Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank

Ralphie May bought me breakfast and took me up to his house to talk to me about what it's like to be a fat guy. Interesting conversation. I split it up into 2 parts because it went so long. There's still a good hour plus left.

Tait Fletcher stopped by my hovel to talk to me about stunt work. Tait works as a full stuntman for TV and movies. We meandered into talk about Bruce Lee, Master P and how horrible actresses are.

Joey Diaz invited me over to his house to talk about the daughter he barely ever mentions. As always with Joey Diaz, some of these stories are amazing. He's so honest and colorful, I could just sit and listen to him for days.

Justin Martindale, Shawn Halpin and I talked in my hotel room about Justin's qualifications to run for mayor of gay. This episode is unbelievably gay. If you're Christian, you probably shouldn't listen to it. Unless you're a Catholic priest, then it might turn you on.

Justin Martindale talked to us about his gay adventure in Dallas. I was there with him and Shawn Halpin to play the Addison Improv and Justin stopped by my hotel room and talked to Shawn and I about the gayest day I have ever heard of. And I live in West Hollywood, CA.

Frazer Smith shares his story of how he went from being a radio god to how he lost it all. It's a really interesting tale. And I had my friend David Taylor cohost with me because he knew a lot of Frazier's stories already and I wanted his help guiding it.

Sarah Tiana and I were talking at The Comedy Store one evening. During our conversation, I came to realize that in my head, I had mistakenly classified her as a sexual "good girl." I guess I've always known her as girlfriend material. So we met back there a couple nights later to discuss how she came into her own, how she operates, and how she likes having become this sexual butterfly.

Danny Lobell met me at The Comedy Store to talk about his time in Israel. We both spent periods of our lives there. We eventually got into a discussion about the Arab-Israeli conflict. Danny's a bit of a peacenik so it took a lot from me to accept some of what he was saying and that made for some interesting conversation. Don't turn it off too early because towards the end we got onto the topic of Danny's weight. It's the beginnings of what I'll eventually do with someone else. And at the end of the episode is a shroomfest announcement.

Christina Pazsitzky had me over at her house for wine and Skittles the other night and we talked about a shit ton of stuff and then some. We centered on the topic of depression but we meandered so much that this went for almost 3 hours. But it was so interesting the whole time, that's why I kept letting it go. Well, that and the wine.

Mat Edgar, Tony Hinchcliffe and I went on a comedy road trip from LA to San Diego to play Justin Hollister's new downtown room, The American Comedy Company, and we decided to take you guys along with us. We stopped the tape every time we got out of the car and tried catching you up on our extravehicular activities once we got back. It was a really fun trip and you guys will have fun being in the car with us.

Duncan Trussell and I shared a ride out to Brea, CA to do shows at the Brea Improv. Duncan has always been into Buddhism and I figured what better time to talk about modern Buddhism than on a ride to the Inland Empire. It was a really interesting talk and it completely enlightened me to the humongous differences between that and the Judeo-Christian religions in regards to daily life. Enjoy.

Jayson Thibault, Steve Rannazzisi and I sat in one of the back rooms of the Comedy Store and talked about Jayson's recent breakup. It's not sappy at all, so don't worry about that. We just covered what it feels like and what you have to do to be a mature adult in a breakup and if Steve gets boners on shoots.

Dean Delray stopped by my apartment to talk about his days as a professional rock musician. He made his living from music for almost two decades and he had a shit ton to share about it. Eventually, we just diverged into talking about music we liked but even that was pretty fun. Listen and enjoy and check out Dean’s podcast on the Toadhop Network called Poolside with Dean Delray.

Joey Diaz invited me over to talk about his time in Hollywood as a working actor. We sat on his porch and soaked in the sun as we discussed how he managed to get his start. Joey has been making a living as an actor for as long as I’ve known him. He’s one of the very few comics who actually does it and he’s been a looper since forever. Check out Joey's IMDB page. It’s shockingly long.

Ashley Macomber invited me into her home to talk about her new art project she’s created with Will Oldham (aka Bonnie 'Prince' Billy). Ashley is an amazing artist and she’s got a really clear way of thinking about the creative process and about life in general. It’s always fun to talk to her.

Mike Recine was visiting LA last week and he came over to talk while he was in town. We shared some beers and talked about having a brother with severe autism. 

David Taylor stopped by Skeptic Tank Studios (my apartment) to talk about his days as a working professional in the software industry during the tech boom. He gave it all up to become a struggling comedian and talented non-working writer. 

Jon Reep and John Heffron continued talking with me after we took a quick pot break. The addition of marijuana into the mix made us completely abandon the Last Comic Standing topic and meander into movies from our childhood and lies we're trying to spread.

Jon Reep, John Heffron, and I got together to do each other's podcasts. They're on my Skeptic Tank and I'm on their Last Podcasting. For the purposes of the Skeptic Tank, we talked about Last Comic Standing. They're two past winners, and I'm just a regular loser so it was interesting to me to hear what that show did for them. I should've gotten more into what their feelings were heading into each round but I didn't because I'm sometimes a bad interviewer. Regardless, enjoy.

An upscale prostitute came to the Skeptic Tank to share with us about her job. It was one of the most interesting conversations I've had in a very long time. She was open and honest and very friendly. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.