Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank

Bert Kreischer met me on the patio of the Comedy Store to talk about his history with alcohol. We covered how he got started, when it became a major part of his life, and where he stand with it now. It was a fun talk that got a little dark in a couple places when we discussed his ex and again when another comedian walked by. And Joe Rogan makes an appearance on the intro.

Jessica Ahlquist drove all the way from Rhode Island to my New York apartment to tell me about her lawsuit to have a prayer banner removed from the walls of her public school. She's an amazing woman and her courage really helps make me feel like a coward for not standing up for more things I believe in. Really interesting conversation.

Cort McCown came over to my LA apartment before I left for New York and we talked about his sweet ass job as a professional caddy on the PGA tour. It's the golf equivalent to being a ball boy. But way cooler than that because you get to make money and you're a grown man now.

Mike Burns came by my apartment during his trip to New York to talk to me about his new book, Power Moves. Burns hasn't been on Skeptic Tank since the old Deathsquad days. He's hilarious and I'm glad he had a chance to come over while he was here for promotions. We talked about Karl Welzein, staring in people's windows in NY, getting stabbed, and meeting girls at bars. You know, normal stuff.

Kathleen McGee invited me over to the apartment she was staying in while we were in Winnipeg together and we talked about her rape. It's about as lighthearted a conversation as possible considering the subject matter. This is kind of what this podcast is all about. Stark, realistic views of the world told in funny ways. Enjoy.

Robert Kelly invited me over to his beautiful Manhattan apartment so we could talk about becoming a father. He had his first son 45 days ago and we had a nice discussion about what it was like. It was nice for me to hear how a former degenerate like Robert could transform himself into the type of dad that won't get child services called on him.

Justy Dodge came over to my New York apartment on the hottest day of the summer. We talked about her various mental disorders but centered on cutting. Justy is a New York based standup who spent her teens in and out of rehab for self mutilation. It was a great conversation despite a couple of her white trash words slipping out.

Big Jay Oakerson and I recorded a podcast upstairs from The Stand comedy club about how little we resemble grown men. Neither one of us know how to pay a bill on time. We had to break halfway through and picked the rest up near my apartment in the East Village. This was the first podcast I've done where I watched sex during the interview.

Tony Hinchcliffe, Mat Edgar, Pete Cornacchione, and I spent Shroomfest together this year. We drove out to Joshua Tree, ate some shrooms, and wandered out into the wilderness. And then we had, what I believe, is probably the first podcast recorded at Joshua Tree National Park. 

Don Barris had me over to his secret location Big 3 Studios and we did a podcast about his old days working at the Tropicana. Don hosted oil and mud wrestling nights over there for years way before I met him. There's also a road rage story in here and a special appearance by Brian Redban's 4 inch dog.

Stevie Ryan invited me over to her apartment to smoke pot and watch reality shows one day about a year ago. We ended up recording a podcast about introverts and then we recorded another one about our short lived relationship. Of course we meandered into all sorts of stuff but it was fun seeing two sides of a whole bunch of different scenarios. Catch Stevie on her own show on VH1 called Stevie TV.

Brendan Burns came to my LA garbage heap apartment to talk about his rock bottom. Brendan's rock bottom lasted for 3 years and while he was there he did A LOT of drugs. Especially psychedelic drugs. And they were not kind to him. 

Donovan Pee met me in my hotel room in Vancouver to talk about Heroin. Donovan was a heavy heroin user and lived on the streets of one of the most drug addicted blocks in North America. He was involved with the drug for decades and has only recently gotten away from it. It's a fascinating look at the life and exactly the kind of thing I like for this podcast.

John Caparulo had me over to his palatial estate to do a podcast and we spent most of it talking about poker. Cap was the reason I started playing poker at casinos. He introduced it to Steve Rannazzisi and me about 10 years ago and I caught the bug hard. We had some great times going down to the LA casinos late night after the Comedy Store was over. Hustler, Commerce, Hollywood Park, we hit them all. The last hour was just fun memories. So enjoy. And please enjoy an extra long introduction that has me venting about censorship in comedy. Twitter John Caparulo - http://twitter.com/johnCaparulo Jamie Caparulo - http://twitter.com/Jamie_Caparulo Ari Shaffir - http://twitter.com/AriShaffir

Jimmy Dore came by my slop haven of an apartment to tell me the truth about politics. I've never been very political, but lately I've started to become increasingly angrier about how little representation the average citizen has. Jimmy was always into the leftist side of things and he did a great job of explaining the problems with how things are run. And Mat Edgar joins me for the intro and outro to talk about Shroomfest and to share a few extra stealing stories that he forgot to mention on "Klepto."

Tom Rhodes and I met up at the Moontower Comedy and Oddity Festival and we talked about his vagabond lifestyle. Tom has no home. Every week he travels to a different location for standup comedy. He has no place to go back to. Just on and on and on forever. He sees every corner of the earth in his travels and it's really cool.

Chip Pope met me at the Comedy Store to talk about the time he spent in the closet. I know a lot of gay people, but very few who are gay but not open about it. As always with Chip, the talk moved to music as well. But most of it was about what it was like not having people (including the comics in the LA scene) know he was gay.

Mat Edgar and I talked about our shoplifting days on a trip back from San Diego. We both had pasts as thieves and this was a nice way to fill half our drive home. I forgot about how much I used to steal when I was little. I don't know how I never got caught. 

My father, Nat Shaffir, talked to me about his experience in the Holocaust as a young boy. My father rarely, if ever, shared any of this with us growing up, so I'm glad I got a chance to hear him say it. This was originaly posted on the Skeptic Tank feed on Deathsquad, but since a lot of people didn't know about it there, and being Yom Hashoah today, I thought it was a good oportunity to repost it. These stories are hard to digest at points but I think it's important enough to continue to listen despite any level of discomfort.

Joey Diaz helps me introduce the first of my two interview about heroin use that I did from my hotel room in Vancouver. This one gives an overview of how heroin makes you feel and how much pull it can have on you. This kid managed to get out of it's grasp while he was still young. It's a good talk on being a "functional" dope fiend.