Episode 245 · The Ben Avery Era
#245 - It's Saturday Night! | The Tim Dillon Show
Mar 29, 2021 · 1:14:05 · 506,000 views · 19 segments, 121 moments indexed
This week Tim discusses someone getting fired from their writing job after calling out Shane Gillis, a cringe worthy sketch on SNL, Lil Nas X new satanic shoe line, and catches up with the alumni of Guantanamo Bay.
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- 1 min
Cold Open: Late Episode Apology
#Tim opens acknowledging the episode is 24 hours late and had to be recorded from the studio.
1moment
- Tim opens the show 24 hours late, apologizing for the delay and promising it won't happen again
- 7 min
Tim reacts to comedy writer Ellery Smith tying the Atlanta spa shootings to Shane Gillis's old joke, then digs up her own old racist tweets and mocks her insistence on staying "pro-consequence culture" after losing her job.
10moments
- Tim doesn't support anyone losing their job over old jokes, even if he unknowingly helped amplify it
- Ellery Smith, a Robot Chicken writer, tweeted blaming Shane Gillis's anti-Asian slur joke for inspiring the Atlanta massage parlor shooting
- The Atlanta shooting had no evidence of anti-Asian targeting; the shooter also killed white victims
- Tim argues hateful jokes don't actually beget violence; removing offensive humor could increase violence because people lose tension release
- People dug up Ellery's own old racist tweets about Thai food, blonde Asians, and dreadlocks
- Ellery claimed she was only 19 when she posted racist tweets and called them tasteless
- Tim notes that people like Ellery call their past behavior a growth journey, but apply different standards to comedians like Shane Gillis
- The real issue: Tim and other comedians refuse to pretend their offensive jokes caused real violence, so progressives call them irredeemable
- Ellery lost her day job but remained pro-consequence culture, which Tim identifies as cult thinking with only one way out
- Tim describes the cancel culture dynamic as a deprogramming trap with no escape route
Ellery SmithSaturday Night LiveShane GillisAtlanta shootingRobot Chicken
- 3 min
Bo Burnham... Bowen Yang's SNL Anti-Asian Hate Sketch
#Tim discusses Bowen Yang being brought onto SNL to address anti-Asian hate crimes and questions the diversity history of the show and his own ambivalence about the segment.
8moments
- Getting out of a cult means you drink poison, fly a plane into a building, strap on a suicide vest—there's no other way out unless you do massive deprogramming.
- Getting fired from Robot Chicken and staying homeless to make a point: Tim questions whether the person involved thinks she should have just kept quiet.
- Shane got piled on, got death threats, his family suffered—Tim asks if losing the job isn't enough without revisiting it every year.
- The anti-Asian hate crime that both Shane and Ellery are responsible for: Tim says it's 50-50 between them.
- The show "I Don't Think So, Honey" featured alternative comics—lots of them gay, white, rich—doing a minute of material because they're not fans of the work.
- Tim wonders why any sober, sane human being would be a stand-up comedian, especially a gay guy who's dealt with abuse his whole life.
- When a gay man comes out of the closet, he'd rather go to Miami to do coke and party than entertain people in shitholes across America—and Tim questions if he's wrong.
- Bowen Yang does an anti-Asian hate crime sketch on SNL and Twitter treats it as the biggest thing, though there's no evidence it was actually an anti-Asian attack.
Bowen YangSaturday Night LiveMatt RogersI Don't Think So HoneyRobot Chicken
- 12 min
Tim plays and reacts moment-by-moment to Bowen Yang's SNL sketch about anti-Asian hate crimes, mocking its confused tone, jokes about Panera and chicken feet, and the awkwardness of mixing comedy with serious social commentary.
13moments
- Tim questions whether SNL is allowed to play a sketch about Asian hate crimes.
- He notes the sketch avoids jokes about Asian discrimination at Harvard and Yale, leaving him confused about the premise.
- SNL writers intentionally craft takes they know Tim Dillon would hate, wanting audiences emotionally worked up rather than thinking critically.
- He mocks the idea of being brought on stage as the ghost of Matthew Shepard to deliver observations about his mother and pizza hut.
- The sketch opens with an Asian cast member introduced only as "Asian cast member," which Tim finds absurdly reductive.
- The audience sits terrified, unsure whether they're allowed to laugh—a sign the comedy show is failing.
- He challenges the claim that things have been bleak for Asians forever, pointing out they have high incomes, college graduation rates, and thriving communities like Chinatown.
- Tim argues the sketch should have been a serious talk instead of attempting comedy; just tell people they're scum and be direct.
- The sketch creates total confusion by claiming to denounce Asian hate crimes, then saying things are bleak forever, then pivoting to jokes about Panera and sailor moon.
- He questions whether portraying Asian Americans as living in a country that hates them actually helps, or just makes people paranoid and depressed about statistically unlikely outcomes.
- Tim wouldn't tell a young gay kid the country has it out for them; instead he'd advise being smart, kind, and strong enough to handle people's disapproval.
- The sketch ends with a character saying he can't address discrimination without bringing up imperialism and gender, which Tim finds unnecessarily complicated for a three-minute comedy bit.
- He insists there must be a way to address the topic in a sketch without introducing imperialism and gender politics.
Saturday Night LiveColin JostMatthew ShepardScarlett JohanssonBowen Yang
- 2 min
SNL's Talent Problem and Imperialism Jokes
#Tim argues SNL isn't attracting real comedic talent anymore, comparing it unfavorably to the Eddie Murphy era, and riffs on how comedians should tackle serious topics like imperialism through actual jokes rather than lecturing.
5moments
- Tim wanted to perform a character sketch called "gay passover" but found it too smart for SNL.
- College and high school theater kids entering entertainment are emotionally unprepared for competitive business demands.
- Ambitious young performers lean on identity politics, claiming discrimination when denied opportunities rather than developing genuine talent.
- SNL's diversity hiring looks absurd — they didn't have an Asian cast member before recently, or a Black woman since Ellen Cleghorn.
- The show's supposed mission of showcasing great sketch comics and comedy's next generation isn't actually happening.
Saturday Night LiveEllen Cleghorn
- 3 min
Tim discusses the grandmother who fought off her Atlanta attacker and donated her GoFundMe money, mocking the rhetoric of collective victimhood used around the incident.
3moments
- Tim critiques activists who name-drop imperialism without writing actual jokes about it, arguing that political comedy requires humor, not laundry lists of causes.
- The GoFundMe for an elderly Asian woman who fought back against her attacker raised $900,000, which she immediately gave back to the community.
- He wouldn't claim solidarity with gay victims of Stonewall beatings the way some do with modern activists — he's just a guy by a pool in Florida complaining about chicken wings.
Stonewallimperialism
- 4 min
Lil Nas X's Satan Shoes and the Limits of Progressive Outrage
#Tim riffs on Lil Nas X's satanic-themed shoes and video, and poses an escalating hypothetical about what would actually be "too much" for people defending it, tying it to arguments once made about gay marriage.
7moments
- Tim was made fun of as a kid for being gay because he was in theater and more effeminate then than now.
- Most straight men Tim knows are useless—they cry, barely work, and live off women lost in porn.
- Tim asks if there's a middle ground: respecting gay people while not exposing children to someone twerking on Satan.
- The Satan shoes with pentagrams and human blood in them are excessive, and he's never even heard the song.
- Tim asks what would constitute 'too much'—if Lil Nas X had actually performed explicit acts with Satan on video.
- Progressives are obtuse for not understanding why a singer whose fanbase includes children selling satanic shoes bothers people in a deeply Christian country.
- It's as if someone's deliberately enacting every argument once made against gay marriage—letting twelve-year-olds do whatever they want, putting Satan on MTV.
Satan shoesLil Nas X
- 3 min
The NFT Auction Meltdown
#Tim complains that the show's NFT auction is going for far less than the hoped-for $80 million, joking that it was supposed to buy someone a house.
9moments
- Tim calls the entire NFT market a troll, says none of it's real.
- Tim thought Joe Rogan would buy the NFT for five hundred thousand dollars, but says Rogan doesn't have any money.
- Tim questions how his friend and his wife will afford a wedding and house without the NFT proceeds.
- His friend tells him he doesn't need much space while they're looking at houses together.
- Tim suggested his house be bigger than his friend's, which caused conflict between them.
- Tim explains he wants space partly because he doesn't know if the neighbors accept gay people.
- He dismisses his friend and wife as cookie-cutter people who live in typical suburban developments.
- Tim argues he should have a long winding road with trees so people know they're meeting a genius.
- His friend tells him he doesn't need the space, but Tim clarifies: he doesn't need it, he wants it and likes space.
- 2 min
Fighting With Ben Avery Over House Size and "Needing Space"
#Tim argues with Ben Avery about being told he doesn't need a big house, defending his desire for grandeur and space against Ben's more modest cookie-cutter suburban life.
5moments
- Tim argues they don't need seven or nine bedrooms, just the yard space.
- Ben tells Tim to move in himself if he thinks three bedrooms is enough.
- Tim insists it's about grandeur and feeling, not money.
- He's spent his whole life in cities and refuses cookie-cutter suburban life in Texas.
- Tim wants to live in an interesting and mysterious part of the world, not on Ben's block.
- 1 min
Tim reads an ad for ShipStation, touting easy order management, discounted shipping rates, and a 60-day free trial with code TIMDILLON.
2moments
- ShipStation consolidates orders from Amazon, Etsy, and your own website into one interface manageable from anywhere, including your cell phone.
- Tim promotes a 60-day free trial using offer code "tim dillon" and emphasizes two months of free shipping as valuable for starting or scaling a business.
- 1 min
Tim reads an ad for BetterHelp online therapy, describing how the matching and messaging system works and the discount code.
2moments
- Tim reacts to BetterHelp's claim that one million people have used their service with "1 million of them jesus"
- Transition back to main content: the echo park homeless encampment
- 10 min
Tim goes deep on the Echo Park homeless tent city in LA, describing its hipster-friendly reputation, the DSA's involvement, overdoses and violence, and mocks residents' manifesto language about building their own "pioneering forms of therapy."
12moments
- Echo Park's homeless encampment grew from 40 tents during the pandemic to around 100, with liberal white women bringing cookies and yogurt to the settlement.
- Tim notes the younger homeless people in the encampment had cars, rode bikes, and kicked soccer balls—not necessarily people completely incapable of working.
- One resident had acted in a Lady Gaga fragrance commercial before mental illness led him to the Echo Park encampment.
- Protesters and DSA members showed up to support the encampment, charging their phones and treating it as a thriving community.
- All the homeless people were offered housing but declined, preferring to stay in the self-governed park community.
- Tim compares supporters of the encampment to children who think not going to school and building a fort in the living room sounds like permanent fun.
- A young activist yelling at police turned out to arrive in a BMW X5 with a father who produced Grey's Anatomy.
- People working regular jobs and owning homes watch the park and wonder why they're the idiots going to work instead of having fun in the encampment.
- A written statement claims the community created 'pioneering forms of therapy' for drug addiction and mental illness without any help from city government.
- The encampment wasn't Willy Wonka's chocolate factory—there were overdoses, fights, drugs, and homeless people stabbing each other, which is what happens in lawless enclaves.
- LA comedians defending the encampment should have to live there themselves, because it can't be the solution any more than spikes under bridges or tent cities on fentanyl.
- Something must happen that shows forward momentum beyond homeless people kicking soccer balls and complaining they didn't get extra parts on Shrill.
Echo ParkLAPDDSAMitchell FarrellCHAZHillary SmithJoe BidenGrey's Anatomy
- 9 min
Tim continues dissecting the Echo Park situation, arguing the encampment isn't a real solution, mocking the idea it's a "beacon of light," discussing the death of a young woman there, and noting Ellery Smith herself has now moved into the community.
10moments
- Echo Park homeless describe themselves as not your average homeless, almost branding themselves for a reality show
- Tim on the two sides of the homelessness debate: corporate corruption on one side, naive park encampment solutions on the other
- A girl died doing fentanyl in the park, but some LA residents defend the encampment as community and learning
- Tim questions whether living in a tent doing fentanyl should be the goal when housing is the actual solution
- Organizers claimed the park was the only safe place from anti-Asian hate crimes, creating safety through tent encampments
- Some residents had two tents against the rules but the co-op board allowed it, raising questions about selection and favoritism
- Tim challenges whether it's acceptable to say children shouldn't aspire to live in tents doing heroin
- Mitchell Farrell's demand to either leave them alone or stand in solidarity, calling for reimagining community
- A young woman died in the park after coming to LA to protest, caught up in a scene she didn't belong in
- Hilary Smith moved into housing after the park closure but remains pro-consequence culture despite being evicted
Echo Park LakeMitchell FarrellJeff BezosHillary SmithLady Gaga
- 1 min
Tim reads an ad for Bespoke Post's Box of Awesome subscription service, describing the quiz-based curation and discount code.
3moments
- Bespoke Post's Box of Awesome collection promises to upgrade your life with curated gear for wilderness, home bars, and everything in between.
- Tim explains the appeal: you don't know what's coming but it's guaranteed to be good, tailored to your interests, and saves you from having to shop yourself.
- Each box costs $45 but contains $70 worth of gear inside, and Tim confirms he and friends actually receive them and find them cool.
- 1 min
Tim reads an ad for ExpressVPN, emphasizing privacy protection from big tech and offering three free months with the code.
5moments
- Tim opens the ExpressVPN ad with the premise that government and everybody are trying to get you.
- ExpressVPN encrypts your data and protects you from hackers without slowing your connection, rated number one by CNET and Wired.
- Tim explains how much of your life is tracked and data mined across every site you visit and message you send.
- ExpressVPN hides your IP address so big tech can't personally identify you and sell your data to advertisers.
- Tim concludes by saying the only big person you should support financially is him, not big business or big government.
- 10 min
Tim reads a NYT feature on former Guantanamo detainees, mocking the grim non-updates, riffing on nonexistent success stories like a Guantanamo alum starting an energy drink or NFT business, and blasting Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld for the torture program.
15moments
- Tim introduces 'Where Are They Now' segment, now covering Guantanamo's first detainees
- Tim jokes that one detainee was accidentally released and is now a Taliban leader plotting against the country
- He asks if the article has any success stories—whether any tortured detainee now runs a weed startup or launched an energy drink
- David Hicks, an Australian convert to Islam detained at Guantanamo, is now doing landscape gardening with ongoing health issues from his treatment
- Tim argues that torture violates George Washington's principles and that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld should be in prison for it
- He pivots to criticizing Kansas City barbecue and praises Austin as the barbecue capital
- Tim says torture victims should be on Saturday Night Live doing sketches about America's torture program instead of SNL ignoring the topic
- He examines the ticking time bomb justification for torture, noting that intelligence about bin Laden and planes was available before 9/11
- Tim expands the segment concept to ask 'Where are they now' about Pakistani children killed in U.S. drone strikes and Yemeni civilians starved by Saudi Arabia funding
- A documentary showed a Guantanamo guard converted to Islam and became friends with a detainee—evidence the torture program wasn't working
- Some detainees released to Qatar now live in housing under watch, able to move freely in Doha but needing approval to travel abroad
- One Yemeni prisoner resettled in Oman found factory work, married, and now has two children
- Tim argues that torturing people and releasing them back to their countries gives them reason to attack America again
- Abded al-Malik, a Yemeni detainee released to Montenegro, tried selling artwork and NFTs he made at Guantanamo but his dream of being a tour guide collapsed when the economy tanked
- Four of the first twenty detainees released by the Bush administration could not be found—either dead, killed by U.S. forces, or engaged in activities causing problems
George W. BushtortureDick CheneyDonald RumsfeldGuantanamo BayAbded Al Malik24David Hicks+3 more
- 1 min
Tim gives housekeeping updates on merch hoodies shipping soon and tour dates, noting Florida is mostly sold out and Chicago isn't yet listed.
2moments
- Tim suggests Gary Vaynerchuk should teach brand-building to torture victims who wake up screaming every two hours.
- Hoodies are coming soon; if you like them, buy them.
- 1 min
Tim asks listeners to subscribe to the YouTube channel and follow him, Ben Avery, and Dan Carney on social media.
2moments
- Tim directs listeners to follow Team JBL on Instagram and Twitter for updates
- Tim suggests giving Dan Carney a follow for stand-up tour announcements
- 2 min
Closing Fantasy: Booking a Guantanamo Guest and the Pronoun Bit
#Tim closes by fantasizing about booking an actual Guantanamo detainee on the show and imagines a surreal SNL sketch where a torture survivor is lectured about pronouns, with Colin Jost reacting awkwardly.
7moments
- Tim wants to book a Guantanamo Bay detainee as a guest to update listeners on his experience.
- He specifies wanting a 'legit guy,' not a convert, to appear on the show.
- He imagines someone like Ellery Smith lecturing a torture survivor about how his words are weapons and he needs to respect her pronouns.
- Tim envisions a Guantanamo detainee performing comedy on SNL while the cast stares in disbelief.
- In his scenario, the detainee describes having electrodes applied to his genitals and Colin Jost simply responds 'that's tough.'
- The detainee then recounts waterboarding and being shown photographs of his dead family while Jost repeats 'that's tough.'
- Tim concludes the bit with the detainee saying he didn't want to discuss torture—he wanted to do a bit about Panera locations in Brooklyn.