Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank

Adrienne Iapalucci came over to my hotel room in Spokane and we sat and talked about dogs for almost 2 hours. She's been a long time dog freak and so have I. And I just recently got my first dog ever so now I can finally join in the conversation from the point of view of an owner. Adrienne is hilarious and you gotta watch her Netflix set on season 2 of The Degenerates. She's also been opening for me for the last year or two so if you've ever wanted to know who that Dark Queen was that went on before me, now you know. 

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

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 Shaffir: Jew)

Tickets at http://arishaffir.com/tour

The Music:

For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield

Stop The War - Edwin Starr

We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister

I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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