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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan Experience #1083 - Dom Irrera

Dom Irrera is a stand up comedian, and also hosts his own podcast called “Dom Irrera Live from The Laugh Factory.”

Joe RoganhostDom IrreraguestGuest (unidentified fourth person in studio)guest
Feb 22, 20181h 36mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Joe Rogan and Dom Irrera Trade War Stories, Jokes, And Wisdom

  1. Joe Rogan and veteran comic Dom Irrera spend the episode reminiscing about decades in stand-up, especially life at The Comedy Store and the evolution of the LA comedy scene.
  2. They bounce between topics like touring in Ireland and Australia, club politics, podcasting’s power, hunting and food ethics, fighting and martial arts, and how fame and media have changed.
  3. They also dig into touchier areas—Louis C.K. and #MeToo, school shootings, gun control, the Olympics and NCAA exploitation—trying to balance empathy, responsibility, and comedy.
  4. Underlying the jokes is a recurring theme: how time, experience, family, and hardship shape perspective, soften egos, and deepen both their comedy and their compassion.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

The Comedy Store’s renaissance shows how scenes cycle and revive.

Irrera describes The Comedy Store’s shift from half-empty nights to packed rooms fueled by Rogan, Burr, D’Elia and others returning, illustrating how a few key comics can revitalize an entire club ecosystem.

Different clubs cultivate distinctly different crowds—and comics adjust accordingly.

Dom breaks down LA venues (Laugh Factory = young/foreign, Comedy Store = tourist cross-section, Improv = Hollywood slick), highlighting how comics tailor material and energy to room culture.

Hunting forces a direct, uncomfortable connection to meat that most avoid.

Rogan explains that killing and eating what you hunt removes the psychological buffer of shrink‑wrapped meat, making you confront what meat really is and accept or reject it more consciously.

Wrestling and jiu-jitsu form the most practical base for real fighting.

Drawing on his martial arts background, Rogan argues wrestling lets you choose where a fight happens (stand-up vs. ground), while jiu-jitsu gives you finishing tools once it’s there.

Podcasting rewards authenticity more than the polished late-night format.

Both comics criticize 5‑minute, canned TV spots and praise long-form podcasts as the best way to truly know someone, with Rogan openly modeling his media choices on Tosh’s refusal to be overexposed.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

You know the place is slow when Paulie and I are the most famous people.

— Dom Irrera

The beautiful thing about America, Dom, is you can do whatever the fuck you want.

— Joe Rogan

Imagine you have a kid… one day that becomes a school shooter.

— Joe Rogan

Some of my best moments in life have been after I felt terrible… those bad moments can be an incentive for you to move forward and progress.

— Joe Rogan

I really believe this generation is better than the generation I started with, because they got to see them and grow from them.

— Dom Irrera

Life and history at The Comedy Store and LA comedy clubsTouring internationally (Ireland, Australia) and changing comedy audiencesHunting, food ethics, and Rogan’s bowhunting/meat-eating philosophyFighting, martial arts, UFC, and how training shaped RoganMedia, late-night TV, podcasts, and overexposure vs. authenticityThe #MeToo era: Louis C.K., Cosby, Weinstein, and where lines areViolence, gun control, school shootings, and empathy for damaged people

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