Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank

John Dennehy came over to talk to me about Ecuador. Specifically about the 2005 People's Revolution that toppled their government. John was there for all of it. He even helped set up road blocks during the protests. Really interesting stuff that seems kind of extra relevant this week, huh? He also told me hella stuff about Ecuador. From the food, to the roads, to the customs, to the crazy obsession with 2 dollar bills. It was a crash course in a country that I desperately needed a crash course on. It's useful and interesting stuff about an amazing paisa. John wrote a book that I just finished reading called "Illegal." It's about being deported, about illegally crossing back over that border again and again, about love, about my balls, about standing up for what you believe in, and it's about following your heart. There's a ton of ideology hidden inside the plot that had me thinking about stuff all week after reading what he wrote.

It's time for my annual Year In Review podcast. This ain't about what happened in the world. This is about what happened in the world of the greatest living athlete, Ari Shaffir. It was a wild one. Full of ups and downs syndromes. 2019 had more twists than a, than a, I don't know. Than a really twisty thing. It was such a long one I decided to cut it up into 7 parts. This is part one, New Orleans, Hawaii, and Preparing For My Next Standup Special." I'll release a new one every day this week, so make sure to subscribe and check back here every day for a new episode. Thank you to my sponsor, 3Chi.com. Use promo code "Skeptic" at checkout for 5% off your order of Delta 8 and THC products. The Music Ben Folds - 2019 Travelling Wilburies - Tweeter and the Monkey Please subscribe to my Patreon at Patreon.com/AriShaffir for bonus content and just to insure that I never back down.

Troll of the Year. On part 2 of My 2020 Year in Review podcast I talk about how I brought a city to its knees. With a few expertly timed and crafted words I made Los Angeles crumble. It was hilarious. Even the comedy world wasn’t immune from my power. While most standups laughed and were tremendously supportive, a few comedians fell to my power. Some who had previously held that jokes were always just jokes, for the first time in their lives took the side of the censors. They had never been so expertly triggered before and they lost their minds. And we all laughed at them. It was one my greatest trolls, if not my greatest. It made hypocrites out of the mighty and showed the world how much they overvalued the lives of celebrities. Their anger was my applause. Their threats of violence were my standing ovation. I am God. The Music Distillers - City of Angels Please subscribe to my Patreon.com/AriShaffir so that I can keep making jokes I find funny without having to worry too much about

Covid changed a lot for a lot of people. Bezos is killing it more than ever. And whoever owns Purell. But for the rest of us things went off the rails. With the March lockdown looming, standup comedian and yoga guru Ari Shaffir decided to take his dog and go live with his parents out in the suburbs. In part 3 of my 2020 Year in Review podcast, I talk about living with my parents. My NYC apartment didn't seem like the best place to be forced to stay inside all day. So I left the city I love to have a unique and lovely time with my mom and dad. To get to hang out with your mother and father for that amount of time, as an adult, is an experience I'll never get to have again and I'm eternally thankful to that bat dude in China for making it happen. My dog loved it, too. All she did all day was figure out ways to escape the yard and run into the woods to chase deer. While my friends were busy signing hundred million dollar deals, I was busy nailing mesh fencing to trees. Wouldn't trade

In part 4 of My 2020 Year in Review podcast, I talk about returning to New York City. I am standup comedian Ari Shaffir. And I'm only a standup comedian while I'm doing standup comedy. Otherwise, I'm just the internet's greatest yogi. Things in New York were starting to open up again. So I made my return. And what a great decision that was. New York was ALIVE. People were drinking in the streets. All our comedian friends were hanging out. They say crime was up, and if crime includes drug use, then yeah, my crime was WAAAAY up. Molly flowed. Booze flowed. Weed flowed. The cokeheads and the potheads came to terms with each other and met in the middle at the bar. Everybody was happy. And standup was the coolest it's been in decades. Comics were responding to things. Not just doing well written jokes about nothing. Now we had BLM, Covid, the elections, Ellen, and so much more to talk about. It felt important. I loved it! We all gotta figure out a way to hold onto the good parts of this sum

I almost forgot about the election that saved comedy. Not the presidential election. No, that doesn't really matter. We're still gonna be at war with 7 countries and watch the rich get richer and the poor get poorer regardless of who won that. I'm talking about the Legion of Skanks election. I decided to run for the president of someone else's podcast. I'm Ari Shaffir, and I stand for Mayhem. Every week, I would offer a different sacrifice at the alter of comedy. And in return, the gods of laughs rewarded me with the highest office in the land. During this recap, I didn't even remember some of the best stuff that happened. There was way more about this than I remembered while avoiding sheep poop. I forgot making Derosa wait downstairs in the sweaty basement just to get betrayed like a chump when he came upstairs. I forgot getting the best celebrity endorsements and then getting Big Jay's family and Luis's son to endorse me. Dave Smith's jerk of a daughter refused to betray him.

With the winter approaching, and the threat of lockdowns looming, I decided to leave the country to do some exploring. Ari Shaffir loves to travel. And what a better time than now. It's scary to do, but once I made the decision it became a lot easier. This episode of My 2020 Year In Review podcast breaks down why I decided to hit the road, how I chose where I would go, and what things are like where I went. My first week was scary, just like every time I travel. But then I settled in and figured out all the best places to get food poisoning, how to properly wrap up pooped-on toilet paper for the garbage since you're not allowed to flush it here, and the process of finding weed. This runs all the way through December 31 and the most unique New Year's celebration I've ever taken part in. Please sign up for my patreon! Bonus content all the time. Plus access to exclusive merch. And early access to some of the podcasts.

I try to do these public resolutions every year. That way I'm more likely to stand by them. Everybody should make resolutions. They're not lame. They're goals. It's important to verbalize where you want to go this year and what you want to do. These are the goals of me, Ari Shaffir. Please leave in the comments your own goals. Maybe we can steal some of each other's. Here are mine in no order: Read two books Finish writing my book Make a standup special for someone Go to 2 new countries (maybe 3) 100,000 YouTube subscribers 3,000 Patreon subscribers Reach out to comics going through public trouble Remember the great parts of 2020 Please sign up for My Patreon. Not many more till I start my follow up on there to each Skeptic Tank and answer any questions the patrons have about the episode. I get how frustrating I can be with my half finished stories and questions I forgot to ask. This'll be your chance to hold me accountable.

Brendan Sagalow is a master at getting turned down by women. “I just don’t see you like that,” they tell him. It’s called being put in the friend zone. And it happens to Brendan A LOT. Join us as we discuss this horrible phenomenon. Ari Shaffir and Brendan Sagalow have been turned down by over 200 women. 1 by Ari and then Brendan picked up the slack. Don’t forget to buy or download Sagalow's new album, “Not Now More Than Ever.” Brendan Sagalow is one of the best up and coming comics in New York. When he’s not eating 6 meals a day, he’s busy doing spot after spot to work on his craft. And his hard work has paid off. Grab his album today! https://tlbrecords.lnk.to/BrendanTW And listen to his podcast, Garbage Days: https://brendansagalow.squarespace.com/garbage-days-podcast Patreon: Please help support me by joining my Patreon. For $5 a month, it pays part of the salaries of the people who made this video. The other part comes from selling blood on weekends.

Bonnie Willow is a super interesting woman I met in a hostel in the Andes. She is a Reiki Master and Inter-Faith Minister. Bonnie also runs a school, The School of Peace. I don’t even know how to describe it. It's about spirituality. And about energy healing, cleaning your insides. We sat in the setting sun and talked about meditation, consciousness, and a lot of other really heady stuff that I, standup comedian @Ari Shaffir, have tons of trouble wrapping my head around. I know a lot of this is going to sound like hocus pocus to much of my audience. But for those of you who get a spark out of what we were talking about, I encourage you to reach out to Bonnie to ask her whatever you want or just to tell her you enjoyed the conversation. It was a fascinating talk and I’m lucky that my travels put me in contact with such unique people.

Donate to Adrienne on Paypal Donate to Adrienne on Venmo We’re trying something different this week. I, Ari Shaffir, am bringing you an entire album of one of my favorite comedians in the world. For free. Adrienne Iapalucci has been opening for me for the last couple years. Anyone who saw my Jew hour and thought, “Fuck, that lady was dark” knows what I’m talking about. You know why I refer to her as “The Dark Queen.” And that’s what she is. Standup comedian Adrienne Iapalucci is a cold-blooded dark joke writer. Following her every night forced me to improve my punchlines. I’m not exaggerating. She’s that good. If you saw her open for me, you know I’m right. This pandemic has hit her really hard, though. She was about to start headlining so much that she wasn’t going to be available to me and my crowds any more. And then this virus changed everything. It took away our ability to perform. There’s no more income.

Standup comedian Keith Robinson joins standup comedian Ari Shaffir this week to tell me about his stroke. I had a lot of questions. And Keith was forthcoming and hilarious. My favorite kind of guest. Keith is one of the most giving comedians on the planet. You can trace tons of great comics who point to him as one of the biggest influences on their careers and their lives. He looks out for young comedians, especially the ones from Philadelphia. It really makes me want to work harder to help younger comics. And I already do plenty. But Keith Robinson makes me want to do even more. ✦ Follow Keith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/1keithrobinson ✦ For all of Ari's projects and accounts: https://linktr.ee/RIPAriShaffir Music: Toni Braxton - Unbreak My Heart The Strokes - Is This It? Billie Joel - Movin’ Out Marvin Gaye - Don’t Do it Thanks to our Artists: Patrick Holbert - @theholbertreport - Editing Marisa Pellegrino - @marisa_pellegrino - Editing Becky Rodriguez - @humanplac3s - Production

Standup Comedian Matteo Lane comes on Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic Tank this week to tell me all about gay culture. It’s FASCINATING. And it’s changed so much since I first discovered gays back in college. Matteo Lane is one of the most interesting and rational people to talk to at the back table of the Comedy Cellar and I’m glad to finally get him on the podcast. We talked about Prep, blasting loads into butts, Grinder, cheating, and anything else I could think of to ask him about what it’s like being gay these days. Such a fun one. ◆ Check out Matteo's podcast "Inside The Closet with Matteo Lane & Emma Willmann"!

My guest today Nate Bargatze and I are talking about Hollywood, and its pontifical actors who can’t seem to stop gabbing. They give us their opinions constantly, all day long, and most of the time without doing any research or taking the time to educate themselves beforehand. Or it's the self-important cause that they’re shoving in your face. But a lot of people are struggling, and Hollywood just keeps talking down to you. It’s infuriating, and we can’t stand it or them. Us comics, on the other hand, like to stay in our lane. We try to tell jokes, make you laugh. Not telling you how to live or what the deal is with this or that. And Nate does just that. His output & the level that he’s hitting on stage is amazing. He crushes it every time. An interesting thing about his stand-up, which has nothing to do with his success — is that he’s incredibly clean. But you wouldn’t necessarily notice it unless it’s pointed out. You can’t go wrong with his stuff. You will go wrong with my stuff.

A celebration of marijuana in honor of the 420th episode of Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank Podcast. I got my friends and comedians Duncan Trussell, Dan Soder, Tony Hinchcliffe, Steve Rannazzisi, Sal Vulcano, Adrienne Iapalucci, and Mark Normand to all tell me their favorite weed stories. We got into how we started smoking, the munchies, gettting TOO high, and so much more. I forgot about almost all of this as soon as I finished recording it because of weed. So watch or listen to this today and then again on April 20th once you’ve forgotten everything. Light one up and join us!

Ian Fidance and I took a drive down to New Jersey and talked and laughed about his weird level of sexuality. He’s got some unique views on sex and love and whether or not he’s gay. I assumed he was at least bi but he doesn’t agree. It’s a fun driving episode that I’m gonna do more of. I think the last one I did like this was with Duncan Trussell talking about Buddhism. Solid way to multitask while putting other drivers and pedestrians in grave danger. ▻ Watch @Bi Guys Podcast on YouTube here: https://bit.ly/2Pvk01l ▻ Listen to Ian’s Infinite Playlist Live Fridays, 1PM on @SiriusXM Channel 99 or on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3dmDKw0 The Music- Living Colour - Bi Glory Hallelujah at Dallas Police Memorial Joan Jett - I Hate Myself For Loving You Book of Love - Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls Go to KushyDreams.com and enter promo code “Ari” for 15% off your order!

Comedian and Political Scientist Andrea Jones-Rooy came over to talk to standup comedian @Ari Shaffir about her time being a circus performer in Shanghai, China. That is correct. It’s one of the more interesting episodes of Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic Tank you’re ever going to hear. Andrea made me miss Shanghai. Even though I’m traveling right now, this podcast made me have wanderlust. She made me homesick for being away from home. And what a story! Andrea Jones-Rooy got into circus performing in one of the wildest cities in the world, Shanghai. I did the intro in a river tributary in South America. It’s a podcast that’s gonna make you want to leave. Wherever you are, you’re going to want to leave. Check out Andrea's podcast @AskaPoliticalScientist https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSk4eWAHQYnG4CgyGjXnxHw Follow Andrea on Twitter and Instagram @JonesRooy http://www.jonesrooy.com/ Join Ari’s Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/skeptictank The Music: Brittney Spears - Circus Shigeru Umebayashi

Lead singer of Pinc Louds, Claudi, sat down with standup comedian @Ari Shaffir in Tompkins Square Park NYC to talk about busking and street performing in general. The summer could have gone in two directions. We could have shut ourselves in, and given into the gloom and doom of the news, or we could've gotten out there and taken back our city. And Pinc Louds were among the many outsider artists who took charge and said "We're not going down without a fight." That fight involved socially distanced mosh pits and meetups in the park to watch some actual live music. We could've lost this summer, but at least in the East Village of New York City, Pinc Louds saved it. Pinc Louds saved our summer. Podcaster Ari Shaffir interviews Claudi of Pinc Louds about one of the most interesting summers in New York City's history.

Mark Normand and I take a drivecast down to Pennsylvania for a show at SoulJoel’s Comedy Amphitheater. And we shot the shit the whole drive. I’ve always heard podcasts described as two friends talking in the front seat while you’re listening from the backseat. Well, here we are. An actual conversation from two of your best comedy buddies from the front seat.

Comedians Kevin Ryan and H. Foley from the @AreYouGarbage? Comedy Podcast joins standup comedian and your host Ari Shaffir in Kevin’s mom’s basement to talk about what makes someone human trash. The intro was recorded in front of a White Castle because obviously. No podcast has better locations than Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic Tank. Kippy and Herbert are experts on garbage people. H. Foley has been at the forefront of the Flaming Hot Cheetos revolution for years and Kevin Ryan is well known in the comedy community for clipping his toenails on the subway. Please start telling friends about this show. Make sure to hit subscribe so you’re notified of new episodes and videos but also really really tell everybody on your social media about Skeptic Tank and the @Ari Shaffir YouTube channel so people discover this thing & we can all help annoy the squares who hate weird, dirty, offensive, drug-related, and/or outsider material that bothers non-fans so much.

Standup comedian Robert Kelly and standup comedian Ari Shaffir share their plan for world domination in a public Patreon episode. This is the kind of thing I do all the time on Patreon behind the paywall but I didn’t have a podcast for this week. So my lack of responsibility is your win!

Comedian Graham Kay has been fired more than anyone on Earth. Stand-up comedian Ari Shaffir, fresh off not appearing on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast for two years and before that losing his own show 'This Is Not Happening,' now sits down with Graham to discuss the many times he’s been fired. The intro covers some of Ari’s own firings even though he left off getting fired from his own stupid show that he’s just realizing now would’ve been a solid thing to talk about instead of the same Domino’s story he’s told like 80 times already. Although, to be fair, he wasn't exactly fired from that show as much as blackmailed and forced to step aside. Plus stay tuned for the outro where Ari also profits off another comedian’s hard work. "Chinese Democracy" by Bill Burr (Official Blog of Comedian, Bill Burr: Tuesday, March 4, 2008):

Comedian Kim Congdon is fucking nuts. Standup comedian and your host Ari Shaffir sits down with this crazy Chonga to discuss the origins of the stereotype of the fiery Latin woman and how wild and fun it can be to observe her in action. She has always frightened me with her crazy Puerto Rican-style rage. The intro is live from the Mexico City Central Parque de Perros. Viva Puerto Ricas! Make sure to listen to Kim’s podcast, @Broad Topix because if her numbers don’t increase by 17% or more she’s going to slash my front left tire. And subscribe to Ari’s Patreon so he can afford witness relocation after Congdon decides she’s gotta deal with this puta judeo.

Standup comedian and host of The Bonfire and Legion of Skanks (in that order) Big Jay Oakerson talks about his struggle with anxiety disorder with comedian and host of nothing Ari Shaffir. Jay really went through it, man. He was fine and then one afternoon, he wasn’t. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think straight, and the walls started crashing in. Ari has always been intrigued by mental disorders and this is the first time he has been able to really take a deep dive into anxiety. It was a very revealing and interesting discussion. Check out Big Jay Oakerson every week on the Legion of Skanks podcast. Ari Shaffir is the President of that podcast. Shane Gillis is the Vice President. Big Jay holds no office. Check out Ari’s Patreon. This week he & Chris O’Connor riff on the topics and questions you submitted in a really fun mailbag episode.

Host of the Cumtown podcast Stavros Halkias joins standup comedian Ari Shaffir for a relationship and sex advice episode of Skeptic Tank. This is a “Dear Ari” relationship advice episode that’s usually available on Patreon only but in honor of Juneteenth, we’re making this one available to the public. Standup comedian Stavros Halkias and former friend of Bert Kreischer’s wife Ari Shaffir answer Patron submitted questions about wild sex, lame friends, and partners who pork out. This is the most important thing to happen to the country since Joe Biden reverse rammed Donald Trump and the drippings got imported by a viral lab on Wuhan and the rest was history. Please sign up for Ari’s Patreon for more fun content like this and to keep hot loads all over his chest.

Space Cakes, Gummies, Brownies, chocolates, and the legendarily deadly Banana Bread. Comedian Brendan’s Sagalow and standup comedian Mile Cannon talk to standup comedian and creator of This is Not Happening Ari Shaffir about the dark arts of the baking world. It was a fun podcast about edible marijuana. You’ll be laughing the whole time. Ari has been friends with the true dose king Joey Díaz for over 20 years so you know Ari has accidentally gotten bonked on edibles far more than the average person has ever even taken them. The intro is full of a couple of good UFC on edibles stories. And the outro has a good story about acid at a UFC in one of the very few moments where Joe Rogan was jealous of us.

Comedian and homosexual child predator Luis Gomez talks to pot-stirrer and comedian Ari Shaffir about his old days selling comedy tickets to classless tourists in Times Square. The stories were WILD. Stories of sex and violence and an early Kurt Metzger. The podcast starts inside and then moves outdoors to Times Square to try and find some of these hustlers still working the beat. Plus Luis tries to make some sales himself to these idiots and even makes one. If this doesn’t want to make you go to Skankfest November 4-7 (that’s right, they’re announcing more programming for the 4th) I don’t know what will. Maybe you suck and you don’t like great comedy. Or good comedy at least. The point is, Luis is homosexual. The whole comedy scene knows it and they just go on as if it’s nothing and we shouldn’t warn the gays that he’s coming for their butts. SKANKFEST SOUTH - NOVEMBER 5-7, 2021 | HOUSTON, TX: TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

Former fatty and current standup comedian Ari Shaffir talks to world-renowned weight fluctuator and comedian Maddy Smith about her massive weight gains and losses and then gains again and then losses and then pass outs and then weight gains and then anorexia and then back to normal. Nobody gives better weight loss tips than anorexics and Maddy has some great advice if you’re trying to shed a few pounds. I mean, don’t be anorexic, but also definitely do listen to their ideas on weight loss because obviously. Ari is of Semitic heritage so his reaction to the sun in this video is massively more comfortable than the Irish and melting Maddy. Don’t forget to order your 2021 Shroomfest shirts now as well as the Alice in Wonderland shirt and the Aricat shirt.

Star of the League, shoplifter, and standup comedian Steve Rannazzisi talks to tagged stealer of Netflix passwords, and standup comedian Ari Shaffir about breaking the law. These two friends of 20 years riff on Patreon submitted stories of run-ins with the police. There’s a great story about eluding military police. It’s part of a series called “Arresting Content” that Ari usually does as one of his selections on patreon.com/AriShaffir. Once every month or two the Skeptic Tank is having one of these Patreon-style podcasts for free for the general listener. It’s an excuse to have some stupid fun instead of getting caught up all the time with a theme. You gotta let loose sometimes! Make sure to submit your own stories or your friend’s stories of run-ins with the law to patreon.com/AriShaffir.

Standup comedian and retired rooster fighter Rojo Perez sits down with Standup comedian and rooster fight enthusiast Ari Shaffir to talk about cockfighting. Futu Manu in Tetum. Pelea De Gallos in Spanish. Probably some other names in other languages. Rojo entered his pet into one when he was a small boy in Puerto Rico. Too young to be doing stuff like that. Ari went to his when he was 43 in Timor Leste. Rojo Perez is now a small man so he has distance and age to help him look back on his cockfighting experience. And Ari Shaffir is about the same age but far more bald. You guys should see it. They're siiiiiiick. So much fun. And beautiful. And it really brings the community together.