whatever project he is involved with.

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Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.
Bill Tressler

Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.