Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank

Myq Kaplan came over to my apartment (possibly the last one recorded at my New York apartment in the east Village) to have a talk about monogamy vs polyamory. Myq used to be super into the poly side of it for years but recently has switched over to the dark side. It's a pretty well informed discussion on the subject and somehow we manage to talk a lot about mushrooms, too.

Kevin Meaney invited me over to his apartment to talk about what it was like coming out of the closet at 50 years old. He was married with a kid when he did it. This was such a great podcast. He was open and honest and had such a unique difficult time of coming to be open about who he is. I hope you enjoy it and use it to help you give up the secrets you're holding onto. 

Brad and Todd Barnes came to my apartment to do a podcast about working as a team to make movies. They brought with them the film crew that eventually led to my landlord evicting me. Despite that, it was a fun podcast. We talked about making films, about working together, and about the half documentary/half movie that we made together over the summer with Rannazzisi, Cort, and Simeone.

Barry Rothbart came over to my apartment to tell me about growing up with a father who hung out and worked with organized crime. It must have been strange growing up knowing your father was a gambler who won and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time. The intro was recorded at 5am after a night of heavy drinking in Montreux, Switzerland

Paul Morrissey came by my New York apartment yesterday on his way to do the Artie Lange show and it was lucky he did. I had to take down this week's original podcast because people are little beeitches sometimes and everybody worries about getting sued so much they don't even care if what they're doing wasn't wrong. Regardless, Morrissey and I talked about the life of my New York apartment from beginning to soon to be end. With special insightful notes and voice mails detailing why I'm not a good person.

Lauren Hennessy came over to my NY apartment to tell me about what it's like to be a he/she. Lauren is a boy trapped in a girl's body. He's been that way since he was born. And you think you had it tough. Don't worry, this didn't get too serious or sad. Just two dudes talking about one of the dude's vaginas.

Steve Simeone invited me over to his place while I was in LA and we talked about happiness. It started off being a conversation about being broke, but it quickly shifted as it became evident that Steve's poverty level was no longer the main influence on his mood. We talked about girls, and about family, and about giganitic boobs. But at its base, it's just a couple of buddies hanging out.

Callum Preston was spray painting a mural in an alley in Melbourne, Australia when I asked him if he'd be on my podcast. Callum is part of the Everfresh Crew and his mural was awesome. He met me in a park the next day and we talked about the street art scene in Melbourne, how he got started with spray painting graffiti. And then we talked about Australia in general for a while. It was a beautiful day in a beautiful park and I'm really glad I actually went up to a stranger to talk to him. He's a cool guy. 

Wil Anderson and I day drank on a weekday at a beach bar on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia. I got sunburned in the ozoneless air as we talked about Wil's upbringing on a farm. We meandered around a crap-ton, too. Wil's a real cool guy and I'm glad I got the chance to hang out with him. The stuff he's doing with his standup is inspiring.

Juan Carlos Alvarado met me at a secluded beach in Los Cabos, Mexico and we did a podcast about poker. We talked some about how he became a professional poker player, how he deals with losing streaks, and what his family thought of it all. And then we went into Black Friday and the end of the golden age of online poker. Mat Edgar helps me with the intro and outro, too.

Kevin Christy had Nick Youssef and me over to his house to talk about what I need to change with my wardrobe. Kevin and Nick have always been my fashion advisors and we used it as an excuse to do a fun little podcast. In honor of fashion week (probably) (somewhere) I present to you a guide to what to wear as a man in late 2013.

Neal Brennan invited me to his tropical rainforest hotel room in New York and we had a nice talk about chicks. It's one of the driving influences in my life and it was nice to hear someone with some thought out views on relationships and love. Nick Youssef joins me for the intro on the drive back from San Francisco.

Jim Florentine and Bret Ernst joined me in Bret's hotel room in Cabo to record a bonus podcast. We were drunk, so I have no idea what we talked about. Maybe girls? The middle east? Your guess is as good as mine. I remember it being a fun conversation till about 10 minutes left when Guidus Interruptus took over the conversation again and we all got tired.

Bret Ernst invited me up to his hotel room in Cabo San Lucas to drink beers, smoke cigars, and do a podcast. I love these on location episodes. We talked about Bret's habit of overzealously arguing his points. Bret has always been passionate (i.e. a guido), and it really comes out when he talks to someone with an opposing viewpoint. 

John F O'Donnell met me in Bushwick to talk about his manic depressive disorder. He's gone off the deep end a few times in his life and we got into it all. How it started, what happens, how it's affected him. It was a fun podcast that only got interrupted a couple times by a gang of 8 year old handball punks.

Dave Smith came over to my apartment so we could talk about this growing disillusionment I'm experiencing with our federal government. Dave is a devout libertarian and he knows a lot more of the facts than I do, so we discussed a lot of where we've gone wrong and where our politicians and generals have betrayed the will of its people. Listen to it now, because when the revolution comes, downloading podcasts won't be easy.

Sean Patton came over to my apartment in New York to talk about his hometown of New Orleans. Sean was born there, he was there for Katrina, and through both of those events, he was severely drunk. It was a fun conversation that took us through some of the history and to today's best tourist attraction, watching closeted gay guys pretend to not know they're going into a gay club.

Glitter Goddess spoke to Jay Oakerson and I about her new jobs as a sex therapist, and as a phone dominatrix. It was really fun. She has a bunch of guys getting her off by taking orders from her. And they pay her for it. That's like a heckler paying you to make them feel bad. Outstanding. 

Whitney Cummings had me over to the place she was staying in while in New York and we talked about her hardships at The Comedy Store, with her sitcom, and as a child of an alcoholic. I had no idea she felt that way about when she was starting at the Store. She always seemed so on top of it all the time, I couldn't even imagine it being difficult for her. Billy Wayne Davis joins me for the intro.

Auntie Dolores (that's not really her name) met me at the Comedy Store patio to talk about edibles. She makes some of the best brownies, pretzels, lolipops, nuts, and popcorn you can find in California. We talked about how she makes things, her worries with the authorities, and when she got started. Plus we also reminisced about our history with pot cookies.