Eric Andre is basically the Bad Brains or GG Allin of prank comedians. His completely off-the-wall nuts Adult Swim series The Eric Andre Show is part late night show satire that puts its (mostly) unwitting celebrity guests through a gross-out comedy torture chamber while they're being "interviewed", part absurdist/surrealist man on the street bits that brings unsuspecting civilians into his carnival of chaos. The cult following he's developed through his slew of viral bits and signature manic brand of oddball humor eventually paved the way for him getting his own movie Bad Trip-which is effectively Andre's answer to Johnny Knoxville's Jackass spinoff Bad Grandpa that uses a thin plot to string together a series of hidden camera pranks in various places around the good ol' USA (Georgia, South Carolina, New York, California).
Bad Trip's simple story sees Andre and Lil Rel Howrey playing two 30-something best friends working low level retail jobs in Florida. After a chance encounter with his high school crush (Michaela Conlin), Andre's character convinces Howrey to drive his incarcerated sister's car (Tiffany Haddish) to her New York City art gallery so he can attempt to win her over. Shortly after the two men start their journey, Haddish's character breaks out of jail and embarks on a frantic pursuit of them after she discovers they took her car. Like Bad Grandpa, the story admirably serves as the guiding light that gives the gags purpose and in my case, provided quick, necessary interludes so I could collect myself before breaking into another laughing fit when I saw what they had cooked up for the next bit.
As a longtime fan of Andre's, Bad Trip is an incredible showcase for his skills as well as an impressive expansion of them. This movie provided a new group of challenges for him as he had to structure every bit to fit within the framework of a scripted narrative, tone down the weirder parts of his comedy while still remaining true to his style of humor and train comedic performers with acting/standup backgrounds how to remain committed to a joke that can go in any direction depending on how their unscripted interactions with regular people unfold. On all those fronts, Andre knocked it out of the park. Every single bit feels as organic as the ones Andre has done in the past, Howrey and Haddish prove to be naturals at this very raw, unpredictable brand of extreme improv and most importantly, the punchlines are more accessible than The Eric Andre Show while still hitting with the same reliably gut-busting force and retaining that vulgar, anarchic spirit that makes his humor its own demented beast. Andre is one of the most fearless and talented comedians working today and the consistent comedic brilliance that's packed into Bad Trip allows it to rank among the funniest things he's ever created.
Grade: A
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