Billy Eichner
Our new vice president, Mike Pence, is one of the most blatantly anti-LGBT politicians in the country, and most, if not all, of Trump's cabinet is anti LGBT equality as well.Collection: Equality
Amy Poehler and I once ambushed people and made them sing Christmas carols with us.Collection: Christmas
I came out to my parents when I was a junior in college. And it was pretty fine. They were more concerned with why I wasn't dating anyone. But now I'm 36, and I still don't date anyone.Collection: Dating
I am Jewish, but I love Christmas, as most Jews with any taste do, because Hanukkah is lame.Collection: Christmas
I don't mean to sound like a Pollyanna, but for me, New York is the ideal because of the diversity here. 'Billy on the Street' is really informed by that.
I'm a very outside-the-box kind of guy.
No one puts higher expectations on themselves than I do.
I did start out as an actor. I went to Northwestern; I did musicals. I did plays.
'Billy on the Street' is the hardest thing that I will ever do.
Usually, you'll have a show like the 'King of Queens,' and there'll be one really fat guy, but at least he has a beautiful wife - they balance it out.
It's always really funny to watch someone who really wants something who isn't getting it but who's desperate for it.
When I came out to my parents, I knew that they knew. My father was like, 'Are you sure?' I literally said, 'You took me to see Barbra Streisand at Madison Square Garden.'
I don't think my voice has changed very much when it comes to things that I create. It's just my perspective, my point of view, and I guess that really hasn't changed very much. Luckily, it hasn't had to change in order for me to work.
You grow older, you evolve.
Society would be a lot better if people watched Hulu's original programming and not just 'Mozart in the Jungle,' which everyone is watching, apparently.
Society would be better off if Billy Eichner started getting more dramatic work.
I'm smart enough to know I shouldn't be behind the wheel.
My favorite Tyler Perry movie? Ugh, how can you decide? For me, it's basically like: Kurosawa, Tyler Perry, Martin Scorsese, in that order.
I did see one Tyler Perry movie in the theater. My friends and I went to see, I believe it was, 'Why Did I Get Married?'
I have this ongoing obsession with Meryl Streep.
I would never be a contestant on my own show. I would never speak to me, and I'd never sign the release.
I can be a bit of a nervous flyer.
I do not like not having Wi-Fi in general, but certainly not on a plane. I fall apart.
I've actually enjoyed my time in L.A. more than a New Yorker is supposed to.
If you're pretty, you want to be ugly. If you're loud, you want to play quiet. You always want to challenge people's expectations.
I just love Stephen Colbert. He's a genius.
'Billy on the Street' is a very exhausting show to do, as you can imagine, but it's worth it.
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.
We have to remain vigilant and loud and stay consistently engaged with our representatives and the political process every single day, on both a macro and micro level.
Probably the most common question I get is, 'Who's your dream guest?' That's kind of annoying because there isn't one.
When I was child, I was intoxicated by celebrities, showbiz and theatre, but from a child's perspective, where they seem far away.
'Billy on the Street' is a persona. It's crafted; it has writers. It's a mixture of performance art and comedy.
I had about five years as a gay guy in New York after college before the whole Grindr explosion happened, where people were still going out to meet each other.
I do take for granted, probably, the fact that I grew up in New York City, one of the most liberal places on earth, with bleeding-heart, liberal parents who took me to see 'Rent' and Terrence McNally plays from a very young age.
Everyone's life experience is different.
The mainstream needs Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell. The mainstream needs RuPaul.
I was like a fat, sweaty kid growing up in Queens who just was plopped down in front of 'Entertainment Tonight' by my parents.
I grew up watching 'Saturday Night Live.'
I think there's a fear once things start to blow up - as the people say - that if you stop for a second, it will all go away.
I think that I am working to remind myself that it's still my life... you have to enjoy yourself.
I think 'Billy on the Street' is a big show, but why do a show if you won't make it original and unique and powerful?
You can't be a great comedian without having self-awareness about others or your own faults. You need a strong sense of self and view on the world. That's what great actors have, too.
Jim Carrey and Steve Carell did dramatic roles. I look up to them. You want a career like that.
My father would read me Page Six instead of, like, kids' stories.
I was obsessed with award shows and made charts and graphs and stuff when I was 7 years old. I found the entertainment business hilarious, ridiculous, and alluring - and my parents supported it, for better or worse.
There are people who have huge YouTube followings - whose every post gets hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of hits. But I don't think that's having the same impact as someone who has a regular presence on television, or both.
I like being in my New York bubble. It's the best bubble!
We need to take a breath and find big ways and small ways to get active.
If I'm screaming at someone, it's because I think they're an idiot.
I only scream if screaming is deserved.