Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank

Come with me on a trip down memory lane. To a simpler time. A time when people were different. A time of life, of laughs, and of love. Back. Way back. Back to like 3 weeks ago. Back to 2018. Join me as I relive the year that was. In podcast, travel, drugs, music, and comedy. I go over all that 2018 brought me. Upcoming Road Dates DC - Jan 15 (storyteller show) 6th and I Denver - Jan 24-27 - Comedy Works SLC - Feb 1&2 (storyteller shows) Wiseguys San Diego - Feb 15-17 - La Jolla Comedy Store Los Angeles Feb 19 - Comedy Store Phoenix - March 7 - Standup Live Tempe - March 8&9 - Tempe Improv Miami - March 14 - Miami Improv West Palm - March 15&16 - West Palm Beach Improv Las Vegas - March 21-24 (short sets) - Comedy Cellar Vegas Toronto - April 6 - Danforth Music Hall

Bert Kreischer, Steve Rannazzisi, Ryan O'Neill and I sat in a hot tub in Park City and talked about the past. It was the first night of a week of skiing and storytelling shows and oh what fun it was. Mark Normand joined us a couple days later and after we all got home, he and I did the intro from the Comedy Cellar in NY. It was a fun podcast and probably the least clothed 4 way podcast I've ever done. Just sitting in a jacuzzi in Utah, talking shit.

Greg Stone came over to my apartment to tell me about his time working at an ER. He saw lots of drug addicts and deaths. All pretty interesting stuff. It actually made me consider volunteering at one but then I remembered how lazy I am. Greg's new album, The Amazing Greg Stone, is out now on iTunes and Spotify. Give it a listen today.

Mickey Gall came over to apartment and backyard to talk about what it's like day-to-day to be a professional MMA fighter. It was a real solid look at what it's like to be a typical guy making his living fighting. We got drunk of alcoholic root beers while we did this like real Jersey trash.

Tom Rhodes had me over to his pad to tell me about his unique new album, Around the World. It's a standup look at over 20 cities. So we took the opportunity to get Tom to answer some of my questions about these cities. He's been everywhere. Everywhere! Come along with me and be prepared to get the travel bug. I got it bad for one city from this conversation. Tom Rhodes is gonna take us on a trip around the world!

The epic live table read of my horrible screenplay I wrote in college. I got a group of the funniest comedians around to help me bring this piece of garbage to life. And MAN were they funny. Danish & Oneill provided commentary. Dan Soder played Shooter. Michelle Wolf played the love interest, Jenny. Attell was the bad guy. Tim Dillon was the best friend. And Stavros Halkios and Yannis Pappas played the coach and professor and lots of other roles. Even the audience got involved!

Tim Crockett came back to talk about his EPIC journey rowing solo across the Atlantic ocean. He said he'd do it and he did it. Jesus. 63 days on the water. Rowing. Alone. Just rowing and rowing. For over 2 months. Road Dates Toronto - Danforth Music Hall - April 6 Portland - Alladin Theater - April 26 Seattle - Neptune - April 27 Calgary - May 2 Cleveland - May 9 Omaha - May 17 Columbus - June 14

Tim Ferriss met me in Austin to talk about travel and art and nature and love. He's a hippie. He's what the new version of a hippie is. He makes time to see interesting places around the world. He limits the amount of work work in his life. He's waaaaay into mushrooms. This is what we are now. This is what hippies have become. I'm one, too. It ain't tye-dye hemp shirts and ponytails any more. Road Dates Portland - The Alladin - April 26 Seattle - The Neptune - April 27 Calgary - Yuk Yuks - May 2-4 Cleveland - Hilarities - May 9-11 Omaha - Funny Bone - May 17-18 Columbus - Funny Bone - June 14-15 Brooklyn - Shaffirfest - June 21-23 Indianapolis - Helium - July 31 Milwaukee - Turner Hall - August 4 Atlantic City - The Borgata - September 7 Madison - Comedy on State - September 19-21

Big Jay Oakerson was my surprise opener for my shows in Toronto. This was the most amount of people I had ever played for in a night when I was headlining and Toronto has always been cool to me so I wanted to make it special. So I got a headliner to come open as a surprise treat to the city. We did a podcast about air travel on the way to the airport, in the plane, and at YYZ airport on the way home. Fun episode, funner weekend. And it's kind of like you were there with us. Don't forget to watch Big Jay's set on the Degenerates on Netflix. He's the first comic so just cue it up and press play and you'll see it.

Jessa Reed came over to my old apartment (I think this is the last one from the old place) to tell me about her junkie past. She was a serious meth head. I mean for real. Like, drink your own piss meth. Like, lose your daughter meth. I love hearing about drugs and Jessa did a lot of meth so this one was perfect.

Ron Taylor had a long talk with myself and Steve Simeone about his time living in a van. He used to park it outside the Comedy Store. He'd take chicks there. He'd do horrible bowelly things in there. He'd even cook there. Jesus. What comics will do to survive. This was a really fun one!

Bill Ottman came over to my apartment to try his best to get the idea of crypto currency through my fat skull. For a Jew, it's almost shocking how little I understand about monetary things like this.

Steve Simeone and I sat on the balcony of his new apartment and broke down his new album, Jabba. We talked about the origins of the bits, the messages he had in them, what his theories are on the delivery styles, and much more. You should all go buy a copy of Jabba from iTunes or ApplePlay. It's a really funny album that would make a GREAT Fathers Day present. Buy it today and send it to your dad. This really was made for him. Unless your dad is dead. Then I guess SUCKS TO BE YOU!!!

I am going offline for a while. I want to clear my head of all the noise and clutter that the internet has been throwing at me. It's become a net negative in my life and I want to find myself and my own thoughts again. So I'm taking a digital vacation. A detox, if you will, from all the noise. I'll be back in August but I scheduled two podcasts to go up that month so you're not completely without content. Subscribe and you'll be notified when those go live. See you around.

Chuck Palahniuk had me over to his Portland writing office to tell me about the heyday of the Portland Cacophony Society. It's this crazy group that pulled large scale pranks on the minds of normal people. I mean I am full on in love with these guys! You gotta hear the great stuff they pulled.

A homeless non-binary person let me sit with her and talk about what it's like to live on the street and beg for change. Spange is a homeless term that means spare change. I think it's a verb. Anyway, that's what Tall Boy does. Spange for food money. It was interesting to hear some actual humanity from people we often see as invisible.

Sam Morril and I went to see Tarantino's new movie "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" and then came back to my place, got drunk off scotch and talked about what we saw. There are spoilers in this. They start at 51:00. So only listen to this if you already watched the movie, if you're never going to see it, or if you don't give a crap about spoilers. We definitely also meandered a ton so it's probably about 42% about the movie. Check out @SamMorril on twitter and instagram. And listen to his podcasts, "Keeping Joe" and "Pod Don't Lie." Ari's Road Dates Atlantic City - 9/7 Madison WI - 9/19-21 Brea CA - 9/26-28 Dallas TX - 10/3 Houston TX - 10/4-5 Nashville TN - 10/17-19 San Jose CA - 11/7-9 Detroit MI - 11/14 Chicago, IL - 11/16 Cincinatti OH - 11/17

Xavier Himma met me on the roof of my apartment to tell me about his amazing bike ride from Ottawa to Argentina. I've never even heard of such a thing. Be aware that the first 3 minutes of the interview the sound goes a little down and up but then it evens out for the remainder. Regardless, it was such an interesting conversation and an amazing adventure to hear about. It makes me want to get out into the world again. Check out Xavier's Vlog on YouTube at YouTube.com/HumOfTheEarth where he shows video of all the crazy places he's been on that damn bike. The new Skeptic Tank Patreon is up at: https://www.patreon.com/skeptictank

Let me tell you about the month I took off from screens. All July. No texting, no computer. Only a land line. It was weird for sure, but it was also kind of glorious.

Adbusters Editor in Chief, Kalle Lasn met me in his office at the magazine to talk to me about the revolution. I see it going down only with violence but he is far more hopeful about the ways in which we're going to change the systems in place. He's a brilliant man and it was such a treat to get to sit down with him and hear him say out loud some of the ideas he's been putting forth in Adbusters. Tour Dates: Madison - September 19-21 Winnipeg - September 22 Brea - September 26-28 San Antonio - October 2 Dallas - October 3 Houston - October 4-5 Nashville - October 19-21 San Jose - November 7-9 Detroit - November 14 Chicago - November 16 Cincinatti - November 17 The Music: Gil Scott Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised T. Rex - Children Of The Revolution Black Sabbath - War Pigs H.A.L. - Daisy, Daisy Pete Seeger - We Shall Overcome

Sal Vulcano and I both went to WWE's Smackdown on September 10, 2019. It was Sal's 80th WWE event. It was my first. I had SO many question. So Sal came over to my apartment 6 days later to tell me all the ins and outs of that world so I could make sense of what I had seen. Road Dates (tix at arishaffir.com) Madison (Sep 19-21) Winnipeg (Sep 22) Brea, CA (Sep 26-28) San Antonio (Oct 2) Dallas (October 3) Houston (October 4&5) Chicago (November 16) The Music Weezer - El Scorcho The Novas - The Crusher Motorhead - The Game Beth Orton - Stolen Car

Big Jay Oakerson (43:45) and I went up to the roof to talk about smoking. How he started, how he tries to quit, how cool it is, what it does to you, the smell. Really all of it. As we did it, he smoked a cigarette and I smoked a cigar. Tour Dates Brea - September 26-28 San Antonio - Oct 2 Dallas - October 3 Houston - October 4-5 Nashville - Oct 17-19 San Jose - November 7-9 Detroit - November 14 Cincinatti - November 17 Chicago - November 16 The Music Tex Williams - Smoke Smoke Smoke (the Cigarette) Motley Crue - Smoking In The Boys Room Oasis - Cigarettes & Alcohol Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees - Nicotine Stains UGK (feat Too Short) - Cigarette

Dave Smith joins me for our annual look at how things are going in America. We talk about politics, climate, drugs, economics, and everything else we can think of. Dave is really well read and neither democrat nor republican so he never falls into the trap of having to defend the views of any one party. This is also the first video podcast in Skeptic Tank history. Go to my youtube page or http://arishaffir.com to watch it. Upcoming Tour Dates: (http://www.arithegreat.com for tickets) San Antonio - October 2 Dallas - October 3 Houston - October 4/5 Nashville - October 17/18/19 San Jose - November 7/8/9 Detroit - November 14 Chicago - November 16 Cincinatti - November 17 The Music Chuck Berry - Back In The USA NOFX - We Called It America Night Ranger - You Can Still Rock In America Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom James Brown - Living In America

Brian Redban took me into his new podcast studio to talk about the early days of the podcast scene in Los Angeles. When everything was guerrilla. When it was fresh and new and nobody knew what it was gonna turn into. It was such a crazy time and Redban was right there helping form the scene. From the Joe Rogan podcast, to mine, to Segura's, and lots more, he helped build the scene from the ground up. We talked about what it was like, what podcasts have turned into, and where it's going now. I'm telling you, this episode got me so hyped up to put out the coolest content I can. You're all gonna benefit over the next few years because of this conversation. Tour Dates Nashville - October 17/18/19 - Zanies San Jose - November 7/8/9 - Improv Detroit - November 14 - The Magic Bag Chicago - November 16 - The Vic Cincinnati - November 17 - Funny Bone The Music NOFX - The Marxist Bros. The Godfather Theme Rage Against The Machine - Guerrilla Radio Monty Python - Brian Song

Milo Yiannopoulos came over to my apartment to have one of my favorite talks ever on this podcast. It's a talk about trolling. Milo is one of the best in the world at it. This is gonna take you a week to listen to. The intro goes for 57 minutes alone. You can skip it if you want, but it's 53 minutes of content that you'll be missing about my own start in trolling. Trolls are the most maligned and misunderstood of all the world's artist. And I don't use the term "artist" lightly. Trolling is an art form. I've been looking forward to this episode for months now. And you're going to love it or ABSOLUTELY HATE IT. I hope you're the former. But if you're the latter, then we got you. You've been trolled. pWn3d. Tour Dates Nashville - Oct 17-19 San Jose - Nov 7-9 Chicago - Nov 16 tix at www.arithegreat.com

I am so freaking DONE with this month. It's the worst. It's not even difficult being sober. It's just boring. Really really boring. In years past I could occupy myself with a contest against my friends but there's not even a contest this year. It's just a play along. God, I hate it. I'm bored as hell and I'm over it. I am over Sober October.

Mike Cannon met me at Gas Digital to tell me about his old days as a total meathead who legit took steroids. I'm not even kidding. You can't believe how much of an idiot this guy was. He's normal now, but he was a juice head moron back in the day. We also talked a lot about our mutual love for underground back room poker games. And go see Mike record his first comedy special this Monday, November 4, at the Village Underground in Manhattan. Tickets at http://www.MikeCannonComedy.com Tour Schedule (tix at http://arishaffir.com/tour: San Jose - November 7, 8, 9 Detroit (sold out) - Nov. 14 Chicago - November 16 Cincinnati - November 17

In honor of me announcing the date of my long awaited standup special recording for "Ari Shaffir: Jew," I brought on some friends to talk about Jews. Sam Tripoli, Michael Rappaport (just walking by and joined in), Ryan O'Neill, Steve Rannazzisi, Tony Hinchcliffe, Boon Shaka Laka, and Steve Simeone. With a bonus set from Jeremiah Watkins's show "Standup On The Spot" where I riff off what people in the audience throw out. Ari Shaffir: Jew records February 8 in New York City. https://tickets.nyu.edu/overview/arishaffir?psn=arishaffir

Jimmy Dore met me at All Things Comedy studios to explain to me exactly what a progressive is. I've found more and more that I relate to his views on politics more than most people. The distrust in journalism, the desire to get out of war, the feeling that the government is neither left nor right but rather serving the people or serving themselves. He's a passionate man and you can find lots of his stuff on youtube on The Jimmy Dore Show. By the way, this took me fucking 4 days to edit and export in iMovie. I have GOT to get a producer to do this stuff for me. I just don't think anyone will get the music stuff down the way I'd like it done. But right now this is not worth the time I'm spending on it. Road Dates I will be off the road in December but in January I'm in: Spokane - January 2-4 Hawaii - January 16-19 (tickets on sale next week Atlanta, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Maine (all on sale next week) New York - February 7-8 (the taping of my new standup special, Ari Shaff

Jessica Kirson met me at Gas Digital studios to tell me about what her daughter has been going through with heart surgeries. Her kid was born with major heart problems so she's been through multiple surgeries before she was 4 years old. So she's spent tons of times at Children's Hospital. It's crazy what Children's Hospital does for some of these kids. Jessica has seen it all while she's been there. Both with her own daughter and with other people's kids as well. Make sure to watch her debut special on http://www.comedycentral.com that's out right now! She fucking kills! The Music: I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack Jessica - Rick Springfield Hospital Food - Eels I Will Survive - Cake

2019 was a great year for me. They're all great years, to be honest. But 2019 was no different. Come along as I go over all my favorite podcasts, standup shows, travels, and details of another year where I'm lucky to be doing something I love.