Ari Shaffir

Ari Shaffir

Shaffir performing in July 2016.
Born (1974-02-12) February 12, 1974
New York City, New York, U.S.
Medium Stand-up comedy, television, film, podcast
Website www.arishaffir.com

Ari Shaffir (born February 12, 1974) is an American comedian, actor, writer and producer. He is the producer and host of his podcast, Skeptic Tank, and the stand up comedy web and television series This Is Not Happening on Comedy Central. He also cohosts the podcast Punch Drunk Sports with Jayson Thibault and Sam Tripoli and is a regular guest on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Early life and education

Shaffir was born in New York City and raised as an Orthodox Jew.[1] His father and grandmother were holocaust survivors.[2][3] Soon after his birth, his family moved to North Carolina followed by Maryland.[4][5] He attended high school in Rockville, Maryland, followed by a time at Yeshiva University in New York City,[6] where he accepted to study abroad in seminary in Israel for around three-and-a-half years. He added: "There was no test, there was nothing to memorize, so I just poured myself into it ... one day I realized I didn't really believe any of that stuff, so I stopped it."[7] In 1999, Shaffir graduated from University of Maryland.[8]

Career

Shaffir performing in Los Angeles County in 2013.

Following his graduation from university, Shaffir moved to Los Angeles to improve his chances of success as a stand up comedian.[8] He took up work answering the phones at The Comedy Store, which led to positions in the cover booth and "the door", until owner Mitzi Shore made him a paid regular, four-and-a-half years later.[4] His early influences in comedy include watching showcase comedy shows on television as a youngster and comedians on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.[9] He cites Bill Burr as his favorite living comedian.[10] Shaffir's first and only comedy performance on stage before he moved to Los Angeles took place in his early twenties at an open mic night at a "sports comedy place in Northern Virginia".[4]

Shaffir first became known for his viral video series The Amazing Racist[5] that fans uploaded onto YouTube that he originally shot for a DVD produced by National Lampoon, but was commercially unsuccessful.[7] In 2013, Shaffir created and produced This Is Not Happening, a stand up comedy web series featuring numerous comedians telling true life stories. The show was initially rejected for television broadcast as Shaffir was too unknown, but it was later picked up by Comedy Central which premiered in January 2015.[11] Later that year, Shaffir performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[9]

In 2009, Shaffir acquired a license to use marijuana in California.[4]

In 2011, Shaffir began his podcast, Skeptic Tank.[12]

In 2013, Shaffir began to cohost the sports podcast Punch Drunk Sports with fellow comedians Sam Tripoli and Jayson Thibault.[13]

Shaffir will star in the upcoming comedy feature film, Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016).[14]

Filmography

Film

Television

Stand-up comedy

References

  1. ↑ https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/01/this-is-happening-ari-shaffir-on-his-comedy-centra.html
  2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sn3mBkxtgk
  3. ↑ "Nat Shaffir (Nathan Spitzer)". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Downs, Gordon (1 June 2011). "Ari Shaffir on Hollywood Comedy Route, Joe Rogan and Mushrooms". SanDiego.com. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 Tornga, Mark (10 May 2012). "Ari Shaffir". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Jatz, Jessie (10 February 2015). "'Off the Cuff' Podcast: Comedian Ari Shaffir On Trading the Synagogue for the Strip Club". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  7. 1 2 Moody, Mike (23 April 2012). "Sex, Drugs, and Seminary: An Interview with Amazing Racist and Comedian Ari Shaffir". Austinist. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 DeMayo, Jen (26 August 2011). "Interview with comedian Ari Shaffir". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Edinburgh Fringe Interview: Ari Shaffir". The New Current. 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Interview: Ari Shaffir". TimeOut Hong Kong. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  11. ↑ Burns, Ashley (21 January 2015). "UPROXX Interview: Comedian Ari Shaffir Has One Rule For Storytelling: Don't Name Your Mushroom Dealer". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  12. ↑ Scott, Kevin (21 September 2012). "Ari Shaffir Talks About Magic Mushrooms and Being "the Amazing Racist"". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "Punch Drunk Sports Ep#1". All Things Comedy. 20 March 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "THE SECOND SEASON OF "THIS IS NOT HAPPENING" PREMIERES ON COMEDY CENTRAL® ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23 AT 12:30 A.M. ET/PT". Comedy Central Press. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "Ari Shaffir: Revenge for the Holocaust". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  16. ↑ Leftley, Nick (13 January 2015). "Ari Shaffir interview: 'You wouldn't want to tape a special on mushrooms'". TimeOut. Retrieved 25 March 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.