Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank

Robert Kelly joins me for the first in a series of podcasts where I'm just gonna do some wishful thinking. Fun podcast with a good friend. It's nothing serious. It's all about the stuff we've been thinking about doing. For now, it's because we can't really do anything. A year from now, it'll probably be about the things in life we've been procrastinating. But this is now. And Bobby goes over all the stuff he's been itching to do. These don't have to be the most important things. These are just some activities that have been bouncing around in his head. 1) Walking Around The Mall 2) Cigar Bars 3) Staring at Girls 4) Hanging Out At Comedy Clubs with Comics 5) Hotel Room on a Saturday Night when the Week is Over   The Music Sam Cooke - Another Saturday Night Biz Marquee - Albee Square Mall Beatles - With A Little Help From My Friends Mika - Big Girls (You Are Beautiful)  

Jessica Michelle Singleton came on to talk to me about taking a 10 day vow of silence for Vipassana meditation. I tried it a few years ago and failed. Still got a ton out of it. But she made it all the way through. And this conversation really reminded me of everything I got out of it even though I didn't make it. It's so good for you!    Jessica Michelle Singleton has two podcasts. "Ignorance is #Blessed" and "Two Filthy Nerds." She's also related to the most prolific standup comedians of the last decade.   The Music Bjork - It's Oh So Quiet No Doubt - Don't Speak Macklemore - Vipassana Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence Mazzy Star - Sweet Mary of Silence

Joe List has a bad attitude and a worse stomach. He ate nothing but chicken parm sandwiches and Chipotle for the last 14 years and then for some reason, one day last year his stomach just stopped working. He has silent reflux. And it's a bigger problem than heart disease, Covid, comedy bloggers, and emotional support peacocks. There's a lot of talk about male ejaculate in a podcast about glorified heartburn.  Listen to Joe on one of his two podcasts, the new Mindful Metal Jacket (I was on episode 11) or the ever popular Tuesdays with Stories that he does with Mark Normand. The Music The White Coffin Terror - Silent Night Deadly Night Future (feat Andre 3000) - Benz Friendz Duran Duran - The Reflex Simon and Garfunkel - The Sounds of Silence

Duncan Trussell and I talked about LSD for about 2 hours. Nobody in my life is more of an acidhead than Duncan. He knows the history, the risks, the joys, all of it. We did this in honor of Bicycle Day, which is April 19. The day LSD was first ingested intentionally by Albert Hofmann. Also, the excuse for having this conversation at all was so I could help tell the world about Duncan's new Netflix show, "The Midnight Gospel." It's starts 4/20 on Netflix. All the episodes available at once. He did it with Pendleton Ward, the guy who made Adventure Time. I haven't been this excited for a new show in maybe forever! I'm not even exaggerating. Duncan's mind works on another level and this is so clearly a product of all the weird creativity he's been developing over the last 20 years that I've known him.    For sure set a reminder in your Netflix settings to watch The Midnight Gospel as soon as it comes out! https://www.netflix.com/title/80987903   You can also listen to Duncan't podcast, The Duncan Trussell Family

Sean Patton becomes the first Skeptic Tank guest to ever appear via webcam to tell me about what New Orleans was like for him in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Pretty much Skeptic Tank is the only podcast where you'll hear about stuff like this in a funny podcast. Anyway, that time seemed to me to have a lot of parallels to what's going on right now. So he told me about some of the stuff that went down out there. Really great, funny conversation that helped me deal with quarantine zero percent better so don't expect any answers.   Check out Sean's podcast, "5 Words." I'll be on in a couple weeks. And please help support him if you can, by downloading his new standup album, Scuttlebutt.

Mark Normand became the first (and only) guest in the newly built Skeptic Tank Studio! This was recorded March 17, the first day bars and restaurants were closed in New York. We talked about what it was doing to standup, our fears, made jokes about everything, and drank some ice cold Coronas while we did it. This podcast is also the first on the new Skeptic Tank youtube channel. (youtube.com/SkepticTank) Check that out for full episodes, episode clips, brand new podcasts, and lots of new content. And subscribe! That's where all the live episodes will live from now on as opposed to the other YouTube channel that was just a still picture with the audio over it.  Nobody knew how far Covid 19 would go and nobody was yet saying even not to meet up with friends. But in between recording this podcast, and before my interview the next day, it started to seem more like a health risk to have a guest and my producer come to the studio. So we called it off until we learned more. But before we did, Mark and I talked about

Chino LaForge met me before one of our shows to tell me about the history of the country of Hawaii. I think it ain't even really part of America. Honestly. I know it is, but I don't agree. Chino broke down all the history and then we moved on to what it's like there now. Really interested conversation.

Roberty "Bobby" Kelly had me over to the YKWD studios to record an album commentary episode of Skeptic Tank on his first comedy album, Robert Kelly Live. On these episodes I break down a comic's (usually) first album and we discuss all the things that went into making all the jokes, recording the album, how their styles have changed, what inspired the bits, and all sorts of stuff from an academic point of view on comedy.  We did this to help promote Robert's set on season 2 of The Degenerates on Netflix. So make sure to open up Netflix and watch Bobby's set on there.   My final dates for Ari Shaffir: Jew  are: Oahu - Jan 15 Maui - Jan 17 Kauai - Jan 19 Portland - Jan 23 Pittsburgh - Jan 25 Charlotte - Jan 26 New York - Feb 7 and 8 Tickets are at http://www.arishaffir.com/tour

Adrienne Iapalucci came over to my hotel room in Spokane and we sat and talked about dogs for almost 2 hours. She's been a long time dog freak and so have I. And I just recently got my first dog ever so now I can finally join in the conversation from the point of view of an owner. Adrienne is hilarious and you gotta watch her Netflix set on season 2 of The Degenerates. She's also been opening for me for the last year or two so if you've ever wanted to know who that Dark Queen was that went on before me, now you know. 

2019 was a great year for me. They're all great years, to be honest. But 2019 was no different. Come along as I go over all my favorite podcasts, standup shows, travels, and details of another year where I'm lucky to be doing something I love. 

Jessica Kirson met me at Gas Digital studios to tell me about what her daughter has been going through with heart surgeries. Her kid was born with major heart problems so she's been through multiple surgeries before she was 4 years old. So she's spent tons of times at Children's Hospital. It's crazy what Children's Hospital does for some of these kids. Jessica has seen it all while she's been there. Both with her own daughter and with other people's kids as well.  Make sure to watch her debut special on http://www.comedycentral.com that's out right now! She fucking kills! The Music: I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack Jessica - Rick Springfield Hospital Food - Eels I Will Survive - Cake

Jimmy Dore met me at All Things Comedy studios to explain to me exactly what a progressive is. I've found more and more that I relate to his views on politics more than most people. The distrust in journalism, the desire to get out of war, the feeling that the government is neither left nor right but rather serving the people or serving themselves. He's a passionate man and you can find lots of his stuff on youtube on The Jimmy Dore Show. By the way, this took me fucking 4 days to edit and export in iMovie. I have GOT to get a producer to do this stuff for me. I just don't think anyone will get the music stuff down the way I'd like it done. But right now this is not worth the time I'm spending on it.   Road Dates I will be off the road in December but in January I'm in: Spokane - January 2-4 Hawaii - January 16-19 (tickets on sale next week Atlanta, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Maine (all on sale next week) New York - February 7-8 (the taping of my new standup special, Ari Shaffir: Jew) Tickets at http

In honor of me announcing the date of my long awaited standup special recording for "Ari Shaffir: Jew," I brought on some friends to talk about Jews. Sam Tripoli, Michael Rappaport (just walking by and joined in), Ryan O'Neill, Steve Rannazzisi, Tony Hinchcliffe, Boon Shaka Laka, and Steve Simeone. With a bonus set from Jeremiah Watkins's show "Standup On The Spot" where I riff off what people in the audience throw out. Ari Shaffir: Jew records February 8 in New York City. https://tickets.nyu.edu/overview/arishaffir?psn=arishaffir

Mike Cannon met me at Gas Digital to tell me about his old days as a total meathead who legit took steroids. I'm not even kidding. You can't believe how much of an idiot this guy was. He's normal now, but he was a juice head moron back in the day. We also talked a lot about our mutual love for underground back room poker games. And go see Mike record his first comedy special this Monday, November 4, at the Village Underground in Manhattan. Tickets at http://www.MikeCannonComedy.com Tour Schedule (tix at http://arishaffir.com/tour: San Jose - November 7, 8, 9 Detroit (sold out) - Nov. 14 Chicago - November 16 Cincinnati - November 17

I am so freaking DONE with this month. It's the worst. It's not even difficult being sober. It's just boring. Really really boring. In years past I could occupy myself with a contest against my friends but there's not even a contest this year. It's just a play along. God, I hate it. I'm bored as hell and I'm over it. I am over Sober October.

Milo Yiannopoulos came over to my apartment to have one of my favorite talks ever on this podcast. It's a talk about trolling. Milo is one of the best in the world at it. This is gonna take you a week to listen to. The intro goes for 57 minutes alone. You can skip it if you want, but it's 53 minutes of content that you'll be missing about my own start in trolling. Trolls are the most maligned and misunderstood of all the world's artist. And I don't use the term "artist" lightly. Trolling is an art form. I've been looking forward to this episode for months now. And you're going to love it or ABSOLUTELY HATE IT. I hope you're the former. But if you're the latter, then we got you. You've been trolled. pWn3d. Tour Dates Nashville - Oct 17-19 San Jose - Nov 7-9 Chicago - Nov 16 tix at www.arithegreat.com

Brian Redban took me into his new podcast studio to talk about the early days of the podcast scene in Los Angeles. When everything was guerrilla. When it was fresh and new and nobody knew what it was gonna turn into. It was such a crazy time and Redban was right there helping form the scene. From the Joe Rogan podcast, to mine, to Segura's, and lots more, he helped build the scene from the ground up. We talked about what it was like, what podcasts have turned into, and where it's going now. I'm telling you, this episode got me so hyped up to put out the coolest content I can. You're all gonna benefit over the next few years because of this conversation.    Tour Dates Nashville - October 17/18/19 - Zanies San Jose - November 7/8/9 - Improv Detroit - November 14 - The Magic Bag Chicago - November 16 - The Vic Cincinnati - November 17 - Funny Bone   The Music NOFX - The Marxist Bros. The Godfather Theme Rage Against The Machine - Guerrilla Radio Monty Python - Brian Song

Dave Smith joins me for our annual look at how things are going in America. We talk about politics, climate, drugs, economics, and everything else we can think of. Dave is really well read and neither democrat nor republican so he never falls into the trap of having to defend the views of any one party. This is also the first video podcast in Skeptic Tank history. Go to my youtube page or http://arishaffir.com to watch it. Upcoming Tour Dates: (http://www.arithegreat.com for tickets) San Antonio - October 2 Dallas - October 3 Houston - October 4/5 Nashville - October 17/18/19 San Jose - November 7/8/9 Detroit - November 14 Chicago - November 16 Cincinatti - November 17   The Music Chuck Berry - Back In The USA NOFX - We Called It America Night Ranger - You Can Still Rock In America Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom James Brown - Living In America

Big Jay Oakerson (43:45) and I went up to the roof to talk about smoking. How he started, how he tries to quit, how cool it is, what it does to you, the smell. Really all of it. As we did it, he smoked a cigarette and I smoked a cigar.    Tour Dates Brea - September 26-28 San Antonio - Oct 2 Dallas - October 3 Houston - October 4-5 Nashville - Oct 17-19 San Jose - November 7-9 Detroit - November 14 Cincinatti - November 17 Chicago - November 16   The Music Tex Williams - Smoke Smoke Smoke (the Cigarette) Motley Crue - Smoking In The Boys Room Oasis - Cigarettes & Alcohol Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees - Nicotine Stains UGK (feat Too Short) - Cigarette

Sal Vulcano and I both went to WWE's Smackdown on September 10, 2019. It was Sal's 80th WWE event. It was my first. I had SO many question. So Sal came over to my apartment 6 days later to tell me all the ins and outs of that world so I could make sense of what I had seen. Road Dates (tix at arishaffir.com) Madison (Sep 19-21) Winnipeg (Sep 22) Brea, CA (Sep 26-28) San Antonio (Oct 2) Dallas (October 3) Houston (October 4&5) Chicago (November 16)   The Music Weezer - El Scorcho The Novas - The Crusher Motorhead - The Game Beth Orton - Stolen Car