The Eric Andre Show: Was Jack Black's Electric Shock Lie Detector For Real?
The Eric Andre Show invited Jack Black on during season 4 for an interview, but was he really being shocked during the lie detector test segment?
Jack Black was another guest tortured during his interview on The Eric Andre Show, but was he actually being shocked during the lie detector segment? Eric Andre may be known for his appearances in sitcoms like Don't Trust The B In Apartment 23 or 2 Broke Girls, but he's most (in)famous for his self-titled series. One part chat show to two parts surrealist nightmare, The Eric Andre Show mixes celebrity interviews with bizarre comedy segments like Kraft Punk or the "What If It Was Purple?" game.
The Adult Swim Eric Andre Show sees Andre - with help from co-host Hannibal Buress - essentially torture his various guests, with most of them being unaware of the show's subversive nature. Even guests who were somewhat familiar with it, like Howie Mandel or Andre's Don't Trust The B... co-star Krysten Ritter, weren't fully prepared for the madness involved. The series has run for five seasons thus far, though Buress departed during the most recent series.
Another fan of the Eric Andre Show is actor/musician Jack Black, who appeared as a guest during the final episode of season 4. The opening of the interview sees Black getting high from doing whippets, and from there being subjected to all sorts of indignities. This climaxes with a lie detector test, which appears to shock Black every time he "lies." The questions range from what he had for lunch to what his home address is, with the shocks getting more frequent as the questions unfold. Of course, viewers might question if the reality blurring show was actually shocking Black for real or if it was faked.
According to Jack Black during a 2018 interview with H3 Podcast, the lie detector test shocks on The Eric Andre Show were totally real. Since the actor was already a fan of the series and he somewhat knew what to expect, Andre stepped up his game in making him feel uncomfortable. Black also revealed the studio was around 112 degrees so he was sweating profusely and it stunk thanks to rotting squid stuck beneath the floor.
Black seems proud of having survived The Eric Andre Show experience, but he's unlikely to be a repeat guest. To the actor's credit, he sticks with the interview no matter what - even when visibly suffering during the lie detector test. He seems to have had a good time with it too ultimately, unlike previous guests like Flava Flav or Lauren Conrad, the latter of whom walked off after being completely grossed out by Andre's tactics.