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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan Experience #1384 - Ari Shaffir

Ari Shaffir is a stand-up comedian and also hosts the podcasts “Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic Tank” & “Punch Drunk Sports.”

Joe RoganhostAri ShaffirguestGuestguest
Nov 13, 20192h 46mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Joe Rogan and Ari Shaffir Freewheel Through Comedy, Culture, Chaos

  1. Joe Rogan and Ari Shaffir have a long, meandering conversation that jumps from outrageous pranks, porn, and standup comedy craft to social media addictions, tech power, and the future of gene editing.
  2. They trade stories about comics, club culture, and the evolution of specials, while repeatedly spiraling into dark or absurd humor about sex, drugs, violence, and political correctness.
  3. Interwoven are more serious reflections on brain damage in combat sports, social media algorithms and outrage culture, and how standup and podcasting let comics bypass traditional gatekeepers.
  4. The episode also serves as a long-form promo for Ari’s themed special “Jew,” his process in building it, and the significance of doing it in New York at the Skirball Center.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Comedy clubs that defend artistic freedom become crucial safe havens.

Ari reads The Stand’s public statement refusing to drop him despite protests, illustrating how a few venues willing to resist online outrage allow comedians to keep pushing boundaries without total career collapse.

Structured limits on phone and social media use work better than vague intentions.

Ari describes using iPhone screen‑time limits with a passcode he doesn’t control; because he physically can’t override it, he stops lying to himself about “using it less” and is forced to choose when to be online.

Algorithms amplify whatever you feed them—anger or puppies.

Ari’s experiment only clicking puppy videos on YouTube quickly turned his whole recommendation ecosystem into feel‑good content, reinforcing that user behavior steers the algorithm, not some single hidden agenda.

Themed hours can work if they remain relentlessly funny.

Ari contrasts his upcoming Judaism‑themed special with many Edinburgh “theme shows” that become 20‑minute earnest monologues; his goal was to make the hour function as a pure American standup set that just happens to revolve around being Jewish.

Brain trauma from fighting often shows up years after retirement.

Rogan stresses he wouldn’t fight now because many fighters seem fine when they stop, but only develop speech, mood, and memory problems a decade later, making “I feel okay today” a false safety check.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

These clubs are never gonna back down. You’ll always have a place to perform.

— Joe Rogan

I wanted to do one of your stupid theme hours, but I’m not gonna do it where I’m just fucking serious for 20 minutes.

— Ari Shaffir

If you say you never jerked off to porn, you’re a liar.

— Joe Rogan

It’s a great time to be a comic. Comedy’s dangerous again.

— Ari Shaffir

We didn’t sign up for this. They run the fucking world at this point.

— Joe Rogan, on big tech platforms

Standup comedy craft, specials, and club culture (The Comedy Store, The Stand, Kill Tony, Edinburgh)Outrage culture, “canceling,” and club/venue responses to controversial materialSocial media addiction, algorithms, YouTube/Instagram/Facebook, and tech powerSex, porn subcultures, sexual preferences, and shifting taboosDrug and alcohol use, Sober October/November, dosing controversy with Bert KreischerCombat sports, head trauma, and the long‑term risks of fightingFuture tech: gene editing (CRISPR), superhumans, sex robots, and simulation-style ideas

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