Nasty Show’s Shaffir funny with or without the filth
Comedian Ari Shaffir is funny with or without the filth — and he’s also a Canadiens fan
If the name Ari Shaffir didn’t ring a bell before, it certainly will starting next week at Just for Laughs — despite the fact he’s played the fest a half-dozen times in recent years.
The string bean, bearded New Yorker — with a booming baritone that could almost be heard here from the Big Apple — will be hosting the Nasty Show, next Wednesday to July 29 at Metropolis; will be presenting his solo spectacle Ari Shaffir’s Renamed Storytelling Show July 25 at Mainline Theatre; and will be unleashing his aptly titled podcast, The Skeptic Tank, from the Ovation Room in the Hyatt Regency Hotel on July 29.
The day before he arrives in town, Netflix will be releasing two one-hour Shaffir specials for streaming — Double Negative: Children and Double Negative: Adulthood. Shaffir will have huge sneakers to fill in taking over the reins of the Nasty Show — without question the most enduring and successful JFL series. Homeboy Mike Ward was the most recent host, holding
down the gig for a couple of years. Prior to that, Bobby Slayton, the Pitbull of Comedy, occupied the post for nearly two decades.
Shaffir is undaunted. “I don’t feel any pressure at all. I feel nothing but joy. I was overwhelmed to get the job.”
No fool, Shaffir — also the cohost of the sports podcast Punch Drunk Sports — knows how to win hearts here: “The Maple Leafs suck …”
Yup, that should do it. Shaffir recalls the joy he felt catching the Habs beating the Leafs in a playoff game in Toronto a few years back. “The streets just shut down after — it’s crazy how the fans get into it here,” booms Shaffir, a Canadiens and maybe an Oilers fan, “mostly because I feel bad for them.”
Shaffir allows that he can be as vicious as Slayton, but that he opts for filth in lieu of foulness on stage. No more proof need be provided than past performances at the Nasty Show when Shaffir went on at length and most graphically about his body parts and bodily functions.
But Shaffir, who will be performing 25 minutes of his own material on the Nasty Show, is funny without the filth as well.
In his Netflix special on children, he does a hilarious bit on adoption. Why make more kids “when there are some great freeagents out there. Plus, you can shop before you buy.”
Shaffir has some sharp racial commentary in the Netflix special on adulthood: “To black people, when a cop says: ‘I’ll let you off with a warning,’ (they should know) that’s a white-person’s term.”
On the same special, Shaffir also offers advice as to what constitutes great weed: “You watch 44 minutes of Law & Order until you realize you’ve seen the episode nine times already.”
Shaffir is an enigma on so many levels. Where to start?
In this age of immediate gratification, insecurity and social media addiction, he doesn’t own a smartphone — relying instead on an antiquated flip-top cell with only phoning capabilities. “Other than that, I’m not connected anymore.”
Certainly not on a religious level, either. Strange but true: Shaffir, whose father and grandmother were Holocaust survivors, was raised an Orthodox Jew. He had even contemplated becoming a rabbi, but after spending two years studying at a yeshiva in Israel, he came back to America and, in the words of R.E.M., lost his religion.
“It was like a rebellion … I couldn’t be that guy anymore. It’s been quite the detour: from the yeshiva to the Nasty Show.”
His parents are somewhat on board: “I mean, as Jews, they’re just happy that I’m making money. But when I talk about herpes, they assume I’m joking and it’s all made up, which is not true at all.”
Shaffir has been making waves for years — not just within his family circle, either.
His standup disc Revenge for the Holocaust, released in 2012, hit No. 1 on iTunes and Amazon. Two previous standup specials, Passive Aggressive and Paid Regular, got raves on Comedy Central, and he just concluded a three-year run on the latter network with his storytelling series, This Is Not Happening.
Plus, he can be caught hamming it up on such series as Comedy Underground with Dave Attell, The Green Room with Paul Provenza and Down and Dirty with Jim Norton.
As is the case with such 40-something comedy superstars like Bill Burr and Louis C.K., Shaffir, 43, feels he’s hit his stride.
“It’s about having more knowledge and experience,” he said. “No 23-year-old comedian is going to tell me how to think — they don’t have that stuff. But a guy like Burr is so good because he is so sure of himself in his 40s. I think I’m pretty sure of myself, too. I’ve (had sex) before. I’m not worried about making a living any longer. I’m finally a grownup person.”
I think I’m pretty sure of myself, too. I’ve (had sex) before. I’m not worried about making a living any longer. I’m finally a grown-up person.