Ari Shaffir

Stage fright is a real thing. It's debilitating to some people.

I love gummy bears, pretzels of all kinds, popcorn, Doritos - those are all healthy snacks.

I love doing my podcast, but it's not my art form. I don't have to work on it. It's off the cuff.

No one's telling Tarantino what to do. You might like it or you might not like it, but the reality is he's getting his own vision out there.

I'm a bit of an introvert, so after talking for an hour and then shaking hands and taking pictures with the people who came out, I kind of need to be alone for a bit to get away from all stimuli.

Being Jewish is a culture and a religion; we have food, music, and land specific to us.

At The Comedy Store, night after night, the crowds are fuller. It used to be Tuesday at 9 you'd have to start with six people. Now you come in on Tuesdays and it's 100-plus people and you're like, 'Really? On a Tuesday?'

If you like a conversational style of comedy, if you like comedy that's a little dangerous, I'm your guy.

People get mad at bad comedy. Way more mad than at bad novels.

Early on, I had a girlfriend come see me, and she was like, ‘Yeah, it was good, but you were funny at a dining hall at the University of Maryland.' That's when I realized I was contrived. I was reciting jokes. So I really worked on - no matter what - sounding like I was just talking to the people."

I worked for the Comedy Store as an employee trying to become a paid regular. I had this dream of achieving a half hour special on TV.

Sometimes I start off shows by explaining to people that it's just a bunch of stories - I always say 'It's like standup, just less funny.'