Ep. 101 - LSD, Ayahuasca + Going Viral with Aristotle Georgeson

Hello there, Synchronicity listeners. I want to let you know about the upcoming MinePod Network event in New York City called "Wellbeing in the Modern Age" taking place at Noya House, which is on 25th Street and Park Avenue September 21st from 6th to 10 p.m. For all information about the event, go to witmalive.com. That's W-I-T-M-A-Live.com. There's information about all the panelists, all the speakers. We're gonna have food, we're gonna have drinks, we're gonna have music, we're gonna have awesome times. It's going to be an intimate gathering of people talking about stuff that hopefully will resonate with many people there and also we'll be able to extend this out past the event too. So if you're interested in that, again, go to witmalive.com. There'll be links in this podcast episode, of course, but hope to see you there and have a great day.

Whenever I find myself in a problem, like in a problem situation, I always try to you absolutely remove myself from that situation and look at it from another angle. Welcome to episode 101. We're in triple digits, people. Of synchronicity, my guest this week is Aristotle Georgeson. Aristotle's comedian has created some quite hilarious characters that have gone viral, which I recently found about just I guess like a few days before I got to sit down and talk to Aristotle. I originally got tuned into him because his wife, Adrian Earhart, who was a guest on this podcast said, "Hey, you should have eye gas in the synchronicity Facebook group. Do you guys know about that?

We talk in there, we do stuff. Who should I have on?" She's like, "Aristotle." And I was like, "Oh, yeah. I heard Aristotle on the podcast with Sean and Cass on very ape not too long ago, which you should definitely check out. It's a great episode." And they had recently gotten married, Adrian and Aristotle and just seemed like really cool people. So it was really fun speaking to Adrian and was also really fun speaking to Aristotle. And you'll hear why in this episode, I'm not going to cover the whole thing. We do as the title probably gave away, talk about LSD, ayahuasca and going viral and how those things are actually connected and can be used as even lenses to look through this illusory reality we live in. How's that for a high-falutin intro? It's pretty good, I think. I don't have a tremendous amount to say in this intro. I am getting back from going to Cleveland. I was there for a bot Mitzvah, which was lovely. Happy bot Mitzvah Rachel. There's no way she's listening to this, nor should she be. Let's put this. I don't think this is the podcast for 13-year-old girls. Maybe, if you like it, go for it. Maybe, who knows. But had a great time there, Cleveland.

Pretty nice city, got to say. Didn't really go to the city. We're in like Shaker Heights. But it was nice, traveled on I-90, loved traveling, even though I am a terrible passenger as my wife knows and points out every time we travel. I am very, there's a metaphor. There's a connection here. I'm sure for how I handle certain situations in life that I am not a great passenger when I don't have control of the wheel. And truthfully, when do we really ever have control of the wheel? Not that often. But that, alas, is a discussion for another time. This episode, I'm sure you're going to love it. Aristotle is super cool. Just a really genuine, heartfelt, nice human being, which those are our favorite type of people, right? There's a lot going on in the world right now. We have the DACA stuff with Trump trying to, who knows what his real endgame in there. It seems like racially divisive, divisive politics. But who knows?

The point is, is that we do have the ability to focus, to choose what we want to focus our attention on. In the last episode with Sharon Salzburg, you probably heard her speak about action being something that we need to do, not just reflect on things and injustices in the world, but actually do something about it. But it's also important for us to be able to take mindful and clear action. And whether that's out in the world, the political or activism spectrum, or just in our own lives, trying to straighten out our own relationships, that's a really important thing to do. So I think I've spoken about it on this podcast before, but I started seeing a therapist about two months ago, because I do not handle stressful situations and overwhelming situations all that well, especially in my personal life and in my relationships. And I found it to be incredibly cathartic. I was having another conversation with a friend who was going through a hard time today. And he brought it up on his own that he was considering seeing a therapist. And in the past, I've been very resistant to therapists, especially the ones that psychiatrists who seem like they want to prescribe allotropic drugs and whatever your stance on, you know, things like ritalin or dexadrin or whatever drugs they're giving kids these days. My personal stance is I didn't like the way they made me feel. I felt that I was capable of maintaining an equilibrium through non drug-induced manners.

And this is when I was a kid, you know, getting put on ritalin. And I still believe that. And I think that these drugs often get prescribed in excess, which I don't think is really that leap, that's a big, it's not like we're jumping to conclusions there. However, I will say those early experiences seeing childhood therapists and getting prescribed various, you know, ADHD or impulse control disorder drugs back then colored my perspective on seeing a therapist as I was older. And I'm no, it's not a psychiatrist, but the person I see she's wonderful. It's really just me kind of talking for like 40 minutes and her just kind of giving a modicum of perspective, but I find it to be cathartic. So I want to talk about that openly because I think if there's anyone is questioning, you know, whether therapy is bad or you've had some bad experiences, I think if you go in as with anything with a mindful, clear, headed approach, all of these modalities can be useful and try different ones out. So it's just something I'm bringing up in this episode. I found it to be useful. I know it's been useful.

Yeah, bring it up. I don't know why just came out of nowhere. As I've mentioned, there is an EP of all the music you hear, not all the music here, but many of the songs you've heard on synchronicity, I'll be releasing as probably a four or five track EP. I'm hoping for October. We'll see how the reality shakes out, but it looks like it's definitely going to happen because I'm making it a priority and I like music and I want to put it out there. So massive thanks to everyone who's contributed, donated, subscribed, blah, blah, blah, signed up for the email, tuned in to the Facebook community. We got a lot going on with this podcast. I really love doing it and I really love the support. You guys are pretty much the best.

So, how about we wrap it up there? You heard the thing about Whitmer Live, the September 21st event in New York City. If you can make that, let me know. I said it in the previous episode and Michael Donovan said, "Hey, listen, don't undersell yourself. Don't worry about the price of the thing. Don't talk about the price. Here I am again, Michael, talking about the price. Let me put it this way. If you go and want to attend this event, if you're in New York City or the surrounding areas, hit me up, send me an email at noa@syncpodcast.com. We'll figure out a way to get you in there. Maybe not a full price for the ticket. Maybe a reduced price. Maybe if you really don't got it, I don't know how you're living in New York City, but if you really don't got it, we'll figure something out." So, that's all. I just want to say, have a great day. Have a wonderful time. Hug your loved ones.

Be nice to each other. Sometimes I'm not. I have to remedy those situations and it's more energy. So, be nice. Love each other. Be kind. Without further ado, here is the wonderful hilarious. Check him out. Aristotle Georges. Thanks for doing this, by the way. I'm glad Adrian, you know, recommended you. I had heard you on Sean's podcast, very eight podcast, a couple months on our site. Yeah, I'm going to see him tomorrow. He's a good friend. Good friend. Good people. Yeah, they're like, Cass and Sean are like some of the nicest human beings. I tell all of my friends, I'm like, they're the nicest people. You could possibly come up. Seriously. But let's, I want to find out, I guess, first, a little bit of like biographical information, not like a whole ton. Like we don't have to do a whole interview style thing with that, but I would like to find out a little bit more about you, how you kind of got into comedy. I know a little bit of like your psychedelic stuff, but I mean, yeah, I'd love to hear how one grows up and decides to become a comedian. And also, I recently found out about this Blake Vapes thing. So I'd like to find out about this whole interesting intersection stuff. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Realistically, I, you know, when I was in like seventh grade, I was just kind of like a nerdy kid. And I just loved watching stand up comedy, you know, on Comedy Central and whatnot. So I just, like, Oh man, that's, that's so cool to be able to just be girlfriend stage and just be hilarious. That would be, that would be amazing. And I just kind of decided that that's what I wanted to do without really like thinking it through. I was just like, Yeah, that's probably what I'll end up doing is just that.

And then I didn't really pursue it until my talent show senior year. And I was like, Oh, I'll do, I'll do some stand up comedy. And essentially what I did at that show was just that I did, I could do a lot of impressions and voices and stuff. So essentially what I did was do sort of like a Pablo Francisco movie preview, because I can do, I can do that voice really well, like coming this summer, like I, and I just feel like a movie preview with all these, you know, stupid characters and voices that I could do. And it did, it crashed, like it did really well. And which, which could have been a disaster just having a really set up stage before. Yeah, yeah. And yeah, from there, I was like, I think I need to do this. And I didn't get up on stage again for two years after that. So I was like, yeah, I was, I thought like, I did, I'm a comedian. That's it. And then when I was in college, I was, I was working at the comedy zone in Tallahassee as a server, because it had just opened. And I was like, Oh, well, this is perfect. Maybe I can get back, they're like can get back into comedy, never like in it yet. And then yes, I do like the open mic nights there and stuff and just kind of parlayed into this whole big thing. Yeah, man, how what comedians were you into when you're growing up? So when I was like, when I was first watching, I was you know, really into like Paolo Francisco, Dane Cook, Nick Fordson, you know, I would listen to like Richard Pryor and stuff because this is back when like cuz I had, what was the other one? I'm wired to download albums off of there and listen to these comedians who it was funny because I didn't necessarily understand what they were talking about.

Of course, of course. I just, I knew they were funny, you know, so I was, I was actually like listening to, you know, some of the greats without really knowing it, you know, Google like who's the best comedian and I'd go download their album. And yeah, no, it's funny. I that most of the stuff I listened to, I remember I was a camp and someone had like Chris Rocks, bigger and blacker. And I was, everyone was just playing at nonstop and all the Adam Sandler CDs and all of these things. And like looking back, how much of this stuff just flew completely over my head, but just like it was funny to me and I got that it was funny. And then when you go back and listen, like, Holy shit, I didn't, there's no way I comprehended like any of the things that were really being discussed here. But it's amazing like how you intuitively just kind of get that there's something behind it that's hilarious and truthful too, which I think is what comedy really ultimately does. So like you, you're you just kind of made, you just jumped in there and I saw some of your stand up man. Like you're very confident on stage, which is I've seen a lot of comedians funny and not funny varying on the spectrum of confidence, but you seem like really like you kind of like know that this is what you're doing. And do you think that was just kind of baked into you from like an early age or just like you like it. So you're going to pursue it. I think a combination of both, you know, I'm an only child. So I had the love and affection from my parents sort of boosting me throughout my childhood and whatnot. So it's like one of those things where when you're a comic on stage and like you've had this sort of support structure in your life, you can just kind of push push through it. And so I think that has something to do with it. And then also it's like I'm one of those people where like I don't like taking narrow for an answer necessarily, you know, when I don't have to. So like when you're on stage and you know, people, you're maybe you're having like a rough bed or whatever, if you can still stay committed and true to like your jokes or stay in the moment, you know, I think there's something to be said about that because then you the only the only thing that you can blame at that point, as long as you're staying true to your jokes and you're staying true to what you're doing within the moment and you're not like going off on the rails and like freaking out and stuff. Then I think you can in a sense, you know, pass blame off to maybe like all the audience was distracted because the show was at a bar and there was a game on and that's what they were paying attention to. And I would never say like, oh, yeah, you could pass blame off to the audience. But if you're if you're there and you're, you know, you're doing, you're doing your jokes. Like I said, being true to it, being in the moment and you know, the people aren't, aren't grasping it. Well, maybe, maybe it was a combination of them not paying attention. Maybe it was you. Maybe you just didn't connect with them on their level. Like, yes, sometimes, sometimes you're doing show on Baker's field where it's a bunch of truck drivers. Just want to hear you talk about parts and maybe you don't have that sort of material. So you're just you're talking at a different wavelength and whatnot. So if you stay true, you stay in the mind. A lot of the times, all you can do is walk away and say, Hey, I did what I do and, you know, I didn't necessarily connect at that moment.

Well, there's a metaphor there. I'm sure that you're acutely aware of that that's kind of what life is too, right? Like that. Absolutely. That's the whole. And I think like this old this will intersect nicely with like the ayahuasca stuff because I mean, I've had enough psychedelic experiences have had enough experiential experiences to know that a lot of times when we're talking about either what we're doing professionally or recreationally or whatever it is, there's really no difference between the lessons and the things we're learning there and whatever else we're doing in life or relationships or whatever it is. So like, how let's talk about ayahuasca a little bit because I've heard you and Adrian talk about it quite glowingly.

And I've often joked about on this podcast. I think I know like 80% of the people in my life have done ayahuasca or continue to do ayahuasca. I have not I've not done DMT, but I'm fascinated by it because I see the changes it can evoke in people. I hear some of the messages that or things that people communicate to me afterwards. I've had very intense psychedelic experiences just not on DMT or ayahuasca. So I'd be I always love love love hearing people's stories though. So how many times have you done ayahuasca? So I've done it twice now. Cool. And can you tell me a little bit about what led you to do with the first time and a little bit about the first experience and then we can get into mumuro those, but yeah, I'd love to hear kind of like what was the the the tipping point for being like, all right, we're going to do that.

So it's something that I've you know, I've just been I've been reading about it and hearing about it online. You know, I was like a senior in high school. That's sort of when I first kind of got into psychedelics. But at least I had to have you know, done mushrooms a few times at that point. And I enjoy the experience each time. And so I was like, well, I'm learning about like where psychedelics might be interesting or cool to try. And so ayahuasca was obviously the one that you come across whenever you're reading these these lists. And and so I started you know, I kind of took a mental mouth like, I'll probably never do it, you know, since you got to go down and stop the math. Right. Right. And I just kind of put it aside and didn't really give it much thought after that. And then when we moved out to LA, you know, I was like, this is, you know, four, four and a half years ago at this point. But we were kind of having, we had like a crossroads, both Adrian and I sort of creatively in terms of what we were doing. Cause all at that point, all we had really was just stand up. And we didn't really know many people or whatever. I had a few college buddies out here. And you know, we'd hang out with them and whatnot. And I was like, damn, I need something, I need something that can like help me, you know, just be creative. I need, I need like a, it is so weird to say this word and then like, have it come up for like, I need like a reset or just, I'm getting lost in my own sort of thoughts and ideas and like, I'm losing like what I want and who I want to be and whatnot. And it was just funny because my buddy from college who lived out here, we would be hanging out with him occasionally. And I don't know how that topic brought up. Yeah. You know, it's so, it's so weird. You know, but he basically came to where he was like, yeah, I'm going out, I'm going out to Joshua Tree next week for another Iowa off this ceremony. And I was like, what? And he's like, yeah, do you guys want to, you guys want to come with me? I can give you, give you my shot or her email and we'll get you all set up. And I thought it was just so funny that like, I shot my email. Of course. Of course. Yeah. Okay. Oh, she has a Facebook. She's fascinating. So let's see how we emailed it. And it was just kind of like, let's just do this and see what happens sort of thing. And you know, we get back an email about the diet, which is, you know, what you're supposed to do. I believe eight days prior to doing Iowa, you're supposed to follow sort of a strict diet that doesn't involve like salt, sugar, no meat. Let's see what else is on it. Basically, oh, no gluten, essentially. So it's like a gluten free vegan diet that you have to follow. And it's very difficult. So that drives you insane leading up to it because I've done like three day, five day, seven day, like sugar detoxes. And like, I'm like ready to like pretty much I'm like, fuck everything. I'm a nihilist now.

I don't believe in anything. It's like, that happens really fast. So yeah, it does, dude. And this is this too, because it like, you're in no weed, no coffee, no alcohol. So like, you're just you're just supposed to be clean enough. And what I what I did was I looked at the diet and I just kind of was like, okay, yeah, the only thing I'm taking off here is cheese. That's what I would do. I'm like this fucking dumb diet. I'm just gonna nutty cheese and it'll be fine. And you know, we get there the day out we and I did we get fast to the last 24 hours. And yeah, so we so we go into the whole experience. And it was for me, it was fascinating because all my insecurities that were like bothering me were like, just hitting me all at once. Like once we drank, I walked up and I was starting to like, you know, go to that sort of place. It was it was like, Oh, you're the worst comedian ever. And it had to be really just like throw up. Oh, Adrian, she she fucking hate you and anything that was bothering me in my life was just coming at me at once and forcing me to purge. Like I sometimes my head would like hit the tent and it felt like something was crawling on me and that would make me so up. So it was just like, it really was like a really intense purge of like all these things. And it's fascinating because during this experience this sort of when I decided that I needed to do a Blake, this Blake baby. I heard two men thinking about it. So like, I missed all this tear out that was going on inside me internally was just like, we're just like a couple of talks that like, I was like, yeah, that's a good idea. That didn't make me purge. And, and then, you know, I get through my purging stage. And at which point I just like experience like pure bliss for the next, you know, however long that lasted. So sort of the effects were off. And it was really was exactly what I had hoped for in terms of a reset, you know, like I really felt as though everything that I had wanted to gain out of this experience, I got and then some. So it's a very, very positive experience for me, despite basically having a panic attack throughout the entire thing.

Right. Well, describe that too. Cause I mean, I've, I haven't had really what I would ever classify as a bad trip. I've taken huge doses of psilocybin and acid before and I've had not great times on them, of course, like you're going to deal with your inner shit. Like that's what it's about. But yeah, literally, right? It's like you're throwing some of it up exactly. So, but I, I wouldn't describe myself as ever having kind of a panic attack. So how did you, what was the kind of, so we'll try to talk about this in is, is, you know, language falls short of this, but maybe there's two ways to look at this, right? There's the egoic sense of who you think you are Aristotle was going through this experience. And then kind of like that knowingness that still exists there too. What, what was kind of the interplay between going through all these experiences? Like, what else was happening while you were going through this and having a panic attack? And when you were blissed out, you weren't having a panic attack, I assume. Correct. Yeah. Right. So I, you know, every time, like I would throw up, I'd be like, I'd be like, why did you do this? What do you, what were you hoping to gain? Like, I was like questioning my own, you know, sort of motives for, for doing this and going through this experience. So I think in a way that kind of helped me stay grounded and it was, it was one of those things where for some reason, and I guess I didn't know how I could possibly know this. But I knew that I had to get through this, you know, and having, you know, I think having done mushroom, you know, a fair amount of time in my life prior to this experience helped me because, you know, whenever, whenever you do, you know, mushroom trip, at least in my experience, I've always found that it's very much like a journey no matter what you're doing. Yeah. Even if, even if you're just trying to like go take a walk through the neighborhood while you're on mushroom. No, it's a journey.

Yeah, you're going to end up going past like a family of four kids, you know, like, I've got to hear the first boss, I got to get past this boss, you know, it's kind of like a video game and you just gotta, you just kind of like, I have to go on. We made it. You know, and it's just like little tiny accomplishments that lead you to this whole, you know, big journey that once you finish it, for some reason, you'll derive meaning. That's, that's guys sort of been in my mushrooms. And I think that helps guide me sort of through the ayahuasca in the sense that like, you know, I get hit with these, these sort of, these insecurities I was having about myself, about my career, you know, about like all the relationships that I have in my life. And I'd be like, what does this guy want for me? Oh, he's just using you because you can do a good regispo bit impression. Whatever it was, that would make me purge and, and it just, I kind of always in the back of my head, I think knew that like, all right, you got to get to this step, to get to this step, to get to this step, to get to this step. And eventually, and it was, it was fascinating because this is sort of what happened metaphorically, you know, in the physical realm of what was going on. I purged one, one last time, and I remember being in the tent with my bucket and I stood up and I was like, I'm done. And I just, I walked outside with my bucket and, you know, just walking around with, you know, bear mind, the bucket is full of, you know, I lost a puke. Yeah, right. And there was, they had a, she had a labyrinth on the property. You could walk around just like a little stone labyrinth. Cool. And I remember walking in the labyrinth with my bucket of puke. And I just, I looked at the center of the labyrinth, I was like, that's where I'm trying to go.

Right. But why, why am I, why am I just following these, these rocks around? And like, I like, get over the other rocks. And I was like, to get what you want, you just need to go take it, you know, it doesn't matter how you get there, just get there. And like, that was like, a huge breakthrough for somebody. It seems so simple, but it was. No, it's, it's not simple, because like, even when you study or just read about whether it's Carl Jung talking about individuation, where you get to the self, which is at the center of your being, which there's a ton of stuff and ways to get there, you have to confront your shadow side, whether it's the Joseph Campbell, Piro's journey thing, whether it's Hinduism, Buddhism, they all talk about this.

But they all also talk about what you did, which is you don't have to go through all those things, you can do a shortcut there. I'm interested. So like, you knew on some level before you did ayahuasca that you had insecurities, anxieties, like we all do, that's not a revelation. What were some of the things you had been trying to do before that, before you did ayahuasca? And like, what else would you put in a similar vein as ayahuasca for having the amount of change or revealing that you have the ability to change? Is there anything else you would put up there, besides maybe mushrooms, which you've mentioned a couple times?

Well, at that point, no. At that point, I had only really experienced mushrooms, and you know, weed and then just like other non-halucinogenic drugs at that point, you know, that I just, you know, experimented with in whatever in high school and college. But yeah, there was nothing really that I had that could have prepared it to, or that could have prepared me, you know, for that aside from just the suicidal mushrooms. Right, right, right, right. And it's like a transcendent experience. And it's also, to me, my really profound trips on any psychedelic, they feel like kind of like upgrading your operating system a little bit. Like you're getting like a better kind of way to process whatever is going on internally or externally.

That's just always what it feels like. Who you said, until then, is there something subsequent that happened afterwards? Well, I mean, after that, you know, I was far more open to testing other halucinogens, you know, I wasn't necessarily afraid before, but I didn't really, you know, I never really thought about, you know, the possibilities of other ones. I was very content with just mushrooms and whatever. And then, and after that, I walked experience, I was like, all right, let's check out some other ones, you know, so at that point, you know, I did LST, and I think LST really helped. It really does just destroy your ego and sort of make you very, I guess I'd compare what happens to you after going, and then after LST is like you're a buoy, where you're just kind of like whatever in the ocean, whatever is moving or whatever, you just kind of go with the flow. You just very much on our, on our like a flow state, and you're able to accept and adapt to situations. I think LST has really helped with that. So that was, that's definitely one thing that, you know, happened so subsequent from my ILOC experiences. I found more halucinogens that have helped me in other ways. And I would say LST is the, is the foremost of those other, yeah, that's, that's the first, the first like it, like I ever did. I was 15.

And I was away at like a summer program at a music, my, I eventually went to college there Berkeley. And, and I, it probably, I don't know, like legitimately like 500 plus mics of some sunshine acid and it, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it just changed obviously everything. I, I've always described it to people. It's like, I was just walking around with my head up my ass up until that point. Like, I just thought like, I'm the center of the universe. Like, everything is, is me, my experiences, it just, it just blasts you open to the interconnectedness of everything and had plenty of experiences. I recently, and I heard Adrian talking about this too.

I started micro dosing and I did like a whole three month regimen and man, it is, it is such a, such an interesting way. And I never would have ever thought to do it on my own that it could be micro dosed. But yeah, man, it's one of my favorites. I haven't macro dosed LSC in a really long time, probably 15 years, because the last time I did, I ended up tripping for three months. And that was pretty crazy. Oh, yeah, dude, that was a part of the reason this show is called synchronicity is during that period of time. Obviously, I wasn't on LSD, the half-life of it in your system is out in like a day. So I like popped some shit open, some psychic channels or whatever, everything I was experiencing, everything. When I say everything, I mean, literally everything was just one giant synchronicity. And I always think of the story, oh, dude, it was, it was nuts. And like, you know, I'd like to go back and be like, oh, yeah, it was just crazy. Like, that's all that was. I was like, now, fortunately, I remember all of the things that happened. But it, you know, well, I had to do a lot of research. I mean, actually, what really ended up happening is I crashed at the end of the three months because I was in such a excited kind of like ecstatic bliss state for so long. Like, unless I was going to maintain that and find some way to kind of have some equilibrium with it, the inevitable thing that's going to happen is you're going to crash, just like anything. It's like, you know, anything like. So that was a big warning sign that like, Oh, like, I need to kind of repair what had been going on there. What I really think happened, I've spoken about it casually on this show, not that much. But what really ended up happening was like, I got some really, really intense downloads from God knows where just with like so much information that my college age brain just couldn't really handle it. It's just like, I was, I was like, essentially psychic. Most of the time, I'd use it to like pick up girls because it was like an amazing ability. And so what ended up happening is my ego started like wrapping around the experience. And whenever that starts to happen, you're kind of missing the picture. This took me a good, you know, five, six years after the fact to unplug it, you know, unpackage all of this stuff. But I think these experiences happen to a lot of people. I think, you know, you'll often hear about people taking psychedelics and it provoking or evoking some latent psychosis or schizophrenia and people. And I think what we call schizophrenia, bipolar, all of these things in Western science, are just these things that we possess and neatly as human beings that people and other cultures and traditions have known about for a really long time. And we don't necessarily have the right language to talk about them. So it was amazing. It was an incredibly amazing experience, but also overwhelming in a lot of ways. But the reason I bring it up related to LSD is there's a famous, or do you know who Rambas is that Sean talked to you about Rambas at all? Yeah, the name sounds familiar with you, if you refresh me on it.

So I, he is his name was Richard Alpert. And he used to be around with Timothy Leary and they did these experiments over at Harvard and then at Millbrook, which is in New York, like an hour away from where I live right now. And they used to take people there and do just like stupid amounts of LSD and just like try to translate like Tibetan book of the dead, like in with all this. It was just these crazy, they would have thought leaders, you know, from all around the world and just like, it was a big fucking thing. Anyway, he eventually went to India and became Rambas. And there's a whole long story about how he was this Western intellectual psychologist who had experienced LSD and was very skeptical. And then he meets this guru, this guy named Crowley Baba and he kind of like blows his mind. And he's like, all right, there's some other shit going on. I don't really have it all figured out. The reason I bring it up is there's a famous story of him giving LSD to his guru named Crowley Baba. So he's like, all right, named Crowley Baba goes to him. He's like, hey, you got some, you got some stuff, you have some medicine. And he's like, how did he know this?

Like, this is weird. He's like, yeah, I do. And he's like, uh, can I have some? He's, you know, he's like, holy shit, like this, this fucking in, you know, master guru guy is going to take this and freak out. And I'm going to like be responsible for fucking him up. So he gives him, he has Owlsley acid, which was like some of the strongest acid ever made 300 microgram capsules. So he's 900 mics of acid and gives him to this guy. And he, and he palms him and he takes him and puts him in his mouth. And rambas, this guy's looking around. He's like, all right, okay, everything's okay. He turns around to see if anyone's there in case he needs help. He turns back around and named Crowley Baba's like flipping out. He's like, like just totally like spazzing out. And he's like, oh fuck, like I fucked this guy's totally, totally fucked now. What the fuck am I going to do? So he looks around, he's trying to find someone frantically, turns back around and the dude's just smiling. So he's like, what the fuck? And he's like, yeah, like, you know, nothing. There's no effects when you get to a certain point. So that's story number one. Story number two is years later, he goes back to him. And he always had doubts, because he didn't actually see them put him in his mouth, right? He saw him just like take his hand and like kind of throw him in his mouth. So he always thought like, well, maybe he didn't really take that shit. You know, it was a really strong acid for it not to work. What, how would, you know, if that doesn't make any sense. So later, he happened to have some more acid, who's back in India. And new Crowley Baba goes, hey, you have any more of that acid? You have any more of that stuff? And he goes, yeah, I actually do. And he goes, oh, you don't think I took it? Did you? And he goes, well, you know, I don't know.

And he's like, all right, give it to me. So he gives him four this time. So this is 1200 mics of some of the strongest acid ever again. He puts them in his mouth one by one, swallows them, opens his mouth. And he just sits there calmly for the next however, like 18 hours or whatever. And so he goes like, what, what happened? And like, he's like, what's going on? He's like, this actually used to be, this is named Crowley Baba talking, this used to be yogi medicine, that they used to take a really long time ago. But it's only good to take in a very cool environment. And people used to use this to get to like the real nature of the self. So it's very interesting that, A, it wouldn't have any effect. And this is a story, the long story short here is, this is a story I used to tell people whenever they would take LSD with me. I just told it because I thought it was cool, because it like reveals potentially the, the nature of the mind that this is an innate ability we possess. And maybe this is just kind of like a placebo thing at the end of the day. Years later, I got involved with this foundation, love server member and Ram Das and named Crowley Baba. And there was this very weird moment where I realized the story I'd been telling for every psychedelic experience with everyone, whenever I had it with other people, lined up with all these other little threads in my life up into that point where I realized holy shit, not only is LSD transformed my life completely, but this guy named Crowley Baba pops up throughout my life in these really weird spots. So I bring it up because LSD seems to be kind of this mystical gateway drug. And I'm fascinated that you brought it up as kind of like your number one. What are some of your biggest experiences with it? And so you started doing LSD only a few years ago? Yeah, I would say about two years ago is when I really started dabbling with it. And you know, realistically, I've only really macro dosed on it, maybe like three or four times total. And I much prefer the micro dose because of just just the way that it's able to assist with focus. And like I said, in terms of the way that it helps you just sort of take on a situation and adapt immediately, no matter what it is, and be happy about it. It's like, oh, oh shit, I just got into a car accident or whatever that hasn't happened. But you sit there and be like, this was obviously what was supposed to happen today. And there's a reason for it. And we're just going to go ahead and get through this, whereas a lot of other situations, other times when that would happen, you would be freaking the fuck out. What is wrong with you person in that other car?

How much of a piece of shit can you be? You'd start freaking out. So that's my default. Yeah. That's my default. I found the same thing. It's been insane, the micro dosing, like absolutely insane how easily you can get into flow states creatively, how dude, I always tell people I've ran it about it enough on this show. But like my biggest issues in life are anger. Like I get angry at shit, whether it's driving or like someone does something I'm impatient. I've tried meditating. I've done psychedelics. I've tried therapy. I've tried all these things and they work to some extent. The first day on micro dosing when I did it in April, I caught myself before I was getting angry in a situation was able to stop myself and like that alone, even if nothing else happened is worth the price of admission. It's incredible, man. It's just it's truly one of those things that's just revolutionized and we're really at the beginning of it too. So when did you I know we're hovering around psychedelics a lot? But when did you first start taking mushrooms?

I guess my first time doing it was when I was 16 and I was, you know, my buddy, he came across some chocolate mushrooms and one random like Friday night where I was staying at his house, parents were out of town. We're like, dude, let's do them. So, you know, we got like a group of people together and we took them and I was living I was living down in Jukara, Florida at that point and he lived right on the beach. So we just took them and kind of went for like a night beach walk and it was just like fascinating, you know, like it was it was first off a lot of fun, you know, just we were just laughing about nothing. And what was really cool was, you know, sort of with the visual effects. And at this point, that's to me the reason why we did um, right, right, the sea stuff. Like, oh, I want to see if I want to see a fucking dragon, you know, whatever. So we're just, you know, walking along the beach. And what was really cool was like the shadows were like moving and like I'd look out to the ocean and the waves that would be coming in were taking, you know, really strange, cool shapes. And so I don't know, just it just connected with me really well. And you know, throughout college, I had a I had a good shroom connect. Like one of my neighbors was growing shrooms. And so I would have people come over and we'd like do shrooms and just hang out around my apartment. I had like a bunch of weird posters and stuff. And it was just, it was just like a fun sort of experience to give people, you know, because I had access to so many.

So, you know, my freshman year of college, I did them a lot. And then I kind of, I kind of stopped doing them for a couple years and then got back into it my senior year. And it was never because of like a bad trip. I just think it was just because I didn't have access. And like, I guess I got what I needed out of it because it was never something that I was like, always like, oh, be epic if we get some shrooms. It was just like if they can't if they happen to be around, you know, that was great. And if not, it wasn't, I wasn't like looking for them. So that's the way it works with psychedelics.

People, people who really do them know, like when you're when you're trying to push it or actively try to find them, good luck. But when the time is right, it'll magically just fall on your lap and you'll have like you did easy access. I also had someone who just one day came in with like an industrial size trash bag in one of my dorm rooms, one of my roommate's friends. And he's just like, thanks for letting us do this year. I'm like, what? He's like, take as many as you want. And it was just filled to the brim with giant mushrooms. And I was like, okay. And I had like a huge like armful. It's like, this is this is gonna be good semester. We're gonna we're gonna have a good time. Yeah, man. So let me ask you this. You mentioned before, you mentioned the Blake Vapes thing. I find it hilarious and also symbolic that during your IWASCA trip, the character, you know, you were weighing the character of Blake Vapes and you're like, yes, this is a thing. It didn't make you purge. For people who don't know, explain to them what the character of Blake Vapes is. And also don't undersell that like this is a pretty popular fucking thing. And it's really like, I want to get into a little bit of like the virality of media and just this other shit that's going on, which I think is fascinating. But explain what Blake Vapes is. So Blake Vapes is sort of this character that I portray, he's got his own like social media accounts. And basically, it's essentially like the worst sort of millennial person that you could experience. But yet for some reason, Blake is like endearing, you know, so he's like a he's an absolute douchebag, you would would absolutely hate him. But he's just like so dumb that it's like funny, and you can just like connect to him. And everyone knows a Blake, you know, that this this sort of guy who thinks that he's all that, but is so wrapped up in his own delusion that he doesn't realize that he's terrible. But yet you cheer for him because he's trying really hard. That's sort of the best way to describe it. And where it really came from, I think during the Ayahuasca trip was I was doing, I was doing a bit in stand up at that time in my life where I was talking about people who vape and just sort of how silly it was. And the bit was basically just, I find it hilarious how whenever you're around someone who vapes, they always got to tell you like what flavor they're vaping on, like no matter what, you don't even have to ask and just come up to you like, bro, you should try this new root here. Check this shit out. You want to try hitting it. And like the voice sort of developed out of that. And when I was on stage, I would always notice that the last would come in every time I'd dip into the Blake Babes voice. So it started off as just kind of like a low, dude, you want to hit this, you want to hit this strawberry melon, but then it just sort of evolved into more of like this like hot hitched sort of like dish bag that would be like, did if you want to hit this fucking strawberry, be my fucking guest. It'll tend to life. And I just noticed that the laughs were hitting on that voice. And then after one show, a good friend of mine, fellow comedian Alex Hooper was like, bro, he's like, that voice is hilarious. You should do a character about that. And it just sort of stuck in my mind. And then Iowaska sort of was like, yes, you have to do this character. And at that point, my idea for it was just to make a film, which we ended up making like a month later, we made a 24 minute short film. And it was basically just an intervention for this dude, Blake, who in his family was tired of him vaping too much.

So, so that's where it all started. And then I was like, well, let's see what can happen, you know, in the digital space. So I, you know, created an Instagram account and a Twitter account and everything and started posting these videos. And my sort of, sort of my inspiration for that was at the time I was also working my day job for a vaporizer pen company. And so we would go to trade shows and whatnot. And I'd see these dudes walking around with flat brim paps, taking huge vape hits everywhere they walked. And it was just so funny because during a conversation with them, you know, they'd be like, dude, this, so I'm rocking this new MFG RDA. And honestly, the coils are so clean. And you can get such huge clouds off this, check this out. And they'd like show you their vape. And then, and it was just so funny. And then after like in the conversation, like, yo, check out my Instagram. It's like cloud blows 69. And go to the, go to this, this page, and it would be like, they'd be following like 1400 people and they'd have like 86 followers.

Right. Every single picture was them vaping or their vape or like the juice that they're using. And I just thought it was so funny. And I was like, Oh my God, I got a, I got a parody this. And so I was kind of was the push to take this character into the real world. And you know, it's gotten, it's gotten pretty popular. You know, I think on Instagram now I'm pushing around like 261,000 followers. Yeah. What's hilarious is that it all stemmed from me wanting people to believe that this character is real. And that's what it was. It was just a troll maneuver that I was doing just as a joke. And I would make terrible videos. And I would be like, all these haters are trying to take me down, but you can't take down greatness. And it was funny because at that point, I didn't have like any haters. But then they showed up, they, they came once you start talking about it, they literally, they literally showed up. And so I think in the beginning, the following started growing because so many people just hated this sort of character. And then once they saw the videos were actually like pretty funny. And like the music that we were using the videos was, you know, pretty good. Because a lot of DJs started sending me tracks to using my videos.

People got on board and were like, you know what, I can't hate this guy anymore. It's actually pretty entertaining. So yeah. Well, I mean, like, how many people do you think like actually get that this is a character you're portraying relative to the people who are in on the joke? So I think now it's it's the it's definitely swayed to the right where I think like about 70% now are in on the joke where as 30 are still like, is this this guy's real voice? So I get a lot of that still, which is pretty funny. But yeah, I think a lot when in the beginning, it was definitely like every single person was like, holy fuck, this guy's hurt, man.

This guy's lost it, you know, that sort of thing. And yeah, I think it's dude. It's so funny. I mean, I mean, I think it works because like you said, the believability of the character is the whole thing, right? Like this is someone like you said, like, I know people like this. Maybe it's not vaping, but I know people like this. Like I definitely know the arc type of who this is emerging from. And that's what it is. Oh, yeah. It's also like, what's cool about it to me is, and you get to experience firsthand is it really just throws this reality we're living in into such a weird place that something like this can happen and that you have this many people tuning in to a side character that you created from a voice that you got confirmation from Iowaska from like, that's a pretty reality bending situation. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Like, I mean, like what what is it like for you to like because you've experienced a lot of things here, right? You experience obviously creating a character that's found success both intentionally and unintentionally in some ways with people thinking it's real. But you've also experienced like this, this intersection of like digital media, right? And social media and how celebrity can be created from something that isn't even really real in the sense that this person isn't real person. Yeah. What are like, what are some of your insights from all of this? Do you think about this? You're like, what the fuck is going on? Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And what really fascinates me is how you can warp the perception of like your own life into what people experience, you know, through the content that you publish. Right. What I found is that it's it's like when I meet fans, first off, they're you know, their first thing is like, holy fuck, is this is he going to sound like videos and the videos. So I've experienced that. So what's it's just so crazy that you can, like I said, you can kind of point this lens and just show this one sort of lifestyle and people just buy buy into it. And I think the reason why it resonates with so many people is, like I said, it's everyone knows this sort of dude. And they for whatever reason, they enjoy, they enjoy the the delusion and they enjoy sort of the this this fake journey that some of them think is real, you know, it's it's tough to put a finger on it. But the way that you describe it really is like mind bending in terms of taking sort of like a fictional thing that isn't at all real and putting it in the real world and giving it like real life experience. I haven't really thought about how insane that is. But it's pretty crazy. But to me, like that's that's why like you're you're doing the perfect thing, man, you're a comedian, because that if that's not a joke, I don't know what is right like a lot of people. And it's it's hard. Like I'm not I don't mean this in the sense that like life is a joke. Don't take things seriously. But I kind of do in some ways that doesn't mean it's like you're dealing with a traumatic situation. Just be like, that doesn't matter. It's hilarious.

Bing, bang, boom. And like, you know, put a clown nose on. I mean, like, this also doesn't make as much sense. When I say this, like living life, experiencing being a human in the world doesn't make as much sense as we'd like it to make you know what I mean? It doesn't really add up in the same way. And I think when we get situations that kind of pierce the veil, those are great. What's even better is when we pierce the veil and we see that it's hilarious, because that's a very comforting and that that's what I think really like to me, like you were describing even the mushroom things. Those are my biggest takeaways, man. Like, I don't take mushrooms. I said I didn't have a bad trip. I know people do. And I think I have reasons for why they do. But my experience is that underneath all that stuff is the interconnectedness of everyone. It's love, it's happiness, it's laughing, it's joy. And that's not all that's in the world. We know that.

But that really seems like the support system for what it is. So like when we get little reminders, whether it's a character like Blake Vapes or just whatever it is in our lives, like that's to me, that's like the magic. That's the coolest fucking thing. And I think it's cool that you get to experience it kind of like from a multifaceted way too. Yeah. And and what's really cool is, you know, like you said earlier with the sort of confirmation that came from ayahuasca, it's interesting that, you know, this character would resonate with so many people on different levels, you know, because there's there are the people that are in on the joke that are like, oh, this is fucking hilarious. Then there's the people that just look at it face value and don't necessarily get the joke. But they just think that it's a funny thing.

They're not in on it, but they think it's funny. And then there's the other people that are just like, is this real? Is this fake? And then there's the people that are just like, flat out, fuck this guy. So it like hits on all these different levels. And I think it's fascinating that it sort of was a it was it was a call to action sort of from hallucinogens, which is again, kind of showing the oneness of everything. Right. And yeah, it's I guess it's kind of interesting that it connects a lot of people in a lot of different ways. And yet it was derived from something that kind of shows us that we're all connected. Right. I find that to be sort of an interesting thing, just just talking with you.

Yeah, man, that's that's the alchemy of this stuff. That's how that's how these things work. And you know, whether we're talking about memes on the internet, or like cultural memes that begin to mean things, whether it's like a stigma around something or this is okay. And this is taboo. These things start and they proliferate, in my opinion, based on energy. It's and I don't want to get too fucking woo about it. But what I mean is, is that the intention and where this stuff comes from, you luckily can trace this back in your own consciousness and then have confirmation with another form of consciousness in ayahuasca. But these things, that's the weight that they actually carry. I talk about this a lot with like music. I know Adrian mentioned you're a DJ, but you know, music, you can have two people, you could have one artist who technically is incredibly proficient, just amazing at their instrument, can play almost anything and play like a cover of like a song that you really like and it sounds good. And you're like, yeah, that's good. Then you can have someone who doesn't really know what the fuck they're doing, can barely ask their way around a guitar or anything, doesn't have a great voice, but is singing with an energy that you're like, holy shit, what the fuck is that? And that to me speaks of this principle that, if it's in you, that's your intention. And that's authentically what you want to be doing in the world, whether it's music, comedy, whatever it is, whatever you're, whatever moves you, you will get feedback, you will get resonance. And I think this kind of is like the tie-in to like what you experience with your character and your comedy. And I also like, I pointed out when I was talking about your confidence on your stand up, I don't know when it was recorded, it was your balloon, your balloon stand up thing, right? Yeah. Like when was that relative to you doing ayahuasca?

That was, you know, that was six years ago. So it was like maybe three years before doing ayahuasca. Right. So that's what I was going to say. I would pin it before ayahuasca. That said, you can still see the thing that the ayahuasca evoked when you went through the experience, they're already, you know what I mean? It just kind of amplified. Like you said, it was that reset, right? I call it sometimes a recentering. And it can happen through ayahuasca through anything, but like you knew it. You're intuitively like tapped in. Like this is what's going on, man. And I think that's fucking awesome. That's kind of the point of what I'm saying.

Yeah. Now that's, that's, it's definitely an interesting perspective. And I think you're, you nailed it. You know, I, what it, what it comes down to is like, this is, this is this, I've always wanted to do comedy in whatever capacity that means, make people laugh. And, you know, having sort of that reset during my first time doing ayahuasca and finding this, this character where I'm able to get my comedy in front of, you know, millions of people in, in terms of views, whatever. Yeah. It's, yeah. I think that's, I think that's what it is. It was just finding the right thing to kind of push it forward. And, you know, who knows where it'll go from here. But now I have sort of like an audience of people that trust my sense of humor. And so now it's just like, all right, let's continue to create on different levels. And, you know, hope that it continues to resonate on the right frequency with all these people. Yeah, man, you got a community. That's what you got too. And you got, you're feeding it from multiple places too, which is awesome. So I'm going to wrap it up. But maybe for a second, one of these, we could do the second ayahuasca stuff and talk about some other things because I had a really good time, man. Yeah, this is great. I really appreciate you having me on here. This was really cool. And, you know, even, even just through the conversation of stuff that I've experienced, you know, it's cool to find new insight and takes on these things because you can't, you know, you can look at it yourself all you want until you get another brain to talk about it with, especially someone, you know, who is shared some of the same experiences. It's cool to, you know, find new ways of looking at it.

Yeah, dude. That's, that's, to me, is like the power of this stuff. So I end with three quick questions and then one little larger question then. And then we finito. So what is your favorite color? My favorite color is sort of like a turquoise blue. Mine too. This is a very common answer. I've done this is going to be like 100, 100, two of these really common answer for my guests, for whatever reason, my favorite color. Wow. What's your favorite number? Six. Cool. What's your favorite animal? Polar bear. Cool. What? Okay. Last question. Do you have a practical tip that you could share with people listening that's helped you in your life? Practical tip. Let's see here. It's, it's, okay. So it's definitely practical, but also it's, it's maybe a little bit difficult to, to, to do.

That's okay. But whenever I find myself in a problem, like in a problem situation, I always try to absolutely remove myself in that situation and, and look at it from another angle. So, you know, earlier we talked about sort of the car accident thing where, you know, your first instinct is to just get out of the car and freak out, you know, but you got to look at yourself. You got to look at the situation from like, all right, what just happened is, is the person who either hit me or I just hit, are they okay? What would they think if I got out of the car freaking out and, and how would I respond if that were to happen? So the, to me, it's like, all right, before you make any decision, always look at it from what's about to happen. You know, the person you're about to do it to the, the, what you're about to do of during this, during this sort of crises and what could be the ramifications of that. So it's like before you act, it's, it's basically just before you act, think about it. Because I just, I myself have just screwed up so many times, just think before thinking that this, it really, it fucks shit up. You got to do things twice. It's not double the trip to the work. Yeah. So that's, that's my practical advice.

Awesome. And Aristotle, thank you so much for doing this. We got to do it again. Send Adrian my love and this was awesome, man. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. Really enjoyed it. Cool. Peace, man. Take care. Thanks for listening to that episode. If you want to find more, how about Aristotle and his character, like fate, aka Blake Weber? Go check out this episode page. You can find links to his Twitter, to his Instagrams, to his website, all the stuff you want to connect. He's a really nice guy. Also, go check out Adrian Earhart, the two of them. I could tell not only are they hilarious and really cool people, but they're just, they're, they care. They care about stuff that's important and we need to support people like that. So thank you, as always, to everyone who supports this show, Patrick Nemczyk in, in particular. Thank you. There's a Patreon page for this. I don't want to beat you over the head with it, but it's there. If you want to get music, other stuff, check it out. Donations always appreciated. Lots of love and I'll see you next week.