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....
Jul 06, 2015•3 hr 13 min•Ep. 226
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.
Jun 29, 2015•2 hr 25 min•Ep. 225
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.
Jun 23, 2015•2 hr 20 min•Ep. 224
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.
Jun 16, 2015•2 hr 6 min•Ep. 223
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.
Jun 08, 2015•2 hr 54 min•Ep. 222
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.
Jun 02, 2015•2 hr 32 min•Ep. 221
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.
May 26, 2015•2 hr 42 min•Ep. 220
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.
May 18, 2015•3 hr 56 min•Ep. 219
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.
May 11, 2015•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 218
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)
May 03, 2015•2 hr 36 min•Ep. 217
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.
Apr 27, 2015•3 hr 36 min•Ep. 216
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.
Apr 20, 2015•2 hr 59 min•Ep. 215
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.
Apr 13, 2015•2 hr 6 min•Ep. 214
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.
Apr 06, 2015•2 hr 17 min•Ep. 213
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.
Mar 31, 2015•4 hr 32 min•Ep. 212
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.
Mar 23, 2015•2 hr 13 min•Ep. 211
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.
Mar 16, 2015•3 hr 4 min•Ep. 210
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.
Mar 10, 2015•2 hr 51 min•Ep. 209
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.
Mar 03, 2015•2 hr 15 min•Ep. 208
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.
Feb 24, 2015•2 hr 6 min•Ep. 207
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.
Feb 16, 2015•2 hr 11 min•Ep. 206
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.
Feb 09, 2015•4 hr 36 min•Ep. 205
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...
Feb 02, 2015•3 hr 45 min•Ep. 204
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.
Jan 26, 2015•3 hr 20 min•Ep. 203
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.
Jan 19, 2015•2 hr 25 min•Ep. 202
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....
Jan 16, 2015•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 201
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...
Jan 12, 2015•4 hr 2 min•Ep. 200
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 talk...
Jan 06, 2015•2 hr 25 min•Ep. 199
Kathleen McGee and I got SUPER high and went to see Dumb and Dumber To and then we did a podcast and talked all about it when it was over. Recorded in my hotel room in Vancouver, this was supposed to be the first Spoiler Alert podcast from me but now it's just an extra gift for New Years. Enjoy. And don't worry about it spoiling any jokes for you. If you were gonna see the movie, you would've seen it by now. Be honest with yourself for once.
Dec 30, 2014•55 min
Dan Naturman stopped by my apartment to talk about what Christmas is like as a Jew. It was a surprisingly upbeat and pro-Christmas talk from two people who would have been used as the star on a Christmas tree only 30 years ago. Is that a thing? Anyway, happy holidays, everyone.
Dec 22, 2014•2 hr 47 min•Ep. 198
