Photo by Jesse Grant

It’s not every day that you get to sit down for an interview with someone that you have looked up to for years, but today was one of those days for me, as I got a chance to talk to comedian Ari Shaffir before his shows at Cobb’s Comedy Club this weekend. Ari has enjoyed a big boost in popularity over the past several years thanks to several Netflix specials, including last years Double Negative, his time as the creator and host of This Is Not Happening on Comedy Central, and his wildly successful podcast Skeptic Tank.

I was first introduced to Ari through his podcast back in 2012, during one of the worst periods of my life. I had recently been hit by a car and suffered major injuries that kept me in bed for several months, all the while finding out that my mother was dying of cancer. But in the dark times, I stumbled upon Ari’s podcast and fell in love with it as it provided hours of entertainment during the monotony of lying in bed and plenty of laughs to help cope with a lot of the despair that was going on around me. Some of my fondest memories of my mother’s last year of life were listening to the podcast together with my mom while driving back and forth with her to chemo treatments, laughing with her the whole way. So it goes without saying that today’s interview was extra special for me.

Ari was joined by fellow comic Steve Simone, who you can catch on stage alongside Ari this weekend at Cobb’s, and the three of us got to sit down for an honest discussion about the use of magic mushrooms, what it was like paying dues at the Comedy Store, and the impact the late Mitzi Shore had on Ari’s career.

We also end up talking Warriors basketball when Ari shoots off with some hot takes on Draymond Green.

Listen in to the podcast below, and don’t miss Ari this weekend at Cobb’s!