Allie Macofsky: Mushrooms, Blackouts, Car Crashes Nicotine Obsession, and Getting 10 years young | Black Tar in the MailAllie Macofsky: Mushrooms, Blackouts, Car Crashes Nicotine Obsession, and Getting 10 years young | Black Tar in the Mail
Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction
⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Dopey Wednesday intro, theme song, Dave coming off Dopeywood high 01:00 – Dave on productivity, crossing things off lists, and procrastination hacks 02:30 – Dopey fitness challenge struggles, cheesesteak relapse, and getting called out by his daughter 03:30 – Ozempic, peptides, and body image talk 04:30 – Listener email: unopened package turns out to be a kilo of black tar heroin 05:40 – Dumping heroin across Alphabet City + Dave reacts 06:30 – Voicemail: chemical burn story while growing weed (potassium hydroxide disaster) 08:00 – Burning his dick, early recovery, and aftermath 10:20 – Dave reacts + talks about TV show with penis injury storyline 11:30 – Music break: “Let the Sunshine In” + Galt MacDermot talk 14:30 – Spotify & Patreon comments (sex addiction, pork buns, Chili Peppers doc) 18:30 – Comment of the day + Flea vs Bootsy Collins correction 19:30 – Interview begins: Allie Makovsky on nicotine addiction 21:00 – Vaping everywhere (including planes) + vape explosion story 23:00 – Switching from vaping to cigarettes + nicotine gum 25:00 – Sobriety timeline + smoking vs drugs comparison 27:00 – Meeting Marc Maron + Dopey origin story moment 29:00 – Allie’s parents meeting in recovery + relapse 31:00 – Childhood fame: prank calls on Kiss FM as “Little Allie” 34:00 – Early drinking, relationships, and escalation 38:00 – Cocaine use and boundaries 41:00 – Thoughts on drinking again + mushrooms curiosity 44:30 – Watching friend relapse after psychedelic use 47:00 – Ketamine therapy debate + sober identity 49:00 – Emotional check-in post-breakup + feeling stable 51:00 – Rave cruise story + staying sober in risky environment 53:30 – Missing “drug addict experiences” + rehab curiosity 55:00 – Allie’s drinking: blackout crash + family concern 58:00 – First AA exposure + resistance 01:00:00 – Relapse + realizing AA might be right 01:02:00 – Getting sober (Nov 1, 2015) 01:04:00 – Sponsor, step work, and early recovery structure 01:08:00 – Dropping out of program + later depression 01:11:00 – Returning to meetings + medication (Zoloft, Wellbutrin) 01:13:00 – Current program: meetings, sponsor, outreach 01:14:00+ – Comedy career beginnings + discovering standup 01:18:00 – Wrap-up conversation + reflections 01:19:30 – Episode winds down 01:20:00 – Outro / end of show
1:26:23•15 Apr 2026
Nicotine, Blackouts and 10 Years Sober: Allie Makofsky on Dopey
Episode Overview
- Nicotine addiction can be as obsessive as any other drug, and switching from vaping back to cigarettes is framed as a way to regain some control.
- A blackout car crash with no legal consequences still becomes a crucial warning sign that drinking is no longer manageable.
- Going to AA just to get family ‘off your back’ can unexpectedly reveal the depth of the problem once drinking resumes.
- Working the 12 steps, getting a sponsor and engaging with meetings provide structure and relief, especially after years of coasting on time alone.
- Depression and untreated alcoholism can overlap; combining meetings with appropriate medication (like Zoloft and Wellbutrin) is presented as a workable path for some.
“I crashed my car in a blackout and thought I needed to take a break from driving, not drinking.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head‑on against addiction? This Dopey Wednesday episode brings comedian Allie Makofsky into the chaos, and it’s very much classic Dopey: “stupid funny addiction stories” wrapped around real recovery.
You’ll hear host Dave kick off with his own procrastination hacks, body‑image worries, and a heroin‑in-the-mail listener story that has him joking, “I love being sober, but I just wish that that package had come to my door.” From there, things spiral into chemical burns on genitals, black tar heroin bricks dumped around Alphabet City, and a lot of laughs that only people who’ve lived it can get away with. The heart of the episode, though, is Allie’s story.
She talks about being “fully addicted to nicotine,” giving up vaping so she can smoke again, and juggling nicotine gum with a three‑cigarette‑a‑day limit. Her honesty about smoking on planes, exploding vapes, and the panic of thinking the bathroom hook was an alarm will sound oddly familiar to anyone who’s ever played games with substances. Then the conversation shifts.
Allie shares how she got sober at 20 after wrecking her car in a blackout, realising she couldn’t take a “break” from alcohol, and eventually embracing AA despite initially going just to get her family off her back. She talks through 10 years sober, step work, the temptation of mushrooms, watching a sober friend slide from “hero’s dose” ceremonies to wanting more, and finding some relief in both meetings and medications like Zoloft and Wellbutrin.
It’s a perfect fit if you like your recovery content raw, funny, and brutally honest, and you’re curious how someone with only three hard‑drinking years ends up with a decade of sobriety. If you’ve ever thought, “My story isn’t bad enough,” this one might make you think twice. Which part hits you hardest—the laughs, the near‑misses, or the quiet admission that untreated alcoholism can sneak back in even after years sober?

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