"I'm not looking to be The Rock," says Eichner, 39. "No one told me to do this. Yes, I got the personal trainer role. But I don't think the producers cared if I was in the kind of shape I'm in. I'm a comedian. I could be 400 pounds and I'd probably be more popular! If I'm being honest, I'm really doing it for me."
Eichner is saying this between supersets on a Hammer Strength iso-lateral bench press at Hollywood's no-nonsense Easton Gym Co. Trainer Ryan Farhoudi is guiding him through alternating sets of bench presses (12 agonizingly slow reps with 115 pounds on the bar) and dumbbell flys on the , instructing Eichner to keep his lower back elevated in a bridge position.
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"I was a fat kid. Keep that in mind," says Eichner, who describes running as "boring and monotonous" but endures two miles of treadmill jogging three days a week. "I played John Goodman's son in an SNL sketch when I was 14. That fat. So I've come a long way."
Working hard without showing any effort is a major part of Eichner's brand. "The first few years of Billy on the Street, I didn't want people to know how much work it took," he says. "We do a good job of making it look like I went out for a couple of weeks, got all this amazing footage, and there it is. It looks really raw and lo-fi. But we'd shoot for months and months." Glancing at his client, Farhoudi offers a winking cosign. "I work with a lot of industry people. Billy does a lot. He's like a working mom."
"Don't say that!" Eichner theatrically exclaims. "That's very problematic. Are we done? We're done."
"Being a mom is the world's hardest job," the trainer says with a smile.
Now Eichner gets serious: "I have discipline," he says. "I ran this morning. Now I'm here. I did a million things in between. And I'll be up all night working. When I want something to happen, I have a very good work ethic. Including this."
Besides AHS: Cult, Eichner played a sober-minded physician on Netflix's Friends from College and a jaded comedian on Hulu's Difficult People. But fear not, fans: "I'll get back to Billy on the Street," he says. "We might change the way we do it. It'll continue to be a part of my life."
The man who lampoons pop culture is now firmly part of it. "Someone else is going to have to start running around and asking if Billy on the Street is overexposed," Eichner says before brushing a towel across his forehead and heading out the door. "And you know what? Thank God for that. If I've gotten that far, I must be doing something right."
Billy on Nutrition
The leaner Eichner eats smart. "I'm very mindful about what I eat, but I'm not going as far as counting grams of protein per meal." He follows "the usual rules": lots of lean chicken or fish, lots of vegetables, very little to no bread.
Billy on Stress
His trainer's rule: no phone at workouts. "It's very hard for me to leave my phone in the locker room. But I think it made my workouts way better. And just life in general. It's good to take an hour away from your phone."
Billy on Motivation
"I enjoy dating," says Eichner, who admits to being on "all the apps." Truth be told, dating prods us all toward the gym: "At some level, you want to start having sex with better-looking people. Which is why everyone is here."
Billy on Drinking
Eichner still drinks alcohol—and soda. "Most of the people who tell me not to drink Diet Cokes are actual cocaine addicts. They're like, 'Diet Coke?!' I'm like, 'Dude, you do crystal meth. Can't I have one soda?'"