Joe Rogan Experience #1172 - Morgan Fallon

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   All right. Four, three,…

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:00

      All right. Four, three, two, one. (claps) What's up, Mo?

   2. MFMorgan Fallon0:08

      What's up, man? How you doing?

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:09

      How are you, buddy? Good to see you, man.

   4. MFMorgan Fallon0:10

      Good. It's good to see you.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:11

      Um, I'm glad we decided to get together and do this, you know, and, and talk and, um, you know, it's c- it's a crazy subject, right? I mean, uh, you and I have known each other for since 2012 when, uh, I did Meat Eater. You were there filming when I shot my first deer, which is a very important part of my life, man. And, um, then you went on to, uh, direct and produce Parts Unknown with our late friend, Anthony Bourdain. And, uh, we just thought it'd probably be a good thing to come in here and just talk, talk about him.

   6. MFMorgan Fallon0:44

      Yeah, man. And, uh, and I'm really grateful for it, you know. It's actually, you know, a lot of people, um, have been saying to me like, "Oh, it must be really hard to talk about that. It must really..." It's, I actually find it kind of the opposite. Like I wanna talk about him and I wanna talk about who he was and what that experience was, you know, so, um, thanks, man.

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:05

      My pleasure, brother. Did you, did you know him before you guys started working together?

   8. MFMorgan Fallon1:10

      No. No. I met Tony, uh, 10 years ago and I was called in, uh, he had a, a DP on his show who, at the last minute, canceled and couldn't go to Egypt, so, uh, I got a call like a week before, you know. He's like, "Do you wanna go to Egypt with Anthony Bourdain?" I was like, "Y- yeah, fuck yeah, absolutely." (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:29

      Right.

   10. MFMorgan Fallon1:30

       You know. Um, and, uh, and so I met him in Cairo, man. Like, you know-

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:34

       Wow.

   12. MFMorgan Fallon1:34

       ... it was kinda like perfect, yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:36

       Holy shit. That's like Indiana Jones type of shit. (laughs)

   14. MFMorgan Fallon1:38

       (laughs) Yeah, yeah. Exactly, man.

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:40

       Is that the episode when you guys ate a camel?

   16. MFMorgan Fallon1:42

       No. No. We didn't eat a camel.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:44

       Oh, that was a different one?

   18. MFMorgan Fallon1:44

       No. But, um, you know, uh, I met him there. You know, we started filming. We were on the streets of Cairo and like, you know, it's just like all of a sudden, I was thrown into these kitchens where it's like, "We're eating pigeon." You know, it's like, "Go and cover them cooking pigeon." And, you know, I had-

   19. JRJoe Rogan2:00

       Right.

   20. MFMorgan Fallon2:01

       ... I had seen the show like maybe once before, but I had n- I knew who he was and I knew what that adventure was.

   21. JRJoe Rogan2:07

       Right.

   22. MFMorgan Fallon2:07

       You know, and I was so amped for it. Um, and then there was like this seminal moment on that show where, uh, we go out and we, we go ripping across the desert with the Bedouin and go out and cook a goat, uh, in the ground, you know. Um, and so as we're driving out over the desert, we're like, "Well, we need to get, we need some shots from car to car," right? And I was like, "I'll get on the roof," you know. And, uh, and there's like this four, for some reason, there's a four-post bed tied to the roof of this, uh, Land Rover.

   23. JRJoe Rogan2:39

       (laughs)

   24. MFMorgan Fallon2:39

       And so I get up there and kinda like l- you know, latch my arm around it, and these guys take off at, I, I swear, 80 miles an hour across the desert. I mean...

   25. JRJoe Rogan2:48

       And you're on a bed?

   26. MFMorgan Fallon2:49

       Absolutely. (laughs) Yeah. Absolutely no regard for the fact that like (laughs) I'm on the roof, you know, um, shooting. And, uh, and when we got there, we got to camp. I survived it. Um, I had this big black and blue where I was holding onto the four-post bed. And I, I go over and I show Tony, and, um, that was it, man. From that moment on, (laughs) he was, he was like, "I like this guy." (laughs)

   27. JRJoe Rogan3:16

       (laughs)

   28. MFMorgan Fallon3:16

       And I started going out with him, you know. I started getting invited to do more shows.

   29. JRJoe Rogan3:20

       Wow.

   30. MFMorgan Fallon3:20

       So that was it, man.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan15:00

      um, ice fishing. They were on-

   2. MFMorgan Fallon15:01

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan15:01

      ... the water and they had this ice fishing shack, but inside the ice fishing shack, they had fine silverware and fine china and they had bottles of really excellent wine and they were cooking on a wood stove. They had a wood stove and they were cooking foie gras like right there on the stove. And then they were laying out what they think makes you a good dinner companion. And, you know, Dave was like, "I shut my phone off. I turn it off. I put it away." And he goes, "I don't check it." I don't ... He goes, "I don't put my elbows on the table." You know, and he's like, "And I come prepared with stories." And Tony's like, "You prepare? You prepare stories?" (laughs)

   4. MFMorgan Fallon15:39

      (laughs) Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan15:39

      He goes, "I have, I have stories to tell."

   6. MFMorgan Fallon15:41

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan15:41

      "I come prepared." Like, to him it's like, not really a performance, but it's an agreement that you're gonna, you're gonna go there and you're gonna share this enthusiasm for this experience together. And you're gonna try to enhance it with your own anecdotes and personality and your own appreciation for the food and the wine and then afterwards they're smoking Cuban cigars. It's like the whole thing is ... It made you want to go eat at a really good place.

   8. MFMorgan Fallon16:07

      Yeah. Or in a, you know, in a-

   9. JRJoe Rogan16:09

      A shack.

   10. MFMorgan Fallon16:10

       ... in a shack.

   11. JRJoe Rogan16:10

       On a-

   12. MFMorgan Fallon16:10

       You know?

   13. JRJoe Rogan16:11

       ... frozen lake. Yeah.

   14. MFMorgan Fallon16:11

       With, with people who understand that, that there's an elegance to all of these things.

   15. JRJoe Rogan16:16

       Yes. Yeah.

   16. MFMorgan Fallon16:16

       You know? That you can create an environment that, that has an elegance. I mean, that's ... You know, I'd say that's like a hallmark of a lot of the chefs that I've met through the show, is like, you will see that, you know, no matter how big they get, no matter how successful, there is an inherent kind of desire to please on multiple levels.

   17. JRJoe Rogan16:36

       Yeah.

   18. MFMorgan Fallon16:36

       You know? You'll have like ... I remember we were in, uh, Daniel Boulud's house in France, like at his parents' house, right? And so here's Daniel Boulud, like the mega chef, you know. Um, but like, running around to all of the crew members, like, "Do you have something to eat? Are you good? Do you want another glass of wine? Do you wanna like ..." You know? (laughs) And it just inherent to his nature.

   19. JRJoe Rogan16:58

       Yeah.

   20. MFMorgan Fallon16:58

       It's exactly what you're talking about. This idea that, you know, they have this just ... Ongoing desire to please their guests.

   21. JRJoe Rogan17:09

       Yeah.

   22. MFMorgan Fallon17:09

       To entertain, to, you know, make sure that everyone's taken care of, you know.

   23. JRJoe Rogan17:13

       They're curators of an experience.

   24. MFMorgan Fallon17:14

       Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and so to be able to, you know, run around the world for 10 years and explore that. (laughs)

   25. JRJoe Rogan17:22

       Yeah.

   26. MFMorgan Fallon17:23

       It was nice, man.

   27. JRJoe Rogan17:24

       God-

   28. MFMorgan Fallon17:24

       You know?

   29. JRJoe Rogan17:24

       ... man, I can only imagine.

   30. MFMorgan Fallon17:26

       Yeah.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan30:00

      like, uh, when we were in Montana, that's when I real- ... Well, I always knew how hard he went. But when I was blasted out of my mind, and he was like, "Where's that bottle? Where, where's those joints?" And I was like, "Jesus, man."

   2. MFMorgan Fallon30:11

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan30:11

      You, like, I can't even h- I'm hanging onto the earth here. (laughs)

   4. MFMorgan Fallon30:14

      Yeah, well, that was a late night, man.

   5. JRJoe Rogan30:16

      Yeah.

   6. MFMorgan Fallon30:17

      That was ... That one, I mean, you know, listen, like in all fairness, not every night was quite like that.

   7. JRJoe Rogan30:22

      Yeah.

   8. MFMorgan Fallon30:22

      You know? But that ... We had a lot of fun that night, for sure.

   9. JRJoe Rogan30:24

      It was real fun.

   10. MFMorgan Fallon30:25

       Yeah.

   11. JRJoe Rogan30:25

       And it, and it really ...... an interesting thoughtful dialogue around the campfire with-

   12. MFMorgan Fallon30:29

       Super, yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan30:30

       ... Lann Towne from, uh, Backwoods Country Hunters and Anglers-

   14. MFMorgan Fallon30:33

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan30:33

       ... and all these, the other guys that were with us, right? You know, these guys who, uh, it was good to get a different perspective on what going out and getting your own wild food is like.

   16. MFMorgan Fallon30:43

       Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan30:44

       You know, and then having him cook it there. And it was delicious.

   18. MFMorgan Fallon30:47

       Yeah, it was awesome. And, but not ... But also being able to put those ideas on, like, a major network on primetime.

   19. JRJoe Rogan30:52

       I know, right?

   20. MFMorgan Fallon30:52

       It's pretty, pretty rare, man, (laughs) you know.

   21. JRJoe Rogan30:55

       Yeah, kudos to CNN for having the cojones to put together that kind of a show and have it on-

   22. MFMorgan Fallon31:01

       Big time.

   23. JRJoe Rogan31:01

       ... you know?

   24. MFMorgan Fallon31:01

       Yeah. Big time, man. Uh, again, I ... What can I say? These is the best creative partners you could ask for in terms of that, you know.

   25. JRJoe Rogan31:08

       You really enjoyed it that much.

   26. MFMorgan Fallon31:08

       They, they took big risks.

   27. JRJoe Rogan31:09

       Yeah.

   28. MFMorgan Fallon31:10

       Yeah. What's not to ... That was the dream job. If you do what I do, you know, you are interested in making documentary television, you know, um, that's it, man. That's the-

   29. JRJoe Rogan31:21

       How did it wind up at CNN?

   30. MFMorgan Fallon31:23

       ... y- that's the show.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Mm-hmm. …

   1. MFMorgan Fallon45:00

      most, um, you know, some of the most like dynamic, grassroots capitalism that I've ever seen. I mean, people who will literally find any s- any way to scrape out an existence and a living. You know? This is not like... This is not a lazy culture. This is a culture that will fight through anything. You know? You go to Lagos, and Lagos is one of the most dynamic cities I've ever been in. It was constantly moving, constantly people trying to make money, constantly people trying to find a niche, you know, in a city of 20 million people. You know? So, I find a lot of beauty in just like raw human endeavor there.

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:41

      Mm-hmm.

   3. MFMorgan Fallon45:42

      And I think that, you know, if they can clear some of the, like obvious stumbling blocks that they have in terms of corruption, in terms of, you know, foreign pressure, um, in terms of, you know, manipulation of markets, um, th- there's, there's tremendous promise there. I mean like d- just in, just in terms of the just, um, the internet and technology sector in Africa is like absolutely booming. You know? You have kids that come in from the villages on the streets of Lagos who can take your computer apart and rebuild it by hand. You know? Self-taught. And all of that potential is there to be tapped. You know? And, and they're starting to. You know? So, I guess I just find it a hopeful place.

   4. JRJoe Rogan46:32

      That's amazing that you only had one bad experience.

   5. MFMorgan Fallon46:34

      Only one. Only one. But I can say that about traveling the world kind of in general. I mean, we've been in a number of, you know, relatively hot zones. I mean, we never did active conflict because we don't, you know, make that kinda show. Um, but, you know, being in places like Gaza or the DRC, or-

   6. JRJoe Rogan46:52

      Mm-hmm.

   7. MFMorgan Fallon46:52

      You know, I, I can count on one hand in, you know, in many, many years of doing this, you know, the number of times that I actually felt threatened by someone. You know? I've found that the most likely scenario is you're gonna get like accosted by a sandwich, you know, or someone trying to, you know, introduce you to their kids, you know, or take a selfie with you. And that's, that's the world that I know. (laughs) I don't really understand the world that we see (laughs) , you know, on TV here, man, 'cause that's not, that's not my experience. You know?

   8. JRJoe Rogan47:24

      Right.

   9. MFMorgan Fallon47:24

      You know? A lot of good people. Uh, a- and again, getting back to Tony, I think that, you know, uh, that's the legacy, right? I think that he really showed people that.

   10. JRJoe Rogan47:34

       That is a problem with our view of the world is that if it doesn't look scary, they're not gonna show it to you.

   11. MFMorgan Fallon47:39

       No. They're totally-

   12. JRJoe Rogan47:39

       'Cause if it's not dangerous... I mean, other than his show, what else are you seeing on CNN where they're in Africa where it's a good thing? What else are you seeing where people are in Egypt where it's a good thing? What else are you seeing where people are interacting with people on the street and there's not some sort of a murder story or-

   13. MFMorgan Fallon47:58

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan47:58

       ... a rape story or something awful?

   15. MFMorgan Fallon48:02

       Yeah. I mean, uh, I think you're starting, you're starting to see it a little bit. Um, but mostly you're seeing it in like, you know, on like CNN's Africa, you know, Network or-

   16. JRJoe Rogan48:12

       Mm-hmm.

   17. MFMorgan Fallon48:13

       ... you know? There, you're starting to see them covering stories about entrepreneurs and seeing-

   18. JRJoe Rogan48:17

       Right.

   19. MFMorgan Fallon48:19

       You know, d- positive aspects, you know, building economies and stuff like that, but-

   20. JRJoe Rogan48:22

       But it's a real problem in our view of the world-

   21. MFMorgan Fallon48:24

       No.

   22. JRJoe Rogan48:24

       ... for people that don't travel.

   23. MFMorgan Fallon48:25

       Well, listen, Africa just simply doesn't make news in the United States. I mean, and l- it's, uh, it takes a genocide.

   24. JRJoe Rogan48:31

       Yeah.

   25. MFMorgan Fallon48:31

       You know?

   26. JRJoe Rogan48:32

       Well, all I've been hearing about Africa lately is what's going on with white farmers in South Africa, which s- uh-

   27. MFMorgan Fallon48:37

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan48:37

       It's very scary stuff, where people are...... encouraging people to attack white farmers. You know, and there's a whole lot of sociopolitical and economic shit that goes on with that, that I'm not even gonna pretend I understand. But, uh, that's what you hear about. You don't hear about good things. You hear about how many farmers have been murdered-

   29. MFMorgan Fallon48:56

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan48:56

       ... in their homes.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:11:41

   Yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:00:00

   2. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:00

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:00:00

      ... and then I watched like ... I binged, watched like three of them in a night and I was like, "Goddamn, what a good show it was."

   4. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:07

      Yeah. Yeah. It was good, man.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:00:09

      You guys nailed it.

   6. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:10

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:00:11

      I mean, you really ... You should be really proud.

   8. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:12

      Thanks, man. Yeah. And I'm ... You know, I'm actually still working on one right now, which is, uh, maybe the weirdest experience, you know?

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:00:21

      Mm-hmm.

   10. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:21

       You were asking about process before, you know? After we'd shoot it, that's when Tony really came in, you know?

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:00:27

       What do you do if he's not there for narration?

   12. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:29

       Well, that's the, that's the thing.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:00:30

       Who narrates it?

   14. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:31

       You know? I mean, um, it's ... I'm not gonna replace Tony.

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:00:35

       So no-

   16. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:35

       Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:00:35

       ... narration?

   18. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:35

       No.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:00:36

       Yeah.

   20. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:36

       No. I mean, we have our sidekicks, uh, talking to him. We have ...... his dialogue in the field-

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:00:43

       Mm-hmm.

   22. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:44

       ... you know. But w- who's gonna step in and do that voice?

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:00:47

       No one.

   24. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:47

       And, and how offensive would it be if we did that?

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:00:50

       It would have to be someone w- who is so close to him that it didn't, didn't freak everybody out. It'd have to be someone who was on the show 1,000 times and was just there with him always.

   26. MFMorgan Fallon1:00:59

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:01:00

       And that person doesn't really exist.

   28. MFMorgan Fallon1:01:02

       Doesn't, yeah. There's no v- you know, there's no voice there.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:01:05

       When you would give him a rough cut, um, say, if y- like I said, a show on Puerto Rico-

   30. MFMorgan Fallon1:01:10

       Yeah.

Episode duration: 1:45:38