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July 9, 2024 - The Tucker Carlson Show
02:11:15
Ari Shaffir: Growing Up Orthodox, How Joe Rogan Saved Comedy, and the Infamous Kobe Bryant Joke
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ari shaffir
01:41:52
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tucker carlson
24:58
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Speaker Time Text
tucker carlson
Somebody told me yesterday that you lead the field among stand-ups for death threats.
ari shaffir
Yeah, I was the first one to get them.
tucker carlson
How central is Rogan to all this, to this ecosystem?
ari shaffir
Rogan was always passing money around.
tucker carlson
Really?
ari shaffir
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, he kept me in business for a long time.
Manager dropped me.
She was also getting death threats at home.
tucker carlson
Because you made fun of Kobe Bryant.
ari shaffir
Dude, Laker fans are retarded.
tucker carlson
Do you ever get people walking out of your shows?
ari shaffir
Yeah, all the time.
It's always a drunk white woman.
I mean, a hundred percent.
tucker carlson
That's who yells at me.
Somebody told me yesterday that you lead the field among stand-ups for death threats.
ari shaffir
Yeah, I was the first one to get them.
unidentified
Why?
ari shaffir
I had this when I was...
Yeah, I don't know.
tucker carlson
What do you mean you don't know?
ari shaffir
I mean, I don't know exactly.
So I had this...
When I was starting and National Lampoon was doing this fake reality show pitches.
It was like a...
The idea was they went up, it was all faked, but they all found a box of pitches for a reality show up in like the offices of NBC or something.
But the craziest pitches possible.
One was like, I can throw up on command.
Another was like, I'd watch that.
Yeah, yeah.
And it was this guy who drank apicac and just like barfed everywhere.
And mine was called The Amazing Racist.
Off the Amazing Race.
It was just like a super overboard race.
They came to me with the idea and I was like, that's funny, but let's like really go for it if we're going to go for it.
tucker carlson
No, but that was the thing.
I've seen that.
ari shaffir
Oh, you have?
tucker carlson
You're Amazing Race.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
Going to the black convenience store in a Klan outfit?
unidentified
Yeah.
ari shaffir
So either you get it or you don't.
If you're mad, I can see why you get mad, but also like...
tucker carlson
But why?
I mean, that's so over the top that of course you're joking.
ari shaffir
If I'm throwing oranges, wait, at a Mexican yelling, go back to Africa.
If you can't see, maybe, or like, wait, but you're Jewish.
I'm like, right.
So if I'm wearing a Klan outfit and I'm a comedian as a Jew wearing a Klan outfit.
tucker carlson
Probably not in the Klan.
ari shaffir
Probably not in the Klan.
You see, it's ridiculous.
Anyway, so my buddy Duncan Trussell, who's a great comic and hilarious and weird, he, early websites, he built a website saying, if you prank my friend Ari Shafir, send him a prank call.
Record it.
I'll give you 20 bucks for the best one.
This was before all that stuff came out.
So the National Lampoon's DVD came out and then somebody ripped it to the internet.
So pretty early YouTube was like this without context of National Lampoon's.
Just me going, hi, I'm Ari Shaffir.
I'm not the amazing racist.
Let me do this horrible thing right now.
Anyway, so people like saw it, Googled my name.
The first thing that came up was Duncan.
Before you even click on the Google search, it just says Ari Shaffir phone number.
tucker carlson
Was it your actual phone number?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
But it was pre-doxing.
It was before any of that.
tucker carlson
Before America got dangerous.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
So I would just start getting phone calls.
It was great.
tucker carlson
Like what?
ari shaffir
I'll fucking kill you.
You think you're so funny.
One of them was I picked up a bunch of Latinos, Mexicans, saying I wanted you to fix my deck and then drove them to the INS building.
I started yelling La Migra and they ran out.
Whatever.
Whatever.
It was funny.
Nobody was hurt in the making of it.
tucker carlson
But people took it seriously.
ari shaffir
People took it seriously.
My favorite one was, I'll build a deck in your ass, Holmes.
I would just get calls all the time.
I had to put my ringer on mute.
tucker carlson
But do you think, I mean...
ari shaffir
They weren't serious, though.
None of them were real.
So now when people go, I've been threatened.
I'm like, shut up.
This isn't a real thing.
I've been getting it for 20 years.
tucker carlson
But do you think anybody was actually offended?
ari shaffir
It's instructive, because I would get a few messages, Facebook back then, or MySpace even, and it was like, fuck you, you're a piece of shit, I'm Mexican, how dare you?
And then I'd write back, like, you know, it's just a joke.
I actually paid all those guys 50 bucks and took them back to where they were working.
Like, nothing actually happened.
And I drove them to a library.
It wasn't even like, you know, it just looked like the INS building.
And then they would respond like, oh, okay.
I actually did think it was funny.
I laughed when I saw it.
I'm like, so we went from laughing when you saw it to threatening me because you're supposed to.
tucker carlson
And that is what it is, right?
People feel this moral obligation to be mad about certain things.
ari shaffir
Yeah, but your real reaction is you were laughing.
tucker carlson
So do you ever get people walking out of your shows?
ari shaffir
Yeah, all the time.
All the time.
tucker carlson
Why do you think they do that?
ari shaffir
A number of reasons.
Too dirty is the main.
I don't want to hear about sex.
So that's an okay one.
It used to be, the dirty comics were like, it's cheap, you're dirty, oh, you talk about blowjobs, and it was like, okay, fine.
And so then the clean comics were like, I'm a well-written comedian, I can do, you know, whatever.
And they would just look down on us, but it wasn't a moral thing.
Now it's a moral thing.
They put them on a moral high ground, they put these people on moral low ground, so like, you're kind of evil for doing it.
Not just like...
Cheap or easy.
You're wrong.
You are wrong.
tucker carlson
You're immoral.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
But it's the same thing.
tucker carlson
So sex is one.
ari shaffir
Sex is one.
I mean, I remember I had a, at the comedy cellar, I'll have people walk out all the time.
The door guys laugh about it.
They're like, every time somebody leaves crying, it's you.
They walk out past me, literally crying, and it's always a drunk white woman.
I mean, a hundred percent.
tucker carlson
That's who yells at me.
What is that?
ari shaffir
Well, one, they suck.
tucker carlson
Why do you think?
ari shaffir
They've never had any problems!
So they have the slightest problem.
unidentified
Like, this is the worst.
ari shaffir
You ever see rich people?
They're like, my flight was delayed.
Shut up!
You sat in first class and your flight was delayed an hour and you're bitching?
Shut up!
tucker carlson
So you think it's just like any inconvenience?
ari shaffir
Right.
So this is the worst case scenario.
It's a slight inconvenience.
I had to hear something I didn't like to hear.
tucker carlson
But in a functioning society, you have a man at home to calm you down.
Maybe that's part of the problem.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
So you see it at the shows.
The man that's with them sometimes is either quiet or they're just like...
You can see them resign to like, you deal with it, bro.
I'm not going to fuck.
I'm going to live with it.
So if I tell her to shut up, this is a month of pain.
tucker carlson
Do they heckle you?
ari shaffir
Yeah, they'll be mad.
So I had a lady walking outside like...
Maybe a year ago.
And I remember like, oh, this lady got really mad.
I didn't notice it.
But she was really mad.
And I was like, which joke?
Was it Holocaust stuff?
Was it Down Syndrome stuff?
Was it the war in Gaza stuff?
Like it could have been any one thing.
And it's not all of them.
It's the only thing that you feel personally like this is the line is the one that walk out on.
And I didn't think anything of it.
And then I was hanging out, had a drink up there.
And then I left like 30 minutes later.
This is always the fun.
They want to.
Tell you that they were right.
And I'm walking out and I pass by some woman.
She goes, you're a piece of shit!
tucker carlson
I've gotten that.
What did you say?
ari shaffir
I just started laughing at her face and walked away.
I'm not going to give her an argument.
tucker carlson
So she stayed to tell you that?
ari shaffir
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's funny when they leave and then stay.
It used to be just write a shitty Yelp review if you didn't get the service you wanted.
tucker carlson
And how did she respond when you laughed at her?
ari shaffir
They can't understand it.
Like, no, you should be mad.
I'm like, I'm not combating you.
I was just making jokes.
Everybody else was laughing.
I'm just doing this for the joy, but it's also funny when you walk out angry.
We're all laughing at you for not getting it.
tucker carlson
And you never rise to the bait.
ari shaffir
I have before.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
But it's never a good idea.
tucker carlson
No, it's not a good idea.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
And it's also, it's just fun to toy with them.
You know?
To be like, I think you're right, and I will learn from this.
It's just fun to fuck with them sometimes.
tucker carlson
Has it gotten better or worse?
It feels like people are freer to say what they think all of a sudden.
ari shaffir
Yeah, you know, internet.
Everyone feels they have their 40 followers.
So, like, they're a celebrity.
tucker carlson
No, but I mean, it feels like the strike zone is wider than it was two years ago.
ari shaffir
What do you mean, strike zone?
tucker carlson
I mean, you're allowed to say more things, or there are fewer umpires, or they're just...
ari shaffir
We're allowed to say more things, or are the angry people allowed to say more things?
tucker carlson
Everybody's allowed to say more things.
It felt like there for a while, there are only like four things you were allowed to say.
And now I hear people giving opinions.
ari shaffir
Gen Z is way better than millennials.
tucker carlson
Why?
ari shaffir
Gen Z... Okay, so you ski or snowboard?
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
Which one?
tucker carlson
Ski.
unidentified
Nice.
tucker carlson
Well, obviously I don't snowboard.
I mean, come on now.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
So I was a skier.
In what, late 80s snowboard started?
Mid 80s?
tucker carlson
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
ari shaffir
And everyone was like, I'm not skiing.
That's my fucking dad.
I'm a snowboarder.
It's cool.
And then a generation passed and now the kids are like, I'm not snowboarding.
That's for my father.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
So they go the opposite way.
tucker carlson
I just, I stayed true to skiing and it never changed.
ari shaffir
Always.
tucker carlson
You still ski?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
All mountains should be no snowboard mountains.
tucker carlson
I completely agree.
I think there's only one in the United States.
ari shaffir
They're jumping out of the fucking Alta.
tucker carlson
Deer Valley too.
ari shaffir
Deer Valley.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Icon's got it right.
tucker carlson
And they wreck the snow.
ari shaffir
They wreck the snow.
They slide down.
It's a local city after they get done with it.
tucker carlson
And they take out old people, which I will be soon.
ari shaffir
Jump out of the trees.
unidentified
Oh, I know.
tucker carlson
Have a spotter!
Just have a fucking spotter!
And they're too high, actually.
unidentified
Well...
tucker carlson
Little high is fine, but they're way too high.
I mean, I've seen snowboard...
ari shaffir
I fell off a lift.
You fell off a lift?
I was trying to get on.
You know the thing where you put your skis under you?
So I was like, I saw some cool, like, people do...
Oh, let me do that.
I was trying to do it, but then I started getting pushed.
You know, and I'm like trying to do it, and then I was just down.
tucker carlson
That hurts.
Yeah, your bindings don't release when you fall off a ski lift.
unidentified
Yeah.
ari shaffir
It was on the floor, though, and so I was pumping my head up some old man, just shoved my head back down because it was going to chop it off.
tucker carlson
So you think people in their 20s are better than people in their 30s or 40s?
ari shaffir
Yeah, so anyway, these people, the Gen Zers, looked at the millennials, their aunts and their fucking whatever, and they're like, you guys are angry, and we don't want to be like you.
And they understand, at least for stand-up comedy, we know they're not serious.
You guys didn't know they weren't serious.
We know they're not serious.
So when they say, I don't know, let's bring slavery back.
Let's give it another chance.
We know you're being ridiculous.
It's Jonathan Swift.
It's fine.
So then they're like, well, now we can laugh.
You don't mean that.
tucker carlson
Are you ever offended by anything?
I mean, do you have a red line?
ari shaffir
Well, I wouldn't try to silence it, but some stuff is like...
tucker carlson
No, I just mean...
Is anything personally offensive to you?
Have you ever heard a joke where you're like, ah, I'm not into it?
ari shaffir
Yeah, there's certain times.
If I just heard my dad speak about the Holocaust and I hear a Holocaust joke, I'm just not in the mood.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
But there are other times you're...
ari shaffir
But also, I'll just quietly leave.
Or if it's like political jokes, I'm like, I don't get the references here.
tucker carlson
Right.
ari shaffir
I just don't follow it.
tucker carlson
Yeah, I noticed that at breakfast this morning.
You're not following politics.
ari shaffir
I'm like, is that a good guy?
tucker carlson
But how are you going to deal with, I mean, there are some political stories that are sort of unavoidable, like the current one with Biden.
Like, how are you, like, what do you make of that?
ari shaffir
Like the...
tucker carlson
Like his physical condition, his mental condition.
ari shaffir
I just hear people talking.
tucker carlson
Oh, you haven't seen any of that?
ari shaffir
A little, like, from people referencing on stand-up comedy clips.
Like Shane had one where he's like talking about how he left the stage real slow and he was talking about like, I've done that drunk.
Happened to like sidestep.
tucker carlson
Oh, but you haven't seen any of the video.
ari shaffir
Uninteresting.
tucker carlson
Do you live in this country?
unidentified
Yeah.
tucker carlson
How do you avoid that?
ari shaffir
I do not.
For six years, I haven't read or watched the news.
tucker carlson
Really?
ari shaffir
If it's on, I'll avoid.
I'll leave the room.
tucker carlson
Why?
ari shaffir
It's hatred.
It's terrible.
It puts you in a terrible mental state.
For something you don't affect, everyone thinks they're making a difference.
They're not.
I mean, you had a popular show on a major network.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
You also didn't make a difference.
Rogan doesn't make a difference.
tucker carlson
Well, I got fired.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
But this idea that I'm going to change everything.
The high-level guys who had to reach, maybe you could.
Because you reach a lot of people.
tucker carlson
I don't think I did.
I agree with you.
ari shaffir
But you being upset about Biden or Trump, it's like, what is it doing?
It's going to happen regardless.
It's like being upset about the rain.
tucker carlson
You really think so?
So it sounds like you don't buy the premise of democracy.
ari shaffir
Listen, how should I say this?
The black vote matters.
tucker carlson
Right.
ari shaffir
One black vote doesn't matter.
tucker carlson
Right.
That's correct.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
So, it's just like, why get involved?
In Romania and Slovenia, they just had, well, you just got back from Australia.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
So, like, I always loved how they felt about it.
Our government's crooked.
We can't do anything.
Let's get drunk and do the worst coke in the world.
And that's what they...
You didn't really participate in Australian culture, but...
tucker carlson
No, I didn't participate in...
ari shaffir
It's mostly baby powder.
tucker carlson
Is that true?
ari shaffir
And it's the most overpriced in the world, too.
tucker carlson
Cigarettes are $60 a pack.
ari shaffir
It was wild!
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
I left...
I bought a pouch, and I was like...
And then I was...
I didn't think about the price.
I was just like, bring it up.
tucker carlson
A pouch of tobacco?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
And then I bought another one in Gold Coast, and then I was like $63.
I'm like, no!
tucker carlson
That's crazy.
For tobacco.
ari shaffir
Yeah, and he goes, that's how much it is.
And I thought it was like a tourist spot.
And I was like, fuck up.
Dude, I just bought it for $40.
And he goes, no, you didn't.
tucker carlson
Did you like the lung cancer pictures on the package?
ari shaffir
I did have to trade a pack because I'm like, this one's too gross.
tucker carlson
It's too gross.
You almost don't want to smoke.
ari shaffir
Get me a dead baby.
I don't want to see the missing tail.
A dead baby doesn't hurt me.
tucker carlson
Well, it wasn't caused by smoking.
unidentified
Yeah.
ari shaffir
It was caused by the ozone.
unidentified
So...
ari shaffir
Yeah, I just don't pay attention.
It's going to happen regardless.
Why?
Why lose sleep over it?
tucker carlson
But what about the idea that if you don't do anything about it, then it just gets worse and worse and worse?
ari shaffir
If society doesn't do anything about it, it gets worse and worse.
If I don't do anything about it, it's not going to change my mind.
tucker carlson
But it's your moral obligation to vote.
If you don't vote, you're not allowed to complain.
ari shaffir
Can I tell you something that no one seems to get on my side on?
If you think the system is corrupt, participation in the system is you cosigning the system.
So it's like, it doesn't matter which side you're voting on.
This corrupt, they both lie to you, two-party-only possibilities, which is what they're revolting in in Hong Kong.
Here's your two possible choices only.
Just saying, okay, well, I'll take this one, is you saying, yeah, the system, I agree with it.
And I don't agree with the system.
tucker carlson
At all.
I'm sympathetic to what you're saying.
I'm actually not dismissing you out of hand because I think you're making a pretty solid point.
The problem, though, is it could get to the point where they show up at your house and start hassling you directly.
ari shaffir
Who?
tucker carlson
The government.
ari shaffir
To vote?
tucker carlson
No, no, no.
I mean, the government gets in the wrong hands.
Like, it can be pretty intrusive.
ari shaffir
Yeah, I guess.
So, yeah.
But, like, here's two problems with that.
One, it's a worst-case scenario way of living.
Right.
I mean, I've heard the Holocaust is coming back my entire life.
This can lead to the Holocaust.
George Bush could be Hitler.
Trump was Hitler.
tucker carlson
Trump is definitely Hitler, right?
ari shaffir
Everybody's Hitler.
And I'm like, where?
Where is this happening?
So it's like you hear these worst-case scenarios all the time.
They don't come to fruition.
And also, it's like you still won't have any effect on it.
When they were talking about going to war with Iran, they're like, this is a nuclear holocaust.
And everyone was bitching about it.
And I was skiing.
And I'm like, you guys can lose your last days.
If there's a nuclear holocaust coming, these are your last days.
And I spent it skiing, and you spent it arguing online with a stranger.
Like, who's God going to say did it right?
You know?
tucker carlson
That's actually completely defensible.
ari shaffir
Like, you're not actually affecting it.
And if enough people...
tucker carlson
There's a whole book in the Jewish Bible called Ecclesiastes that basically makes this point.
ari shaffir
Really?
unidentified
Yeah.
ari shaffir
Interesting.
tucker carlson
You should...
ari shaffir
Ecclesiastes.
What's that in Hebrew?
Do you know?
tucker carlson
I don't.
ari shaffir
Yeah, some of them were like Genesis.
I'm like, I don't know that word.
I know the Hebrew word.
tucker carlson
Oh, is that...
You went to Yeshiva?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
They didn't call it Genesis?
ari shaffir
No.
So I had to like...
Deuteronomy.
I was like, which one is that again?
tucker carlson
How long did you spend in yeshiva?
ari shaffir
Two years after high school, but my entire high school.
tucker carlson
Did you think you were going to be a rabbi?
ari shaffir
It was a possibility.
tucker carlson
Really?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
It was like possibility.
tucker carlson
What was that like?
ari shaffir
It was like in pre-law.
tucker carlson
What do you do in yeshiva, by the way?
ari shaffir
Study.
tucker carlson
Pardon my ignorance.
What's the schedule?
You wake up when and do what?
ari shaffir
That's part of your culture, just to be ignorant.
tucker carlson
I'm not a chosen person.
ari shaffir
You wake up, you do a little learning.
That's like choose your own adventure.
So it might be like prophets.
One of the side books or something.
And then you pray.
Then you go have breakfast.
That's like breakfast ends at like nine.
So nine to one you learn.
Talmud.
Then one to two.
tucker carlson
Is this just independent study or just reading it by yourself?
ari shaffir
There's classes.
And then also independent.
But there's classes.
We're a rabbi.
Dude, we had a rabbi who was teaching us one of the books of the Gemara, the Talmud.
He's so smart.
I forget his name.
Oh, that's embarrassing.
That's embarrassing.
tucker carlson
Who is it?
ari shaffir
I don't know.
tucker carlson
You can check it.
No, it's all right.
ari shaffir
No.
tucker carlson
No, tell me who called.
ari shaffir
It's your mom.
Hold on.
Hey, he's busy right now.
I'll get back to you later.
All right.
Bye, Ms. Tucker.
tucker carlson
That's what you went by, too, Ms. Tucker.
ari shaffir
Anyway, he was teaching us and then doing it really well.
And then somebody went to the bathroom and they came.
I forget his name.
Let's call him Rabbi Jew.
And they're like, Rabbi Jew, this isn't the right book.
And he goes, oh yeah, I forgot the wrong one.
I was like, you've been teaching us from it the whole class.
And he goes, yeah.
He just knows it by heart.
tucker carlson
It was actually like a John Irving novel?
ari shaffir
It was just a different track date.
It was like the encyclopedia, you're doing the E's and he's reading from F's.
But he's still, Word for word on the E's.
It was crazy.
tucker carlson
So he'd memorized it?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
Which is, it was an oral tradition.
It was passed down orally for a long time.
tucker carlson
Was it interesting?
ari shaffir
The Talmud?
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
Oh, yeah.
So many fun.
So not fun, but like, yeah, like I was telling you at breakfast.
By the way, guys, Tucker Carlson feeds his guest breakfast.
tucker carlson
Of course I do.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
What's your podcast do?
Yeah, it was like if you accidentally kill someone, you have to replace their wife.
You have to pay their wife.
This is what I was talking about.
A doctor's wife, you pay more than a garbage man's wife.
And then it's all arguing, like, is a garbage man worth less?
Does he have less value than a doctor?
And then it's like the arguing, arguing, arguing.
It's like, no, you're just trying to, like, you have a responsibility to keep her way of life, keep her, like, richness there.
So you have to pay her based on her income.
It's kind of like divorce now.
tucker carlson
Do you debate this in class?
ari shaffir
Yeah, so you debate it, you talk about it, then there's secondary rabbis who all weighed in.
tucker carlson
No, but do you debate it at Yeshiva?
Do the students say, you know what, I just don't agree with this at all?
Are you allowed to debate?
ari shaffir
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
It's all based in like, say what you think is not right here.
There's a Philip Roth book, Conversion to the Jews.
It's a short story.
tucker carlson
Yeah, I never read it.
ari shaffir
It's about, it's pretty good.
Yeah, Philip Roth.
tucker carlson
Poor noise complaint guy.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
And it was just about this kid in yeshiva in Brooklyn who was like, I don't understand.
If God couldn't create everything, the animals and light out of darkness, he goes, that one always got me.
There was darkness and he made light for the first time.
That always got me.
And he goes, why couldn't he make a sun?
They're like, no, God can't have a sun.
I was like, but why?
He did all this other stuff.
How come he can't?
You're supposed to ask these questions.
tucker carlson
So there's no penalty for...
ari shaffir
There's no penalty.
It's based in 100% you should be asking questions.
We should have answers.
If we don't, then your question is correct.
tucker carlson
It sounds like a great education.
ari shaffir
It's great.
Ask everything.
If it doesn't make sense, you gotta ask, and we should have an explanation.
You shouldn't be like, don't ask this stuff.
tucker carlson
How many of Shiva students become stand-ups?
ari shaffir
Not many.
Not many.
There's a couple, but not many.
tucker carlson
It seems kind of like a natural training ground for it.
ari shaffir
It's so helpful.
The logic basis of it, between that and an English major, where you're also just same thing, kind of analyzing novels.
tucker carlson
Of course, textual analysis, yeah.
ari shaffir
What's he doing?
What does this mean?
It's just a great way of looking at humanity and then writing a joke about it.
tucker carlson
What do your rabbis and classmates think of what you do?
ari shaffir
Well, so it's the religion part and it's also the culture part.
tucker carlson
Right.
ari shaffir
So the culture part was like, what are you doing?
You're not making a living.
This is ridiculous.
This is embarrassing.
tucker carlson
They didn't think you were making a living?
ari shaffir
I wasn't for 10 years.
You know, temp jobs and whatever.
tucker carlson
Really?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
What kind of temp jobs?
ari shaffir
I worked for the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce.
I just did like data entry in different places.
Moving boxes.
It's in commercial.
I got started booking commercials for a while.
I had a weird look.
That helped, but that was like five, six years in.
It was just poverty.
But it was also great training because now You seem pretty immune to finances, to the dangers.
tucker carlson
To the dangers?
ari shaffir
Yeah, you have money, but you seem kind of, I don't know you well enough, but you seem like you're resistant to letting it.
I was talking to you about Jake Hanrahan.
He won't take advertising money because he doesn't want anybody pressuring him to cover it.
tucker carlson
Yeah, I don't think you should worship money.
I'm opposed to that.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
I don't think it makes you happy.
Debt makes you unhappy.
Right.
Money does not make you happy.
ari shaffir
Severe lack of money makes you unhappy.
unidentified
100%.
tucker carlson
That is real.
ari shaffir
But I was broke for long enough where I don't need these things anymore.
unidentified
Good for you.
ari shaffir
I'm happy with like, oh, I got an aisle seat.
I don't need to fly private or first class.
It's nice, but I sleep in hostels.
I love that.
Yeah, so I'm free of it.
And it frees me up to do fun things.
tucker carlson
So you took that experience and did a special on Judaism.
ari shaffir
Yeah, you got to watch it.
tucker carlson
Why'd you do that?
ari shaffir
I mean, I've been looking at this stuff forever.
I just wasn't good enough to do it.
But it was always on my mind.
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ari shaffir
The non-Jews have seven laws of Noah.
That's all you gotta do, and you get into heaven.
And they're pretty easy.
tucker carlson
They're great.
ari shaffir
They're pretty easy.
Don't eat an animal while it's still living.
tucker carlson
Exactly.
ari shaffir
Should be a no-brainer.
tucker carlson
Don't kill.
ari shaffir
Don't kill.
Harder for some people, but not others.
Don't rape.
Even harder for some people, but most are still on the right side of it.
I forget what the other ones are.
tucker carlson
Adultery.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
It's not that hard.
And you get to go to heaven, and you'll be right alongside a rabbi.
tucker carlson
Well, not only that, they're very reasonable.
ari shaffir
Yeah, they're not hard ones to do.
tucker carlson
No, they're all kind of rooted in natural law.
No, I read that.
ari shaffir
Yeah, when you convert, they're like, what are you doing this for?
You're just going to make it harder on yourself.
You're going to heaven already.
tucker carlson
That's interesting.
Okay.
You don't feel there's any contempt at all in that.
ari shaffir
There becomes contempt, you know, at the end where it's like, well, you're not in our group, so kind of fuck you, but that's not in the law.
I mean, even Jesus is like, accept everyone, take them in.
tucker carlson
Right.
ari shaffir
People don't really do that.
No, not at all.
Yeah.
tucker carlson
I do think that the Sabbath laws are, you know, like if you're using somebody else to do something that you're not allowed to do.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
Well, I talk about the loopholes in that special where it's like you're actually not allowed to fully ask them, can you turn this light on?
Because then that's like you're doing it.
tucker carlson
So it's by implication.
ari shaffir
It sure is dark in here.
You know, I'm not allowed to turn the lights on.
Nages are allowed.
But I can't do it.
unidentified
It does suck.
ari shaffir
I want to read.
It's so loophole-y.
It's great.
tucker carlson
But what was the moment where you decided to...
ari shaffir
So, you can't use electricity.
I was in a dorm room in a yeshiva that's closed now in Pentecostal Jerusalem.
And there was a light, a reading light above my bed.
And you could use that to read Talmud before you go to sleep or whatever.
Left it on on Shabbos.
And what I was going to do was take a hand-washing cup.
There's like a ritual hand-washing you do in the mornings and before bread.
And I was going to put that over the light.
It was like a little ball.
And I was going to put it over the light and drown the light.
So the light's still on.
It's just drowned out.
The cup kept falling.
I kept putting it on there because it was round.
It just kept falling off.
It wouldn't stay on.
And the light was in my eye.
And it was frustrating.
You want to sleep.
And you can't.
And at some point I was like, I'm just going to turn it off.
It's Friday night.
I'm not allowed.
But then my...
The entrance to the yeshiva was like right here.
My window is right here.
So anyone coming in or out would see my light go off.
And they'd be like, we're all super orthodox Jews.
No light can go on or off.
We'll notice that on a Friday night.
And I was like, fuck, I'll get caught.
I'll get in trouble if I do this.
So I didn't do it.
I didn't even do it.
Didn't break any law.
But I thought about it for like a couple years.
The fact that I was more worried about a man getting me in trouble than God.
When it's God's law, it's not man's law.
Jaywalking, sure, I'll look for a cop before I do that.
But the Sabbath stuff, that's all just God.
I shouldn't give a fuck about Jews seeing me.
In the Torah, there's a worse punishment for someone who steals in secrecy than who steals brazenly.
Because at least stealing brazenly, you're not worried about man catching you.
And you're like, well, fuck God either way, but I don't give a shit about man.
So, the fact that I was more worried about people getting me in trouble than God, and I was talking about, I was like, I don't think I believe in them.
Or I wouldn't have done it.
If I believed there was this, like, you know, old man in heaven saying, don't do this.
It'll be bad for your mortal soul.
I just wouldn't do it.
Compared to, like, if your dad's in the room, you don't masturbate.
tucker carlson
Right.
ari shaffir
Because you believe he's real.
tucker carlson
Of course.
ari shaffir
And his reaction is pretty obvious what it would be.
But...
You're not just going to start jerking, like, oh, the fuck, I didn't know you were a real dad, you know?
You're 100% sure he's real.
And I wasn't sure God was real.
And I was just like, and then I just looked more and more, and I was like, I think I'm out.
tucker carlson
Maybe the lesson is you care too much what other people think.
ari shaffir
Maybe.
tucker carlson
No, I mean, that's another way to look at it.
ari shaffir
Yeah, yeah.
So anyway, so my friends got mad.
They're like, they can't leave religion.
They're like, well, if you don't believe in God, take the Torah, the holy sacred scroll, and like throw it in the floor.
Which is like, if you see it fall, you have to fast for like, I don't know how long.
And I'm like, no, I still respect you guys.
I'm not going to like, it's so rude.
tucker carlson
You told your friends.
ari shaffir
I told a few of them.
Some were angry.
Some were like, disappointed.
Nobody was like, cool.
Nobody.
tucker carlson
What did your parents say?
ari shaffir
Pretty mad.
Yeah.
They were like, well, you're going to lose the culture.
They're all fine now.
So in hindsight, it's fine.
But they're totally fine now.
So just like, but at the time, they're like, what the fuck?
They were really mad.
It was like, yeah, they were like, even a dog believes in God.
tucker carlson
That's true.
ari shaffir
You're lower than a dog.
tucker carlson
Did they say him?
ari shaffir
Yeah, yeah.
But I was like, show me that research.
What are you talking about?
Who's done a study on that?
But totally fine now.
tucker carlson
So how did you decide you want to go into stand-up from there?
ari shaffir
I always kind of liked being the Joker.
And then my friend Ami Butler was, he was like, you should try it.
You should try stand-up.
tucker carlson
So you moved back from Israel?
ari shaffir
Moved back from Israel.
Went to University of Maryland.
A couple years.
No, first went to Yeshiva University in New York.
That's where I kind of like fully lost the religion.
And I'm like, what's the point of paying for a split curriculum?
tucker carlson
Yeah, of course.
ari shaffir
College.
So I switched to state school.
Got laid for the first time.
tucker carlson
Ever?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
It was fucking, it's nice.
If you haven't tried it.
You should fuck.
tucker carlson
No, I haven't.
ari shaffir
It's great, bro.
unidentified
I'm busy.
That's the thing.
ari shaffir
It's great.
You're busy destroying Democrats.
tucker carlson
Jewish girl?
ari shaffir
No.
No.
I have...
tucker carlson
Oh, so you went all the way out then?
ari shaffir
You look too much like me.
You know?
It's like fucking a mirror.
It's not the best.
You're like, I'm legally not allowed to join in on this.
Yeah, I went...
Yeah, I just had...
It was nuts.
It was so great.
Got a blowjob?
unidentified
Oh.
tucker carlson
Did you call your friends back in the yeshiva and tell them?
ari shaffir
No, I did not.
I did not.
I'm friends with a couple of them still, but not many.
It's just a different world now.
Plus they all have kids.
unidentified
It's like, ugh.
tucker carlson
How many of them got married?
ari shaffir
All of them.
tucker carlson
All of them.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
So everybody gets married?
ari shaffir
Everybody gets married.
tucker carlson
At what age?
ari shaffir
And have kids.
Sister got married at 20. Wasn't that like crazy.
It was just like a touch early, but not really.
tucker carlson
But all those marriages seem to survive.
ari shaffir
They really do, right?
It's interesting.
tucker carlson
I've noticed that.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
What's the divorce rate among Orthodox Jews?
ari shaffir
So low.
We had one divorced couple growing up in my neighborhood and was like, whoa, can you believe it?
They're divorced?
We thought it was so nuts.
unidentified
Yeah.
ari shaffir
And then when I got to University of Maryland and everybody's parents were split.
And I was like, what?
tucker carlson
So what works better?
unidentified
I don't know.
ari shaffir
I guess this is what you're looking for.
In your marriage.
When it's just a union to be a family unit and raise kids is the most important thing.
So find this works for that.
Or it's like, do I want fulfillment?
tucker carlson
You don't think they're fulfilled?
ari shaffir
I think if you're all you want as family, then yeah, you're fulfilled.
You've got a great family.
You're part of the community.
But if you're like...
Yeah, they say it's like misogynist Judaism because the women just stay at home.
But I'm like, no, they're there to raise the family.
tucker carlson
Right.
ari shaffir
It's not like you're not allowed to work.
It's like, this is your part.
This is his part.
He's raising money for the family.
tucker carlson
Do you think a lot of Orthodox mothers secretly want to work at banks?
ari shaffir
No.
tucker carlson
Right.
ari shaffir
Exactly.
This isn't fun.
tucker carlson
And it's voluntary.
You don't have to join this lifestyle, right?
ari shaffir
Yeah, right.
Well, if you're raising it, you kind of do.
It's not legally, but, you know.
tucker carlson
Do you ever have any regrets you didn't become a rabbi?
No.
unidentified
No.
ari shaffir
Uh-uh.
No, I'm having a great time.
Some of them will look down on me and be like, they'll be demeaning like, you'll be back.
And like talk down to me and it's like, you guys fucking suck.
tucker carlson
You don't think you will be back?
ari shaffir
No.
What to what?
tucker carlson
I don't know.
ari shaffir
If you're getting your dick sucked, that's totally illegal in that religion.
tucker carlson
Is it really?
ari shaffir
Yeah, it's wasting seed.
tucker carlson
Oral sex is illegal.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
I didn't know that.
ari shaffir
It's wasting seed.
Condoms are illegal.
tucker carlson
But the sheet thing is not real.
ari shaffir
Sheet thing's not real.
This is all an Ari Shaffir Jew.
On YouTube now.
tucker carlson
So you got to the bottom of the sheet, rumor?
ari shaffir
I was fooled.
That's how strong a rumor it was.
unidentified
Really?
ari shaffir
I was fooled.
tucker carlson
Did you ever talk about that in Yeshiva?
ari shaffir
No, but I thought I had a rabbi who definitely did it.
And my friend was like, that's a false memory.
No way.
unidentified
Really?
ari shaffir
Because it doesn't exist.
tucker carlson
Who spread that rumor?
That's a pretty...
ari shaffir
I think it comes from Tzitzit.
It's like this...
So there's 613 commandments.
God, I lived in this for fucking five years.
I forgot about all of it, and then I lived in it for five years trying to go over the stuff again, and then I just put it behind me again.
When you mentioned Talmud, and I brought up Steinsaltz out of like, I don't know where that came from.
tucker carlson
I was very impressed.
unidentified
Yeah.
tucker carlson
I didn't know what the Talmud was until pretty recently.
I'm reading it.
I actually think it's really interesting.
ari shaffir
It's very interesting.
So one of the commandments, you try to do as many as you can.
Some of them are big temple-based, so you just can't anymore because we don't have a temple.
unidentified
Not since 70 A.D. Boom.
ari shaffir
They're going to have another one, the Messiah, they say.
So those laws will be back.
But you try to do as many as you can.
They're good deeds and they're bad deeds, but they're all like commandments.
613 of them.
One of them is if you have a four-cornered garment, a poncho, you have to tie these tassels to the end of them.
So sometimes you'll see strings coming out.
tucker carlson
Yes.
ari shaffir
Okay.
So they make themselves a four-cornered garment so that they can do that commandment.
You know, and it looks like a t-shirt underneath.
Underneath their shirt.
It's like, you don't even need it, but you're like, here's our chance to wear it.
tucker carlson
Have you ever worn one?
ari shaffir
Oh, yeah.
All the time.
tucker carlson
Is it comfortable?
ari shaffir
It's neither here nor there.
It goes in between the t-shirt and your overshirt.
So you barely even notice it.
tucker carlson
Oh, so you're wearing three layers?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
unidentified
That's a lot.
ari shaffir
Yeah, that's why they smell.
They don't fucking wash their shit.
tucker carlson
How does that?
They don't, do they, is that?
ari shaffir
They do smell.
tucker carlson
What is that?
ari shaffir
It's just like, soap is expensive.
tucker carlson
So I always thought that was bigotry from secular Jews are always saying.
ari shaffir
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, they do smell a lot.
It's also like you're wearing, you're fucking dressed like Johnny Cash in the summertime.
It's gonna fucking, it's gonna stink after a while.
You gotta watch that all the time.
tucker carlson
So Jerusalem in August is...
ari shaffir
Oh, oh, it's disgusting.
It's like fucking Yangon.
tucker carlson
That's actually true?
ari shaffir
Yeah, yeah.
The Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, they're more shower-centric.
tucker carlson
Amazing.
ari shaffir
It's nuts.
When you get up the road from Tel Aviv, it's a windy road, and as soon as you get over that hill, it's fuck it.
It's a costume party.
It's Fiddler on the Roof.
unidentified
It's the best.
ari shaffir
It's so weird.
It's like you're living in an ancient time.
tucker carlson
It's the most interesting place on the planet.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
Three religions, three and a half, coming together on one little small area of an old city.
tucker carlson
Three and a half?
ari shaffir
It's like two different kinds of Christian.
tucker carlson
I've heard that, but they're pretty similar.
ari shaffir
The Armenians and the Greek Orthodox.
tucker carlson
Well, the Ethiopians, Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant.
ari shaffir
But in the old city, it's like...
Yeah.
Anyway, whatever.
I don't know enough about them.
tucker carlson
Do you still have your outfits?
ari shaffir
Anyway, so here's where it came from.
No, I don't have any of that.
So you wear that four-color garment.
I think they were hanging up to dry, and it's a sheet with a neck hole in it.
tucker carlson
Yes.
ari shaffir
And I think just some racists were like, they probably fucked through that.
That's what that is.
And it just caught on.
tucker carlson
Interesting.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
And the hole is so big that the Jews are like, let them run with that rumor.
tucker carlson
It took you five years to write that special?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
Yeah.
And some of the jokes are even older.
tucker carlson
What's your process for writing it?
ari shaffir
This one was way different because I had to, I never have to fact check my jokes.
I can be an idiot in my jokes.
I can, normally I'm allowed to say David Trump.
And people are like, it's Donald Trump.
I'm like, oh, I don't know.
It's fine if I get the facts wrong, you know?
I can be a moron.
It's actually, sometimes I try to like misspeak so that like, don't trust me on this.
I'm not an expert.
I'm just making fun of it.
So I'll try to like throw in wrong details.
tucker carlson
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But like, how do you write it?
Do you write it out by hand?
Do you pace your living room and say it out loud?
ari shaffir
No, no, no.
I just go on stage.
So I started, this one was I would go to the cellar.
The comedy cellar had a small room and I would do an hour and I would do like, I had like 20 show minutes, something on Noah and the flood.
That's what it started with.
It just became my closer in the end.
And then a couple other bits.
And then I said, okay, I've already set up now that I can make jokes about this stuff.
You guys see I'm not serious about it.
Do you have any questions about Jews that you wanted to know?
Like anything.
I will answer.
And I'll try to riff and make it funny.
Something I used to do with this guy, Don Barris, a long time ago.
We'd do Ask a Jew.
We call her Jew and A. Late Night at the Comedy Store.
And it started with like, hey, you know, I could be a resource.
And then all the communities would sit around the room and they'd ask questions.
So first it was like, how many commandments are there?
I'm like, oh, good question, 613. Like, oh, okay.
Someone else is like, yes, question.
Like, if Jesus is supposed to be such good writers, why is his diary on Frank so fucking boring?
Like, okay, well, it's a bestseller for fucking uneducated girl for 30 years or 50 years, so you're wrong about that.
Hey, what goes in the place of your soul?
Like, all right, well, Pablo Neruda would say that there is no such thing as a soul, but diamonds, diamonds go there.
And then we'd just fuck around.
Occasionally we'd get people complaining.
They were so rude to that man.
But it was all just comedians.
Jew and A. Yeah, Jew and A. It was a lot of fun.
Do you still talk to the jackal that birthed you?
And I'm like, oh, that's a bit offensive.
But it was all my friends.
It was so fun.
Late night at the store was so fun.
unidentified
The jackal that birthed you.
ari shaffir
So as a mud person, would you say, and I'm like, well, stop you there.
Yeah, we'd have this thing at the end of it where Don would go, he would run it, and he'd be like, I saw a documentary on the Holocaust.
It didn't seem that bad.
It seems like you guys are exaggerating.
I was like, I don't know, man.
What was the documentary?
He goes, it's called Hogan's Heroes?
They seem like bumbling oafs.
It doesn't seem like they could have done any of that stuff.
We had a smell test.
He goes, can you smell money?
And I was like, yeah, I can.
Yeah, it's just one of the things we have.
And then we set up ahead of time.
He was like, all right, I need three bills.
One, a 20, and a 100. And then he crumpled up a turn, but we all knew the order, so the crowd didn't know.
And I'd smell like, that's like, hmm, that's like, it's got a nutty aroma.
tucker carlson
Hint of saddle leather.
ari shaffir
Yeah, it was like, is that like a, I think it's a 20?
And everyone was like, I got it!
One in three shot, you know?
And then the hunch I'm like, oh, I love that smell.
I know what that is.
And then he showed me the one.
unidentified
I'm like, ugh, ugh.
ari shaffir
It's disgusting.
Yeah, so, wait.
What was I going with this?
Fuck.
What did you ask?
tucker carlson
How you write it.
ari shaffir
Oh, right.
So I just asked people.
So it kind of birthed from that.
I asked people, what questions do you have?
And sometimes they're like, what's with the wigs?
I'm like, oh, okay.
Well, it's a loophole.
You can't be attracted to your neighbor's wife.
So hair is something you're attracted to.
So you cover up your hair.
So it's not your hair, it's some fucking Asian lady's hair.
You know, which is actually better hair.
It's weird, but it's not you, it's Sung Lee.
And you just do stuff like, what are the pillows?
I'm like, what pillows?
What do you mean?
Oh, it's your fucking bag that you have for your talus or tefillin that you carry.
It looks like a pillow to them.
I never, it's just, so it was a way of looking at stuff.
And so the same questions would come up over and over again.
And I'd riff, try to be funny, and I'm like, if the same question keeps coming up, This is something I should cover.
And if a question came up once ever, then I'm like, alright, that's just one guy.
One of us is like, why are Jews afraid of cats?
I'm like, that was just one Jew you knew, bro.
That's not a stereotype.
That was just one Jew.
And so I would just try to cover everything.
tucker carlson
Why are Jews afraid of cats?
ari shaffir
That's not a thing.
100% that's not a thing.
So yeah, I would just try to, and then I would try to tweak it and tweak it and tweak it.
And then I'd have to do this thing where I'd have to see if I was wrong, which I don't ever do in my stand-up.
But it had to be correct.
I couldn't be wrong.
tucker carlson
Oh, about the religion.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
So I started doing a bit about that fucking threw a hole in a sheet.
And then my friend was like, that's not a true thing.
I'm like, fuck.
I had other rabbis.
I had this giant bit, a closer, about Noah and his 40 children and how his wife was the real hero because her pussy must have been blown out.
And then a rabbi in Copenhagen was like, hey, loved it.
The whole thing.
He didn't have 40 kids.
And I was like, no, he did.
He goes, no.
He had two sons, I forget now, two sons and three daughters, whatever it was.
tucker carlson
Yeah, yeah.
And their husbands.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
And it was like, it just wasn't 40. I was like, no.
And he goes, I don't mind.
I don't care.
I'm just telling you.
I love the whole thing.
I'm just telling you that wasn't, that's not right.
And I had to lose it.
I had to lose a fucking five minute like crushing chunk because it wasn't correct.
Any other bit I was doing, I was just like, eh, fuck it.
I made up a detail.
tucker carlson
But why were you fact checking your own stuff?
ari shaffir
It had to be.
Because I was doing a thing about a religion.
I was doing a factual, informational hour, which I've never done.
tucker carlson
Did you have any complaints?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
But like real ones?
Any campaigns against you?
ari shaffir
Nah.
In Melbourne, it was that thing of like, this is hate speech, you're calling them inbred.
And I'm like, no, it's loving.
All the Orthodox Jews have thought was like, a little too much cursing for my taste, but nothing's really wrong in here.
It's respectful.
So who is saying that you- It was a love letter to my religion.
tucker carlson
It sounds like it, actually.
ari shaffir
In my artistic way, in the comedy way.
tucker carlson
But don't you think people can smell the intent behind things?
ari shaffir
Well, that's what it was.
So it was like a couple outliers were like, let's look for something angry in the world.
Which is like, that's all of Twitter.
I love how I've been telling people to get off Twitter for so long.
tucker carlson
Do you go on it?
ari shaffir
No.
It's a cesspool.
And it's like, people are like, oh, well, Elon Musk is fighting.
I'm like, no, no, this way predates it.
He hasn't gotten rid of the negativity on there.
Hey, look, there's this cool telephone pole.
You know, a lot of people die in the making of that.
There's not enough trees to go around.
And it's like, Jesus, you guys can find the fucking terrible in everything.
tucker carlson
So do you use the internet?
ari shaffir
Yeah, I mean, yeah.
You know, to see if a pill you found in your closet is good or bad.
unidentified
Expired?
ari shaffir
Yeah, something like that.
Like, what is this?
tucker carlson
But you don't spend time looking at other people's opinions online.
ari shaffir
No, you still see it, though.
It seeps through.
If you're on Instagram, and you see people weighing in on stuff, it kind of comes into what you think of the world.
tucker carlson
So you think that the reason everybody hates everybody else is because of the internet?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
I didn't understand it.
You saw that movie, that half documentary, a little bit of whatever, what's it called?
The Social Experiment?
tucker carlson
I never saw it.
ari shaffir
Oh, you should see it.
So the acting parts are kind of hokey, but it does illustrate, like, in real time what this would be.
Like, somebody, like, lost on their phone, as this chick he likes is, like, looking for someone to talk to, and he's, like, lost on it.
So it's just a little acting scene, but it's just, like, one possible reason why you're getting lost on this.
Instead of talking to your neighbor on the bus, you're like, let me...
Yeah, it's like...
And these are the light problems, you know?
When I moved to New York, I was like, how do you make friends?
And my friend was like, go to a bar, order a beer.
Drink it at a regular pace.
Order another one.
Midway through the second beer, you'll be talking to someone.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
That time is done.
tucker carlson
Is it really?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
You look up to talk, they're down on their phone.
And then they look up to talk, and you're on your phone.
And you just keep missing a connection.
It's like...
tucker carlson
Boy, I haven't been to a bar in a while.
That's depressing.
ari shaffir
It's depressing.
Yeah, no one's open to meeting new people.
Hostels in Southeast Asia are still...
I hear they're slipping, but it's still that they can't afford an internet plan.
For a while, I got rid of my smartphone.
I had a flip phone for a while.
tucker carlson
You're like Ted Kaczynski-level anti-tech.
ari shaffir
No, I'm on a smartphone now, and it's ruining my life.
tucker carlson
How?
ari shaffir
I'm not present.
I'm wasting time.
You look at your time used on an iPhone.
It tells you.
You'd think they'd cover it.
If it's over 45 minutes a day, it's too much.
And for most people, it's between 4 and 8 hours.
Every day that you're wasting.
8 hours is sleeping.
2 hours is eating.
So that's 10. So you have 14 hours left.
And 4 to 8 of those are staring at a fucking screen.
We're all losing it.
We're all losing our lives.
You should just be calling a friend.
tucker carlson
Do you call friends?
ari shaffir
It's fun when you have old friends, when you text, and they text back, text, text back, and eventually they call, I can't do this anymore!
We're just talking out!
And you're like, this is what it should be.
So when I had a flip phone, it was this, you know, you'd miss the button, you'd miss the T, and you'd have to go around again and keep hitting it until you get the right letter, and it takes forever to text.
Anything over two sentences, I'm just going to call you and deal with it.
tucker carlson
So you don't text?
ari shaffir
No, I'm on a smartphone now.
So now I text constantly.
But when I had that flip phone, it was fucking...
I gotta fucking do it.
I gotta fucking go back.
tucker carlson
Why'd you get off it?
ari shaffir
I was promoting something, and I thought I had to, and it fucking ruined my life.
It's the worst.
tucker carlson
So you've actually taken breaks from the internet?
ari shaffir
Well, so when I went to Southeast Asia in 2017, I changed all my passwords to my email, Instagram.
I think I still had Twitter back then.
Email, Instagram, Twitter.
What else is there?
unidentified
Facebook.
ari shaffir
I changed my password to this.
I just went to the computer and I cut and pasted that, sent it to a friend, and I said, do not send me this.
unidentified
Wow.
ari shaffir
My password was like, you know, just a 17-syllable, whatever.
I was like, don't send me this.
I don't want it.
I'll get it when I come back.
I don't want to be able to get in there.
tucker carlson
So you didn't look?
ari shaffir
So I had no access to Facebook, no access to Instagram, no access to email, and then I left my phone at home.
I called an Uber.
To the airport.
And then put my phone on my desk.
Closed it.
And then I got an Uber and went.
tucker carlson
That is really radical.
Why'd you do that?
ari shaffir
It was the best.
It was the best.
tucker carlson
But why'd you do it?
It's like not something you do accidentally.
ari shaffir
No, it's not something I do accidentally.
That was the first time I've done it.
I've done it since.
A couple times I went to Guatemala for 10-12 days.
And I was like, I'm not bringing my phone on my computer.
You're just way freer.
You're more social.
And I don't want to be connected to America.
I just wanted to be like floating.
I just wanted to be like, that's this level of freedom.
Can you follow the dead for a while?
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
Pre-internet.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
I found my wife pre-internet.
ari shaffir
Really?
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
What, it was just like a regular mail-in thing?
tucker carlson
Yeah, just ordered her right from Saigon.
ari shaffir
With no reviews.
But I was trying to explain to Rogan about leaving, and I was like, buddy, I don't know how to express it, but there's this level of freedom.
It's like a second level of like, hey, I'm in wherever.
I'm in southern Vietnam, and I was going to go to the north, but I was just getting sick of white people, and I just like...
Where are there no white people?
And it was like, Chodok.
It was like southern small town.
And it was like, oh, I'll go there instead.
Just the ability to just swap.
Someone's like, I heard there's a good hike in Myanmar.
You go, oh, okay.
We'll do that instead.
And just like, you're just floating.
Meeting people, talking, interesting talks.
tucker carlson
And you didn't feel helpless or afraid without a phone.
ari shaffir
A hundred percent afraid.
tucker carlson
Really?
ari shaffir
Oh, yeah.
I mean, the first, I mean, I almost came back right away.
I was like, this is a mistake.
The dopamine dropped.
You know, from being on there, that's what they're trying to, you know, get you on there.
So that dropped, and I'm like, I'm not getting my fix.
I was going through withdrawals.
unidentified
Really?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
And I was like, this is a mistake.
I said, so I went, I just, I was like, I'm not going to make any plans.
I went, I discovered, I decided a region, Southeast Asia.
It was cheap.
It was going to be that or South America.
So Southeast Asia seems so foreign.
I just gotten to travel.
I did one, like, 17-day tour of China.
tucker carlson
Did you bring a girl with you?
Go by yourself?
ari shaffir
By myself.
China was fun, so the comedians would kind of guide it for you, the ones that were out there.
Somebody in Shanghai, Turner Sparks, was like, by the way, it's safe here.
They won't touch you here in China.
You can be a drunk woman asleep with your fucking phone in your hand, like passed out, and you'll wake up in that exact position, untouched.
The punishments for violent crime are way too much, and the embarrassment for their families is way too much.
Once they told me it was safe, I was like, oh, all my xenophobia was gone.
I was like, sick.
See you guys later.
You don't want a guy?
I'm like, uh-uh, I'm out.
I would just walk around and discover something.
It blew my mind.
I was like, I've got to get lost again.
It was so cool.
I got every visa I needed ahead of time.
Thailand's on landing.
You get a visa.
Some places are on landing.
Some places you need ahead of time.
Vietnam, I think I got ahead of time.
Maybe Myanmar, not Cambodia.
I think that was on landing.
And they were all good for six months, a month, any six-month period.
For six months, any month, as soon as you land.
And I just waited until a day before.
I was like, where's the weather the best?
So there was rain in Vietnam, so no.
There was rain in Thailand, so no.
And then Myanmar had like 10 clear days.
tucker carlson
Did you call home at any point?
ari shaffir
No.
tucker carlson
So you just basically disappeared for how long?
ari shaffir
Four and a half months?
Yeah.
Goddamn, it was fucking great.
tucker carlson
What was so great about it?
ari shaffir
It's that freedom.
Seeing things, seeing the world new, seeing cultures that were different than yours.
Meeting, and I didn't meet locals.
The language is a real problem in Asia.
But I met Germans at the hostels I was at.
I met people from England at the hostels I was at.
You talk.
I remember talking in...
tucker carlson
Wait, did anyone recognize you?
ari shaffir
Twice.
One time on an island in Cambodia, I was walking down this kind of desert beach with a girl.
I was like, Ari Shafir?
And I was like, yeah.
He goes, what the fuck, man?
tucker carlson
Fair question.
ari shaffir
What are you doing here?
I'm like, you know, same as you.
Got it from Henry Rollins.
Later, people are like, what are you doing here?
And he goes, I'm here to meet you.
What's your story?
He would just switch it around.
But I was in Acadia.
People are like, what are you doing here?
I was like, what do you mean?
I'm in a national park.
I'm here to hike.
I'm here for the exact same reason you're here.
Yeah, twice ever, which was also great.
So I could be...
I mean, I've told a bunch of comics this.
I'm like, you are losing your sense of reality by being looked up to.
That's not the real...
That's not the real world.
You don't understand.
And when Trump got elected, all these liberals that I was around...
Again, I'm not liberal or conservative.
I'm this third thing.
The majority of the country.
I'm the majority.
I don't care.
We could hear them talking about, oh, you've never got under your limo.
I know a really rich woman comic, and I'm like, you've never been to Dayton, Ohio.
You wouldn't understand disillusionment.
The recession's still going on in a lot of places.
You've got to get out and talk to people.
I remember talking in Indonesia on an island.
It wasn't Flores.
I forget.
But over breakfast, this German guy, and he was telling me about German workers' rights and the five-week standard vacation time they get.
And I was like, what do you mean?
Like, first year out of college?
He goes, yeah, five weeks?
unidentified
I don't know.
ari shaffir
You do better after a while.
He's like, how much do you guys get?
I'm like, two weeks, and you're expected to not take it.
And he was like, oh, and I'm like, what the?
So that kind of, like, talking to people makes you, like, realize, oh, some shit.
That's wrong.
tucker carlson
Well, you learn more about your own country, good and bad.
I mean, you're in some places and you're like, God, I wish they did it the American way.
ari shaffir
Right, 100%.
tucker carlson
And in other countries, you're like, I wish we did that.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
I mean, when I got home, the first thing I noticed getting home was like, the toilet paper in my country is so fucking soft.
tucker carlson
Oh, it's superior.
ari shaffir
It's like God takes the cloud and just wipes your ass.
tucker carlson
It's like Angora.
ari shaffir
Yeah, and I learned to appreciate that.
unidentified
Yes.
ari shaffir
Yeah, it's like Angora, exactly right.
tucker carlson
It does feel to me, I mean, having had, you know, a pretty failed educational experience, but that you learn way more from a month abroad than you would in, say, a year in college.
ari shaffir
The gap year.
I met these four or five Canadian chicks, 18, in a city in Myanmar.
And we're all just talking.
Everyone's talking.
Everyone's so friendly and inviting in hostels.
Everyone's like, they'll see you.
They're not ageist.
They're not sexist.
There's not even, nobody even pays for a woman's drinks.
They're like, no, no.
My money is my time I have left out here.
I saved up 10 grand if I buy a drink for anybody.
And it's not expected.
It's so, the quality level is crazy.
But they're like, you want to play cards?
You know cards?
We're playing a game.
You want to sit in with us?
There's not like, who are you?
They just don't have it there at hostels.
And I was talking to these Canadian chicks and they were like, we're on gap year.
And I was like, oh, we don't get gap year in America.
But they're like, we don't get gap year.
We just took a year off.
It's not.
It's not a thing.
It's not part of the curriculum.
I don't know why we don't do it more.
In between college and high school and college and grad school, that's a year to yourself.
tucker carlson
So, but weren't you worried about coming back to 70,000 text messages and emails?
ari shaffir
Yeah, a little bit.
My manager at the time was like, what if something big comes up?
I'm like, I don't want it.
Tell them no for me.
He's like, what if it's something you want?
I'm like, I want to do this.
I want to disappear.
Tell them no.
I'll just have missed it.
What if there's an emergency?
What emergency?
What if your dad dies?
Then I'll mourn when I get home.
I don't need to mourn at the right time.
tucker carlson
Why did you do this again?
ari shaffir
My mental place was in when I did it.
I just, I was kind of having a fight with Comedy Central.
They wanted me to work nonstop.
Oh, you understand this.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
They wanted me to work nonstop.
I wanted some time off.
That friend Duncan who fucked me over with my name on the internet, with my number on the internet, didn't fuck me over.
It was a fun prank.
I mean, he used to leave also, like, glasses of piss in my fridge.
So, like, whatever.
When I say fuck me over it, in the most respectful way.
tucker carlson
That's not a respectful way.
You're in the fridge.
No, that's not respectful.
ari shaffir
I did it to my friend, Bobby Kelly.
He was the one who called.
I pissed in a bottle and put it in his fridge.
He's like, what if my wife found this?
I'm like, right?
He would have been in a lot of trouble.
What were we saying?
tucker carlson
So you're fighting with...
ari shaffir
Oh, so Comic Central's like, you got to work.
And I'm like, it takes me eight months to edit this like storytelling TV show that I was doing with other comics.
And I'm like, I need some time off.
And they're like, no, we got to get back to another season.
So Duncan was like, well, you want to see the world and this company you work for wants you to not see the world.
So I'm like, yeah, you're right.
I got to get out of here.
And I just like, hey, I'm trusting you to book the show the next year.
I'm trusting you to do this.
I'm out.
Handle it as best you can.
But it might get fucked up.
You ever read The Fountainhead?
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
So when he leaves for vacation, things get fucked up.
tucker carlson
Oh, yeah.
ari shaffir
And he has to go correct it.
He's got to blow some shit up.
But at some point, you got to trust some people to like, you'll handle this.
I mean, they're going to upload this video.
tucker carlson
Right.
ari shaffir
You could stand over their shoulder.
tucker carlson
No.
ari shaffir
But you're like, and they might mess it up.
They might not quite do it the way you want.
unidentified
Yes.
ari shaffir
I mean, interrupting where you're like.
I could tell.
You're like, I shouldn't interrupt.
You should just get it right.
But then they have to make a decision.
You're trusting them to do it so you can free yourself up to do other stuff.
Anyway, trusted the people I had to trust and just got lost.
tucker carlson
What happened to your brain not being on text all day long?
ari shaffir
God damn, it was great.
So when I first got a flip phone, which was halfway to that, I was talking at the Stan Comedy Club.
I was talking to Nikki Glaser before she blew up.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
But she was still, whatever, funny comic.
And we're talking.
tucker carlson
Before the Tom Brady roast.
ari shaffir
Way before the Tom Brady roast.
And I'm friends with her.
But not like good friends with her.
And I'm sitting at the back table.
We're talking.
And this is day one of the flip phone.
Like I think day one or week one anyway.
She goes, has it changed at all?
What has it changed?
I'm like, I wouldn't be talking to you, Nikki.
I'd be on my phone looking for someone else.
tucker carlson
Totally right.
ari shaffir
And man, I loved it.
Being out there in Asia with no connection.
There was one time in this northern city in Thailand, I met an American girl.
Started talking about Trump a little bit.
And then it's the same patterns of discussion.
We both looked at each other like, we shouldn't do this.
And we're like, yeah, let's not.
Where else have you been in Asia?
Absolutely smart move.
Let's switch a subject.
It's just like...
tucker carlson
You may have come to the obvious conclusion that the real debate is not between Republican and Democrat or socialist and capitalist, right, left.
The real battle is between people who are lying on purpose and people who are trying to tell you the truth.
It's between good and evil.
It's between honesty and falsehood.
And we hope we are on the former side.
That's why we created this network, the Tucker Carlson Network.
And we invite you to subscribe to it.
Go to tuckercarlson.com slash podcast.
Our entire archive is there.
A lot of behind-the-scenes footage of what actually happens in this barn when only an iPhone is running.
TuckerCarlson.com slash podcast.
You will not regret it.
Did you find a distance between what you were expecting and what you found?
ari shaffir
I wasn't expecting anything.
tucker carlson
Like China, for example.
ari shaffir
Yeah, so like China, it was so foreign.
tucker carlson
What did you expect out of China?
No, no.
ari shaffir
I told my agent, I was like, I'm getting this itch to travel.
If you find any foreign gigs, let me know.
I still wasn't making enough money to really, but I was making some.
And he goes, well, I got you a 17-day tour of China.
Beijing, Shanghai, cities outside Shanghai, ending in Hong Kong, cities outside Hong Kong.
And he goes, it doesn't pay very well, but they'll fly you out there, hotels every night, and it pays you, I think it was like, It was like three grand, four grand.
I was like, buddy, that's more than I was making two years ago.
That's great.
And it's just like tasting food.
You're like, what the fuck is this?
Seeing that they don't take the bones out of their meat.
They just cleaver it all.
I was picking up so many chops.
I'm like, what the fuck?
There's bones in these pieces of meat.
And they're like, you need a fork?
I'm like, that's not the issue.
Get the eyeball out of my soup.
Yeah, and it was just like, I don't know what I was expecting, but I told you, I was at the Beijing comedy scene.
They were in the Hutongs of Beijing doing blow.
And I was like, isn't it punishable by death here?
And they go, they don't care about white drugs.
They only care about yellow drugs.
tucker carlson
What are yellow drugs?
ari shaffir
Opium.
unidentified
Oh.
ari shaffir
Stuff that the Chinese would lose their lives to.
They're like, you guys kill yourselves with coke.
We don't care.
We don't do that.
So it doesn't matter.
You can't import it, but if you do it, somebody actually in the Beijing scene got caught with coke.
They stamped a passport, never allowed a return, and sent them home.
She went home, steamed out that part of her passport, went right back.
And they don't have computer systems there.
So it's like, welcome to China.
Anyway, we're doing coke in the Hutongs, having a good time.
And then we're walking around.
It was like 3, 3.30 a.m.
It was hot.
This was like in June, I think.
And went to a bodega and bought like a 20-ounce Heineken.
And I'm like, you can't do that where I'm from.
You can't buy a beer at night and walk around with it.
But there, they're like, as long as you don't skull anybody with it, what's the issue?
It's like having a knife.
If you stab someone, that's now a weapon.
If you just have it to whittle, it's not a weapon.
And then there's like, so it's like, oh wow, you can do these fun...
And then my friends were like, can you get on Google?
And it's like, no, you cannot.
You cannot search anything.
tucker carlson
But that's not a problem for you.
ari shaffir
I mean, I still want to find out, like, where's a good restaurant in town.
But I have more fun just walking and finding a good restaurant.
You know?
It's like discovery is...
tucker carlson
So, in other words, it sounds like it was freer than you thought it was.
ari shaffir
So free.
And then you learn how to, like, adapt and overcome.
They tell you to take a...
If you're in a hotel, this is early.
I'm better at it now.
They tell you to take a business card from the hotel so you can show it to someone who does not speak English, get me home to a cab driver.
Did not.
It was World Cup.
We're all at a bar watching at like 2 a.m.
I was hooked up with this chick who was there hanging out.
unidentified
Chinese?
ari shaffir
No, although I did hook up with a Chinese chick.
She took me home and their dad came with a fucking bat and chased me out.
tucker carlson
No way, actually?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
It was pretty fucking nutty.
Yeah.
But, you know, no harm, no foul.
Nothing happened.
tucker carlson
So you scampered out?
ari shaffir
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Like putting on your pants, running.
It was so fucking fun!
But then I had to, like, get this cab home after a World Cup of making out with this chick, and then I was like, the Sheraton?
He's like, I mean, I may as well, but just be, you know, and I'm like, the Sheraton?
tucker carlson
That's Chinese, by the way.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
That's pretty close.
And then I remembered, like, I forgot.
He's like, no, I gotta get out of the car.
Torrential rain.
And I'm like, fuck.
I'm like, soaked to the bone.
Another cab.
The Sheraton Hotel?
No understanding at all.
I'm like, fuck.
And then I'm like, it's near the train station.
So another cab, and I'm like, He said something.
I'm like, sure.
Until we got close to the train station, I'm like, forget that.
Share it.
Share it to that.
You just figure it out.
My flip-flops started breaking.
That was that first trip.
In Indonesia, they started breaking and I couldn't find 11 1⁄2 size shoes.
People don't come that big in that part of their world.
They don't have GMOs.
Looked and looked and looked.
In Cambodia, found like a bunch of 10 size, you know, flip.
And they're like, they'll stretch.
I'm like, the bottom doesn't stretch.
It's the top that stretches.
Not a size and a half.
Finally found some.
Some quick silver one in like a real store.
And they broke.
They were fake.
They broke pretty fast.
It kind of flopped, whatever.
And I was like, I was going to throw them away.
But I'm like, oh, I can't.
I won't find more shoes.
So you're like, I have to fix these shoes.
So you just look for super glue.
You just learn to overcome situations.
The bus is gone.
What do I do?
How do I talk to people in another language?
It's so fun.
Just getting places.
By the end, I ended in East Timor, and I was like, I should learn some of the language, some tetum.
I talked to an Italian lady in Indonesia, and she was really learning Bahasa, Indonesia.
She was, like, really good at it.
Like, actually learning.
She'd hear it worse.
Like, what's that word?
And she'd write it down.
It was kind of inspirational.
So I was like, I got to do that for East Timor.
So I could get by.
I'm like, place to sleep.
I know how to say that.
I don't remember anything.
Fatem Descanse.
It was like a hybrid of, like, Portuguese.
tucker carlson
I can't fact check that for you.
ari shaffir
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah.
So you'd go to a small town.
I'm like, Fatem Descanse?
Fatem Descanse?
And they'd point you to someplace and you'd get closer.
Like, Fatem Descanse?
They're there, and they're like, yeah, come this way, and they'd feed you and give you a place for five bucks.
tucker carlson
What's Myanmar like, and why is it no longer called Burma?
ari shaffir
Do you know?
tucker carlson
I don't.
ari shaffir
Oh.
So they got a bunch of bad press from human rights violations.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
Like, change the name.
tucker carlson
Is that really why?
They rebranded the whole country?
ari shaffir
Yeah, they moved the capital to the middle of nowhere so no one can protest.
It's like moving D.C. to two hours outside Wichita.
Really?
Who's going to go there to protest?
Only the hardcore people.
tucker carlson
Did it feel repressive?
ari shaffir
No.
Because it was only certain regions.
And foreigners are not allowed to stay in those regions.
So it didn't really come up.
They're also not allowed to rent motorized vehicles.
tucker carlson
Foreigners aren't.
unidentified
Yeah.
ari shaffir
So they had e-bikes.
They just worked their way around.
So they had e-bikes and like Bagan and places like that.
You can rent an e-bike.
Just an electronic bike they had to like.
It's like a motorized golf cart versus an electric.
But there was one time we saw there was a bus.
It took you like this way from Inlay Lake to maybe Mandalay.
I forget.
And it took you way over here, then all the way back.
You know, like this route.
And me and a couple friends were like, it's like three hours this way.
Or six hours, but it's like 17 hours this way.
It's like, meh.
Let's just get our own way.
Let's not take a bus.
Let's take little shuttles and stuff.
So we did.
We stopped halfway in.
We're like, let's get out of here.
Some fucking tiny town.
It was cool.
Went to a hotel.
It was like, can we stay here?
And they're just like looking at us.
And we're like, do the bell.
Somebody comes up.
And it was like, hi, two rooms.
And they're just like kind of talking to each other, staring at us.
And we're like, is this a hotel?
And they're just like looking at us.
And eventually somebody like, Call somebody on the phone.
They give me the phone.
Someone spoke English in the capital, Yangon.
Like, you can't stay there.
Foreigners can't stay there.
tucker carlson
How'd they know you're a foreigner?
Long nose.
ari shaffir
One of the buddies I was with there was like, I don't want to take my, he's a photographer.
He goes, I don't want to take my camera because they'll know I'm a tourist.
He goes, you're a six foot one white guy in Myanmar.
They're going to know.
She goes, you can't stay there.
She's got to turn around.
I'm like, no, no, we just came.
She goes, you got to go south.
I'm like, we just came from south.
We're going north.
She goes, no, you can't.
I'm like, the bus, we're off the bus.
It's gone.
And I was like, well, can we stay at a fucking monastery?
Because they sort of have to take you in.
And she just started laughing.
She goes, you can't stay in the region.
And I started like, I'm pretty good at playing pretend, so I was pretend poor while I was there.
I was just like, whatever you guys' level is, that's me.
So when they're bitching about a $2 more expensive hostel, I'm like, I know, right?
I can sell it to myself.
I know it's the common people.
You could call your father and he'd end it all.
But I just ignored that.
So I'm crying.
I'm like, but I can't.
We can't go south.
We're going north.
I don't know what to do.
And she's like, all right.
She's like, we'll call a local minister to come and talk to you.
He came in.
He's like, all right, we found another hotel that you can stay in.
But he's doing you a fucking favor.
This isn't allowed.
He's helping you.
I'm like, okay.
And then we're there.
We're walking around.
My buddy shut down the market by just being white and walking through.
It was like the parting of the sea.
They're all doing their work, and they're like, what the fuck is this guy doing here?
tucker carlson
With love and admiration or fear and loathing?
ari shaffir
It's like if you see somebody 7'8".
tucker carlson
Yeah, it's just weird.
ari shaffir
Yeah, it's just like, what?
And you've never seen a white.
It's crazy.
They're like, can you take a picture?
All through Asia, can you take a picture?
I'm like, yeah, sure.
I'm like, no, no.
I want to be on your camera.
I want my image to go back to America.
I think it'd be so cool.
Hold my baby.
Let me take a picture of you holding my baby.
It's crazy.
Every black guy I know, they're like, can we touch your hair?
No, they wouldn't ask.
They would just touch their hair.
And he goes, excuse me.
They're like, right?
It was nuts.
So we stayed at a place.
Then we started walking.
We're just touring around.
We saw a statue on Maps.me, like a Maps app.
It was like statue.
So we're like, alright, let's go to the statue.
It was near an army base, like a junta base, which is like, they have rebels there in these regions, and some of them work with the government, some of them are against the government, some of them have deals with each other.
I don't fully know.
I wasn't there for the government.
Anyway, we're there, taking a picture, hanging out.
Six or seven army people with machine guns come out, went right at us.
What are you doing here?
Nothing.
What are you doing?
You taking pictures of that?
Like, yeah, it's just a statue.
Give me the pictures.
Let me see.
Delete them.
Where's your passports?
Like, I don't know, they're back at our hotels.
Let's go.
Let's go see them.
And they just let us machine gun style back to our hotel to get our passports.
It's just, this is a no foreigners region.
tucker carlson
Was there, I mean, anything worth hiding there that you saw?
ari shaffir
No.
No.
tucker carlson
There's not like a secret nuclear program or anything?
ari shaffir
No.
It was just some poor people with like makeshift guns and like, yeah.
And then we got back and the people there were like, why?
Let's play soccer.
We all tried to do the hacky sack soccer thing.
They loved it.
I got violent diarrhea and food poisoning there.
That was more notable than the machine gun stuff.
tucker carlson
Yeah, well, that's required.
So, four and a half months on the road, you come back to your country, and what do you notice?
ari shaffir
Okay, that's a good question.
And actually, I can tie that into this Jew special also.
So, you see everything fresh when you get back.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
Clean, clear eyes.
tucker carlson
Yes, you do.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
Even probably, what'd you do, a month in Australia?
Two weeks?
tucker carlson
Yeah, two and a half weeks.
ari shaffir
Even that amount of time.
For sure.
If you're off, it's enough time to be like, oh, it's just a horse for the trees for a moment.
And it was a little overcrowded.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
The cities, even DC and the metro, I'm like, this is too industrial.
tucker carlson
Yes.
ari shaffir
I went to visit my parents first, surprised them.
They were like so stoked.
They haven't talked to me.
And I went right to them.
I just walked through the door.
I was like, what the fuck?
Yeah, it was really nice.
Yeah, it's overbuilt, but also very clean.
But then also, I was in France.
I took a writing class in France, and I got back to a beautiful city, Paris.
Got back to New York.
I'm like, there's writing on every surface here.
Someone has graffitied every...
This city is disgusting compared to Paris.
And Paris is pretty disgusting.
Yeah, but that old town, you know?
tucker carlson
Yeah, it's great.
ari shaffir
And then it's like, why is everything written on?
Why does everyone sign their fucking name on every fucking surface?
So you notice those things like that you don't notice.
So I'm trying to remember what I noticed there.
It was just a lot of anger, a lot of hustle and bustle.
Toilet paper was soft.
tucker carlson
Did it seem angrier than when you left?
ari shaffir
Well, I didn't check my email right away.
The lady I sent it to was an employee back then.
I was like, don't give it to me yet.
I'm not ready for it yet.
And then I did, and it was like, fuck, it was overwhelming amount of requests I would need.
And people asking for things.
Even to weigh in on this or that, I'm like, a lot of fucking tasks I didn't realize.
I didn't realize how much response...
That's what it was.
The overwhelming amount of responsibility.
And I'm not in a high-responsibility field.
tucker carlson
That's true!
ari shaffir
And it was just like needing to return texts and emails and weigh in on this and pay your bill and do that.
It's just like...
It was so freeing before.
So here's what I noticed when I did the Jew special.
It was weird because I've never done this before, but I was living with a ghost for about five years.
I was living with a guy who was dead.
That version of me isn't here anymore.
Right?
tucker carlson
The yeshiva student.
ari shaffir
The yeshiva kid.
unidentified
Yeah.
ari shaffir
He's gone.
He's been long gone.
And I was living there and trying to remember this ancient religion and ancient time in my life.
And I was lost and it was a very lonely hour.
Usually it's like in relation to other things.
And I finished it and I kind of came for air and I looked around and everybody was very angry.
I came back into the world and it was like everyone's mad about everything.
My friends were obsessed with stories that I didn't even know were happening.
tucker carlson
Like what?
ari shaffir
There's some chick with no dicks swimming against other chicks with dicks.
Their whole life is fucking worried about it.
And it's like, none of this concerns you.
None of this concerns you.
That there's a trans swimmer or that there's COVID vaccine.
It's like, dude, chill out.
All of you are mad about every little thing.
And it's like, I don't know what happened in those five years.
People got fucking mad.
I just came up and I was like seeing it fresh.
It wasn't like, you know when a kid, you see a 10-year-old, you see him five years later, like, well, you got so fucking big.
Or five to 10. Yeah, other people's kids.
Yeah, but if you see him every month, you don't notice it.
So I was like dropped out, popped back in, and everybody was at each other's throats.
Everybody's so actively political.
tucker carlson
How do you avoid that?
ari shaffir
I don't read the news.
I try to change the subject.
I try to have tools.
Change the subject.
How do you change the subject?
tucker carlson
You must be the only resolutely non-political person with a public voice left.
ari shaffir
There's a few of us.
My friend Big J, we were talking once.
We did a week together in Miami.
Probably the worst city in America.
tucker carlson
I heard it was the best.
ari shaffir
Who told you that?
I don't know.
tucker carlson
Real estate agent?
ari shaffir
Yeah, exactly.
It's so disgusting.
They value only beauty, no intelligence.
If you're a girl growing up in...
Florida, they will not reward your A-plus in high school.
They will reward your new hairstyle.
Anyway, we got a beach house and we're talking.
He goes, I like Biden.
This was three years ago.
I was like, why do you like Biden?
You don't vote.
He goes, I hear about him less than the other guy.
And I'm like, what a great reason to like one over the other.
Yeah, we do hear way more about this guy than that guy.
If you're a non-political, I just want you to be away from me.
You deal with it.
Yeah, you avoid it.
You learn how to change a subject.
tucker carlson
But aren't a lot of comedians pretty absorbed with it?
ari shaffir
Yeah, but we don't even know anything.
tucker carlson
Yeah, I've noticed.
ari shaffir
It's like we don't know anything we're weighing in.
So here's what I do.
It's like you start to get an argument and we're like, well, mainly my stance is I don't care.
But if you ask me to take a stance on Ford versus Chevy, you know, something that doesn't matter, what do you think is better?
It's like, well...
95% of my reaction is, I don't know or care.
Whatever I can get a better deal on is good.
But with that other 5%, I'm going to say, I think Chevy's better.
Why?
I just kind of feel that way.
Okay, so everybody's only publicly weighing in on their 5% and not their 95%, which is, I don't give a fuck.
No one cares about women's college swimming.
No one's ever cared about women's college swimming.
tucker carlson
You don't think so?
unidentified
No.
ari shaffir
I didn't even know it existed.
Shut the fuck up.
And they're obsessed with it.
They're fucking obsessed with women's amateur aquatics.
Fuck off.
Eat a dick.
Shut up, dude.
What are we talking about?
tucker carlson
What are the issues that get you spun up?
ari shaffir
The Yankees.
Mid-season collapse.
That's every fucking year.
But I know it doesn't matter.
I know this is fake.
I'm not pretending it's an actual real thing.
I'll bitch about somebody going to a slump, but I know at the end they're like, I'm just playing pretend angry.
It doesn't really matter.
tucker carlson
So there are no issues that get you mad?
ari shaffir
Stand-up.
People coming after stand-ups.
tucker carlson
Who's coming after stand-ups?
ari shaffir
It's a lot of people.
It's an interesting time for my industry.
tucker carlson
Tell me how.
ari shaffir
I love this thing you used to do on your TV show where you're like, play dumb to get an answer.
It's really fun.
I am dumb.
But that doesn't...
Interesting.
You think you would be rewarded for helping a little woman cause a stranger?
And you're saying you were not rewarded?
That's odd.
unidentified
It's called evoking an answer.
tucker carlson
So I'm trying to pull back and keep my many opinions out of it.
ari shaffir
Yeah, it's smart.
It's a good way to do it.
Instead of weighing in and going, I know, you're right, and weighing in.
It's like, keep talking.
tucker carlson
Well, you know more about the top.
No, sincerely, I don't know that much.
I know a million stand-ups, and I like a lot of them.
But I don't know that much about your business.
ari shaffir
Yeah, so you get a lot of people.
It's worse when it's from the inside.
It was other comedians weighing in and saying that crossed the line publicly.
tucker carlson
Oh, do you get that?
ari shaffir
Yeah, it's disappointing.
It's really disappointing.
Because it is already a battle.
You're trying to get people to laugh at dark stuff.
Really dark stuff.
School shootings.
You're trying to get them to laugh at it.
You're trying to find joy in a terrible thing.
9-11 jokes.
Holocaust jokes.
AIDS jokes.
Rape jokes.
You're trying to get them to find...
Making fun.
Break that down.
We're creating fun.
You know?
People are like, you're making fun of this.
Like, right.
I'm creating fun out of a terrible situation.
That guy, Don Barris, used to run the June A. Yeah.
There was a time we had a friend die.
Freddie Soto died.
I don't know what.
Just in his sleep one day.
Really helpful.
Looked out for everybody.
Really just supportive guy when we all started.
And nobody could believe it.
I was like, what the fuck?
At the time, I was banned from the Comedy Store for beating up Bobby Lee too much.
I was angry about a chick, and I was taking it on him, and I was just, every chance I'd get, I was punching him.
And they were like, alright, you're out.
You can't be here.
And I lived two blocks away.
And I got the call, Freddie Soto died, and I was like, what the fuck?
And these bans always lasted between a month and six months, and then would end, and you were always welcome back.
By the time I was banned, we couldn't understand Freddie Soda dying.
It's like, it was the first one that died that I knew of.
And it was like, I remember walking down the steps of my apartment, then just collapsing on the steps.
And then like, keep walking.
And then I met someone in front of the conference or another comic.
We just hugged and we sat on the sidewalk.
Like with our feet on the street.
And just like sitting there.
And Don Barris comes up and he goes, I'm glad you're letting the band be enforced.
You shouldn't be in here.
It's good you're on the street.
It was just a cathartic laugh.
He made fun out of a terrible situation.
And that's what some of us are trying to do.
Others are trying to do funny lollipop jokes.
tucker carlson
It is true that funerals and wakes, memorial services, the saddest get-togethers that we have, they always wind up in hilarity.
Experience that?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
This guy, Bob Oshak, who ran the memorial for Freddy Soto.
It was in the main room of the comedy store.
And he starts off.
He was like, really good friends and best friends.
They started together.
And he goes, you know, this is a weird time.
And he set the tone right away.
He goes, you know, I'm here.
It's just weird that it took Freddy dying for me to finally get a main room spot.
And just Mitzi starts laughing.
And it's just like, hey, we're going to enjoy this.
We're not going to cry.
We're going to, but we're going to try not to.
So that's what we do.
And then some people are just not understanding it.
tucker carlson
But other stand-ups are policing their colleagues?
ari shaffir
They fall.
It used to be we'd just talk shit about them.
I was doing a blowjob joke a long time ago, and Mark Maron was just looking at me like, whatever.
And he goes, you're smarter than that, man.
That sucks.
But like I said, he didn't put me in a moral low ground, him in a moral high ground.
He was just like, you're smarter than that.
And I'm like, yeah, smart people also like getting their fucking balls drained.
They can all relate to it.
It's universal.
It works in Romania, in China, in America.
Everybody can relate to it.
I don't see a problem with it.
Some stupid jokes are fine.
But it wasn't a fight.
We would just talk shit about each other behind our backs in a fun way.
Oh, that guy's just doing alt jokes.
He sucks.
He sucks.
But never go publicly about it.
Now it's this thing, this moral high ground.
You get activated online where you just feel like...
tucker carlson
Have you been attacked by other stand-ups?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
Yeah.
But also, Far more.
The real story is I've been supported by other stand-ups.
tucker carlson
Yeah, I would imagine.
ari shaffir
At a 95% rate.
tucker carlson
Would they attend the Kobe Bryant stuff?
ari shaffir
Yeah, a few.
But even in that, it was mostly positive texts.
How you doing?
You okay?
I thought that was hilarious.
And then a few knuckleheads.
That's it, who just felt...
tucker carlson
You got punished for that.
unidentified
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
ari shaffir
Yeah, it ruled out.
I got a call from Milo going, good one, bro.
Nice one.
You got a lot of people mad.
I'm like, thanks, buddy.
unidentified
Coming from you, that's fucking awesome.
tucker carlson
So Milo appreciated it.
ari shaffir
Yeah, Duncan was like, I think this might be your best one.
I'm like, yeah, I know.
I made a city crumble.
Yeah, it was great.
I turned comedians into hypocrites.
They were all like, if you don't like a joke, just walk away.
And now these same guys, because they live in LA, or they were black, They were like, this is going too far!
I'm like, ha ha, you have no ideals.
I found your fucking...
Oh, just walk away if it's a rape joke, but if it's about one of your heroes, you're like, oh no, I don't like it!
You've never been triggered.
Now you're triggered.
Now you understand those people walking out.
He's screaming as they walk out.
tucker carlson
Well, it's also helpful for the rest of us to know who they are, the phonies.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
It's just like...
tucker carlson
Did you get dropped by your management for that?
ari shaffir
Manager dropped me.
She was also getting...
Death threats at home.
tucker carlson
Because you made fun of Kobe Bryant.
ari shaffir
Dude, Laker fans are retarded.
They're not smart people.
They've only had winners, so they don't understand what struggle is.
They're dumb.
They're bad people.
They're Laker fans.
tucker carlson
So when she called you, what'd she say?
ari shaffir
She was like, I think she might have texted me.
She's like, I think that's the end of the road for us.
But I'm getting these like...
They doxxed her.
They're like, I'm going to come to your house and rape you.
It's like, ugh, don't deal with that.
Yeah, get out of here.
What are you guys doing?
They upped it.
They upped it at that point.
I've never seen them up it like that, where instead of going after you, they'll go after other people, like your loved ones, to try to hurt you.
And it's like, well, what did they do?
What do you do?
It's just idiots, you know?
Online going, it's like, they're all playing kids.
If they actually saw someone, they wouldn't do that.
Nothing actual in real life, by the way.
Zero.
Only online stuff.
And I tried to calm everybody down.
I was like, guys, I've been getting death threats for two decades.
This isn't real.
This is gamer talk.
This is just gamer talk.
unidentified
Well, that's true.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
The best one was, this guy was like, if you come to North Carolina, I'll kick your fucking ass.
I swear to God.
And then...
An hour later, he wrote back.
He goes, okay, I see you're in North Carolina right now, but if you come to Greensboro, North Carolina, I'm not going to really kick your ass.
I'm like, no, you took a shot already, dork.
You took your shot.
Shut up.
If I ever see you, I'll kill you.
I'm like, my tour schedule's there.
Have some fucking ideals.
Come get me.
tucker carlson
Do you worry about that?
ari shaffir
I used to, in the very beginning.
But it was never even a fuck you in person.
It was never even a like, shut up, fuck you.
It was never even that.
Let alone actual danger.
tucker carlson
So you've never had anybody come to your house or hassle you or anything like that?
ari shaffir
No.
No, but online, and they went after other people, and so then...
But no one...
I was never punished from any moral stance.
tucker carlson
Your manager shouldn't drop you.
I mean, I feel sorry for her hearing about it that she got threatened.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
But you're paying this person to have your back in moments exactly like this, right?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
Right.
So to abandon you in one of those moments...
It's pretty much the greatest dereliction of duty imaginable.
ari shaffir
Yeah, we're not really friends anymore.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
Yeah, exactly.
This is the time to...
tucker carlson
What's the whole point, right?
ari shaffir
Yeah, help me through this.
tucker carlson
Yeah, it's not when you're like...
ari shaffir
Oh, yeah.
And then my producer pulled out because they were like, I was going to do that special.
And then he was like, I can't do it.
Because he was in L.A. People thought it was the end of the world.
And I was like, what?
No, it's nothing.
I even had an Uber driver.
I came back from Charlotte.
I was doing a gig in Charlotte when it happened.
And I came back, sat in an Uber driver, and he was talking.
He was like, did you hear about this Kobe Bryant guy?
I was like, yeah.
I was like, what do you think about it?
He goes, it's just weird.
I don't know.
It's sad, but it's him and his daughter and the seven other people.
They don't seem to give a fuck about those seven other people.
And I'm like, right, Riley?
tucker carlson
That's fair.
ari shaffir
You got it.
That's where these jokes are.
When some celebrity dies and I'm mocking them online, it's because you guys value celebrity life over a normal life.
tucker carlson
Well, you also made a pretty biting point, I thought.
Well, I'll tell you my reaction, which is I never criticize anyone when he dies, okay?
ari shaffir
Right.
tucker carlson
So there's that, but I'm not a stand-up.
But I thought you made a totally fair point.
I'm not against Kobe Bryant, but he was credibly accused of rape.
They hassled the woman until she dropped out.
ari shaffir
Started spreading rumors about her.
Seven other people seeming inside her.
unidentified
During the trial.
ari shaffir
Stuff we wouldn't hold by today.
tucker carlson
And he admitted that she never gave consent, but he implied non-verbally that there was consent and that he strangled her.
So there was something there.
ari shaffir
His words.
Although at the time I didn't realize, I now know she does not think she gave me consent.
It's like, alright.
That's his word.
tucker carlson
I'm not much of a feminist.
Even I'm like, no, that sounds great to me.
ari shaffir
By the way, also, I don't really care.
What I'm doing is making fun of our society for leveraging them up.
tucker carlson
I haven't stayed up late worrying about Kobe Bryant's assault.
Either, but these are the same people who are telling me to value all women and believe all women or whatever, but they actually don't care at all.
ari shaffir
It was wild.
tucker carlson
And you made that point.
ari shaffir
And I was in LA. That was a totally fair point.
As a Laker hater, just going, well, they're not going to let him off.
Like, he'll be going to jail, hoping he would because, like, I want the Lakers to fail.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
And then when it became time for him to go to, like, when he retired, I'm like, they're not going to let him have a retirement season.
The women of LA, the liberal fucking women of LA are never going to let this accuse rapists.
Get through his fucking victory lap without mentioning it.
And they were so cucky.
They just were like, no, we don't go after black people.
We only go after white people.
That's just the way it is.
tucker carlson
So, this has been brewing inside you for a while.
ari shaffir
Well, I hate the Lakers.
I just like, whatever.
I had a bid on an old album.
It was called Hashtag Fuck the Lakers.
I was in Denver.
I was like, oh, this is where he fucking raped that chick, right here.
tucker carlson
Do people laugh?
ari shaffir
Yeah, of course.
tucker carlson
Why do you hate the Lakers?
ari shaffir
Well, I don't really.
It's just fun.
But it's because they killed comedy shows in LA. Every time they're in the playoffs.
It'd be up 3-0 in the first round when they'd be the one seed against an eighth seed and you'd have a show and no one would show up because they all had to watch the fucking...
These bandwagon fans had to watch the fucking Lakers.
So I'm like, I fucking hate the Lakers.
Nobody hates the Clippers.
So you just lean into it.
My number one team is...
Anti-Lakers.
tucker carlson
That's totally fair.
ari shaffir
The number two team is the Pelicans.
tucker carlson
When you tell jokes in China, do you tailor them to a Chinese audience?
And what's a funny joke in China?
ari shaffir
So, anywhere else, you get halfway through a joke and realize, ah, shit, you're not going to understand this reference.
You don't even think about it.
tucker carlson
A dog-eating joke or something like that?
ari shaffir
No, you don't do that.
They were just very clear, do not make fun of the government.
And I was like, okay.
And they're like, listen, we're going to tell you twice because I know you're a comedian, we're comedians.
We can tell you that.
It's going to make you want to do it.
Don't do it.
We'll get shut down.
There's a chance to get arrested.
There's a chance we get arrested.
Don't do it.
It's not like it won't work.
It's going to be painful for all of us.
And I still did one anyway.
I was talking about anti-government at the time, and I was like, my country needs a fucking Mao to come fucking murder all our senators.
And they were like, whoa, whoa!
And I was like, no, it's pro-Mao.
It's pro-Mao.
I was like, dude, change the fucking subject!
Yeah, but anyway, that Kobe stuff, some people just, like, wade in and got mad, and they were like, he shouldn't say this.
I was like, fuck off.
tucker carlson
Wait, other stand-ups said that?
ari shaffir
Yeah, a few.
tucker carlson
Like who?
ari shaffir
Nah.
But, like, they know who they are.
It doesn't matter.
Others were mad, but just, like, personally, like, dude, come on, man.
Miss Pat called me and was like, Ari, you can't make fun of our heroes.
Like, make fun of Dennis Rodman.
And I was like, alright, or Michelle Obama.
She goes, no, not Michelle Obama.
I'll tell you you can make fun of.
But she just called and, like...
And, like, would check up on me and stuff like that.
And then other people, she'd be like, fuck that fat bitch for going against you.
It's pat rules.
But, like, the normal people would just check on you and never say a word.
You know?
Some people, like, fought tooth and nail to be like, defend me.
Other people were just like, it's not my fight, but I hope you're doing okay.
tucker carlson
Who defended you?
ari shaffir
Mark Norman went hard on me once.
Not hard on me.
Hard for me on a radio show in San Diego.
Talking about how, like, Jokes are jokes.
If you didn't like it, it's just you didn't like it.
Andrew Schultz went on The Breakfast Club, a very black show.
tucker carlson
Whoa, yeah.
ari shaffir
And was like, you guys are way off.
You're way off.
I mean, that was ballsy, to go on a black show.
He was a black hero.
So just like when Cosby's stuff came out and they didn't want to hear it, they didn't want to hear this either.
So I like bringing it up.
Again, it's not about Kobe.
It's about them worshiping heroes.
So he was like, no, it's a fucking joke.
You guys are getting it wrong.
And then that was...
tucker carlson
How did that go over?
ari shaffir
They were fighting him.
And he was fighting back.
tucker carlson
Good for him.
ari shaffir
Schultz has always been on the right side of this.
Other people, Hinchcliffe, some people, he goes hard defending.
Just to any comic there, err on the side of just defending your art form.
Don't even say, hey, I didn't find the joke funny, but it's his right to say it.
Don't even say that part!
Just say the second part.
It's his right to say it.
Why?
When everyone's coming against somebody for a joke, be like, I didn't find it funny.
Don't say that.
You would never say that normally.
You would never, in times of peace, go, I didn't find that.
tucker carlson
But Tony Hinchcliffe defended you.
unidentified
Tony...
ari shaffir
No.
Schultz defended Tony Hinchcliffe.
Oh, right.
They all get bigger fuffles, you know?
Who else?
Oh, Tim Dillon made really funny jokes about it.
tucker carlson
Good for him.
ari shaffir
You know Tim, right?
tucker carlson
He was just here.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
In fact, I texted with him yesterday.
ari shaffir
He fit in this chair.
tucker carlson
He's slim these days.
Yeah, he's in fighting form.
ari shaffir
Yeah, he's on a diet of fucking twink cum.
tucker carlson
I didn't ask you about that.
I don't think he's really gay.
I don't think that.
ari shaffir
We all be like, prove it.
Kiss one guy in front of us.
tucker carlson
Do you remember Pete Buttigieg ran for president?
He's supposedly gay, and now he's transportation secretary.
And I had one of my producers was gay, and he goes, you know, he's not gay.
I was like, are you serious?
He goes, no, that's...
Complete bullshit.
ari shaffir
Wow.
tucker carlson
Oh, no.
Gays all keep very close track of that stuff.
ari shaffir
Oh, yeah.
tucker carlson
And my producer's like, no, it's totally opposed.
He was dating women just a few years ago.
That's totally fake.
He's not gay at all.
ari shaffir
Smart.
tucker carlson
So I said that on the air.
People got all offended.
I thought it was kind of hilarious.
ari shaffir
It is hilarious.
tucker carlson
Yeah, it is.
ari shaffir
It is hilarious.
tucker carlson
Yes.
ari shaffir
And you're also like, I'm not against gays.
I'm saying he's not one.
tucker carlson
Well, that's what I said.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
So Tim went on and he goes, he plays a good dumb sometimes on purpose.
tucker carlson
Oh, totally.
ari shaffir
Like you do with the questions.
He does that with dumb.
He had this thing about when they were trying to ban Apu.
And he had Giannis Papas has this like old Greek guy character.
And he was like asking questions to Pete about Apu.
Asking questions to Tim about Apu.
And he goes, this man, he's a bad father?
He goes, oh no, he's actually a great father.
There's a white character in the show.
He chokes his children.
He's a really bad father.
But Apu is...
No, he's got eight kids and he's really wonderful.
So he's sort of deadbeat?
No, small business owner.
He goes, I don't get it.
And Tim's like, yeah, I don't know.
They just don't like her.
Anyway, so he did that with me where he goes, Ari's actions and his words were terrible to take a hero like that and make fun of her.
And his producer's like, yeah, it's tough.
It's just like, you get on the day of a death to make fun of Aretha Franklin.
It's so shitty.
And the producer's like, no, no, no, it was not.
No, no, I read it.
He did a thing about Aretha Franklin.
And he goes, that was a different one.
He goes, oh, so he does this all the time?
It's not about this one thing that they hear?
No, he said something about Aretha Franklin.
And he's like, it's not that.
He goes, well, I'm pretty pissed about the Aretha Franklin thing.
From like three years earlier.
It was just his way of saying like, guys, shut the fuck up.
In a funny way.
That was like the most creative way to do it.
tucker carlson
Oh, that's inspiring.
Does anybody pay any attention at all to the late-night hosts?
No.
Like, that's not even a category anymore.
ari shaffir
I guess, but that's...
tucker carlson
But not even Ronnie.
ari shaffir
So funny.
You see them sometimes, like, crying about something.
You're like, what happened to your industry?
You're crying.
tucker carlson
But when you were a kid...
ari shaffir
That was all it was.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
That was it.
You watched the Tonight Show monologue.
tucker carlson
But when you guys get to...
Like, you and Tim Dillon are having dinner.
You're not talking about what Kimmel said?
ari shaffir
No.
Occasionally, we will talk...
I'm trying to stay positive.
So occasionally, we'll talk about how cool Kimmel used to be and how that is really him, the cool guy.
And he's, I don't know, playing pretend or whatever.
Kimmel had a...
There was a roast for a local kind of lunatic comedian, Peter Chen.
We had a sort of fake roast.
tucker carlson
As distinct from other comedians?
What does that mean?
ari shaffir
He was a bit crazy.
The owner of the comic store passed him to let everyone else kind of fuck with him.
He was a bit of a...
Not me, lunatic, or you, lunatic, but off.
tucker carlson
When a stand-up says that, it's real.
ari shaffir
A terrible, terrible comic.
No future, no past comedian.
Yeah.
And so, he was just a local, like, at the comedy store, he was like, you could just fuck with him.
All the time.
He was crazy.
And angry.
Driven to anger at all times.
So it was fun to fuck with him.
So we had a roast for him.
And everyone, you know, did their thing.
And then it's his turn to get up.
And he goes to everybody.
He's like, you say this about me, but you are the man.
You wear a plaid shirt, not straight lines.
And, like, he thinks he's getting you.
And then he goes to, Jimmy Kimmel was on the dais.
I mean, it's an 80-seater that's got 30 people in it.
He might have already had a show.
He might not have.
But he goes, and Jimmy, you say I am a snake?
You are a snake.
And Jimmy Kimmel cracked his beer bottle and was like, I'll fucking kill you!
That's who he is.
He's a funny guy.
I don't know what that is, but he's a funny guy.
tucker carlson
What about the other two?
ari shaffir
Who was it?
Fallon?
tucker carlson
Yeah, Fallon.
I can't remember.
ari shaffir
And the guy from The Daily Show.
tucker carlson
The guy from The Daily Show.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
I've never seen The Daily Show.
His old show is pretty funny.
The Fake Republican.
tucker carlson
Very funny.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
I agree.
ari shaffir
Yeah, Fallon's a fucking...
He's also...
He's so clean on there.
But I don't think he's that clean.
I think he's like a boozer and a fun guy.
From what I hear, I don't know.
tucker carlson
So that's just totally, that's not even a factor in comedy.
ari shaffir
Yeah, I did like when he goes, when they were like, hey, you're losing the ratings to the other guy, to the Daily Show guy.
You need to talk about Trump and stuff.
And he goes, that's just not me.
I play ping pong with guests.
So if everyone wants to hear that, then you should go to that guy.
But if you want to hear a good lip sync battle, I'm your guy.
tucker carlson
Well, good for him.
ari shaffir
Yeah, exactly.
tucker carlson
Know who you are.
ari shaffir
Yeah, I just think more comics should do that.
Stay in your lane.
Be funny.
You can write a tweet against Trump or Biden.
Make it a joke.
So many comics.
Louis said this.
Because comics fuck themselves over because they were like, it's just a joke.
It's just a joke.
But as an audience member, you're like, but a lot of you guys are not joking.
Legitimately, you're making serious statements.
So how are we, the audience, to know when you're joking and when you're not?
This guy might be the worst president of all time.
That's not a joke.
tucker carlson
No.
ari shaffir
Make it a joke.
This guy's a worse president than Kermit was at being a fucking...
I don't know.
But there's a joke possible.
tucker carlson
So then what do you make of Chappelle?
ari shaffir
In general, he's a great comic.
tucker carlson
Well, of course he is.
But there's also a...
There's not a criticism.
I've seen it.
ari shaffir
Of what?
tucker carlson
Well, there's a...
It's all...
Like his...
He did this...
The tranny special he did was like an editorial.
It was not...
He was not joking.
He was serious.
Is that good or bad?
ari shaffir
There's a thing I'll say that happens to a lot of people.
You get some, and it's not necessarily him, because everyone's on their own path, but you get some backlash.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
And then instead of just allowing that to be backlash, you want, I think it comes from a place of you want to win those people over and explain you're not the guy.
You're not the guy they think.
And you want to win them over.
But then what happens is your creative output is spent trying to win over people who hate you instead of trying to please the people who do love you.
And that's your core group.
And keep honoring them.
And these other people, it sways them all.
tucker carlson
It's so smart.
ari shaffir
When the people go really...
tucker carlson
I just got it.
That is a really smart observation.
unidentified
Thanks, buddy.
tucker carlson
It's not just comedy.
No, I'm saying...
ari shaffir
Fucking anti-Semite.
All we can be is a brain.
tucker carlson
You have a high verbal intelligence, I'll say.
No, I think that's a really insightful thing to say.
It's not just comedians, by the way, who do this.
ari shaffir
Right, right, right.
And then it just keeps going further and further over until you have this warped fucking Gollum version of yourself.
tucker carlson
Yes.
ari shaffir
And they're like, what happened to you?
And I've seen it.
tucker carlson
They won, actually.
They won.
Your enemies won.
The critics won.
Because they distorted you.
ari shaffir
And it's not even like, let me do a good joke about this.
It's, hey, I was already done with that.
So I'm not going to keep doing jokes.
So people ask me about when I did this Jew thing, like, you should come out in a helicopter and do whatever.
I'm like, guys, that was a throwaway line on fucking three minutes.
You only hear about, so that's what you want me to be.
I was never going to cover that again.
That was the one joke about the fucking Lakers.
I moved on to other stuff.
You want me to live in that forever?
That's crazy.
So you keep doing, also artists do this when they get positive feedback.
Well, it's like, I do a bunch of different paintings.
But this one's about deer seem to sell more.
So, well, I guess I'll paint more deers.
And it's like, that's not your natural progression as a visual artist, as a painter.
tucker carlson
So how do you keep in...
ari shaffir
Can't read any of it.
Can't read any feedback.
Positive feedback is just as deadly as negative feedback.
unidentified
Yes!
tucker carlson
I agree!
ari shaffir
Yeah.
People telling you we like that.
tucker carlson
I knew I liked you.
This is exactly right.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
Can't read anything.
Can't allow it in.
tucker carlson
That's right.
ari shaffir
You can...
As a comic, we got something that nobody gets is immediate reaction.
I can hear the laughs.
We know when it's good and when it's bad.
And sometimes when you're starting, somebody will be like, no, no, they were laughing in the back, you couldn't hear it.
I'm like, they're facing me.
I got the best seat in the house for the laughs.
And I know when there's good laughs and bad laughs.
And I know even in that 15-minute set that I thought was bad, there was one joke that killed, and the other 14 were not good.
So I'm aware what the line was for this crowd.
And I failed.
And it's okay.
And they tell you, no, there's that.
I can tell.
From immediate feedback.
I don't have to go home and go, who was saying anything about it online?
I know what worked.
Every time they come out with a thing against comics, they're like, and this fucking crowd was laughing.
This crowd doesn't know me.
Especially if it's at the cellar, the stand, or the comedy store.
This is not our crowds.
They're just there for the show.
And we're going on.
And if you're making them laugh, that's a bunch of strangers laughing.
That's all the feedback you need.
Or, a bunch of strangers not laughing.
And that's also great feedback.
You know?
Occasionally you'll get a comedian and go, hey, there's something there.
Don't give up on that joke.
tucker carlson
Everything you're saying is true and wise, more important.
But there's also the reality of touring for any gig, which is you wind up in a hotel room alone and there's nothing to do.
It's depressing and you're on your phone and you're like, I wonder what the reaction to this was.
unidentified
That's fair.
ari shaffir
And I should say this.
I fall to it constantly.
When I say don't read that, it's...
Advising myself, read it less.
Yeah, that's right.
We were all talking once at the store in the parking lot, and Gerard Carmichael showed up.
We were all talking about reading comments and stuff.
And he was like, yeah, you shouldn't read this before.
What year was this with him?
I think it was right after he had his first TV show.
So he was kind of a star.
Beyonce knows him, but not internationally.
He was doing well.
Anyway, whatever.
And he goes, yeah, yeah, you shouldn't read it.
But it is people talking about you.
It's interesting, right?
It's Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
Let's go up there and hear my fucking...
tucker carlson
You're a performer.
I mean, you play for people and for their reactions, so this is another form of it.
ari shaffir
Yeah, and you want to hear it, but it's just like, do something else.
It's deadly.
Every once in a while, I'll go open up Instagram when I'm bored, and I'm like, don't.
Fight back one time.
And it's not like a wholesale, like I'll never be on here, but I'm like, right now, I shouldn't be on it.
I'm in the woods.
I'm in the woods sometimes, and I go on my phone.
It's like, fucking, ugh.
tucker carlson
Well, you did take four and a half months off without your phone, so I don't know anyone else who's done that.
ari shaffir
Yeah, it's just like you set your own line behind my line.
I've been, for almost a year, I've been trying to get on this light phone.
You know the light phone?
This company, they made it, you can do regular texting.
The buyers are two people.
They are people who want to spend less time online and people who don't want to be spied on.
They're woods people and there's fucking liberals who don't want to fall to it.
I'm in the latter, I guess.
Full texting.
There's no email on there.
There's a Maps app, but not Google Maps because those people don't want to be tracked.
So it's some other Maps app.
I think there is a rideshare app and some sort of music playing app, I think, but not Spotify because they don't want anybody out of the menu.
The Light Phone 3 is about to come out with a camera, unrelated.
Like, it takes a picture onto a hard drive.
tucker carlson
So that's all I use my phone for.
So that would be for me.
ari shaffir
Yeah, I want one where I can't get this stuff on there.
I can't get email.
I'll check it at home.
I want to be able to text and not have to do this, which is fucking annoying.
So a full keyboard.
They used to have the one that flipped open like that.
The LG Envy.
And you can text like that.
Flip phone, but you can text like that.
It's a breeze.
Loved it.
tucker carlson
I gave up email.
Completely.
No email.
No email?
No email.
ari shaffir
How do you deal with long form?
tucker carlson
I text.
That's it.
And I try to make...
I mean, I'm sure I miss a lot.
ari shaffir
How does someone send you...
Okay, so they can send you a link you can open.
Read this.
tucker carlson
Yeah, or a PDF. Or I just don't deal with stuff.
ari shaffir
Wow.
tucker carlson
And because I think it takes too much time.
ari shaffir
Yeah, I think I've lost probably half to a full decade of my life to this.
tucker carlson
Right.
And so, it might be worth saying, you know, I'm an artist, I'm a creator, I'm a little eccentric, I've got a weird personal life, and I'm just not playing along with your conventions.
You could probably pull that off.
ari shaffir
You're also in a position where you're successful enough where you'd be like, guys, deal with it for me.
Like, handle this.
tucker carlson
Yeah, but there's not that much, actually.
You can bang it out on text, and then you can get to the bottom of it every day.
Then you go to sleep with nothing.
ari shaffir
And you make a phone call.
Like, hey, explain this to me.
Let's go over it real quick.
It's going to take us 10 minutes.
I'm texting.
It's going to take us 5 hours.
tucker carlson
Yeah, I don't have a ton of phone calls either.
Because you can't do those at 2 in the morning.
unidentified
Yeah.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
I wish there was a way to schedule send a text.
tucker carlson
Can you make more...
At some point, will stand-ups be able to make more money on the internet than they made on TV? They already are.
They already are.
ari shaffir
Yeah, they already are.
So it's pretty wild.
The lack of caring they have for these conventions.
Now, some of the comics have made so much money, they've re-imprisoned themselves.
And that's why they usually come out against a comic who crossed the line because they're afraid of their own money kind of going away instead of just defending their friends.
When Harvey Weinstein came out, when it came out about Harvey Weinstein, they went to Tarantino.
And it's like, well, you've worked with him.
You need to weigh in.
You need to make your statement.
And he said something along the lines of, hey, guys, I've known this guy for...
25 to 30 years.
He was at my wedding.
I was at his, or vice, whatever.
This has been a friend for a long time.
You need to give me some time to think about this.
And it seemed reasonable enough, and they kind of went away.
And I don't even know if he ever said anything.
But what's saying anything going to do anyway?
tucker carlson
Exactly.
ari shaffir
They need more of that, but they're all scared of losing their position, so they sell out their friends.
LA Comics more than New York.
tucker carlson
So the more money they make, the more cowardly they become.
ari shaffir
We all wanted to do our own thing, and then this money in prison, they had these jobs.
I mean, I make fun of Rogan once in a while, where I was like, I remember when he was still in LA, and I was like, hey, I'm coming to town.
I'm going to go on a hike.
And he goes, ah, I can't.
I got to interview some guy.
And I was like, nah, I just canceled.
He goes, nah, he's coming from Australia.
I got to fucking do it.
And I was like, oh, for your job?
He'd say, shut up, all right.
Oh, you wouldn't do it for millions of dollars?
No, I would, but don't ignore.
tucker carlson
Are you worried about getting too successful where you can't take four months off and go to Myanmar?
ari shaffir
I... No.
No.
The problem becomes when you have a, like, this guy and that guy, where, like, you guys rely on me for money.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
So now it's a separate thing, and that's when I didn't realize.
That's what Comedy Central did to me.
You got employees.
Well, they were like, well, there's all these, like, you have all these staff members.
You have all these people who are going to shoot your show.
We'll kick you out.
They'll be out of work.
They're not going to pay their rent, or you can comply.
And you're like, oh.
Fuck.
tucker carlson
How horrible are they?
ari shaffir
They're just really horrible.
tucker carlson
Like they are, right?
I get that feeling.
ari shaffir
They're done now.
They're off.
Which is sad.
Because it was a good platform for comedians.
I don't take any happiness in their demise.
tucker carlson
So that's actually my last question.
It's about the new platform for comedians.
How central is Rogan to all this?
To this ecosystem?
ari shaffir
I mean, he is the best.
The amount of support he has.
I mean, there's times where he goes, some big guy, some Oliver Stone wants me to have a podcast, but I can't.
I have this open mic-er on today or tomorrow.
So I'm already booked.
I want to promote this open mic-er.
Whereas everybody else would go, well, the Nate, Oliver Stone will get more hits than this open mic-er.
So I can't.
He's just like, I'm the name.
I'm Joe Rogan.
So I want to put this guy on or that guy on.
And this guy's funny.
I want to push him to a big platform instead of like...
What's going to help me book my show?
It's like, interesting, it'll help me.
He just, the casual talking about the outlawness of stand-up has helped all of us.
Whether or not you've been on his show or not, he's made stand-up more popular.
So now we can all just, I mean, it's succeeding on a crazy level.
tucker carlson
So what's the effect on a stand-up's career of going on Rogan?
ari shaffir
Well, one time is not as big as it once was, because now there's thousands of episodes.
But guys like Theo Vaughn launched off a good early appearance.
Tim Dillon launched off that.
Dave Smith really became well-known.
tucker carlson
I know all three good guys.
ari shaffir
Yeah, and you do well on that.
Joey Diaz, but it was consistent ones.
It's kind of like the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was a long time ago.
They say, you go on there, you're a star, and everyone you talk to from back then, they're like, no, no, no.
You're eighth time on there, you're a star.
But that whole week, people recognize you.
tucker carlson
But unlike Carson, I mean, Rogan makes the call himself.
He doesn't have scouts in the clubs at night.
ari shaffir
Yeah, he's like, wow, this lady was a female open mic-er.
We were all getting high in the back, and then you got to walk past the original room.
And you kind of like going there, especially if you're high or drunk.
It's great watching some high-level unknown comic.
It's great.
It laughs.
It's free laughs.
Yeah, it's like you're passing by a live stand-up comedy show on your way out of work.
It's the best.
And he's in there laughing.
He goes, you were great.
He was always really great.
Carlin was like that.
He'd sit in the back.
He knew who he was.
And if you did well, I'd be like, hey, that was a really good set.
He knew not to just keep that to himself.
He knew.
What George Carlin saying good set would mean.
tucker carlson
Did you know him?
ari shaffir
I met him once.
Never said it to me.
tucker carlson
He didn't like your shit at all.
ari shaffir
Never had a good set in front of him.
But if he was there and he saw you, he tipped me 20 bucks to get him a deli sandwich.
And I was like, no, the comedy store's playing.
I know it's for you.
And I desperately needed it.
I mean, I was poor.
And Rogan was always passing money around.
tucker carlson
Really?
ari shaffir
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, he kept me in business for a long time.
tucker carlson
Rogan did?
ari shaffir
I opened for him for five, six years on the road.
Yeah, we're good friends.
We're good friends.
But like...
So, I mean, I can't pay him back.
I just try to be...
I just try to pass it.
tucker carlson
How many dates do you do a year?
ari shaffir
Try to limit it to 24 weeks a year.
And the weeks can either be...
tucker carlson
24 weeks?
ari shaffir
It can either be just Friday, Saturday, or...
Like for the Edinburgh Festival, it's an entire month.
tucker carlson
How do you not get addicted to heroin doing that?
That's so much time on the road.
ari shaffir
You get to be a boozer for sure.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
Heroin is always like, one time I had a thought like, I mean, I want to try it.
But I was like, okay, I'm going to do it away from home.
So I can't find a dealer that I can.
And then you realize you can just find a dealer.
tucker carlson
If you're in New York City, you can probably pull that off.
Yeah.
ari shaffir
So I just haven't gotten into it.
tucker carlson
But how do you keep your life from capsizing?
ari shaffir
Sometimes it gets bad.
And you're like, oh, I gotta take that back a little.
Pot also.
Sometimes it's like, eh, I messed up a show a little bit.
Not completely.
It went from an A to like an A-.
Be like, eh, cool it.
tucker carlson
Being high on stage.
ari shaffir
Being high, being drunk.
You're like, let's get drunk afterwards.
They asked Earthquake once.
They're like, do you drink on stage?
I love this interview.
And he goes, stand-up comedy is one of the few jobs that enable you the right to imbibe.
While you're at work.
And I like to avail myself of that right.
And they go, does it ever make you worse?
He goes, almost every time.
But yeah, you just got to keep track of it and not let it get to you.
You're your own employee.
So it's up to you.
tucker carlson
Yeah, but there's a disconnection that happens.
ari shaffir
To justify.
There's a lot of sober comics.
tucker carlson
Are there really?
ari shaffir
Couldn't handle it.
Joe List.
I met Joe List.
Great comic.
I met him when I moved to New York.
There was like a separation between New York and LA. And I was like, hey, everybody here in New York talks about you.
Like, kind of reveres you, but I've never heard of you.
Coming from LA, like, what's...
He goes, you want to know why I'm not as big as my name?
Yeah, he goes, booze.
But I've been sober for six months.
And now, 12 years.
He's crushing it now.
But he had to, you know, he had to do that for himself.
Other guys, I mean, Rogan gets high all the time.
He can handle it.
tucker carlson
Yeah, but a lot of, I mean, there's a reason that touring musicians, Yeah.
It's the touring.
ari shaffir
There was a DJ who quit DJing.
I forget who it was.
And he was like, well, I'm doing too much drugs.
I can't do it, so I've got to stop DJing.
And people go, well, just don't do drugs while you DJ. And he goes, hey, you just don't know the world.
You have to.
Yeah, I don't know.
But yeah, Rogan, he just rules for it.
And it's a way of like, he's like, pay your openers well.
He was paying me $150 a set to MC. The standard rate was $50.
He was paying $150.
And then paying, Joey Diaz would go with us also.
He's paying him also $150.
And the rate for the middle was $100.
And then one day he called me and Joey and he goes, hey, I'm sorry.
I'm giving you guys a raise.
But I'm like, no one's offering us that much.
Definitely not more.
He goes, no, you guys are headliners.
You should make headliner money.
I'm giving you $250 a set.
We'd come home with as much money as I would make pretty much on my own headlining that I never got any work, by the way.
It would have been the same.
Also, never touched my wallet and went out to the finest restaurants.
It was great.
tucker carlson
That's amazing.
Why do you think he does it?
ari shaffir
I don't know.
He's a positive guy.
For a while, he just brought Joey Diaz with him.
Joey was...
Pretty coked up back then.
And sometimes he just would not show up.
And he could bring a local, but he had to be supportive to the scene.
He had to help guys that are struggling.
And he'd bring just Joey.
And Joey, he'd get to the airport.
And he's like, Joey, where are you?
Don't answer his phone.
And then he'd land in the new city.
He's like, where are you?
He goes, ah, something came up.
I missed my flight.
And he's like, I was at the airport.
He missed your flight.
He just, coke excuses, you know?
unidentified
Yeah.
ari shaffir
And so he's just like, he's unreliable.
He might not show up.
It became too much.
But instead of saying, you can't come anymore, he goes, I'll just bring a second opener.
So if you don't come, I've still got somebody.
It's nuts to have an employee go, I just don't show up a lot.
Like, I guess I'll hire two employees then.
Instead of just firing the guy.
He was like, he's too funny.
He's got to be supported.
It's our responsibility.
tucker carlson
That's remarkable.
unidentified
Yeah.
ari shaffir
So I try to do that with, like, Young Comics.
It's like, you know, one time I was...
tucker carlson
Wait, so when your opener gets...
Too high to show up at the airport, you're okay with it?
ari shaffir
No, I've never had a guy like that.
People are too, whatever.
But like, no, I'm like, I'll pay for your meals.
If we're out, like at a diner after spots, it's like, ah, I got it.
Don't worry about it.
I remember one of those.
He was like brand new to LA. He took us all out for like the standard hotel, late night food.
He paid like three times in a row.
I'm brand new to LA. This isn't normal for someone.
You get around, but not consistently get rounds.
That's weird.
And we're at Carney's.
It was a chili dog place.
And I was like, let me get this one.
I was broke.
I couldn't afford the standard hotel, but the carnies, it's $3 each, you know?
And he goes, no, no, it's okay.
I'm like, dude, dude, please, let me get it.
There's also like a man sort of like hierarchy thing.
You can't get paying for me.
I don't know you like that.
And I insisted.
And he goes, okay, thank you.
Appreciate that.
And then later we're walking back to the comics.
He goes, hey, just so you know, like it's not a power position when I pay for you.
It's just like...
That standard meal, for me, is about a quarter to you.
It's about worth five nickels.
That's why I pay for it.
It's meaningless.
It's not for power.
Thank you for buying me carnies, but that's all.
I have more money, so take some.
I could just go get coffee at your spot.
I don't have to ask.
tucker carlson
So when Rogan got attacked, when they tried to claim he was a racist, of all things, it had no effect.
ari shaffir
It had no effect.
Also, comics supported him.
I think this is what you've got to do.
There's this meteor of hatred coming at anybody.
You get it plenty.
Other people have gotten it plenty.
It's just solid ball.
And for a meteor to break up, it needs to start breaking up, and you get the image where it's like a piece falls off, a piece falls off in the atmosphere, a piece falls off, a piece falls off.
So what support does from other people in your industry, either broadcasting or comedy, is it shoots a fucking hole through that meteor, a little hole, and that starts to break it up a lot faster.
If you have a few commers who go, guys, you just don't understand comedy.
That's just a joke.
He doesn't mean that.
You're out of your mind.
It creates doubt in the story.
tucker carlson
Yes, that's right.
ari shaffir
And then it breaks up really fast.
When there's no doubt, it's just fucking Paul that fucking blows everything up.
tucker carlson
Then what happened to, look, I don't know Louis C.K., but at the height of that, I always thought he was really talented, so I read about it, and I, you know, whatever, it was embarrassing, that story, but it was not a crime that I could tell.
How did he wind up getting destroyed for that?
ari shaffir
It became puritanical.
I think there's something in society, like, no matter if you're big, we want you down.
I think it's because it says something about me that I'm not big.
Instead of, like, let me rise up to his level, let me take you down.
So in comedy, it works in a few ways.
You're an evil person.
You steal jokes.
You're hacky.
You're racist.
Roseanne, racist.
Carlos Mencia steals jokes.
Larry the Cable Guy.
These are all things I don't necessarily agree with or not agree with, but this is what they say.
This guy lied about something.
This guy did that, but they're just like, either way, we're going to take you down.
It's not about one thing.
If it was about one thing, I'd be like, the society doesn't like that thing.
But since it's about lots of things, it's like, what the common factor is, you're big.
You're all big.
Let's take you down.
Yeah, with Roseanne, she offered like a legitimate explanation.
That lady looks white.
I saw a picture of her.
She looks like an old Jewish lady.
And then it's like, that's a believable fucking retort.
But it's like, we want you out of here.
tucker carlson
Do you know her, Roseanne?
ari shaffir
I've met her a few times.
tucker carlson
Great person.
ari shaffir
Yeah, I don't know her that well.
tucker carlson
Truly a cool, interesting person.
ari shaffir
Lunatic.
tucker carlson
Absolutely 100%.
But in touch with something deep.
She's not a shallow person.
ari shaffir
She's got a vibe on stage.
And it's not even jokes.
It's just a vibe.
And she just gets people on a wave.
It's pretty special.
Yeah, I don't know.
They go after Rogan.
They go after Louis.
I think it was that.
Because what they were going after him for was puritanical.
tucker carlson
Oh, yeah.
ari shaffir
It was, you're not doing sex the way we do.
But, I mean, when I was in college, I started bringing up verbal consent.
And it was brought up by virgins who had never really experienced sex.
If you ask any normal woman how they feel if a guy's like, may I kiss you?
And they say, okay, yes.
May I touch your breast?
Like, dude, we're done here.
tucker carlson
Yeah, because you're weak.
ari shaffir
Yeah, you're weak.
Go for it, and I'll say no.
That's how you know.
You're not holding them down.
You're just like, uh-uh.
I mean, I've gone in for a kiss, but no, no, I don't see you like that.
I'm like, okay, it's embarrassing.
I'm not going to do it again.
I feel shamed.
They try to go, that's okay.
tucker carlson
When was the last time that happened to you?
ari shaffir
Yeah, a long time ago.
unidentified
Good.
tucker carlson
Just checking.
ari shaffir
Yeah, a long time ago.
Yeah, but we were like, that doesn't work in real life, verbal consent.
And he got verbal consent.
May I do this?
Yes, you may.
Okay, I'm going to do it.
Okay.
tucker carlson
Fuck you!
And they actually took him out.
ari shaffir
Yeah, they did.
Because then people were like, well, I can't.
So the friends of his were like, no, we'll defend him.
Other people were like, you're putting me in a moral weird spot.
You're saying he's this evil guy and if we defend evil and you're out.
I mean, Norm MacDonald's saying, hey, I don't think Roseanne meant that.
And they go, well, now you're off at Tonight Show tonight.
And he goes, I'm not excusing it.
I'm saying it wasn't the right person.
If somebody goes to me like, fuck Seth Rogen.
He's anti-trans and his podcast only has this.
I'm like, oh, I think you mean Joe Rogen.
They're like, fuck you!
Don't tell me what to think!
You know what I mean?
And it's like, you can't even argue with...
You're getting the wrong...
You're at the wrong door.
You're at the wrong door.
That's what happened to...
What's her name?
That black chick got shot through the fucking wall.
They went to the wrong house.
What's her name?
Say her name, say her name, say her name.
tucker carlson
I never did say her name, though, so I can't remember.
It shows you what kind of person I am!
ari shaffir
But it's like, they're going to the wrong house, and you're like, you're at the wrong house.
Don't you tell me.
You're an evil person.
So they made people feel weird about even defending Louis.
unidentified
But it was like, what are you talking about?
ari shaffir
Whatever.
But it's also, when you take a step back from it, it's all comical.
If you don't take any personal, like, I know that guy.
So here's a game I play.
It's called Defend Them.
That's what I was going to tell you.
And it doesn't work with full rapists.
But anyone else, imagine they were your friend, and you had to explain to people, Louie's a good example, of why someone's not wrong.
There was a comedian in the UK, we were at the Edinburgh Festival, and he was doing a, it was called When Heresy Met Sally.
This guy, Finn Taylor.
He's a great comic.
And he takes these long, one year he did a Whitey McWhiterson was his hour.
It was all about just...
White people and the culture.
And he takes every side.
South Park style.
Every side.
And when Heresy met Sally, he had some great lines in there.
He goes, men are the only ones that rape ourselves.
He goes, women, do you ever have sex with a guy?
And then it gets weird the next day.
He goes, he didn't want to have sex.
You raped him.
You talked him into it.
And he did this thing about Louis.
And he goes, he asked some women if he could do that.
And they said no.
And I guess he did it anyway.
And I saw him afterwards.
I'm like, hey, great special.
Same thing as the other one.
But just so you know.
That's not, the facts are wrong.
Do what you want.
Just like that rabbi told me, but like, they did say yes.
He goes, oh shit.
And to his credit, he changed it.
He was like, I don't want to get it wrong.
So he changed it.
Made it still a funny joke, but he's like, let me get the facts right.
unidentified
Definitely.
ari shaffir
So anyway, we're all, wait, fuck.
I haven't smoked weed today.
tucker carlson
At all?
ari shaffir
Yeah.
I know.
It's a place.
tucker carlson
Wait, let me just ask you, who, You know Louis C.K., but are there people you would defend who you don't know?
unidentified
Yeah, okay.
ari shaffir
So that's the game.
unidentified
Thank you.
ari shaffir
It's defend them.
So act as if they're your friend and say what happens.
So with Louis, it's like he asked someone for two girls come back to your hotel room, which, by the way, always implies women aren't idiots.
You know what they want, at least.
You know what they want.
No victim blaming.
But if I walk out with $100 bill.
tucker carlson
No, but there are no surprises.
ari shaffir
Right.
You know what this is probably.
So you could be like, let's meet downstairs if you don't want that.
Okay, so you're at least putting a guy in a weird position.
If I walk up with a $100 bill in Avenue D in New York and I get robbed, I shouldn't get robbed.
But also, don't do that.
So anyway, if you defend him, it's like he asked for verbal consent and got it.
And they go, well, his high-powered manager tried to shut these girls up.
Or, this is a defend them game, or...
His friend, his manager slash his friend was saying, hey, can you shut the fuck up?
He's married.
Can you shut the fuck up?
And not he's silencing them, but just like, hey, quit saying this shit about my fucking friend.
Use your head.
He's married.
That's not the same as like trying to silence a fucking female voice.
And Janine said this on a podcast.
She goes, we all thought it was funny when it happened.
We all thought it was like, what a dork he is.
tucker carlson
Yes.
ari shaffir
Which is great.
unidentified
Yes.
ari shaffir
A guy who jerks off in his stomach should be mocked.
tucker carlson
Of course.
ari shaffir
But should continue to work.
Anyway, so defend them.
John Gruden.
Remember that?
tucker carlson
No.
ari shaffir
He was a coach for the Tampa Bay Bucs.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
It's a sports team.
I know you're not into that.
tucker carlson
I've heard of him.
ari shaffir
Okay.
He used to be a coach for the Raiders.
And in the interim, he worked for ESPN. And he was talking to the owner of the Redskins online, his buddy.
He was friends with him.
And they were shitting on Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the league.
tucker carlson
Good for them.
ari shaffir
And he called them the F word for gays.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
He said whatever.
And they were like, you said this.
And it was in leaked emails, in an investigation into Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Redskins, the old owner of the Redskins.
And they leaked this stuff on purpose.
And they go, what's that?
And they go, okay, it's either a homophobic slur or it's an employee privately with another employee talking shit about their boss.
Who's, by the way, hetero.
unidentified
Is he?
tucker carlson
Is that confirmed?
ari shaffir
I don't know.
He's more retro than fucking Tim Dillon.
But so, it's just a guy talking shit about their boss, privately.
That doesn't sound nearly as bad.
Defend them.
Play the defend them game, and you'll realize, oh, actually, people are not these evil monsters, do you think?
tucker carlson
I love that.
Do you have forbidden figures in there, too?
It's the only people you know.
ari shaffir
Oh, so you research it.
It's almost like a parlor game at a party.
tucker carlson
Who do you play this with?
ari shaffir
You could do it at a house party, but people don't want to be the one defending...
Especially liberals, or actually the other way.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
If it's like super Republicans.
Yeah.
Most of us are in the middle somewhere.
80% of us are in the middle somewhere.
And the fucking vocal parts of each side are way, way out there.
It's like Islam.
It's like the fucking, the ones you're running in are the fucking bomb makers.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
Most of them are just like, you're supposed to love your wife?
tucker carlson
Yeah, exactly.
ari shaffir
So, they don't like it.
If you pull fucking AOC out, you know, about something, and you're a fucking hardcore Republican, you're like, ah, you got to defend her.
Defender.
And you're like, alright, let me look into this.
And it's kind of a debate club.
And you realize, no one's a fucking monster.
The monsters are gone.
Again, doesn't work with credible accusations of rape.
tucker carlson
So your Talmud study is coming in handy through lifelong.
Like, you're looking at all sides of the question.
ari shaffir
It's a fun game at a party.
You put a few people's names in a hat, and you pick one out, and you go, go.
tucker carlson
Have you ever defended someone you don't like?
ari shaffir
Yeah, all the time.
And you realize, oh shit, if I was my friend, I would see the good in him.
That's not the case.
Or this story was wrong, where they left out a certain part of the story to get their way.
You know, the cops in the Rodney King beating.
You know that, how they cut out the first seven minutes?
tucker carlson
Of course.
ari shaffir
And it's like, doesn't excuse beating someone much, but it does somewhat excuse.
It does explain it better.
tucker carlson
Exactly.
ari shaffir
When he's fighting to a standstill with three cops, by the way, if you punch a cop, they're going to punch you back.
tucker carlson
You think?
ari shaffir
They're going to go hard.
tucker carlson
Yeah.
ari shaffir
That's the deal.
And he's fighting to a standstill with three of them, and they come in like, you don't do that to our fucking friends.
But if you start with seven cops beating a guy, like, he's defenseless.
You're like, well, yeah, you're not seeing the whole story.
If I call you a piece of shit, and then we cut to you walking alone, it looks like you're walking sad alone because I called you a piece of shit.
But that's not the real story.
You know, we're having a good time.
tucker carlson
Exactly.
ari shaffir
So anyway, defend him.
It's a fun game.
tucker carlson
I'm going to play tonight.
ari shaffir
Yeah, try it.
Again, it does not work with greatness.
tucker carlson
Actually, you know what I'm going to do?
I'm going to defend you.
He's a good guy.
Thank you.
ari shaffir
Buddy, it was great to meet you.
tucker carlson
It really was.
Thank you.
ari shaffir
I did not tell my mom I was coming to meet you.
tucker carlson
Why, she's not a fan?
She's a fan.
ari shaffir
It's all these people.
He was an anti-war guy at Fox News who followed the dead.
How is he that guy that you think he is?
tucker carlson
You can't be anti-war.
That means you're a fascist.
It's racist to be anti-war.
ari shaffir
With the what?
With the FA. You started saying fascist, I thought you were going to say something else.
tucker carlson
No, no, no.
Because I learned you can't even call Roger Goodell that.
ari shaffir
Yeah, exactly.
tucker carlson
So I wonder.
ari shaffir
Buddy, it was great to meet you.
I want you to do my travel podcast.
tucker carlson
Done?
ari shaffir
You have a travel podcast?
Yeah, it's called You Be Trippin'.
It's just about a place, no politics.
tucker carlson
Man, there's one thing I've done a lot of is travel.
ari shaffir
Yeah, yeah.
tucker carlson
And I think it's the most educational thing you can do.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
tucker carlson
I really believe that.
I don't know why more people don't do it.
I feel like our rich people in this country, I am one, but they don't travel right.
Yeah.
They kind of recreate their own lives with better service in a foreign country, but the whole point of travel is to learn how other people live.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
Read the local newspaper.
tucker carlson
100%.
ari shaffir
Yeah.
Instead of how do I get the New York Times here.
tucker carlson
Good.
Call me.
I'd do it.
ari shaffir
Okay.
tucker carlson
Perfect.
ari shaffir
Okay.
You ever in New York?
tucker carlson
No, I don't go to New York.
ari shaffir
Okay.
Well, or whatever.
Let's do it.
tucker carlson
All right.
unidentified
Okay.
tucker carlson
Thanks, man.
ari shaffir
Thanks, buddy.
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