Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank

Mark Normand, Jay Oakerson, Dan Soder, and Michelle Wolf came to my apartment to talk about our amazing trip to Bonnaroo. Man, we had such a good time. I was riding high on it for weeks afterwards, and I'm so glad I got the whole group back together to talk about it. It was a wild four days of drugs, music, drugs, hot 19 year olds in jean shorts and bikini tops, drugs, good vibes, booze, and drugs. I want to go every year.

Rachel Simmons and I had a high school reunion for two last week. And while we were doing that, we recorded a podcast about artificial insemination. A few years ago, Rachel got knocked up the modern way, by paying for sperm to be stuffed inside her by a medical professional. I had some questions. This was a fun talk with two people who have known each other for almost 25 years. 

Paul Morrissey and I went to a Yankee game to talk about baseball. We got seats right behind the visitor's bullpen and we did a podcast from right there. We started on the walk to the subway, continued on the train a little, got lost some, got inside, met some Jews, had a dog, met some more people, and watched some more baseball. It was a great day.

Davey Wester trekked his way across Manhattan to my apartment to talk to me about his cerebral palsy. Davey is a Comedy Store comic from way back. We've had a couple CP comics there over the years and this is actually the first time I really talked to any of them about the condition. Surprisingly fun discussion based on the topic. And some good Gallagher stuff. Ian Edwards and Zara Mizrahi join me from Bonnaroo for the introduction.

Derek Gaines met me at my apartment to talk about his former life as a janitor. It's one of the dirtiest jobs most people will ever come in contact with. The thing I learned from this above all else was this: Use bleach.

Turner Sparks met me at my new New York apartment during his visit from Shanghai. We talked about the unique challenge he's faced opening up a Mister Softee franchise in China. It's kind of crazy how much different business is there than here. 

Big Jay Oakerson had me over to his apartment to talk about the worst interviews we've been a part of. We both sat through the same horrendous interviewer at SXSW and that's what gave us the idea. Some people are really good at bringing stuff out of you. Other people, not so much. 

Pete Cornacchione and I sat down outside the airport in Chiang Mai, Thailand to talk about all the things we saw out there. We did so much that we couldn't even fit it into one episode. So we just talked about mainland Thailand. Phuket, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai. Man, did we do a crapload of stuff. Join us on our podcast version of vacation pictures from a place where (probably) no podcast has recorded from before. 

Sam Morril and I went to go see Whiplash before it was out of theaters. And we barely made it. There were, like, 6 people in the theater. As soon as it was done, we went back to my aparment and recorded this Spoiler Alert episode. Don't listen if you're planning on seeing Whiplash this week. Do listen if you've already seen it or have no current plans to see it.

Fahim Anwar met me at Benji's place while I was in LA and we talked about his career as an aerospace engineer. It's a long way from that to Guy Code. Man. Join us as we sat outside and brough Arab and Jew together. (Fahim insists he's not an Arab)

Nick Mullen met me at my in New York to talk about his illegal living situation. Nick is a funny young comic who literally lives in tenement housing. We talked all about it and got into some existential stuff about comedy. And we took a fun walk around the Bowery to see his garbage neighborhood full of chuds.

Steve Simeone had me over to his apartment to talk about family. I was there to get a ride to the airport to leave LA back to New York. It's a great discussion on blood with the guy who's probably closer to his family than any other comic I know. Check out Simeone's podcast, Good Times. 

Rick Ingraham met me at Benjy's apartment in LA to talk about quitting pot. Rick was a longtime smoker. He was always with us at the Comedy Store when we found places to get high. A real, multiple time every day smoker. And then he stopped. So we talked about that. Cort McCown joins me for the intro.

Joey Diaz and I sat in his North Hollywood yard and talked about being two years into being a parent. It got way deeper than I expected. Diaz manages to bridge the worlds he was in between this 2 year old child of his, and his estranged daughter from his former life. And we got into his own 2nd year of life, his comedy life. And how he got started. Jesus. This one had a lot of stuff to it. 

David Taylor came over to Benji's place in LA and we talked about him being a jerk. He's a mean person. Has been for years. And I've wanted to talk to him about it for years. And now I got the chance. So join us for a conversation about aggression and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.

Sam Tripoli and I got the hookup to the Brickyard 400 in Fontana. It's a NASCAR event. Neither one of us are fans of the sport, but since we have a sports podcast (Punch Drunk Sports) we figured we should give it a chance. And it was craploads of fun. Join us on our trip to an actual NASCAR event.

Brent Weinbach met me at the place I'm staying in LA to talk about how weird he is. Brent is, to put it mildly, a strange person. He sniffs chairs before sitting down, doesn't have a cell phone, eats baby food, and loves 8 bit music. He's "unique." So we had a fun conversation about it and then I tried walking in his shoes for a moment.

Michael Kosta came over to my Los Angeles boarding house to have a nice talk with me about tennis. Kosta played since he was little and was even a professional for a few years before turning to standup. It was a fun conversation with two comics about a sport. And of course, there's some talk about anal, too.

Geoff Keith met me at the Comedy Store to talk about all his amazing trips to Southeast Asia. He's been there a few times. To the Phillipines, to Thailand, and somewhere else that I'm forgetting. There's some pretty cool adventures in there and it really makes me want to go see those places for myself. 

Nick Youssef came to my hotel room in Seattle to talk about coffee. Nick has nothing of value in his life, so he fills his void by shopping for old records, thrift store clothes, and coffee. He's become kind of an afficianado. So we did a podcast all about the black art. We also talked about this sick fight we saw the night before on the streets.