Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank – Details, episodes & analysis

Ron Bennington joins me on today's episode to talk about interview style and his series Unmasked. Ron is someone whose style of interviewing I've always admired, it seemed fitting to have him on this episode.

 

All upcoming shows & tickets: https://www.arishaffir.com/tour

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arishaffir/

• Oct 21: Bensalem, PA

• Nov 02: Minneapolis, MN

• Nov 01: Omaha, NE

• Nov 03: Madison, WIi

• Nov 04: Chicago, IL

• Nov 05: Iowa City, IA

• Nov 09: Kansas City, MO

• Nov 07: Tulsa, OK

• Nov 09: Kansas City, MO

• Nov 10: Louisville, KY

• Nov 11: Indianapolis, IN

• Nov 12: St. Louis, MO

• Nov 13: Ft. Wayne, IN

• Feb 02: Boston, MA

• Feb 03: Foxwoods, CT

For more Ron Bennington:

https://benningtonshow.com/#Links

 

The Music:

Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

Talk Talk- Talk Talk

The Doors - The End

Simple Minds - Don’t You Forget About Me

 

Continuing the Jew Special Commentary now in Romania! We dive into the last few bits of my special Jew on my Youtube now. If you're listening stick around till the end and you can hear all the songs on my Edinburough playlist while I was running this hour of material there!

 

All upcoming shows & tickets: https://www.arishaffir.com/tour

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arishaffir/

 

The Music:

Go Down Moses- Louis Armstrong 

Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen

Losing My Religion - REM

Kleinkunst - Fiva

One of Us - Joan Osborne

Hava Nagila - Dick Dale

Mordecai - Josh Williams

Common People - William Shatner

Joe and Henry came over to kill some time with me before we all headed to the Whit Reaper concert. A natural way to kill time is by talking about all the weird times you've had in strip clubs across the country. Enjoy.

 

For more Ari:

Appearing Live: New York City – March 24 @ The Beacon! https://bit.ly/ari-beacon

All upcoming shows & tickets: https://www.arishaffir.com/tour

Cool merch & more: https://www.arishaffir.com/

 

For more Joe List:

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/joelistcomedy/

Upcoming shows and more: https://www.comedianjoelist.com/ 

For more Henry Phillips:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/henlips/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/henryphillips 

 

The Music:

2 Chainz- I Love Them Strippers

Motley Crue- Girls Girls Girls

White Reaper- Daisies 

Mason Jennings- Duluth

 

Thanks to our sponsor Sheath Underwear! Become a legend and use code "Ari" to save 20% off at SheathUnderwear.com 

 

My guest today Nate Bargatze and I are talking about Hollywood, and its pontifical actors who can’t seem to stop gabbing. They give us their opinions constantly, all day long, and most of the time without doing any research or taking the time to educate themselves beforehand. Or it's the self-important cause that they’re shoving in your face. But a lot of people are struggling, and Hollywood just keeps talking down to you. It’s infuriating, and we can’t stand it or them.

Us comics, on the other hand, like to stay in our lane. We try to tell jokes, make you laugh. Not telling you how to live or what the deal is with this or that. And Nate does just that. His output & the level that he’s hitting on stage is amazing. He crushes it every time.  An interesting thing about his stand-up, which has nothing to do with his success — is that he’s incredibly clean. But you wouldn’t necessarily notice it unless it’s pointed out. You can’t go wrong with his stuff. You will go wrong with my stuff. You don’t have to pause his specials when your dad walks in. That's 3 specials you can watch with your family, including his new one that is available now! 

His brand new special "The Greatest Average American" is available and streaming on Netflix today. He literally is the greatest average American. You won’t hear any thoughts on social justice, how to live your life, who to vote for, or what church to go to. You will, however, laugh the entire time.  Watch 'The Greatest Average American' on Netflix is a Joke TODAY!

▸ Watch the trailer for Nate's new special! Nate Bargatze: The Greatest Average American | Official Trailer | Netflix: https://youtu.be/VPJcztktXSw

▸ The Nateland Podcast - Check it out here: https://tinyurl.com/ydcjv6ad

▸ Get social with Nate! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natebargatze/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/natebargatze Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natebargatze/

▸ Listen to Skeptic Tank Podcast: https://apple.co/2PYTYmU

▸ Check out Ari Shaffir's Patreon, exclusive merch, & more here: https://linktr.ee/RIPAriShaffir

The Music:

Burn Hollywood Burn - Public Enemy

Ricky Gervais - Golden Globes Speech 2019

Shut up - BEP

Mind Your Own Business - Lots of people

Imagine - A bunch of assholes

Thanks to our Artists:

Marisa Pellegrino - Editing - @marisa_pellegrino

Patrick Holbert - Editing - @theholbertreport

Becky Rodriguez - Production - @humanplac3s

#skeptictankpodcast #arishaffir #natebargatze #comedy #standup #netflixisajoke #thegreatestaverageamerican

Bonnie Willow is a super interesting woman I met in a hostel in the Andes. She is a Reiki Master and Inter-Faith Minister. Bonnie also runs a school, The School of Peace. I don’t even know how to describe it. It's about spirituality. And about energy healing, cleaning your insides. We sat in the setting sun and talked about meditation, consciousness, and a lot of other really heady stuff that I, standup comedian  @Ari Shaffir, have tons of trouble wrapping my head around.

I know a lot of this is going to sound like hocus pocus to much of my audience. But for those of you who get a spark out of what we were talking about, I encourage you to reach out to Bonnie to ask her whatever you want or just to tell her you enjoyed the conversation.

It was a fascinating talk and I’m lucky that my travels put me in contact with such unique people.

Learn more about Bonnie Willow here: http://bonniewillow.com/

Buy Bonnie's book "Love, Light & Business: Business Anatomy For Holistic Healers" here: https://amzn.to/37YqMCJ

Join Ari's Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/skeptictank

To stay up to date with Ari, exclusive merch, and more: https://linktr.ee/RIPAriShaffir

The Music:

Govinda Jaya Jaya - Kula Shaker

KRS One - Ocean Within

Duke Ellington - Lost In Meditation

Porter Wagoner - Moments of Meditation

Lost In My Mind - The Head and the Heart

Thanks to our Artists:

Becky Rodriguez - @humanplac3s - Production

Patrick Holbert - @theholbertreport - Editing

Marisa Pellegrino - @marisa_pellegrino - Editing

#arishaffir #skeptictankpodcast #comedy #bonniewillow #schoolofpeace #energyhealer #reiki #christaspiritualhealing 

Standup Comedian Matteo Lane comes on Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic Tank this week to tell me all about gay culture. It’s FASCINATING. And it’s changed so much since I first discovered gays back in college.

Matteo Lane is one of the most interesting and rational people to talk to at the back table of the Comedy Cellar and I’m glad to finally get him on the podcast. We talked about Prep, blasting loads into butts, Grinder, cheating, and anything else I could think of to ask him about what it’s like being gay these days. Such a fun one.

◆ Check out Matteo's podcast "Inside The Closet with Matteo Lane & Emma Willmann"! Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/46jawyr2

◆ Find 'Inside The Closet with Matteo Lane & Emma Willmann on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/ITC

◆ Follow Matteo on Instagram: @matteolane

◆ Learn more about Matteo: https://www.matteolanecomedy.com/

The Music

Lady Gaga - Born This Way

Billie Eilish - I Wish You Were Gay

Ain’t Nobody Straight in LA - The Miracles

You Make Me Feel - Sylvester

In The Navy - Village People

Thanks to our Artists:

Patrick Holbert - @theholbertreport - Editing

Marisa Pellegrino - @marisa_pellegrino - Editing

Becky Rodriguez - @humanplac3s - Production

#arishaffir #skeptictankpodcast #matteolane #lgbtcomedy

Standup comedian Keith Robinson joins standup comedian Ari Shaffir this week to tell me about his stroke. I had a lot of questions. And Keith was forthcoming and hilarious. My favorite kind of guest.

Keith is one of the most giving comedians on the planet. You can trace tons of great comics who point to him as one of the biggest influences on their careers and their lives. He looks out for young comedians, especially the ones from Philadelphia. It really makes me want to work harder to help younger comics. And I already do plenty. But Keith Robinson makes me want to do even more.

✦ Follow Keith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/1keithrobinson

✦ For all of Ari's projects and accounts: https://linktr.ee/RIPAriShaffir

Music:

Toni Braxton - Unbreak My Heart

The Strokes - Is This It?

Billie Joel - Movin’ Out

Marvin Gaye - Don’t Do it

Thanks to our Artists:

Patrick Holbert - @theholbertreport - Editing

Marisa Pellegrino - @marisa_pellegrino - Editing

Becky Rodriguez - @humanplac3s - Production

Raelyn Nelson - @raelynnelsonband covering "Ari Shaffir Owns This Song" By Pepper Goins - The Rushmore Podcast

Donate to Adrienne on Paypal

Donate to Adrienne on Venmo

We’re trying something different this week. I, Ari Shaffir, am bringing you an entire album of one of my favorite comedians in the world. For free.

Adrienne Iapalucci has been opening for me for the last couple years. Anyone who saw my Jew hour and thought, “Fuck, that lady was dark” knows what I’m talking about. You know why I refer to her as “The Dark Queen.” And that’s what she is. Standup comedian Adrienne Iapalucci is a cold-blooded dark joke writer. Following her every night forced me to improve my punchlines. I’m not exaggerating. She’s that good. If you saw her open for me, you know I’m right.

This pandemic has hit her really hard, though. She was about to start headlining so much that she wasn’t going to be available to me and my crowds any more. And then this virus changed everything. It took away our ability to perform. There’s no more income. She’s seriously looking for day jobs and wondering how she’s going to pay her rent.

And now she’s got a new album out called “Baby Skeletons” that she recorded before the pandemic. So here’s what we’re going to try. I’m letting you hear it for free. And I want you to give Adrienne what you think that was worth to you. If I were you, I’d start with $1 before you even listen to it. Because any album is worth that much. But then once you’ve heard it, I think you’ll agree it’s worth a lot more. And I understand that not everybody is in the same financial position as everybody else. So maybe you can only spare $7.00. Or maybe you’re doing great and you can spare a 20 or a 50. You gotta decide for yourself how much you laughed at what took her years to make and how much you want to support comics like this putting out their own material. Show this podcast to your friends and tell them to support her, too.

I do this kind of thing for the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. The richer people end up paying more. The poorer people end up paying less. And overall I make enough money to justify me going out there to Scotland for a month. Enough that I can justify going out there. More than I made in a month of road gigs 10 years ago. And more than Adrienne makes now on the road. But the coolest part of it for me was how the poor college kids and the adults with real jobs could all come together to enjoy something they all liked; my degenerate comedy. After the shows, I would stand in the back with a bucket. And people would toss in whatever they had. When I was off, I definitely felt that in the bucket. But no matter what people gave me, it was cool to have them say thank you as they passed, and know that no matter what they put in there, they were putting it in because they wanted to AFTER knowing what they had gotten in terms of the show I put on.

So that’s what we’re doing with Adrienne. All the money you Venmo her or Paypal her will go directly to her. If she makes enough, she can use the money to film her next special.

Adrienne is an introverted joke writer. And the standup she does end up doing on big platforms gets censored to hell. That Parkland joke was the number one joke of 2018. Most NY comics agreed with that. And they wouldn’t even let her do it on a dirty comedy on Netflix. That’s the state we’re in for standup. If she was as big as Dave Chappelle or Bill Burr it wouldn’t have been a problem. So you guys get to hear it here instead.

You gotta make the world into what you want it to be by supporting that vision with your dollars.

The Music

The Misfits - Last Caress

Brendan Sagalow is a master at getting turned down by women. “I just don’t see you like that,” they tell him. It’s called being put in the friend zone. And it happens to Brendan A LOT. Join us as we discuss this horrible phenomenon. Ari Shaffir and Brendan Sagalow have been turned down by over 200 women. 1 by Ari and then Brendan picked up the slack.

Don’t forget to buy or download Sagalow's new album, “Not Now More Than Ever.” Brendan Sagalow is one of the best up and coming comics in New York. When he’s not eating 6 meals a day, he’s busy doing spot after spot to work on his craft. And his hard work has paid off. Grab his album today! https://tlbrecords.lnk.to/BrendanTW

And listen to his podcast, Garbage Days: https://brendansagalow.squarespace.com/garbage-days-podcast

Patreon: Please help support me by joining my Patreon. For $5 a month, it pays part of the salaries of the people who made this video. The other part comes from selling blood on weekends. New merch just went up this week. Exclusive to Patreon members and nobody else. http://patreon.com/arishaffir

 

The Music

Chris Isaak - Wicked Games

Ben E. King - I Who Have Nothing    - (You gotta listen to that whole song. The pain in this dude's voice is amazing)

The Who - Who Are You

Pulp - Like A Friend     - (I've been getting way into Pulp lately)

The Avalanches - If She Don't Love Me    - (The song is great but the video is AWESOME)

Sam Smith - Not In That Way          - (This ain't my kind of music but it's so on point to the topic of this podcast I felt obligated to put it in)

I try to do these public resolutions every year. That way I'm more likely to stand by them. Everybody should make resolutions. They're not lame. They're goals. It's important to verbalize where you want to go this year and what you want to do. These are the goals of me, Ari Shaffir. Please leave in the comments your own goals. Maybe we can steal some of each other's.   

Here are mine in no order:

• Read two books
• Finish writing my book
• Make a standup special for someone
• Go to 2 new countries (maybe 3)
• 100,000 YouTube subscribers
• 3,000 Patreon subscribers
• Reach out to comics going through public trouble
• Remember the great parts of 2020

Please sign up for My Patreon. Not many more till I start my follow up on there to each Skeptic Tank and answer any questions the patrons have about the episode. I get how frustrating I can be with my half finished stories and questions I forgot to ask. This'll be your chance to hold me accountable. And starting today, there's exclusive merch on there available on to the Patrons and nobody else. 

Patreon.com/AriShaffir

  Thank you to our sponsor, hammocks. Hammocks are like sleeping on air. They're the most comfortable place to take a nap and they make you look like a boss. Hammocks: for when you want to read only 2 pages of your book before you fall asleep.   The Music Reginald Omas Mamode IV - In Search of Balance I really love this song. Nothing more to say about it. I don't know much about the artist. But at very minimum the guy nailed it at least one time, which most artists never get to.