Buress plays Lincoln on Comedy Central's hit show 'Broad City,' which comes back for its second season in 2015. He is also the co-host of Adult Swim's 'The Eric Andre Show,' which returns in November for its third season. He will perform at the Duke Energy Center on Oct. 19.
TC: You got your start in the writer’s room at places like SNL and 30 Rock, but now most of your work is in front of the camera. How is that transition, and what are the differences between the two?
HB: You get way more [women], man. Being on camera? Way more [women]. As a writer, it’s real cool. It’s a good time and you get to be creative, you know, be the voice behind your shows. On camera, it’s just more [women].
TC: Do you feel you are more successful in front of the camera or as a w? I know that when you were at Saturday Night Live, you only had one or two of your sketches actually air. Is the process still a good formative one?
HB: Yeah! I mean, you feel more successful on camera because it’s easier to [hook up] from being on camera, you know? As a writer, it’s tougher to prove that you wrote something, but as a performer on camera you can show that easier and you get to [hook up].
TC: Right. So 2014 has been a very busy year for you with the second season of The Eric Andre Show, Broad City debuted and you were in Neighbors, too. How was it like working on all three?
HB: It was good! It’s just been good to work. They’ve just been good projects. It’s helped my standup, and it’s just been a real exciting time. You meet people who like my standup, and they like what I’m doing on camera for different projects. The Eric Andre Show has been a lot of fun, and Broad City has hit in a way that I didn’t expect. Neighbors was a really big movie, and I had a small role in that, so it’s been cool to have these things that have been a ton of fun. It’s been incredible, man.
TC: To be honest, Broad City has been my favorite new show of the year so far. How much of that is scripted, and how much of it is improvised? The dialogue seems so natural.
HB: 87% scripted. 13% improvised. We ran some of our episodes through an equation, and that’s what we got. 87%. It’s just in the software that can formulate scripted versus improvise. You can stay to the script a lot, or you can improvise. Just be loose, and improvise and say different stuff, so that’s what we did, man. That’s what we did. We get loose, man. You have to get loose. You can’t always stick to the script. When we improvise, we try to inspire people to get in touch with their own vibes. We can't stick to the script all the time. It’s good to break off and do something different and try to teach the world.
TC: You were just cast in the Angry Birds movie. Can you give me some details about that?
HB: Not really, no. It comes out in July 2016, which is a long time from now. It’s weird doing stuff that comes out almost two years from now. We could die between now and then! That’s what I’m going to keep not doing. I’m going to try to not die so I can see it when it comes out. I want to finish my role in it. I haven’t really looked at a script! Jason Sudeikis is in it. I have some interactions with his character. It should be fun! Doing animated stuff, you know, putting your voice to something, seeing how it comes together later…you really don’t know. In this case, you don’t really record with other people. You record just on your own, and then they put it together, so it’s exciting to see how it all comes together. It’s a lot of people working on it vocally and behind the scenes in the animation. It’s a tough project to pull off, but I’m excited to see what the final product looks like.
TC: What drew you to the project in the first place?
HB: Well, they said, “Do you want to work?” And I said, “Sure. What is it?” They said, “It’s a movie! It might be big!” And I said, “Alright. Tell me what I have to do.” They said, “You just have to go to a studio for a couple of hours, talk into a microphone,” and I said, “Sure. That sounds cool.” I said, “When does it come out?” July 2016…and I said, “Wow! I’ll die before it comes out,” and they said, “Yeah, yeah, we know.” I said, “Whatever, man, OK,” and that’s pretty much it.
TC: What’s it like balancing TV, movies and standup? The schedule must be hectic.
HB: It’s cool. I’ve been able to figure out a schedule where I’ve been able to do most of the things I want to do. Sometimes I do The Eric Andre Show, and then Broad City comes up, and then I’m touring. But you figure it out…it’s good to do different things and be active and reenergize my mind in different ways. That’s how I’m able to be creative and get to do what I love.
TC: When you do standup, what kind of topics do you like talking about?
HB: I talk a lot about college life. I talk about in college, how people are able to recreate themselves and become a totally different person. You put a show up on campus, but eventually your old self becomes revealed. I talk about hazing and how that’s weird that fraternities haze each other and paddle each other and make each other drink weird things. I talk about why college costs so much in America…why does private college in America cost so much? I discuss old money…old money and entitlement…old rich people. Old rich people and entitlement.
TC: Do you have any advice for college students? Kids at Duke could use a lot of it.
HB: Just keep working. My advice would be to some of you…just drop out! Just because you have a degree doesn’t guarantee that everything is going to work out. I can’t tell you who should, but some of you should just drop out because it’s not going to matter. I know that sounds confusing, but it all means something in the future.
TC: Thanks a ton for doing this interview! Is there anything else you’d like to say?
HB: To the Raleigh area and to Duke, congrats on having the money to be able to go to Duke, or congratulations for the debt that you will incur going to Duke. Congratulations on having rich parents, or congratulations on your scholarship. But life is fleeting and fun and beautiful. Come to my show and spend some of the money that you got from your parents to come to my show! Spend some money from your student loans! I don’t know. Get it together and come to my show, because it’s an hour that will save your life. Put that in the paper. [Laughs]
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.