Eric Andre Says He Almost Quit ABC Prank Show Over Johnny Knoxville’s Antics

Eric Andre has had just about enough of Jackass star Johnny Knoxville‘s on-set antics. The pair, along with Gabourey Sidibe, serve as the panel of “pranxperts” on ABC‘s new series The Prank Panel.

While making his press rounds to promote the show, Andre told Howard Stern about how he was being terrorized by his co-star. You can watch a clip of the interview above.

He first explained the show’s concept, noting how it’s basically like Shark Tank but with pranks. Essentially, people are given the opportunity to pitch elaborate pranks and the panel must decide if they want to produce them.

Throughout their time on set, Knoxville has been separately pranking Andre the whole time as well, and it was getting to the point where Andre was anxious to come to work. He recalled going to Jeff Tremaine for help, who simply advised him to prank Knoxville back.

“Knoxville’s pranking me the whole time. He’s tasing me, he’s got a different weapon on him every day,” he said. “So, I called [Jackass director] Jeff Tremaine. I go, ‘Jeff, I don’t know what to do [about] Knoxville. Every day I go to work, something’s popping out of a wall, or he’s hitting me with a taser or something.’ And Jeff goes, ‘Well, he’s never gonna stop, so you’ve gotta hit him back.'”

Andre says he figured he could get Knoxville back by using a stun gun on him. Knoxville, however, didn’t seem phased due to his inhuman pain tolerance level. It only made things worse for Andre, and it got so bad that he even quit the show for a period, unsure that he could keep working with Knoxville.

“While Knoxville’s not looking, I stake this stun gun out, and I hit him right in the heart with it, like right in the center of his chest,” he said. “But he’s like the liquid Terminator, the guy is so impervious to pain, that’s like a little pinch to him… He just starts looking at me while he’s being electrocuted, and then he grabs it out of my hand, and then he just starts attacking me with it. And he has another one in his pocket, so he takes out another one, and he has mine. He gets me on the floor, and he’s just lighting me up with two stun guns. And I run for my life out of the studio. And I quit, I quit the show… So, I quit that weekend, then he begged me back.”

These types of on-set pranks are typical for Knoxville. If you saw Jackass Forever, which Andre was featured in, Knoxville pranked Andre with an airbag that propelled out of a coffee truck.

Knoxville has made more than just Eric Andre upset while filming Prank Panel. A handyman who responded to a fake ad that had been placed by the show’s team has filed suit after ending up in a prank filmed for the show, resulting in someone he believed to be the homeowner accusing him of killing a pony along with other bizarre comments. Knoxville came out to reveal that the whole thing had been a prank, but the handyman was not amused, prompting the lawsuit.

“Plaintiff was not amused, and remains unamused… He has been badly shaken and traumatized by this episode,” the lawsuit reads.

The Prank Panel is set to debut on Wednesday, May 24, for a special preview episode before returning with weekly episodes starting on Sunday, July 9.