Sex, Drugs, and Seminary

Mike Moody: What is it about standup?

Ari Shaffir: I don’t know, I just like it. I don’t know. I could try to be a poetic person, but it’s just the feeling. It’s a good feeling I get when I do it. It just makes me happy. Whatever gives you fulfillment, this is my thing that gives me fulfillment. For some people it’s building race cars or whatever it is. I just like doing it. So I’m always sort of surprised that I get paid at the end of week. Well, not surprised, but it’s like, “Hey, that’s nice,” because I would do it for free.

MM: Your comedy is pretty dark and personal. Tell me about the moment or the time when you found your voice on stage and you could just be yourself.

AS: I don’t know. It’s like you get closer and closer to it as you go. It’s like you get it in moments, and then you get it in more moments, and then you sort of become yourself and just not give a fuck about what anybody else thinks. It’s like you almost completely stop pandering to everyone and you are completely yourself. Probably in the last couple of years I feel I’ve just sort of been saying the things I want to say the way I want to say them. They talk about “finding your voice,” and it’s like I never really understood what that meant. I think it just means talking the way you would to your friends. Once you start getting like that on stage and making jokes, it’s more rewarding.

Sex, Drugs, and Seminary: An Interview with Amazing Racist and Comedian Ari Shaffir / Mike Moody / April 23, 2012