Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

5 Times Billy Eichner Made the World a Happier Place

It’s barely 2017, and Billy Eichner is already owning the year like no other.

Eichner, perhaps best known for pounding the pavements and shrieking at unsuspecting New Yorkers for his television show “Billy on the Street,” has been churning out segment after segment of solid gold comedy since 2011.

The 38-year-old New Yorker takes simple, absurdist concepts and makes them a reality — often lugging A-list celebrities along for the ride.

Ever wonder if the people would have sex with Paul Rudd in exchange for $1? Want to know of Rashida Jones can guess which celebrities changed their last names to sound less Jewish?

Eichner is on the case.

Here’s just a few of his best moments, each of which hopefully provide a bright, often shrill, reminder of the pockets of goodness still left in the world.

That time he wandered the streets asking people if they would have a threesome with himself and Jon Hamm.

When he hit the streets looking for random New Yorkers to answer pop culture questions and he met the delightfully eccentric Elena, who would later become a regular on his show.

When he went around yelling at people about how pretty Olivia Wilde is.

The time he helped Conan O’Brian master the gay hook up app Grindr.

When he hung out with Joan Rivers in bed.

Just keep doing what you’re doing, Billy. We need you now more than ever.

Thea Glassman is an Associate Editor at the Forward. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @theakglassman.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.