Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank
533 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 months ago - ★★★★★ - 6.4K ratingsA comedy podcast to help better understand humanity and also to make fart jokes.
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Episodes
#54: Casual Sex (Sarah Tiana)
April 09, 2012 07:04 - 2 hours - 65.1 MBSarah Tiana and I were talking at The Comedy Store one evening. During our conversation, I came to realize that in my head, I had mistakenly classified her as a sexual "good girl." I guess I've always known her as girlfriend material. So we met back there a couple nights later to discuss how she came into her own, how she operates, and how she likes having become this sexual butterfly.
#53: Give Peace a Chance (Danny Lobell
April 02, 2012 08:04 - 2 hours - 66.4 MBDanny Lobell met me at The Comedy Store to talk about his time in Israel. We both spent periods of our lives there. We eventually got into a discussion about the Arab-Israeli conflict. Danny's a bit of a peacenik so it took a lot from me to accept some of what he was saying and that made for some interesting conversation. Don't turn it off too early because towards the end we got onto the topic of Danny's weight. It's the beginnings of what I'll eventually do with someone else. And at the en...
#52: Crazy Train (Christina Pazsitzky)
March 26, 2012 08:47 - 2 hours - 76.8 MBChristina Pazsitzky had me over at her house for wine and Skittles the other night and we talked about a shit ton of stuff and then some. We centered on the topic of depression but we meandered so much that this went for almost 3 hours. But it was so interesting the whole time, that's why I kept letting it go. Well, that and the wine.
#51: Road Trip (Mat Edgar, Tony Hinchcliffe, Ari Shaffir)
March 19, 2012 07:00 - 1 hour - 48.1 MBMat Edgar, Tony Hinchcliffe and I went on a comedy road trip from LA to San Diego to play Justin Hollister's new downtown room, The American Comedy Company, and we decided to take you guys along with us. We stopped the tape every time we got out of the car and tried catching you up on our extravehicular activities once we got back. It was a really fun trip and you guys will have fun being in the car with us.
#50: Buddhism (Duncan Trussell)
March 12, 2012 06:48 - 1 hour - 46.8 MBDuncan Trussell and I shared a ride out to Brea, CA to do shows at the Brea Improv. Duncan has always been into Buddhism and I figured what better time to talk about modern Buddhism than on a ride to the Inland Empire. It was a really interesting talk and it completely enlightened me to the humongous differences between that and the Judeo-Christian religions in regards to daily life. Enjoy.
#49: Adult Breakup (Jayson Thibault, Steve Rannazzisi, Ari Shaffir)
March 05, 2012 14:43 - 2 hours - 56.6 MBJayson Thibault, Steve Rannazzisi and I sat in one of the back rooms of the Comedy Store and talked about Jayson's recent breakup. It's not sappy at all, so don't worry about that. We just covered what it feels like and what you have to do to be a mature adult in a breakup and if Steve gets boners on shoots.
#48: Musical Looper (Dean Delray)
February 28, 2012 02:12 - 2 hours - 78.6 MBDean Delray stopped by my apartment to talk about his days as a professional rock musician. He made his living from music for almost two decades and he had a shit ton to share about it. Eventually, we just diverged into talking about music we liked but even that was pretty fun. Listen and enjoy and check out Dean’s podcast on the Toadhop Network called Poolside with Dean Delray.
#47: Hollywood Bowl (Joey Diaz)
February 20, 2012 08:00 - 1 hour - 29.2 MBJoey Diaz invited me over to talk about his time in Hollywood as a working actor. We sat on his porch and soaked in the sun as we discussed how he managed to get his start. Joey has been making a living as an actor for as long as I’ve known him. He’s one of the very few comics who actually does it and he’s been a looper since forever. Check out Joey's IMDB page. It’s shockingly long.
#46: Artsy Fartsy (Ashley Snow Macomber)
February 13, 2012 09:14 - 1 hour - 52.8 MBAshley Macomber invited me into her home to talk about her new art project she’s created with Will Oldham (aka Bonnie 'Prince' Billy). Ashley is an amazing artist and she’s got a really clear way of thinking about the creative process and about life in general. It’s always fun to talk to her.
#45: Holocaust Couple (Willy and Helen Luksenburg)
February 07, 2012 02:55 - 1 hour - 54.4 MBWilly and Helen Luksenburg were kind enough to share their experiences in the Holocaust. It's an amazing tale that we're lucky enough to have on record. Please don't expect much in the way of comedy. This interview was recorded in August of 2011. The sound isn't great because I was recording it with Audacity just using my laptop. Still, I think it's an important thing to hear.
#44: Autistic Brother (with Mike Recine)
January 30, 2012 10:55 - 1 hour - 38.8 MBMike Recine was visiting LA last week and he came over to talk while he was in town. We shared some beers and talked about having a brother with severe autism.
#43: Software Millionare (David Taylor)
January 23, 2012 13:11 - 1 hour - 53 MBDavid Taylor stopped by Skeptic Tank Studios (my apartment) to talk about his days as a working professional in the software industry during the tech boom. He gave it all up to become a struggling comedian and talented non-working writer.
#42: I Love the 80s (Jon Reep, John Heffron, Brutus, Ruby, Genta Reep, Ari Shaffir)
January 18, 2012 15:05 - 50 minutes - 23.1 MBJon Reep and John Heffron continued talking with me after we took a quick pot break. The addition of marijuana into the mix made us completely abandon the Last Comic Standing topic and meander into movies from our childhood and lies we're trying to spread.
#41: Last Comic Standing (Jon Reep, John Heffron, Ari Shaffir)
January 16, 2012 08:00 - 1 hour - 39.2 MBJon Reep, John Heffron, and I got together to do each other's podcasts. They're on my Skeptic Tank and I'm on their Last Podcasting. For the purposes of the Skeptic Tank, we talked about Last Comic Standing. They're two past winners, and I'm just a regular loser so it was interesting to me to hear what that show did for them. I should've gotten more into what their feelings were heading into each round but I didn't because I'm sometimes a bad interviewer. Regardless, enjoy.
#40: Prostitutti Frutti (Miss X)
January 09, 2012 08:00 - 3 hours - 101 MBAn upscale prostitute came to the Skeptic Tank to share with us about her job. It was one of the most interesting conversations I've had in a very long time. She was open and honest and very friendly. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.
#39: The Ding Dong Show (Don Barris)
January 02, 2012 13:19 - 1 hour - 48 MBDon Barris and I discuss the craziest show you will ever see, The Ding Dong Show. If you ever get a chance to see this show live, do yourself a favor and go. It's one of the wildest things in Hollywood.
#38: Handsome & Handsomer (Jeff Dye, Geoff Keith)
December 26, 2011 09:50 - 1 hour - 49.2 MBJeff Dye and Geoff Keith stopped by Skeptic Tank Studios to talk about their experiences as super attractive men. The hard part of this episode was convincing these two guys that they were way more attractive than average men. Most of our discussion was spent talking about the women we've managed to finagle into our beds. They had a much easier time finagling than I did. It's not like I think I'm ugly, definitely not by semitic standards, but these guys are in a different category. Enjoy
#37: The Nuthouse (Steven Brody Stevens)
December 19, 2011 12:35 - 2 hours - 60.5 MBSteven Brody Stevens stopped by Skeptic Tank Studios (my apartment) to share the details of his 17 day stay in the psyche ward at UCLA. It took us, like, 30 minutes to get into the topic, but eventually we did. We diverged a lot into a really cool discussion about perspective on life and how you can fall into a negative and self sabotaging way of thinking about things.
#36: Edumacation (Jeremy Horwitz, David Taylor, Ari Shaffir)
December 12, 2011 08:00 - 1 hour - 36 MBJeremy Horwitz talked to David Taylor and I about his experiences as a college professor at Santa Clara. Obviously, I asked if he's ever had sex with a student. There's actually a lot more to the job than waiting for signals from sorority chicks.
#35: The Jew, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Moshe Kasher)
December 05, 2011 10:48 - 1 hour - 40.8 MBMoshe Kasher opened up his home to me and just like on a typical Shabbos afternoon, we talked until it got dark.
Bonus Material with Paul Morrissey
December 02, 2011 11:45 - 1 hour - 41.4 MBPaul Morrissey finishes off our epic 4 hour conversation with him pretty much interviewing me about my desire to move to New York and then a one sided argument about the problems with continuing membership in the Catholic Church. I didn't really go into this part wanting to find anything out specific, so I'm not going to give it a specific Skeptic Tank number, but it was interesting enough for me to want to air. Enjoy.
#34: Sports Machine (Paul Morrissey)
November 30, 2011 12:11 - 1 hour - 42.3 MBPaul Morrissey and I continue with our conversation, this time centering on his short lived career doing sports for local news stations.
#33 Playin' Bas-ket-baaaall (Paul Morrissey)
November 27, 2011 18:30 - 41 minutes - 19.2 MBPaul Morrissey gets to revisit the glory of his college basketball days. This was an almost 4 hour discussion that I've separated into 2 podcasts and an extra features episode. I'm only going to break up conversations like this if it has 2 or more really different and unattached topics of discussion.
#32: Hollywood Director (Neal Brennan)
November 21, 2011 09:25 - 1 hour - 51.8 MBNeal Brennaninvited me over to his place to talk about his experiences being a film director. He's the only guy I know, know who's gotten to direct an actual Hollywood movie. It's pretty cool. We covered that and our meanderings (that's a word now) took us to standup, Occupy Wall Street, and a bunch of other places. There was a little chunk in the middle that I had to cut out because I ended up mentioning some private information about one of my buddies that I realized I shouldn't have menti...
#31b The Cleanup part 2 (Tony Hinchcliffe, Mat Edgar, Ari Shaffir, Couches)
November 17, 2011 07:06 - 48 minutes - 22.2 MBTony Hinchcliffe, Mat Edgar and I met back up the day after we did part one and we finished off this discussion about the great clean of 2011 and about hoarding in general. Most of the time, we ended up listening to Sanford and Son clips. We're very organized. Thanks for listening.
#31 The Cleanup part 1 (Mat Edgar, Tony Hinchcliffe, Ari Shaffir)
November 14, 2011 12:37 - 1 hour - 42.1 MBMat Edgar and Tony Hinchcliffe were hired to help clean my apartment. While it wasn't an American horror story, it was pretty close. I'm a damn hoarder and I had built up quite the trash castle in my place. We had a great time talking about how hellish it was and what I can do to keep out of clutter trouble from here on out. And obviously, we talked a bunch about wrestling and Sanford and Son, too.
#30 Fatherhood (Al Madrigal
November 07, 2011 14:03 - 1 hour - 32.6 MBAl Madrigal took me into his home office to discuss the joys of fatherhood. Becoming a parent has long been one of my greatest fears, so it was nice to talk to someone who didn't share my concerns at all. As long as I've known Al he's been a father. And he's cool enough and honest enough to talk to me about what that means to him.
#29: Suicide (Jenn Cole)
October 31, 2011 07:00 - 1 hour - 49.5 MBJenn Cole lost her friend about a week before we recorded this. I really wanted to get into the feeling of grief that comes with loss but I'm so intrigued by suicide that I just ended up wanted to know all the details leading up to her friend, Chris, taking his own life. This is a serious subject but I treat it with the same lighthearted inquisitiveness that I treat any other subject. I hate getting caught up feeling the same emotions as the subject. So, while I have a general respect for su...
#28 Persistence (Steve Simeone)
October 24, 2011 14:29 - 2 hours - 62.4 MBSteve Simeone came to the apartment and we got in a nice long conversation about our struggles in Hollywood over the years. I’ve known him for nearly as long as I’ve been in Los Angeles. I didn’t quite realize how long it had been until we started talking. Man, there were some great times had while we were coming up. Steve is one of the funniest guys I know and he’s also one of the nicest. The fact that he’s not a household name is a sign that there is no justice in the world. But at least i...
#27 Censorship (Joe Rogan, Ari Shaffir)
October 17, 2011 11:13 - 56 minutes - 25.7 MBJoe Rogan and I got into a conversation on the plane back from Washington, DC. We covered censorship, comedy in general, Joe's fear of the Los Angeles apocalypse, and probably a little UFC. It's tough to remember. I was too sober.
#26: Goin' Crazy (Steve Agee)
October 10, 2011 19:59 - 1 hour - 48.6 MBSteve Agee talks mental disorders.
#25: Comic Books (Mike Lawrence)
October 03, 2011 08:48 - 1 hour - 30.9 MBWhile I was visiting New York, I interviewed comedian Mike Lawrence about comic books. I was trying to interview him about what comic book nerd life was like, but then it just turned to talk about comic books and the movies. I'm not a great interviewer. Anyway, fun conversation.
#24: Religiot (Kurt Metzger, Ari Shaffir, Dog)
September 28, 2011 20:00 - 45 minutes - 20.8 MBKurt Metzger talks to me about his former religious lifestyle and how he feels about religion now. It's not positive. I recorded this at Kurt's apartment in Manhattan while his puppy was trying to bite our hands. We strayed about as far as I have off topic. But it was still one of the funniest episodes I've done.