Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank

Robert Kelly invited me down to the Riotcast studio to act as my producer for a podcast about our amazing experience eating at Noma. Noma was named the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine 3 of the last 4 years. Chef Rene Redzepi has created an amazing culinary experience in Copenhagen, Denmark. And Robert and I were there for the Copenhagen Comedy Festival in September and I got on the wait list for Noma. And wouldn't you know it, our name got called. So here's two comedians talking about our 2 1/2 hour lunch at Noma. David Taylor joins me for the intro from the apartment I'm staying in in LA until April.

Jeff Danis and Ryan O'Neill came over to my AirBnB in LA while I was in town to film my special, Paid Regular. We talked about the open mic at the Comedy Store known as potluck. It was a parade of lunatics. In its prime, potluck was one part freak show, one part standup show, and two parts club soda. Seriously, you had to see it. And I talked to Danish & O'Neill about what it was like hosting that mother week after week. Always great when these guys are on and this one is no exception. And don't forget to watch my special on Comedy Central Friday night January 16 or get the extended version at www.arishaffir.com

The story of how I became a paid regular at the Comedy Store. From when I started comedy to when I got passed to when I made the announcement that I'll be filming my special in the Original Room. This was originally the intro to episode 180: Haole 5-0 but I thought I'd upload it on it's own the day my special comes out. It airs tonight (Friday night) at midnight/11pm central on Comedy Central. It's called Paid Regular and it's available at www.AriShaffir.com or at Comedy Central On Demand.

Godfrey came over to my apartment in New York and we had a long non-judgemental talk about race. It was really interesting to me and I think talks like this can really help us grow as a society. Not listening to Godfrey and me, but having these kinds of talks with the people in your own life. So listen to the way we're not attacking each other, and then try to do the same in your own discussions.

Ali Siddiq met me at the Comedy Store to talk about prison. I always knew prison life was hard, but damn. I didn't know about all of this. Ali spent 6 years locked away with some of the most violent criminals in Texas. This is a great episode and really fun and interesting.

Mike Lawrence met me at the Creek and the Cave in Long Island City so we could record a podcast about wrestling. Mike has always been one of the comics who loves wrestling on a non-ironic level and he's always been good at explaining things to me that I don't agree with. So I'm glad he was able to explain to me what I'm missing with wrestling. It always seemed like garbage entertainment for garbage people. But Mike made me see how cool is it to follow the action of the squared circle. And plus I think we did this on, like, Christmas day or Christmas eve. So thank you, Jews. Steve Simeone helps with the intro and outro.

Mistress Isabella Sinclaire came over to the apartment I'm unwillingly sharing in LA to tell me about BDSM. She's pretty much a professinal torturer, which is way different than that job would be in Game of Thrones. This is all about domination, usually sexually. It was a great long discussion and if you're wondering if she was going to put electrodes on my balls to shock them, the answer is of course she did. Benji Aflalo joins me for the outro.

Kristian Harloff and Mark Ellis met me at the Comedy Store for the 3rd straight year to talk about the Oscars. I love these podcasts. We get to shit on movies for 2 hours, it's great. Kristian and Mark are the team that makes up Schmoes Know. They've got an awesome movie podcast and they always teach me about the movies I didn't get a chance to see. I also come up with a sweet plan for fun so listen before Wednesday and listen all the way through.

Nick Youssef came to my hotel room in Seattle to talk about coffee. Nick has nothing of value in his life, so he fills his void by shopping for old records, thrift store clothes, and coffee. He's become kind of an afficianado. So we did a podcast all about the black art. We also talked about this sick fight we saw the night before on the streets.

Geoff Keith met me at the Comedy Store to talk about all his amazing trips to Southeast Asia. He's been there a few times. To the Phillipines, to Thailand, and somewhere else that I'm forgetting. There's some pretty cool adventures in there and it really makes me want to go see those places for myself.

Michael Kosta came over to my Los Angeles boarding house to have a nice talk with me about tennis. Kosta played since he was little and was even a professional for a few years before turning to standup. It was a fun conversation with two comics about a sport. And of course, there's some talk about anal, too.

Brent Weinbach met me at the place I'm staying in LA to talk about how weird he is. Brent is, to put it mildly, a strange person. He sniffs chairs before sitting down, doesn't have a cell phone, eats baby food, and loves 8 bit music. He's "unique." So we had a fun conversation about it and then I tried walking in his shoes for a moment.

Sam Tripoli and I got the hookup to the Brickyard 400 in Fontana. It's a NASCAR event. Neither one of us are fans of the sport, but since we have a sports podcast (Punch Drunk Sports) we figured we should give it a chance. And it was craploads of fun. Join us on our trip to an actual NASCAR event.

David Taylor came over to Benji's place in LA and we talked about him being unpopular. He's an unpopular person. Has been for years. And I've wanted to talk to him about it for years. And now I got the chance. So join us for a conversation about unpopularity and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.

Joey Diaz and I sat in his North Hollywood yard and talked about being two years into being a parent. It got way deeper than I expected. Diaz manages to bridge the worlds he was in between this 2 year old child of his, and his estranged daughter from his former life. And we got into his own 2nd year of life, his comedy life. And how he got started. Jesus. This one had a lot of stuff to it.

Rick Ingraham met me at Benjy's apartment in LA to talk about quitting pot. Rick was a longtime smoker. He was always with us at the Comedy Store when we found places to get high. A real, multiple time every day smoker. And then he stopped. So we talked about that. Cort McCown joins me for the intro.

Steve Simeone had me over to his apartment to talk about family. I was there to get a ride to the airport to leave LA back to New York. It's a great discussion on blood with the guy who's probably closer to his family than any other comic I know. Check out Simeone's podcast, Good Times.

Nick Mullen met me at my in New York to talk about his illegal living situation. Nick is a funny young comic who literally lives in tenement housing. We talked all about it and got into some existential stuff about comedy. And we took a fun walk around the Bowery to see his garbage neighborhood full of chuds.

Fahim Anwar met me at Benji's place while I was in LA and we talked about his career as an aerospace engineer. It's a long way from that to Guy Code. Man. Join us as we sat outside and brough Arab and Jew together. (Fahim insists he's not an Arab)

Sam Morril and I went to go see Whiplash before it was out of theaters. And we barely made it. There were, like, 6 people in the theater. As soon as it was done, we went back to my aparment and recorded this Spoiler Alert episode. Don't listen if you're planning on seeing Whiplash this week. Do listen if you've already seen it or have no current plans to see it.

Pete Cornacchione and I sat down outside the airport in Chiang Mai, Thailand to talk about all the things we saw out there. We did so much that we couldn't even fit it into one episode. So we just talked about mainland Thailand. Phuket, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai. Man, did we do a crapload of stuff. Join us on our podcast version of vacation pictures from a place where (probably) no podcast has recorded from before.

Big Jay Oakerson had me over to his apartment to talk about the worst interviews we've been a part of. We both sat through the same horrendous interviewer at SXSW and that's what gave us the idea. Some people are really good at bringing stuff out of you. Other people, not so much.

Turner Sparks met me at my new New York apartment during his visit from Shanghai. We talked about the unique challenge he's faced opening up a Mister Softee franchise in China. It's kind of crazy how much different business is there than here.

Derek Gaines met me at my apartment to talk about his former life as a janitor. It's one of the dirtiest jobs most people will ever come in contact with. The thing I learned from this above all else was this: Use bleach.

Davey Wester trekked his way across Manhattan to my apartment to talk to me about his cerebral palsy. Davey is a Comedy Store comic from way back. We've had a couple CP comics there over the years and this is actually the first time I really talked to any of them about the condition. Surprisingly fun discussion based on the topic. And some good Gallagher stuff. Ian Edwards and Zara Mizrahi join me from Bonnaroo for the introduction.

Paul Morrissey and I went to a Yankee game to talk about baseball. We got seats right behind the visitor's bullpen and we did a podcast from right there. We started on the walk to the subway, continued on the train a little, got lost some, got inside, met some Jews, had a dog, met some more people, and watched some more baseball. It was a great day.

Rachel Simmons and I had a high school reunion for two last week. And while we were doing that, we recorded a podcast about artificial insemination. A few years ago, Rachel got knocked up the modern way, by paying for sperm to be stuffed inside her by a medical professional. I had some questions. This was a fun talk with two people who have known each other for almost 25 years.

Mark Normand, Jay Oakerson, Dan Soder, and Michelle Wolf came to my apartment to talk about our amazing trip to Bonnaroo. Man, we had such a good time. I was riding high on it for weeks afterwards, and I'm so glad I got the whole group back together to talk about it. It was a wild four days of drugs, music, drugs, hot 19 year olds in jean shorts and bikini tops, drugs, good vibes, booze, and drugs. I want to go every year.

Joe List met me in Central Park on a beautiful summer day to have a wonderful talk about herpes. Joe's got it. He's open about it. And he answered everything you wanted to know abou tit. If you already have it, you'll relate. If you are going to get it soon, this will help you when you get unlucky. If you never get it. Congrats. Let's bone.

Joe Vecsey met me at the basketball courts in Stuytown for a talk about the And 1 Mixtape years of streetball. Joe grew up playing with all of them as a kid in New York. We talk all about Rucker Park, and the great rivalries in the big tournaments, what life was like on those courts, the smoothest players, everything. Meet us at the playground.

Wayne Rada met me in NoLita, Manhattan to take me on a tour of the murals down there. It's a history of graffiti and a run-down of the giant, builiding sized paintings that are all over lower Manhattan.

Nick Dipaolo met me at my apartment to talk about how he's not a conservative and how Libertarians feel about conservativism and political correctness. Fun podcast and I finished it only minutes before I leave for Scotland for all of August. So long, America.

Dave Smith came over to my apartment to catch me up on the state of America over the last year or so. We've gone through a lot of change as a country. Gay marriage was legalized, racial tension with the police came to a head, government spending reached new heights and much more. Dave broke down all the important American stories and we analyzed them together. Ahir Shah, Alex Kealy, and Alex Smith are my roommates for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and they weighed in on the intro as outside observers of what's going on in the good old US of A.

Colt Cabana had me over to his flat in Edinburgh, Scotland for a talk about indy wrestling. Colt is a looper. He's made a living as a wrestler for almost two decades. We talked about the travel, the money, the trials and tribulations. Everything about what it's like to be an independant wrestler. He's a super positive guy and he taught me a thing or two about appreciating what you've got.

Kyle Kinane had me over to his flat in Edinburgh, Scotland to do an album commentary on his first album, Death of the Party. This is the 6th of these comedy album breakdowns I do with the comedians. Kyle is legit one of the best comics in America and this was a real treat to get to do with him. We talked all about his first release. Where the bits came from, style, technique, all of it. By the way, Shroomfest starts Saturday and goes till the end of Monday!

Craig Campbell came over to my flat in Edinburgh to talk all about mushrooms. Craig is f*cking nuts. He's done more sh-t in his life than 5 of us will. And he loves mushrooms. Because they're part of a healthy breakfast. So what better way to celebrate this year's shroomfest than to talk to a wild man about the magic fungus. It was a really fun episode. I hope you all have a wonderful shroomfest. I'll see you on the other side of the galaxy.

9/11 was a terrible day in American history. This is one story of the many stories of that day. Cris Italia was a volunteer EMT and was around the corner when the first plane hit. By the time the second plane hit, he was already at ground zero, helping. It's a heartbreaking story of what happened to one man the day America stopped being invincible.

Gary Vider came over to my apartment to do a podcast about dog walking. He's a comedian who's been pretty much making a living walking dogs for the last 5 years. It was a fun talk and of course we meandered a bunch. Also, I've got a new Eats Village (pending better name) in the outro. And the sound was kind of tinny on the intro and outro, sorry.

Kelli Dunham met me in a park in Brooklyn to talk about her days as a nun. She, for real, lived in a nunnery and did all that garbage. Can you imagine living like that? Join us for a beautiful day in the park.

Mat Edgar and I sat in our condo in Edmonton, Alberta Canada and watched South Park Season 19 episodes 1 and 2 and then did a spoiler alert podcast about what we saw. It's the third SA episode. We just talked all about the episodes. They were amazing episodes of perhaps the best sitcom of all time. If you want to attend the taping of This Is Not Happening this year, go to www.TheBlacklistNYC.com/TINH and put Ari Shaffir in the "referred by" line. The shows are next week in Hollywood.

Nick Cody met me in my flat in Edinburgh to explain to me what the hell a bogan is. I knew I didn't like them, but I couldn't properly express why. So Nick broke it down to me. If you don't know, a bogan is an Australian undesirable. Very specifically undesirable. And, yeah, I said flat instead of apartment. I'm UK to the mug now.

Chris Gethard, Nikki Glaser, and Allison Dore were my guests on a live podcast at the JFL42 comedy festival in Toronto, Canada last month. I never feel comfortable doing these live podcasts because the audience forces the discussion into a more laughs oriented direction. So I decided to test this theory by doing a podcast about suicide at a live show in front of a comedy festival crowd. The results were mixed. But I found it way more interesting than doing a surface podcast just so I could say I did it. So, here's an interesting discussion on suicidal thoughts in an audience that thought they were here for laughs.

Carl Donnelly invited me over to his flat in Edinburgh to talk about DMT. Carl has done it more than just about anybody I know. He's had a wide range of different experiences with the drug and we talked about all of it. Make sure to check out Carl's podcast, The Carl Donnelly and Chris Martin Comedy Podcast on iTunes and All Things Comedy. And stay tuned for the outro for another episode of Dope Meals (that's the new name for Eats Village)

Happy Halloween! To celebrate the holiday, I talked to a bunch of people about the different ways they fear dying. Everybody has their little irrational fears about dying in some normal situation. Here are some of those fears. Short and sweet so you can have more time to trick or treat for razor blades.

Sean Hebert met me in a hotel room in Toronto to talk to me about hostels. I met Sean on my travels a few times. I've smoked dirt weed with him in his comically tiny apartment in Hong Kong and I've snorted Ritalin with him in his hostel in Thailand. He's stayed in hostels all over the world and he's been in all different kinds. So it's a lot of talk about life and travels in other countries. And Sean is a traveler for sure.

Patrick Coppolino met me in my hotel room in Calgary to do a catch-up session on how he now feels about fatherhood. You might remember Patrick as a new father in episode 61. Well, it's been a few years, and I thought it'd be cool to see how he feels about things now. We meander A BUNCH in this episode so don't worry if you don't care about fatherhood.

Mark Normand came over to my apartment to have a discussion about keeping one’s mouth shut. Mark gets into trouble all the time for sharing too much and I wanted to talk about what that means, and the repercussions therein, and if it’s even possible for a comedian to share too much. And we meandered a crudload so it’s not entirely about having a big mouth.

Mike Finoia came to my apartment to talk about being a dirty hippie who followed Phish on the road from gig to gig. We also got into his trip to the "final" Grateful Dead concert ever in Chicago last year. I accidentally recorded it on ambient mode so it sounds kind of like a radio station from the '90s. But it's a fun episode full of drugs, music, and smelly vans. Oh, and I take my fertility test in the intro and outro.

Mike Lawrence worked at McDonalds. For, like, a long time. I mean years. I know, right? So this episode is all about that. He came over to my apartment on his way home from his new writing job on Inside Amy Schumer (out in April) and we talked about all things Mickey D's. I know it's the cliched restaurant for a terrible job, but after you hear this episode you'll realize that cliches are around for a reason. It sounds awful.

Mike Black and Steve Simeone met me at the Comedy Store and we talked about the new Star Wars. There's tons of spoilers in here so stay away if you want everything to be fresh. But it's really not that important. The movie was just fun anyway. It ain't like getting a spoiler for 6th Sense or the movie where the guy was a girl. This is the 4th in my series of spoiler alert podcasts. Check out the others if you can find them.