The A.V. Club Toronto Interview: Ari Shaffir

Phil Brown: Was your comedy always so dark?

Ari Shaffir: Well, at first I wasn’t anywhere near that line. For the first while, you’re just doing an impression of a stand up comic. So I would do like Monica Lewinsky jokes and stuff like that. It was so bad. But over time everyone realizes their potential, and you start talking about the things you want to talk about. I was so religious for a while that I started making fun of it. I don’t care about things like race or religion, so I started mocking how everyone else cares about them.

PB: Do you think that to be a comedian who deals with your type of subject matter, you should be upsetting some of the audience?

AS: No, I don’t want to upset anybody. There are a few types of people who do those sorts of jokes. There are the people who are like, “Hey, I’m about to shock you or say something so disgusting that you won’t believe it!” Or there’s another type like Jimmy Norton, or the type of humor I do, where we don’t mean to be offensive to anyone, that’s just the way we think. Like, I’ve had thoughts about murdering a girl who I got pregnant while she’s deciding whether or not to have an abortion. I know that’s bad to do or even think about, but nevertheless those thoughts are there, so I’m going to share them with you. I think having children would be just horrible, and the worst punishment in life, and people get angry with me when I say that. I’m not trying to get you upset, I’m just expressing how I feel about it. I prefer that kind of nasty humor where the comics just can’t help it.

The A.V. Club Toronto Interview: Ari Shaffir / by Phil Brown / March 21, 2012