Eric Andre Goes to Therapy, and Why You Should Too
photo courtesy of @ericfuckingandre Instagram
Eric Andre, a popular comedian and host of The Eric Andre Show, and fellow comedian Sarah Shurman wasted no time in getting deep during Friday’s live Q&A event. Held by University Union, SU and SUNY ESF students submitted questions prior to the event and select students had the opportunity to ask their questions directly to the two comedians during the zoom event. I was lucky enough to be one of these students and logged into the event that night not knowing what to expect.
Having watched The Eric Andre Show before, I thought he’d be absolutely unhinged. My friends and I had tried to guess what kind of funny stunts and jokes he might tell, especially because Sarah Shurman is also known for her eccentric humor. I was instead greeted with a calm and very approachable counterpart of the wild Eric Andre I usually saw in videos and memes. Sarah Shurman also did a great job at moderating, naturally weaving in questions during the conversation and adding cheesy puns like “Sarah-cuse.”
Between them making jokes about the homecoming court nominees, Eric and Sarah discussed serious topics like mental health. Many of the questions, which varied from details about Eric’s career to asking for advice, circled back to these two categories: Self-care and health. “I think therapy should be legally required for everyone,” Eric joked to a student at one point. Besides attending therapy, he also mentioned how he meditates and tries to practice good sleep hygiene (8 hours and no less!).
He also told another student that he was a “nervous wreck” and extremely anxious despite his ‘fearless’ sense of humor. Since much of what Eric Andre is known for is his ridiculous, in-your-face public performances, his honesty about struggling with confidence was very refreshing to hear. He specifically said that “to this day [he] is still working on his confidence.” I never would’ve guessed!
When it came around for my turn to ask a question, I was starstruck. According to an interview he did with Spin, Eric Andre paid for everything out of his own pocket, edited the footage himself, and was barely scraping by living on unemployment in LA when he first started The Eric Andre Show. After various rejections from other networks, he only received a few hundred dollars from Adult Swim to make more episodes after they showed some interest in the show. I asked him how he kept himself afloat mentally while he was completely broke and struggling to start his career, to which he promptly replied “I didn’t.”
So basically, Eric Andre told me to get therapy. And you should too! It never hurts to have someone outside of your toxic friend group/situationship/family circle to gossip with. Seriously. With Eric Andre’s help, we at Jerk are working to normalize asking for help instead of struggling with mental illness alone.
If you need to talk to someone, don’t hesitate to make an appointment with counseling at the Barnes Center at 315-443-8000. There will always be someone to listen.