Billy Eichner and Lin-Manuel Miranda Team Up to Ask: “Is Anybody Happy?”
Its hard to think of two energies more different than those possessed by Billy Eichner and Lin-Manue..
Its hard to think of two energies more different than those possessed by Billy Eichner and Lin-Manuel Miranda—and thats probably precisely why the latest Billy on the Street, which finds the comedian and the renowned composer wandering the streets of New York asking everyone about their emotional state, is such a delight. Specifically, the two had one question: “Is anybody happy?” A daring question to ask on the streets of Manhattan.
Miranda plays the perfect genial straight man to Eichners more confrontational bombast, and together the two gathered some valuable data: people are generally overwhelmed right now, but a lot of them are big fans of Lin-Manuel Miranda. The Hamilton composer spent most of the afternoon giving out hugs and describing his films—including Mary Poppins Returns, which happens to premiere next week. He even found one passerby who said shed created fan art for the Garfield book to which Miranda contributed earlier this year. Another fan happened to be listening to a Hamilton track when Eichner and Miranda approached her.
The most relatable moment, however, came when the two encountered a young woman who told Miranda shed entered the Hamilton lottery for ages, but never won—“so youre out of sight and out of mind because Ill never ever see that show!” Eichners reply? “You tell him, bitch!”
The ending, however, is a little sweeter, if strange: Eichner, Miranda, and a stranger chanting “Love is love is love is love” back at one another for 20 solid seconds. If that doesnt make you at least a little happy, Eichner playfully yelling at Miranda for peacing out of the chant early might.
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