I've Got A Problem

Forrest dives into gambling addiction, pawn shops, casinos, debt, trust, and the strange, humiliating, funny reality of trying to rebuild your life after blowing it up more than once. He gets into pawning family heirlooms, being recognized at the pawn counter, emergency vet CPR fees, old memories with his mom, accountability, losing friends' trust, and the moment you realize other people aren't on your recovery timeline—no matter how badly you want them to be. He also talks about casino traps, how he protects himself while working in Vegas, why cash is the "vodka" of gambling, the emotional hangover of asking friends for money, and the slow, uncomfortable process of earning trust back. It's honest, chaotic, embarrassing, cathartic, and very, very real. 🎧 If you've ever tried to get your life together while your past keeps tapping you on the shoulder, this episode hits hard and still makes you laugh. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on addiction, recovery, mental health, and comedy. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 06:47 The Impact of Addiction on Relationships 11:12 Understanding Recovery and Its Challenges 20:45 Reflections on Personal Growth and Apologies 23:33 The Pawn Shop Experience 30:15 Reflections on Gambling and Addiction 38:29 Strategies for Managing Gambling Temptations 42:59 Accountability in Recovery 44:47 Patience and Understanding in Healing 47:35 Outro

Comedian Jamie Wolf joins Forrest to talk addiction, opiates, anxiety, childhood drug use, mental health, and the emotional spiral that pulled him into pills. They get into growing up anxious, replacing drugs with comedy, chasing adrenaline on stage, and the quiet, lonely moments that kept him using. It's raw, funny, and brutally honest — packed with real stories about Oxy, panic attacks, emotional avoidance, recovery attempts, and how comedy became both an escape and a coping mechanism. 🎧 If you've struggled with anxiety, hidden addictions, or the pressure to hold it all together, this episode hits you right in the center and still makes you laugh. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on addiction, recovery, mental health, and comedy. Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro 08:40 – Introducing Jamie Wolf11:04 – "I'm an opiate addict" — Jamie sets the tone12:30 – Anxiety, low self-esteem, and the root of addiction14:15 – Comedy as a new addiction16:00 – Relationships vs. stand-up: why no one understands18:44 – Anxiety, empathy, and people who "don't get it"22:40 – Is addiction a mental illness?26:00 – Growing up atheist, panic as a kid29:00 – Starting drugs at 1331:00 – The first shrooms trip from hell (and all the piss)36:20 – Oxy prescriptions, surgeries, and the slide into pills50:00 – Using alone, lying to everyone, and the emotional hook 🎙️ Find Jamie Wolf: 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiewolfcomedy/?hl=en ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/jamiewolfcomedy 👉 TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@jamiewolfcomedy

Comedian David Stebbins joins Forrest to talk childhood addiction, early drug use, homelessness, cancer, chaos, and the darkly funny, brutally honest path that shaped his life. They get into huffing gas at eight, discovering alcohol young, drifting between states, surviving cancer at 20, and how comedy became both an escape and a lifeline. It's raw, wild, and packed with real stories about addiction, homelessness, self-destruction, survival, and the strange places life takes you before you're ready to face it. 🎧 If you've ever felt lost, restless, out of control, or like you're piecing your life together one disaster at a time, this episode hits hard and still makes you laugh. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on addiction, recovery, mental health, and comedy. Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro 01:45 – Comment Corner 06:58 – Shadow-Banned? 10:08 – Meet David Stebbins 11:05 – "What Isn't Your Problem?" 12:31 – Optimism vs Reality 16:13 – Using at Age Eight 18:05 – Huffing Gas Story 19:24 – Forrest's First Gambling Memory 21:23 – The FIU Recovery Show Disaster 24:11 – The Drunk Guy in the Gymnasium 28:23 – Homeless at Sixteen 33:26 – Surviving the Streets 39:51 – Cancer at Twenty 41:40 – Starting Stand-Up 48:03 – NBC Deal While Using

Historian and author Jonathan D. Cohen joins Forrest to talk sports gambling, the explosion of betting apps, how we got here legally, and who's actually getting hurt. They dig into the history of sports betting, parlays and "sports lotteries," the role of fantasy sports and social media, and why governments keep pretending gambling money will fix everything from schools to water shortages. Forrest also opens up about his own life as a compulsive gambler—bookies, casinos, offshore accounts, shame, and the illusion that one big score will finally make it all okay. It's raw, funny, and packed with real stories about betting apps, parlays, debt, bankruptcies, suicide risk, and what other countries are already doing to rein gambling in—plus practical ideas for making sports betting safer without pretending it's going away. 🎧 If you're betting on your phone "just for fun," chasing parlays to fix money problems, or worried about someone you love, this episode hits hard and still makes you laugh. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on addiction, recovery, mental health, and comedy. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 4:20 I've Got Another Problem: littering, oceans & Yellowstone diaper revenge 8:23 Introducing historian Jonathan D. Cohen & his very normal "problem" 11:10 Board games, loss-chasing & what made Jonathan obsessed with gambling policy 13:00 How sports betting grew up with sports: horse racing, Fenway riots & early scandals 17:40 Parlays, sports "lotteries" and why tiny bets with huge payouts are so dangerous 22:05 DraftKings, FanDuel & how daily fantasy quietly trained us to gamble 26:32 Why U.S. regulation is so lax compared to Australia and the U.K. 31:10 Tennis at 3 a.m., Malaysian badminton & betting on games you don't even watch 37:05 College campuses, payday deposits & who's really getting wrecked by legal betting 44:05 Lotteries, "free money" myths & how states quietly cut education anyway 51:00 The NFL's 180 on gambling and why viewership suddenly jumped 57:20 Gambling addiction, shame, masculinity & why big wins can be the worst thing 1:06:40 Making sports betting safer: friction, self-exclusion & real guardrails 1:15:03 Outro Jonathan D. Cohen is a historian and the author of "Losing BIg: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling." People can find more info about his book or contact him through his website: https://www.jonathandcohen.com/

Comedian Gavin Coscarella joins Forrest to talk booze, nicotine pouches, porn, cocaine, gambling, overeating, and the chaos of trying to fix every bad habit at once. They get into champagne-for-breakfast years, pandemic fallout, poker rooms, slipping into old identities, and the moment Gavin realized wanting "just one drink" was never really the problem. It's raw, honest, and genuinely funny as they talk early recovery panic, ditching vices, cravings that hit like lightning, letting go of shame, and rebuilding a life without blowing it up again. It's messy, relatable, and exactly what trying to change actually looks like. 🎧 If you've ever tried to clean up your life while your habits fight back, this episode hits hard and still makes you laugh. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on addiction, recovery, mental health, and comedy. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 6:49 Arnie's vet scare & the $250 CPR checkbox 9:00 Story of putting down his cat 10:54 How addiction damages relationships 12:59 Borrowing money, guilt & recovery timelines 14:15 The "recovery train" analogy 16:15 The friend who said "I'm not loaning you money" 18:00 Why people don't move at your recovery pace 21:09 Pawn shop life & pawning sentimental things 25:00 How pawn loans work & negotiating 31:20 How pawn shops trigger old addiction feelings 32:00 Casinos, relapse prevention & gambling boundaries 40:15 Accountability, discipline & rebuilding trust 🎙️ Find Gavin Coscarella: 📸 Instagram: ttps://www.instagram.com/gavinthehouse/?hl=en

Comedian Dustin Chafin joins Forrest to talk alcoholism, painkillers, cocaine, anger, chaos, prison time, Texas madness, and the long, messy road to actually growing up. They get into bar fights, blackout drinking, sneaking pills, self-loathing, the "cowboy justice" he was raised on, and how untreated pain turned into years of running, hiding, and blowing up every good thing he touched. They also dig into therapy, fear, ego, comedy survival, relationships, impulsive decisions, hitting bottom more than once, and what changes when you finally stop trying to be the toughest guy in the room and start trying to be an honest one. It's raw, funny, vulnerable, and packed with unbelievable stories only Dustin could tell — the kind you laugh at and wince at at the same time. 🎧 If you've ever sworn you'd "never do that again" and then did it again anyway, this episode is going to hit home. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on addiction, recovery, mental health, and comedy. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introducing Dustin Chafin 01:20 – Dustin on Texas, chaos, and growing up wild 04:12 – First drinks, anger, and trying to feel tough 07:45 – Cocaine, painkillers & hiding how bad it really was 10:58 – Bar fights, blackout behavior & the "cowboy justice" mindset 14:33 – Pill addiction, self-loathing & blowing up opportunities 18:05 – Running, hiding & repeating the same destructive patterns 21:40 – Prison stories & the reality check that followed 25:10 – Comedy, ego & the years spent pretending everything was fine 29:26 – Therapy, fear & finally learning to stop lying to yourself 33:02 – Relationships, guilt & trying to become an honest adult 36:27 – The emotional bottom nobody saw coming 40:18 – Letting go of the "tough guy" identity 43:50 – What healing actually looks like (messier than expected) 47:33 – Sobriety, purpose & building a life that finally works 50:12 – Outro 🎙️ Find Dustin Chafin: 🔗 Website: https://www.dustinchafin.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dustin_chafin/?hl=en

Comedy writer Brandon Vaughn joins Forrest to talk alcoholism, blackout drinking, cocaine, overdosing in the rain, recovery, mental health, and how he went from nearly dying to becoming head writer for MTV's Ridiculousness. They get into Kentucky drinking culture, using drugs as "medicine," moving to LA to drink less (and drinking more), and what finally made him admit he had a problem. It's raw, funny, and packed with real stories about liquor, cocaine, overdosing, trying to moderate, gambling addiction, family, money fear, and rebuilding your life into something you're not ashamed of. 🎧 If you're sober, trying to cut back, or quietly wondering if your drinking is "normal," this episode is honest, darkly funny, and surprisingly hopeful. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on addiction, recovery, mental health, and comedy. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:47 Donations, shout-outs & how to support the podcast 1:50 "I've Got Another Problem" theme song 1:58 Forrest's full meltdown about parking, hospitals & hotel garages 5:20 Why hotel valet + parking fees make him lose his mind 6:54 Introducing Brandon Vaughn & his Ridiculousness day job 7:33 Brandon's problem: alcoholic with 10+ years sober 8:07 Forrest on being a gambling addict and the "silent addiction" 17:02 Brandon's cocaine overdose story and walking himself to the hospital in the rain 24:48 Moving from Kentucky to LA thinking he'd drink less (spoiler: he didn't) 25:33 How addiction makes you shrink your goals instead of changing your behavior 32:07 Forrest explains why being a "compulsive gambler" doesn't mean you're bad at gambling 41:18 Inside bookies, laying off bets, Hawaii games, and degenerates chasing losses 54:06 How recovery works for gambling, GA meetings, and why money is just more "fuel" 59:03 The surprising upsides: self-awareness, growth, and actually changing as a person 1:01:38 Forrest debuts "Eight Lucky Questions" 🎙️ Find Brand Vaughn: 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandonmichaelvaughn/

Comedian Andrew Barr joins Forrest to talk alcoholism, interventions, sugar addiction, and the quiet danger of isolating yourself into complete chaos. They get into early drinking, trying (and failing) to moderate, shedding bags of 'fun' everywhere, the intervention that snapped him awake, and why you can't outthink an addiction that already knows all your tricks. It's raw, funny, and full of painfully honest stories about shame, tricky apologies, rebuilding trust, getting re-invited to a wedding he was once banned from, and what the first 30 months of sobriety actually feel like when you've lived your whole adult life in bars and green rooms. 🎧 If you've ever tried to "manage" your addiction or convince yourself you're fine while clearly not being fine, this episode hits close to home — and still makes you laugh. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on addiction, recovery, mental health, and comedy. Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro 01:50 – Donations, touring & Australia plans 03:02 – Life perspective after a friend's loss 04:41 – "Don't wait to get better" 05:30 – Forrest introduces Andrew Barr 06:07 – Sugar addiction after quitting booze & cocaine 07:26 – Comedy clubs, alcohol everywhere & early signs 09:50 – After-show chaos, casinos & fan encounters 12:51 – When moderation becomes the trap 17:07 – "Just one beer" lies & addict logic 22:12 – Sports betting, harassment & predatory ads 29:59 – Shame, guilt & admitting you have a problem 32:25 – Making amends & when people aren't ready 39:26 – The intervention & what actually changed 41:03 – The "shedding" incident & the cat scare 47:02 – Small wins: marathon sober 47:56 – Getting re-invited to the wedding 49:54 – Rebuilding trust slowly 52:16 – Andrew's advice: community beats isolation 55:00 – Outro 🎙️ Find Andrew Barr: 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewbarrcomedy/