What’s Worth Watching: Ari Shaffir Gets Passive Aggressive

Ari Shaffir: Passive Aggressive, Friday, March 13, midnight/11c, Comedy Central

Comedy Central obviously has a thing for standup Ari Shaffir. Earlier this year, the network adapted his stage show–cum–web series This Is Not Happening for TV and aired his first hour-long CC special, Paid Regular. Now it’s bringing his 2013 set, Passive Aggressive (previously available only on the web), to TV—with good reason. Passive Aggressive is not dated in the least, and brims with bits to which anyone can relate. Have you ever been stuck in a boring conversation, sat next to a child in an airplane, had a roommate? This is for you. Have you ever narrowly skirted herpes? Definitely for you. Shaffir can spin an engrossing tale out of dropping a piece of chicken. The only drawback: The broadcast version of Passive Aggressive edits out Shaffir’s hilarious 19-minute yarn about pranking comedian Bobby Lee (MadTV) outside Los Angeles’s famed Comedy Store. To see that, you’ll have to go to Comedy Central’s CC: Stand-up Direct site before March 20 and buy the uncensored version for $1. While you’re online, hit up Spotify and listen to his first recorded set, Revenge for the Holocaust (the comedian’s father is a survivor).