18 Things to Know About Jewish Comedian Billy Eichner

The writer and star of rom-com "Bros" had a Madonna-themed bar mitzvah!

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billy eichner
Image of Billy Eichner in header by Samir Hussein/WireImage

Billy Eichner has made a name for himself as a comedian who is in-your-face, loud, and really, really funny. You may know him from “Billy on the Street,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Difficult People,” Timon in the live-action — I mean, Beyoncé version — of “The Lion King,” and soon, in “Bros,” a rom-com he wrote and is starring in!

So, here are 18 things to know about the gay Jewish comedian.

1. He was born in Forest Hills, Queens to Jewish parents. He has an older half-brother, but was raised “like an only child, and spoiled.” He did a parody of “Empire State of Mind” as “Forest Hills State of Mind” which includes the line: I was born in Forest Hills / to a Jewish yenta / had my circumcision / Forest Hills Jewish Center.

Just watch (it’s all about his childhood):

2. His Madonna-themed bar mitzvah was at Terrace on the Park, a banquet hall in Flushing Meadows. Here he is (OMG):

And here he is at the party with a playboy bunny tattoo on his face:

3. His first school production was in fourth grade, and he auditioned by singing “It’s Alright to Cry.” Billy recalls, “Everyone turned around and was like, ‘Whoa, this fat Jewish gay kid can really sing.’”

4. He attended Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, where he starred in “Guys & Dolls.”

5. Billy graduated from Northwestern University in 2000, where he studied acting. In 2017, he said he was still paying off his student loans. He was also part of the Northwestern Jewish Theater Ensemble, nbd.

6. In 2011, he started “Billy on the Street”, a series where he asks New Yorkers questions on the street. It premiered on Fuse, then moved to truTv, and now it airs on Funny or Die.

7. Some episodes of BOTS are very Jewish. Here’s “Whistle-Blow That Jew!” with Rashida Jones (she can’t keep a straight face):

7.5 He also did a “Billy on the Street” in Israel which was all about Madonna. (On Madonna, he said, “I just worship Madonna. As, like, a young gay kid growing up in the ’80s and ’90s… I was at the Blond Ambition tour with my parents vogue-ing up in the mezzanine at the Nassau Coliseum.”)

8. Why does he shout? “I had very loud parents, and you’re in New York — it’s loud outside. And I am someone who likes to hit a line very hard.”

9. He became a meme (does one become a meme?) when audio of him shouting “Let’s go, lesbians, let’s go!” was overlaid on an “Avengers” scene.

10. From 2013 to 2015, he was on “Parks and Recreation” as Craig. This is the best YouTube clip you will ever watch. Craig saying “she DROVE ME HERE” will never get old.

Did you watch it? It’s only 30 seconds. Watch it.

11. He co-created and starred in Difficult People with Julie Klausner, a sitcom about two struggling comedians who hate everyone. Billy and Julie essentially play versions of themselves.

12. He cares about politics! In 2018, Billy launched Glam Up the Midterms as an effort to get millennials to the polls.

13. He has the best Wikipedia entry of all time:

14. And, how could we not include this? He voices Timon in the new Lion King – alongside Seth Rogen’s Pumba — and honestly, he steals the show.

A lot of Billy and Seth’s scenes were improvised.

15. That also means he was on a song with Beyoncé, and he calls Seth Rogen and himself “Destiny’s Jewish cousins.” 

On meeting Beyoncé at the premiere, he explains: “We were backstage before they announced the cast, and Seth and I were the first to arrive, and the next to arrive happened to be Beyoncé and Jay-Z. And Seth and I were very shy and didn’t know whether we were allowed to approach her, or whether she wanted to talk to us. But she came right up to us and introduced herself — not that she needed to — and gave us all a hug.”

16. Full circle moment: He was a bartender at the Lion King on Broadway when he was a struggling actor in 2002.

17. His gay rom-com “Bros,” coming out in 2022, also stars Latina Jewish actress Monica Raymund!

Check out the trailer here:

18. And honestly, this is a joke (maybe), but we would 1000% watch his TV show “The Gay Jew.”

 

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