Episode 167″ – Eric Appel (Part 2)
Original Air Date – August 10, 2022
On part 2 of Dave and Ethan’s interview with Eric Appel, the director and co-writer behind the upcoming WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story on The Roku Channel (Weird Al’s biopic starring Daniel Radcliffe), Eric shares how he came up with the idea for the original 2010 Funny or Die Weird: The Al Yankovic Story video, who they originally approached to play Weird Al, and how they ended up casting Aaron Paul and the rest of the cast!
Eric Appel is a writer and director who has worked on Crank Yankers and The Andy Milonakis Show, as well as the comedy website Funny or Die. At Funny or Die, Eric wrote and directed the 2010 viral fake movie trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story starring Aaron Paul as Weird Al. Eric later teamed up with Weird Al again and turned that fake movie trailer into a real movie, also titled Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, this time starring Daniel Radcliffe in the titular role. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2022, and can be found on The Roku Channel, as well as other digital platforms, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.