Ari Shaffir

I'm just a weird mix of immature and intelligent and I like to share my point of view and who I am.

I was on the outside of the industry. So I started a podcast early in the podcast boom and that caught on a little. I made an album that went to No. 1 on the iTunes charts. I made my own special. I started my own storytelling show.

To me, every time it goes badly I see it as a good thing - because that means I'm one step closer to where I want to be.

Failing is part of my process. A new bit never works the first time. I figure I have to bomb 7 times to make it good. So I tweak it.

If I focus solely on developing new material, then I can get a new 45 minute to an hour in about six months. Then I'll work on it and work on it and can make it killer within another six months or so.

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.

I know how lazy I am. So if I have to go somewhere else I can't get to easily, I talk myself out of it.

Everyone in L.A. talks about getting an agent or a manager in terms of getting on a sitcom or getting on a movie or doing something else.

I was playing basketball, and I had hemorrhoids in high school.

I hate being rejected.

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

It's not like I have campaigns, I don't want to be an activist or anything.

I'm pretty much only friends with comedians.

I genuinely like haggis. Everybody told me I was supposed to hate it, but I really did enjoy it.

Being Orthodox Jewish is kind of like being raised on like network sitcoms.

I never had good grades until I dropped out of religion. And then suddenly, my grades went up.

You just gotta record stuff and move on and make new material. Painters don't wait until they're in some specific gallery before they move on to the next painting.

It's all about the art. It's not about getting on TV or not getting on TV.

Once I started getting more successful, I just stopped caring completely - 'I'll just do exactly what I want. It doesn't matter.'

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.