Episode 121 · The GaS Digital / Ray Kump Era
America's Election Headquarters
Nov 9, 2018 · 1:03:16 · 26 segments, 168 moments indexed
- 1 min
Show intro music and title announcement for the election special with Ray Kump.
2moments
- 0:02Tim Dillon Is Going To Hell podcast begins with Ray Kump
- 0:17Tim welcomes audience to the show, calling it a 'guest digital election headquarters'
- 1 min
Ray Voted and Harassed AOC
#Ray describes voting and jokingly claims to have physically confronted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; they riff on who's even running against her in Astoria.
4moments
- 0:41Ray voted and considers himself a big fan of civic duty.
- 0:59Ray describes having a very physical way of talking to people and professes his love for AOC.
- 1:14Tim wonders who's running against AOC in Astoria and expects a Greek name.
- 1:28Ray and Tim identify Pappas as the challenger, apparently a diner owner.
- 3 min
Voting Is a Meaningless Ritual
#Tim argues that voting has become a hollow, ceremonial act detached from real impact, mocking down-ballot races like Comptroller and confusing ballot initiatives, and slamming the "I Voted" sticker as infantilizing virtue signaling.
9moments
- 1:43Tim argues voting is just checking the power structure, not meaningful choice.
- 2:01All judicial candidates have the same names regardless of party affiliation.
- 2:17Voters encounter ballot initiatives they've never heard of until they enter the booth.
- 2:52The two-party system is the fundamental problem with voting in America.
- 3:06Tim admits he has no idea what a Comptroller does or how to evaluate candidates.
- 3:30Voting in solidly blue or red states doesn't matter, but people are told margins count anyway.
- 3:46Politicians ignore mandates—Trump lost the popular vote and no one cared.
- 4:09Tim mocks the "I voted" sticker as virtue signaling and infantilization of adults.
- 4:22Getting a sticker for voting treats citizens like six-year-olds getting praised for doing the right thing.
votingDonald Trumptwo parties
- 2 min
Losers Who Want to Stay Losers
#Tim describes backlash to his Halloween costume joke about starting a family instead, leading into a rant about people obsessed with reliving miserable childhoods and nostalgia for bad Star Wars sequels.
6moments
- 4:40Tim argues that people are heavily invested in being losers and get angry when challenged to improve.
- 4:52The tweet about Halloween costumes—suggesting people skip the holiday, start a family, buy a house—generated intense backlash.
- 5:11Tim explains the rage: people resent being pulled away from constant self-expression and emotional processing.
- 5:34No one should care about reliving their childhood—most people didn't have great ones anyway.
- 6:08Even Star Wars discourse reveals this pattern: people obsess over a 30-year-old movie for reasons that have nothing to do with actual enjoyment.
- 6:34We're in the death throes of culture; every fan-invested thing is essentially over.
DisneyStar WarsStephen KingBond movies
- 3 min
Why Comedy Is Dying and Podcasts Are Winning
#Tim and Ray discuss how stand-up comedy has lost cultural relevance compared to memes and podcasts, why Hollywood skews liberal, and how mainstream entertainment's sameness pushes subversive comedy fans toward extremes like Million Dollar Extreme.
8moments
- 6:45Stand-up comedy doesn't have culturally relevant things to say about the moment we're in.
- 7:27TV shows all say the same thing in the same way—why would anyone need the same content shoved down their throat nine times?
- 7:46SNL and mainstream late-night are safe and mainstream; even the far left is ignored, with no subversive comedy.
- 8:06Tim connects the rise of alt-right content and shows like Million Dollar Stream to hunger for subversive entertainment.
- 8:19Half the population is psychologically wired to want comedy that's dark, edgy, and subversive.
- 8:40Million Dollar Stream found an audience because mainstream shows weren't getting through, though the fanbase includes actual Nazis.
- 8:58The entertainment business speaks with one mainstream corporate Democratic voice, and it's boring.
- 9:13Leaving subversive comedy only to actual Nazis becomes a problem because there are no other outlets.
Stand-up comedyMillion Dollar StreamPC comedymemesprogressive politicsSaturday Night Livealt-right
- 3 min
Comedians as the New Moral Majority
#They discuss how conspiracy-minded and subversive audiences get ceded to figures like Alex Jones, how comedy has flipped from anti-establishment to preachy, and mock the phenomenon of comedians lecturing people to vote.
9moments
- 9:18Tim on why people seek out subversive comedy and conspiracy theories — they fill a void left by mainstream rejection.
- 9:37Hollywood executives are mostly Democrats who hire talent they ideologically agree with, but it's human nature.
- 9:55Liberals are temperamentally better suited to the arts — they're more willing to take irrational chances that conservatives avoid.
- 10:18Conservative satire is failing; Owen Benjamin and Steven Crowder's sketches demonstrate the problem.
- 10:41When you polarize everything, the only people advocating for free speech are the extremists with nothing left to lose.
- 11:05A comedian trying to build a normal career can't afford to take controversial positions — the risk isn't worth it.
- 11:30Only people with no real career prospects anyway end up as free speech advocates getting attention.
- 11:48Stand-up has lost its appeal; podcasting has surpassed it, with big podcasters outselling comedians in theaters.
- 12:00YouTube stars are making mansion money in LA from massive followings while stand-up's live charm gets boring from everyone doing the same take.
Alex JonesOwen BenjaminSteven CrowderStand-up comedypodcasting
- 5 min
The Cult of Being Terminally Online and Knowing Everything
#Tim riffs on people getting outraged when told to unplug or go swimming, laments a culture where everyone believes they already possess all truth via Twitter, and connects this to shallow outrage over Bush-era war crimes and NSA surveillance.
10moments
- 12:32Tim argues we're consuming too much stand-up comedy and it was never meant to be the cultural obsession it is now.
- 12:45Stand-up comedy used to be a lounge act for people drinking and smoking, not a major cultural event.
- 13:08Comedians have flipped from pushing back against society's moralism to becoming the moral majority themselves, telling people how to vote and think.
- 13:42Craven narcissists in comedy are co-opting social justice for career advancement without real stakes in the actual battles.
- 14:16When you question whether activism is the best tactic, people shut down because it's all about being in the moment online, not winning anything.
- 14:38Tim suggested someone go swimming and they reacted like he told them to kill themselves—people are too devoted to their online existence.
- 15:04If everyone claims to know everything, what's the point of comedy, art, or writing as actual forms of expression?
- 15:19People want to hear what a supporting actor from a 90s sitcom has figured out about trade and tariffs.
- 15:42In the last 18 months, nobody has paid attention to anything before then, but Twitter has made them instant experts on every issue.
- 16:39We're living in a country where nobody wants to learn because everyone possesses all knowledge one could ever want—so what are we all doing?
George W. BushJoe BidencomediansTwitterCivil Rights Movementsocial justicesocial mediaStand-up comedy+4 more
- 1 min
Nobody Wants a Real Deep Dive
#Short closing riff on how people would rather learn to make risotto on Blue Apron or take a MasterClass than examine what's actually going on, before pivoting back to the election coverage bit.
2moments
- 17:06Nobody wants to do a deep dive into what we're all doing here.
- 17:22Ray Comp spent the day harassing old people outside a deli as part of the election coverage.
- 3 min
Fake Early House Results and Polling Nonsense
#Ray and Tim run through meaningless early House/Senate tallies, mock exit poll questions about "extremist violence," and riff on people who wear voting stickers being insufferable, plus a bit about "run, don't vote."
6moments
- 17:55Early election results with only 67 seats decided are useless for predicting outcomes.
- 18:51Voters who wear stickers are the least interesting people in the world and couldn't hold a conversation about local races like Comptroller without dying inside.
- 19:24Tim argues people should run for office instead of voting—that's what would actually impress him.
- 19:51There's a show about 18-year-olds discussing other 18-year-olds, led by a panel of the same age group.
- 20:07Tim and guest joke about whether the Columbine shooters are still alive, then pivot to the idea of reanimating them for election coverage.
- 20:25A theme park built around holograms of deceased school shooters touring is floated as an actual concept.
- 2 min
Pitching a School Shooter Theme Park Ride
#Tim and Ray riff on the idea of a Universal Studios-style school shooting escape-room ride with holograms of Harris and Klebold, including a fake Sandy Hook room gag.
6moments
- 20:32Tim describes a school shooter escape-room ride concept with holograms and animatronic classroom scenarios.
- 20:57Popular kids start with a handicap; nerds don't get shot and can walk freely to the exit.
- 21:23The ride prepares kids for real school shootings and desensitizes them to the threat.
- 21:42Tim proposes using actual audio from 911 calls to make the experience authentic.
- 21:58For the Sandy Hook section, the ride is just an empty room with a guy smoking a cigar.
- 22:11The cigar-smoking man then reveals himself as QAnon.
UniversalDavid HoggQAnonNBCSandy Hook
- 3 min
Fan Mail, John Mulaney Insults, and Lisa Ann
#Tim discusses their extreme fanbase, reads out a brutal insult exchange with John Mulaney about Long Island and Albany, and Ray admits to blurting out that he jerks off to Lisa Ann when meeting her.
7moments
- 22:27Tim describes their fanbase as communist, fascist, or nihilist, with occasional normal humans mixed in.
- 22:50Fans brutally attack Tim on Instagram and send angry messages, some bordering on threatening.
- 23:17Tim blocks people who insult others on his page, including someone who called his girlfriend a cunt.
- 23:44A fan tells Tim he's a pompous Long Island douche and should have kept selling subprime mortgages instead of pursuing comedy.
- 23:54John Mulaney exchanges increasingly absurd insults with Tim, culminating in asking what his insecurities are because he's running out of material.
- 24:31Ray announces loudly that he jerked off to Lisa Ann upon seeing her in the studio as a co-host.
- 24:51Tim says they don't need Ray ogling Lisa Ann at the workplace, even using that term loosely.
Lisa Ann
- 2 min
Exit Polls, Robby Mook, and Beto vs. Cruz
#They dig into early exit poll numbers on Trump's approval and healthcare, mock former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook's punditry, and check on the Beto O'Rourke vs. Ted Cruz Texas Senate race.
5moments
- 25:12Tim explains he doesn't need to see people in real life if he can watch them on the internet or TV.
- 25:53Exit polls show a Democratic wave building in early results.
- 26:1460 percent disapprove of Trump's performance, with nearly two-thirds citing the president as a reason for their vote.
- 26:46If Democrats flip the Senate, it would be huge, though common wisdom expects them to gain around 26-30 House seats.
- 27:06The Beto O'Rourke and Ted Cruz race in Texas remains close with polling places still open.
Drudge ReportDonald TrumpRepublican PartyRobby MookBeto O'RourkeTed Cruz
- 1 min
Texas's Republican History and the Southern Strategy
#Brief tangent on when Texas became reliably Republican, touching on LBJ, Nixon's Southern Strategy, and the Bush family's role.
3moments
- 27:21Everybody hates Ted Cruz, even though he's a good debater.
- 27:32Texas turned Republican after Nixon and the Southern Strategy.
- 28:06Tim pivots to Amazon bringing a warehouse to Long Island City with 50,000 jobs.
Ted CruzAmazonTexasNixonLong Island CityBush familyKennedyLBJ
- 1 min
Amazon's Long Island City Warehouse and Automation
#Tim and Ray joke about Amazon's promised 50,000 jobs actually being robots and automated warehouses, riffing on the disappearance of factory jobs that once supported a family.
4moments
- 28:27Tim argues Amazon's warehouses are run by machines, not people standing on assembly lines.
- 28:50Robots do everything at Amazon; workers are like transformer people walking around in machines, eating pudding from tubes.
- 29:08Factory workers used to be able to buy a house and raise a family with a single unskilled job putting rivets in cars.
- 29:19Now you can work a million skilled positions and still not afford a house.
- 3 min
Irish Tour Bus Kids and Ray's Canned Wine Blackout
#Tim tells a story about wealthy young Irish tour bus workers being thrilled just to be in the sun, leading into Ray's story of accidentally drinking canned wine and smoking too much weed at a work barbecue and passing out vomiting in the street.
8moments
- 29:33Irish people are great but terrible with money.
- 29:47Tim was on a tour bus in Ireland with young kids in suits making $300,000 a year who complained about him being in the sun.
- 30:22The kids were happy about the sun because they get bombed and it's fine, but Tim hates being drunk in the sun.
- 30:52Ray accidentally mixed canned wine with beer and other substances at a work barbecue.
- 31:18Ray stayed overnight at the office trying to do a good job, leaving a trail of destruction.
- 31:49At the work barbecue on the patio, Ray was drinking beers, dancing, and grabbing people.
- 32:10Ray grabbed what he thought was a beer but it was canned wine, then took a hit of weed he didn't control properly.
- 32:34Within two minutes Ray passed out on the street in front of his office vomiting on himself.
Irish peoplecanned wine
- 2 min
Facebook Exodus and Aunt Kathleen's Fox News Posts
#They discuss stats on young people deleting Facebook, with Tim mocking his aunt Kathleen's right-wing shares, before pivoting to comedians performing for the troops.
5moments
- 32:50Tim's boss's friend spotted him vomiting on himself across the street and showed him the photo later.
- 33:0650% of people aged 18-40 have deleted the Facebook app from their phone in the last year.
- 33:25Young people are abandoning Facebook because the app is finished; it's now dominated by boomers posting crazy content.
- 33:41Aunt Kathleen clogs Tim's Facebook feed with Fox and Friends posts and other garbage that doesn't make sense.
- 34:09Tim questions whether it makes him a horrible person that comics perform for the troops.
- 6 min
Performing for the Troops, Mercenaries, and Kill Rates
#Tim delivers an extended riff questioning the sentimentality around comedians performing for the military, cites a WWII study on soldiers' reluctance to fire their weapons and later conditioning to fix it, and imagines absurdly performing for Blackwater mercenaries and Navy SEALs.
10moments
- 34:21Tim explains his lack of enthusiasm about flying 18 hours to Jordan to perform for troops.
- 34:49On World War Two: average person's perception was about survival, and most soldiers went for the right reasons.
- 35:25Post-9/11 military recruitment was driven by patriotism, but by 2005-2007 the character of who was enlisting had changed fundamentally.
- 36:14Performing for troops in Iraq feels emotional, but the reality is they would kill without hesitation if ordered.
- 36:42Tim cites a post-World War Two study showing only 25% of combat troops actually fired their weapons at enemies.
- 37:21Tim jokes about performing at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, claiming troops loved his material even in those settings.
- 38:05The military fixed the low firing rate problem using B.F. Skinner psychology and pop-up target conditioning, raising rates to 95% by the Gulf War.
- 38:47Tim expresses interest in performing for private military contractors instead of regular troops.
- 39:05Tim defends mercenaries by arguing they spent years learning killing skills, so working private defense contracts makes sense.
- 39:33Private military contractors get better entertainment acts than the regular U.S. military does.
Erik PrinceLindy EnglandBlackwater
- 3 min
Kentucky Races and Impeachment Math
#More fake election-night analysis covering a Kentucky House race, Amy McGrath, and speculation about impeachment requiring Senate conviction rather than just a House vote.
9moments
- 40:16Tim discusses Ted Cruz's polling at 51% over 44% in what appears to be a close Senate race.
- 40:34No one was talking about the Kentucky race as a major bellwether for Democratic gains in red states.
- 41:09Tim criticizes political commentators for making bullshit predictions, citing their wrong 2016 Hillary landslide calls.
- 41:29Bobby breaks down the Kentucky House races: three spots, two going to Republicans including James Comer and Brett Guthrie.
- 42:13Tim pivots to Canton, Ohio's school board as another potential bellwether election to watch.
- 42:24Amy McGrath, the Democratic candidate Tim was thinking of, is ahead with 54% and likely to win.
- 42:55If Democrats flip the Senate, impeachment becomes possible, potentially sparking real chaos.
- 43:06The House can impeach Trump, but conviction requires Senate votes, which won't happen.
- 43:18Whether Democrats would impeach even without conviction depends entirely on what Mueller found, which might be nothing.
Donald TrumpTed CruzAmy McGrathKentuckyBrett GuthrieJames Comer
- 5 min
Tim and Ray break down the Jacob Wohl/Surefire Intelligence scandal involving fake sexual harassment allegations against Robert Mueller, discussing how modern grifters profit from being disgraced trolls with a built-in audience of psychopaths.
10moments
- 43:31Jacob Wohl and an unnamed lawyer set up a scheme to have a woman accuse Mueller of sexual assault.
- 44:00The same lawyer previously claimed to have a witness in the Seth Rich shooting who never showed up to the press conference.
- 44:14Wohl's firm Surefire Intelligence is completely fake, using photos of supermodels as the company's supposed principals.
- 44:42Two women reported that Surefire Intelligence contacted them and offered money to make false sexual harassment allegations against Mueller.
- 45:32Wohl denied involvement with Surefire Intelligence while his picture appeared as CEO on the company website.
- 45:45Tim explains the frustration of trying to understand what the CIA and Democrats are actually doing when nothing gets definitively proven.
- 46:16The incentive structure now rewards getting your name in print no matter how disgraced you become, with a core group of psychopaths following you regardless.
- 46:59Kids like Jacob look at Trump as a guy who ran the world by not giving a fuck, and they want to replicate that model.
- 47:28Wohl was barred from the financial industry at nineteen, so now he needs to find another way to make money.
- 48:10Wohl probably has conservative donors giving him money through PayPal now that he's established himself as a troll fighting the mainstream media.
Jacob WoolDonald TrumpRobert MuellerSurefire Intelligence
- 1 min
Grifters, Clinton, and the Death of Shame
#Tim muses on how modern grifting has gone mainstream and lost its old whimsical charm, tracing a decline in shame and accountability back through Clinton's denials, Iraq WMD lies, and Catholic Church cover-ups.
5moments
- 48:51Huxters and grifters have invaded the political sphere.
- 49:09Old grifters used to have a whimsical, romantic quality to them before it all went mainstream.
- 49:31You can't debase yourself in a society that doesn't have any standards or values.
- 49:47Clinton refusing to admit what he did marked a turning point in American shame.
- 50:00We all knew the WMDs were fake, the Church was lying, torture was happening — a cascade of revealed lies.
- 4 min
Trump as the Monster at the End of the Horror Movie
#Tim argues Trump is the product of decades of institutional failure and economic despair rather than a sudden aberration, discussing public ignorance of economics and the coming crisis of Social Security and the national debt.
10moments
- 50:18Tim on the NSA bugging people in 2005—people knew it was happening for 20 years but only care once they have proof.
- 50:37The moral panic is partly people realizing their indifference to surveillance may have led to Trump becoming president.
- 50:53Trump is the monster at the end of a horror movie, but there's been a whole horror movie before he arrives.
- 51:23Both parties have a built-in tendency not to look at the worst things or most pressing issues in democracy.
- 51:42People don't understand how the economy works, so they can't engage meaningfully with economic despair and confusion.
- 52:13No one's dealing with outstanding liabilities like Social Security and Medicare—they could hit 60 trillion and there's no solution.
- 52:29Tim suggests the only way out might be starting a war with China and wiping out the dollar to reset it.
- 52:54He believes another economic boom could happen—maybe green energy is the next cycle, though it won't dent existing debt.
- 53:07Once the dollar is no longer the reserve currency, it's over—all America has left is military dominance.
- 53:36Question of whether war with China happens within 20 years, given the power disparity America currently holds.
- 3 min
American Decline, Sacrifice Zones, and Jordan Peterson
#Tim and Ray discuss America's late-empire military dominance versus economic hollowing-out of towns (referencing Chris Hedges' "sacrifice zones"), then pivot to criticizing Jordan Peterson's increasingly combative, mythology-laden persona.
8moments
- 53:53America will become like Britain, but Britain's a small country where the elites don't care about decline.
- 54:26Many American cities will go the way of Detroit; Chris Hedges calls these 'sacrifice zones.'
- 54:42Tim travels constantly and sees bleakness everywhere—mining towns, factory towns, all shot through with the opioid crisis.
- 55:00Service industry jobs are all that's left: cutting hair, working at Applebee's, lumber yards, mechanic shops.
- 55:23Tim thinks Peterson has become radicalized and combative in recent interviews, dismissive of people's actual problems.
- 56:05Peterson offers redemption allegories while real places like Flint are poisoned; Tim calls this mythological garbage when people need tangible help.
- 56:19Peterson is objectively intelligent and articulate, which is testament to how bad things are that people regard mere intelligence as a solution.
- 56:45A Chris Hedges and Jordan Peterson conversation would be interesting—they disagree fundamentally on capitalism and corporate power.
- 3 min
Imagining a Chris Hedges vs. Jordan Peterson Debate
#They fantasize about a hypothetical debate between Chris Hedges and Jordan Peterson on poverty and violence trends, and recall Hedges' infamous booed commencement speech condemning the Iraq War.
8moments
- 57:06Tim pitches a hypothetical debate between Chris Hedges and Jordan Peterson as a mutual respect session where both make good points.
- 57:30Hedges and Peterson would clash on opposing worldviews: Hedges saying everything is wrong versus Peterson's claim that people are getting less poor through globalization and reduced violence.
- 57:53Tim expresses frustration that debates never actually solve anything, even when two smart people genuinely disagree.
- 58:12The best outcome in a debate is forcing someone to either retract their statement or admit to being wrong, like what happened with Richard Spencer.
- 58:34Chris Hedges gave a famous commencement speech at Rockford College in Illinois around 2003 during the Iraq War that got heavily booed.
- 58:48At the Rockford College speech, Hedges talked about how violence is glory while the crowd booed him.
- 59:06Hedges wrote his extremism chapter while standing with white knights and proud boys around a bonfire in upstate New York.
- 59:29Tim played poker with old Chinese women at the Taj and was propositioned multiple times by one of them.
Chris HedgesJordan PetersonTrump HotelProud BoysSteven PinkerRichard SpencerRockford College
- 2 min
One last round of meaningless House seat tallies and a plug for Tim's comedy bus tour tickets and a painting contest announcement.
5moments
- 59:43Travis Irvine, comedian and libertarian candidate, is leading for Michigan governor.
- 59:56Tim notes early house results—16 Republican seats, 10 Democratic—are statistically irrelevant.
- 1:00:07Bus tour tickets available at Tim Dillon Comedy dot com, with only six seats left for Wednesday.
- 1:00:26Tim's publicist says press outlets respond enthusiastically to bus tour invitations but then don't actually show up.
- 1:00:54Multiple projects in development with big money involved, details to come later.
Travis IrvineThe Blaze
- 2 min
Finding the Murmur Ballroom and Brooklyn Geography
#Tim struggles to figure out directions to a Brooklyn venue called the Murmur Ballroom, riffing with Ray about Brooklyn neighborhoods and ethnic food.
8moments
- 1:01:16Tim has to figure out where the Murmur Ballroom is in Brooklyn.
- 1:01:27The Murmur Ballroom is located at 17 Eastern Parkway near Grand Army Plaza and the Botanical Gardens.
- 1:01:44An Uber to the venue costs about twenty-two dollars.
- 1:02:01The ballroom is nowhere near where Tim's guest lives, closer to the Botanical Gardens side of Brooklyn.
- 1:02:13Tim's guest lives near the Williamsburg Bridge on Broadway, several miles away from the venue.
- 1:02:28Brooklyn's a massive borough; most people only live in the five percent closest to Manhattan.
- 1:02:38The rest of Brooklyn has ethnic cuisine, phenomenal seafood places, and spicy calamari.
- 1:02:52Tim predicts that everyone's lives will all be horrible.
- 1 min
Tim closes the show with a mock-bleak prediction that everyone's lives will be horrible, before saying goodbye.
1moment
- 1:02:58Tim's closing thought on meeting someone, with a pessimistic goodbye.