Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank

My friends Steve Rannazzisi and Tracy Rannazisi stop by to talk about what it’s like being in a long term relationship. They’ve been together longer than any of my friends, so they’re pretty much my version of what a relationship is.

Peyta Porker stops by the Deathsquad studios to talk about hookers. It’s probably my favorite podcast I’ve done because it really embodies everything I want from the Skeptic Tank. It gives new understanding about a side of life I know very little about and justifies why this type of behavior works for one person. Peyta Porker isn’t his real name but we filmed it for a live broadcast and he didn’t want to use his real face or name to talk about illegal activities, so he wore a spiderman mask and changed it from his real name to Peyta Porker (which is an awesome name for a guy who pays for sex).

My friend, Benji Aflalo, stops into the Deathsquad studios to talk about growing up a spoiled rich kid. I got Tony Hinchcliffe to come on as a cohost to make Benji more comfortable. I’m not sure it worked, though. I think he thought I was going to attack him because it seemed like he wasn’t being completely open and at ease for most of the episode. Still good, though. Enjoy.

My favorite gay, Justin Martindale, comes into the Deathsquad studios to talk about what life was like growing up in Texas as a homosexual. I found out, 1) he’s a whore and 2) his experience was pretty interesting. I hope you like it.

My friend and celebrity, Joe Rogan, talks to me about life without anonymity. It was pretty interesting. I’ve seen little bits of what it’s like in the time we’ve hung out but this was more revealing. Joe is a hilarious standup who’s been in the game for nearly a quarter of a century. That usually surprises people who only know him as the host of Fear Factor or the commentator for the UFC.

Comedian Mack Lindsay stops by Deathsquad studios to talk about his struggles with substance abuse. Mack is a really original comic that most unoriginal comics liken to Bill Hicks. I don’t like to compare him to Hicks because Mack is funny. That’s right. I don’t think Bill Hicks was funny. Yes, I’ve seen the clips. No, I don’t smile much at them. Nor did I hear the crowds laughing too hard, either. Anyway, listen.

Jon Reep came over to the Deathsquad Studios to talk about the lost art of the prank. He’s had some really good ones over the years.

Jayson Thibault and Danielle Stewart stopped by Deathsquad Studios to talk to me about their experience with a recent breakup and about breakups in general.

Comedians and fellow Bridgetown Comedy Festival alums, Mike Bridenstine, Mike Burns and Kyle Kinane stop by the Deathsquad studios to talk to me about drinking alcohol. And then we all started boozing and it probably got a bit mumbly on my end but it was a really fun conversation anyway. I’m still absolutely amazed at how much those guys can put away.

Charlie stops by Deathsquad studios to clue us in to what it means to be a graffiti artist. He had to go by an assumed name and wear a mask because just about everything he talked about was illegal.

My new friend Pete Holmes shares tales of his evangelical upbringing and his departure from that religious lifestyle. I’ve been wanting to do a religion podcast for a while and when I heard he had that upbringing, I knew it was a fit. The guy is hilarious and I was stoked that he was gonna come talk about it.

Kurt Metzger talks to me about his former religious lifestyle and how he feels about religion now. It's not positive. I recorded this at Kurt's apartment in Manhattan while his puppy was trying to bite our hands. We strayed about as far as I have off topic. But it was still one of the funniest episodes I've done.

While I was visiting New York, I interviewed comedian Mike Lawrence about comic books. I was trying to interview him about what comic book nerd life was like, but then it just turned to talk about comic books and the movies. I'm not a great interviewer. Anyway, fun conversation.

Steve Agee talks mental disorders.

Joe Rogan and I got into a conversation on the plane back from Washington, DC. We covered censorship, comedy in general, Joe's fear of the Los Angeles apocalypse, and probably a little UFC. It's tough to remember. I was too sober.

Steve Simeone came to the apartment and we got in a nice long conversation about our struggles in Hollywood over the years. I’ve known him for nearly as long as I’ve been in Los Angeles. I didn’t quite realize how long it had been until we started talking. Man, there were some great times had while we were coming up. Steve is one of the funniest guys I know and he’s also one of the nicest. The fact that he’s not a household name is a sign that there is no justice in the world. But at least it led to some good stories about life on the lower end of the standup totem pole. I hope you enjoy it. I think too often there’s talk of how a particular entertainer made it in Hollywood and there’s never enough attention called to the survival years where you’re just trying to get by while you’re chasing your dreams. We got a lot of those stories in here. Enjoy.

Jenn Cole lost her friend about a week before we recorded this. I really wanted to get into the feeling of grief that comes with loss but I'm so intrigued by suicide that I just ended up wanted to know all the details leading up to her friend, Chris, taking his own life. This is a serious subject but I treat it with the same lighthearted inquisitiveness that I treat any other subject. I hate getting caught up feeling the same emotions as the subject. So, while I have a general respect for suicide, I don't let the idea of it make me sad. So with that in mind, please enjoy this really interesting conversation with someone who just lost a friend.

Al Madrigal took me into his home office to discuss the joys of fatherhood. Becoming a parent has long been one of my greatest fears, so it was nice to talk to someone who didn't share my concerns at all. As long as I've known Al he's been a father. And he's cool enough and honest enough to talk to me about what that means to him.

Mat Edgar and Tony Hinchcliffe were hired to help clean my apartment. While it wasn't an American horror story, it was pretty close. I'm a damn hoarder and I had built up quite the trash castle in my place. We had a great time talking about how hellish it was and what I can do to keep out of clutter trouble from here on out. And obviously, we talked a bunch about wrestling and Sanford and Son, too.

Tony Hinchcliffe, Mat Edgar and I met back up the day after we did part one and we finished off this discussion about the great clean of 2011 and about hoarding in general. Most of the time, we ended up listening to Sanford and Son clips. We're very organized. Thanks for listening.

Neal Brennaninvited me over to his place to talk about his experiences being a film director. He's the only guy I know, know who's gotten to direct an actual Hollywood movie. It's pretty cool. We covered that and our meanderings (that's a word now) took us to standup, Occupy Wall Street, and a bunch of other places. There was a little chunk in the middle that I had to cut out because I ended up mentioning some private information about one of my buddies that I realized I shouldn't have mentioned. It wasn't even anything funny or interesting so I didn't mind dropping it out anyway

Paul Morrissey gets to revisit the glory of his college basketball days. This was an almost 4 hour discussion that I've separated into 2 podcasts and an extra features episode. I'm only going to break up conversations like this if it has 2 or more really different and unattached topics of discussion.

Paul Morrissey and I continue with our conversation, this time centering on his short lived career doing sports for local news stations.

Paul Morrissey finishes off our epic 4 hour conversation with him pretty much interviewing me about my desire to move to New York and then a one sided argument about the problems with continuing membership in the Catholic Church. I didn't really go into this part wanting to find anything out specific, so I'm not going to give it a specific Skeptic Tank number, but it was interesting enough for me to want to air. Enjoy.

Moshe Kasher opened up his home to me and just like on a typical Shabbos afternoon, we talked until it got dark.

Jeremy Horwitz talked to David Taylor and I about his experiences as a college professor at Santa Clara. Obviously, I asked if he's ever had sex with a student. There's actually a lot more to the job than waiting for signals from sorority chicks.

Steven Brody Stevens stopped by Skeptic Tank Studios (my apartment) to share the details of his 17 day stay in the psyche ward at UCLA. It took us, like, 30 minutes to get into the topic, but eventually we did. We diverged a lot into a really cool discussion about perspective on life and how you can fall into a negative and self sabotaging way of thinking about things.

Jeff Dye and Geoff Keith stopped by Skeptic Tank Studios to talk about their experiences as super attractive men. The hard part of this episode was convincing these two guys that they were way more attractive than average men. Most of our discussion was spent talking about the women we've managed to finagle into our beds. They had a much easier time finagling than I did. It's not like I think I'm ugly, definitely not by semitic standards, but these guys are in a different category. Enjoy