Netflix recently released a comedy special with Eric Andre titled Eric Andre: Legalize Everything. It is the comedian’s first original stand-up special for Netflix and it won’t be wrong to say that it is not a dream collaboration. It is absurd and awkward.
Legalize Everything?
In the opening, filmed on the streets of New Orleans, Andre impersonates as a cop while distributing drugs and paraphernalia to unsuspecting residents and tourists. This impromptu skit, along with Andre’s entrance to NOLA bounce legend, creates the momentum for an interesting opening, which he capitalizes on by delving into one of the overarching themes of Legalize Everything – basically drug use.
Though the opening may keep you hooked for a minute or two, it gets tough when the whole set is about drugs and sex.
While placing children and infants as the central characters, in-jokes about hallucinogens and narcotics may make one pause and think (Whaaaaa…t). The personal experiences he shares brings realism to the material but again it is as awkward as it could get. If you’re looking forward to hearing celebrity drug use experiences you might even watch Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics.
Why Should You Watch It?
Watch the entire hour-long Eric Andre: Legalize Everything because Andre does a bit at the end that he calls “auto-fill roulette” where he texts, and subsequently FaceTimes, with an audience member’s very nice mother that will leave you smiling.
Other than the awkward jokes about some really personal events of Andre’s life, Legalize Everything includes Andre’s thoughts on the war on drugs (“It’s done absolutely zero to curb drug addiction. It just allows cops to lock up Black kids five times as much as they do white kids”); the criminal justice system, which he believes to have been “invented by rich, white, Christian, heterosexual businessmen”; and the sex industry. He also manages to talk about the binaries and the harms in small ways.
Andre briefly touches on his background as a biracial Jewish man on multiple instances, these mentions are few and far in between, leaving much to be desired, in terms of revelations about what makes him tick beyond the humour.
Eric Andre: Legalize Everything also has cop jokes that are frustratingly relevant today, even though the special was taped months ago the relevance and the apt description of racism still stand.
Stream It Or Skip It?
If you’re looking forward to some nonsensical, slapstick humour that comes with a dash of thought-provoking analysis on the construct of America and its moving parts, this is the standup for you. His comedy is almost unthinkable without a horrified witness. It is painfully hilarious.
Though every joke isn’t a home run on its own, Eric Andre: Legalize Everything is a praiseworthy effort by Andre for his first original stand-up special. This chaotic special is a respite from the other kind of chaos 2020 has brought for us. It is bound to make you feel uncomfortable and awkward but it is what it is. It’s 2020 and anything that makes you laugh is worth a watch.
Eric Andre: Legalize Everything is now streaming on Netflix.
