Billy Eichner Takes To The Streets (VOD Hidden Gem)January 12, 2012
Fuse TV
Media savant T Tara Turk goes deep inside cable TV to reveal Video On Demand's Hidden Gems so even the busiest of our readers can get the most out of On Demand TV. Tell Tara what VOD shows you think deserves her attention.
Billy On The Street
I’m a weird one when it comes to comedy and comedians. Most of them make me sad because I know most of them are actually depressed since the laugh business can be tough on the ego. I rarely go to comedy clubs and, when I do, I usually want to jump on stage and save the poor slug who’s trying to make people laugh but isn’t quite getting it.
As someone who writes plays, I know live entertainment can be heart attack inducing since anything can happen. It takes a LOT of guts (or drugs) to do comedy. I mean have you seen the Joan Rivers: Piece of Work documentary? Jeez.
This is why I think Billy Eichner might be a genius.
On the surface “Billy On The Street” on Fuse TV On Demand is your standard man on the street asking shocking questions, but Billy actually takes it a step further and infuses a nice recipe of raunch, sass and spontaneity into his show. New Yorkers are already a bit nutty (thank God!) so when you add a man who’s going to run up to you and ask quickly (in his OUTSIDE voice) who your favorite white/black celebrity is (the reward is a dollar), you may have something that you can’t turn away from.
These people on the street are genuinely shocked at this crazy loud man who will think of nothing of making fun of them so fast they don’t even realize it. In one episode, he runs up to a trio of a matronly looking women and asks their names and when their names match their look, Billy rolls his eyes and says, without missing a beat, “You have GOT to be kidding me...”.
People-on-the-street shows usually make the unsuspecting person the star of the segment but this is ALL Billy’s show in a way that almost reminds you of old school Jerry Lewis in his outrageousness. Who else can get SNL alum Rachel Dratch to laugh so hard that she can’t even name 20 white people she knows personally in 45 seconds?
My only concern for this show is can you watch 30 minutes total of Billy and his quiz rounds or 45 Seconds in A Snuggie questions. I wasn’t able to do it as I realized when I wasn’t laughing in total shock, I wasn’t really laughing at all. Billy goes so fast sometimes that his ridiculous questions are left on the faces of the unsuspecting folks are still holding on to their “WTF?” faces long after he’s zoomed down the street. I think this would be a great Fuse interstitial but a whole show? I’m not completely convinced.
T. Tara Turk is a novelist/playwright/screenwriter, living in LA with her boyfriend and dog - all three successful TV addicts. You can find her at www.ttaraturk.com or follow her on Twitter @ttaraturk.
