Joe Rogan Experience #1237 - Sebastian Maniscalco

Sebastian Maniscalco is a stand up comedian and he also hosts his own podcast with Pete Correale called “The Pete and Sebastian Show” available on iTunes. His new special "Stay Hungry" is now streaming on Netflix.

Joe RoganhostSebastian Maniscalcoguest

Feb 5, 20191h 57mWatch on YouTube ↗

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150 min read · 30,216 words

0:01 – 2:18
Nerves, memory, and why brains “delete files”
1. JRJoe Rogan
  Here we go. Four, three, two, one. (slaps table) And we're live, you fucking handsome bastard. Look at ya.
2. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Oh, yeah.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  Look at ya.
4. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Stunning.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
6. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (laughs)
7. JRJoe Rogan
  What's going on, man?
8. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  What's going on? Um, every... Well, I've done this once before, and I've watched you, you know, throughout the years. And when I come in here, I get a little, um, nervous.
9. JRJoe Rogan
  Why?
10. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  You're a guy who knows a lot about everything, and I don't know a lotta, like-
11. JRJoe Rogan
  I don't know a lot about everything. I know enough to make it seem like I know a lot about everything.
12. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Whatever you're doing, it, it's, y- y- y- you know more than I do, right?
13. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
14. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Like, like we were on your treadmill out there.
15. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
16. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And you go, "It's 13%..." What did you say? I, I-
17. JRJoe Rogan
  13% more difficult than regular running.
18. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Okay. Like, I forgot the fact, what you just said from the time we walked in-
19. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
20. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... I, I, I lost it. So I don't, I don't have the retention-
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm.
22. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... that, that I wish I had, so-
23. JRJoe Rogan
  I gotta get you some Alpha Brain.
24. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  I need something.
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Do we have any here?
26. NANarrator
  Yeah.
27. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Is that what I'm missing in my, my, my diet?
28. NANarrator
  No.
29. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Alpha Brain?
30. JRJoe Rogan
  I don't know. I mean, uh-
2:18 – 5:14
How comedians learn: writing vs audio notes, books vs audiobooks
1. JRJoe Rogan
  You can, but you gotta write things down, and you gotta, like, wanna recall things.
2. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah. That's a problem. I don't do a lot of writing as far as like a notepad or anything to just take notes, um.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  Do you, when you write your act, do you write it in your head or do you write it on paper or on a computer?
4. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  It's audio. Just audio. I'll go up to the comedy store, I record it, and I listen to it on the way home.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  Really?
6. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And then I'll like go, "Oh, maybe I'll do this next time. Maybe I'll do that. I'll take that out, this out."
7. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm.
8. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And then, uh, so there's no writing. My act is more recalling stories than sitting in a room going, "Oh, I think this is funny."
9. JRJoe Rogan
  Right. Right.
10. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So that's kinda how I work. But, uh, yeah, the reason I say that to start off is just, like, I, I, I see you go down a lot of different paths w- on the podcast, and I often go, "Man, if I was sitting in that chair, could I add to the conversation?" And a lot of times it's, "No." (laughs) I c- I can't.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
12. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Just because, for whatever the reason, I, uh, I just feel like I need to be a little bit more, um, well-read.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm.
14. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And-
15. JRJoe Rogan
  How often do you read?
16. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Uh, like I read the Goggins book.
17. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
18. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And that-
19. JRJoe Rogan
  Great fucking book.
20. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah. And that-
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Sad life that dude had, huh?
22. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  It's a sad life, but then on-
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
24. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... on the flip side, inspiring to, you know, a, a guy like myself where, you know, I'm running, I'm running, say I'm working out, and I, I, I thought of this guy. I go, "You know what? Let's, let's put another mile into this."
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
26. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So, uh, yeah. I mean, I'm just now starting to get into a little bit more books than I have in the, in the past. 'Cause in the past, to be honest with you, I haven't really, I haven't really read much.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  I, I try to read, uh, one new thing a week. And the way I try to do it is, uh, I have, uh, uh, I use a lot of audiobooks.
28. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
29. JRJoe Rogan
  But I also read books, so I go back and forth in between them, in between reading and audiobooks. But I find for whatever reason I retain more with audiobooks than I do with reading. I, I, maybe it's my ADD or something like that. 'Cause when I'm reading, I kinda have to back up sometimes. Like, I'll go through a whole paragraph where I'm thinking about some other shit while I'm reading.
30. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
5:14 – 13:27
Structuring a standup set: mapped specials vs improvising nightly
1. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. For sure. Yeah. When you're doing a bit, are you thinking about what you're... Like, are you like, do you have a bit on deck? Like while you're in the middle of the bit, do you, like, go from there? "I'm gonna talk about, you know, the gym or the, you know, the this or the that?"
2. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Uh, it's funny. Uh, and I don't know if you go through this. Do you ever go through, um... Well, first of all, when you're doing comedy, do you have a beginning, middle, and end, and do you know where you're going throughout that whole set? Or do you in the moment go, "You know what? I'm gonna do the bit about da, da, da"? Or is it set?
3. JRJoe Rogan
  It's not... It's both. It depends when. Like right now, uh, I don't have a lot of material because, uh, my Netflix special came out in, uh, October. So November, December, January, I have basically three months worth of new shit, which is about 40 minutes of all told material.
4. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Mm.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  And then I have 20 other minutes that are...... in the-- they're in, like, the baking stage. Like, I'm not ready to take them out of the oven. They're-- I fuck around with them, I'll shove them in the middle a bit some- sometimes, but they're not-- they're not 100% legit. They need to be fleshed out. But one of those became, like, one of my best bits now. It's weird how that works. Like, sometimes you'll just find this one part of it that makes it work, and boom, all of a sudden the bit's turbocharged.
6. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Mm-hmm.
7. JRJoe Rogan
  Um, so, uh, b- because of that, I usually-- I decide that day usually what I'm gonna open with, and then, um, I leave the middle part up to my imagination, and then I'll decide what I'm gonna close with.
8. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Mm-hmm.
9. JRJoe Rogan
  But when I'm d- ready to do a Netflix special, I basically have it all mapped out. I basically have a starting point and I have an end point.
10. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  But even, like, when I'm filming, I still fuck around and ad lib, 'cause I don't think... Uh, 'cause every show I do, I don't- I don't have, like, I'm gonna say it verbatim this way every time. I always fuck around, because I always feel like I could find a new way that's better if I just stay loose. And so even when I'm filming, I do it that way, 'cause I f- I want this to be like a real show.
12. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  And if it's a real show-- and I always film four shows. So I'm like, "If it's a real show, I'll fuck around." And, and so I- I've been filming before where I fuck around and I'll go down a dark road and there's no one there. I'm like, "All right, turn around." (laughs)
14. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (laughs)
15. JRJoe Rogan
  Like, like, thank God for editing. (laughs)
16. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (laughs) Yeah, I think, I think that's the way to do it, though, to be kind of in the moment-
17. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
18. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... and go with how you're feeling when you're filming something, just because that's-
19. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
20. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... the way you would be anyway.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
22. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Right? But sometimes, I've- I've- I've learned in the past, when I'm filming something, I feel like, "Man, I'd like to get everything that I want out on this special, and I don't wanna forget ev- uh, anything."
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
24. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  'Cause there'll be nights where I'm- I'm performing and I- I- I forgot a bit. I'm like, I'll be searching in my head for the bit, and I'm like, "I know there's another... something that-"
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
26. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  "... goes along this." But then I- I just jump off it and go into a- a- an- another routine. So, for me, I don't know, I like to keep it different every night, just try and-
27. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
28. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... play around. And, uh, it- it's weird now that a Netflix special, uh, I just, uh, one came out, and I don't really subscribe to... Um, if- if I have a Netflix special out and you come to a live show, you're going to see some of those bits that I did in the Netflix special. I don't, like, retire the- the act. I know some guys go, "Okay, it's out there. I'm not doing this on my live show." Myself, I still like to do some of that material 'cause I enjoy doing it. And, uh, I also have some new stuff. So, I kinda... A- and I don't know how long that lasts. I don't know, like... I- I know some- some people were like, "Oh, I saw that on the Netflix. Why am I gonna pay to see it live if I could see it at home?" But there's something about going out, I believe, to a live show and seeing a- a live performance. There's different nuances that you might see in a bit or an add-on. Like, the- sometimes I add onto the joke-
29. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
30. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... that I... Uh, my jokes are sometimes never finished, so I keep adding on. So, um, that's the way I've kinda worked at my entire career.
13:27 – 18:01
Timing, silence, and why late-night standup sets feel unnatural
1. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  I have, and, uh, you know, his timing I think was, uh... I think timing in comedy is something, uh, a bit of a lost art. I don't think a lotta comedians are really taking to timing-
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm.
3. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... like they have in the past. And I don't know if they're scared of the silence? 'Cause, uh, 'cause a lotta timing is silent, and a lotta guys and, and women tend to not relish in those moments of silence-
4. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm.
5. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... where sometimes it's, it's comedy gold. A lot of people run through the material, and for me as an audience member, I like someone who kinda gives you as an audience member a little t- little beat, or maybe-
6. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
7. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... maybe some time to kinda marinate in the joke a little bit opposed to kinda blowing through the material.
8. JRJoe Rogan
  Don't you feel that, like, when you're in a large audience, that's even more critical? Because y- you have, like... There's thousands of people, and it seems like a big pause, like, in between punchlines, or you give a person a chance, give this whole group of people a chance to think about how ridiculous what you just said was.
9. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
10. JRJoe Rogan
  It, it enhances it.
11. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Oh, absolutely. I mean, especially, like you said, in a large audience, which is even more fearful for a comedian to let the joke breathe-
12. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
13. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... because God knows, you know, if y- you got 1,000 people and then you got 20,000 people? I mean, uh, you know, 19 more thousand people (laughs) could yell or scream or say something.
14. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
15. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So...
16. JRJoe Rogan
  Anything could go wrong.
17. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah, but man, to stop and just let that joke breathe a little bit and just, and then maybe have it percolate. There's times where I'm on stage and, and I'll go a little bit longer than I thought I was gonna go without talking, but maybe give it, like, a facial expression or whatnot, just to see if I could eke out another crescendo of laughter.
18. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
19. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And, um, those are the moments I really relish in because sometimes the silence is even better than saying anything.
20. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, and you also realize that you're not, like, rushing anything.
21. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
22. JRJoe Rogan
  You know, you, you got ahold of it.
23. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah, at least for myself, my act is more like a, um... It needs to, it needs to kinda sit.
24. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
25. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  I don't really do well on, like, five-minute talk shows doing, like, you know, the, uh, doing a four and a half minute set on Fallon. I need to, like, go out there. I- it takes me two minutes to, to, to get warm-
26. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, yeah.
27. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... you know what I'm saying? Like, uh, uh, to get into a joke right away, eh, to me, I just, I need time. I need, I need to let it breathe.
28. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, no, I feel the same way. I've, I've always felt those late-night talk show sets are so strange. Not only that, but you're basically opening for yourself. I mean-
29. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
30. JRJoe Rogan
  ... 'cause there's, no one has done standup yet, except a monologue-
18:01 – 22:17
Social media: privacy, promotion fatigue, and Bert Kreischer’s blueprint
1. JRJoe Rogan
  The f- he's got one thing down too; that guy does not fuck with social media. He's not doing nothing.
2. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Oh, he's not even on it.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  I mean, he l- like, kinda, I guess he posts stuff.
4. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Well, you know, I, I follow him on Instagram, and every once in a while I'll see something.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
6. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Um, which, you know, for me, I've kind of weaned off the social media a little bit. Um, I know a lot of guys live on it, and they, uh, take you into their lives, and here's... You know? Like, uh, here, I follow Bert Kreischer, right?
7. JRJoe Rogan
  I knew you were gonna say Bert Kreischer. (laughs)
8. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So, everybody... I, I'm wondering-
9. JRJoe Rogan
  Uh...
10. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... if the people around Bert Kreischer-... are, are, are going to him, "All right, Bert, you wanna lose the phone?"
11. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
12. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  You know, like, we're all- we're having dinner here.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh, yeah.
14. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Um, because, man, he really gives you a bird's eye view into not only his family life, but he's on a ski lift and he's got the, you know, skis and this-
15. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
16. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... and that, so, uh, which I- I appreciate, it's just for me, I don't know, is there some... I mean, uh, little sense of privacy-
17. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
18. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... uh, every once in a while, you know?
19. JRJoe Rogan
  Well, in Bert's defense, what Bert did was he had a legit TV gig.
20. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Mm-hmm.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  He was doing Bert the Conqueror and what was the- the other one, the other one, uh, where he was traveling around? Trip, Flip?
22. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Trip, Flip.
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Trip, Flip.
24. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah, yeah.
25. JRJoe Rogan
  And, uh, you know, he was doing really well. But he was gone for long stretches of time. He- a- away from his family and he wasn't getting to do much standup. And he and I had a conversation about it. And I said, "Dude," I go, "You're too funny to be just working for a television show."
26. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  Anybody can do a television show, but not everybody can do standup the way you did standup. And, um, he, somewhere along the line, decided, "All right. Fuck this TV shit," and, uh, "I'm just gonna- just gonna concentrate on standup." And a big part of that was social media.
28. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Mm-hmm.
29. JRJoe Rogan
  So a big part of it for him was, you know, every year we have this, uh, Sober October Crew.
30. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Mm-hmm.
22:17 – 31:22
Meat nerding: pellet grills, searing technique, and extreme dry-aging
1. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Well, yeah. You're- you're- you're living in a lot of different worlds. But e- e- and- and- and I look at your, uh, Instagram, you're cooking meat, right?
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
3. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  But for me, I'm thinking, "How the hell does he get the meat, uh, s- like from- from top to bottom, like medium rare throughout?" You know?
4. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
5. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Like, that- that's, uh, for me, that's more of a learn- a le- (laughs)
6. JRJoe Rogan
  I can teach you, Sebastian. I could teach you.
7. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So-
8. JRJoe Rogan
  You know what the key is? Cooking it slowly.
9. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Okay.
10. JRJoe Rogan
  That's the key.
11. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So you got like this grill-
12. JRJoe Rogan
  Yes.
13. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... uh, or whatever the-
14. JRJoe Rogan
  It's a Traeger.
15. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yes.
16. JRJoe Rogan
  It's a pellet grill.
17. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Pellet grill is another-
18. JRJoe Rogan
  I'll get you one. You want one?
19. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (laughs) If it gets my meat the way it gets your meat-
20. JRJoe Rogan
  I'll get you one. Yeah.
21. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... I would love one.
22. JRJoe Rogan
  I'll- I'll have them send you one, 100%.
23. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Perfect. Um, but yeah, it- so-
24. JRJoe Rogan
  You know what one of those are?
25. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Y-
26. JRJoe Rogan
  Do you know how they work?
27. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  No.
28. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh, it's fucking fantastic. It's- it's, uh, the- like say if someone wants to make a desk like this outta hardwood, like this oak. The sawdust, they take the sawdust from s- from sawmills and they compress it and they make these little tiny pellets. And so there's no chemicals, no nothing. It's just wood. And then the- the way a pellet grill works, there's a bunch of really good companies that make 'em. Uh, I use a Traeger, but I've used a Yoder, that's a great one too, and Green Mountain Grills, that's a great one. This, uh, they have... They all work the same way. They have a heating element and a worm drive. So you got this big bucket of these pellets, and then the worm drive feeds the pellets into this heating element. And the heating element makes the pellets catch fire. So once they catch fire, it's a matter of how much pellets and how much fan to keep the- to- that's what it looks like up there. So then-
29. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  See, look at this, Joe.
30. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
31:22 – 43:14
Getting fit again: Pilates, pickleball, road routines, and packed meals
1. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, yeah. What do you do? Like, what, what are you into? Are you like, like linguine with clams? Like, what kind of stuff do you cook?
2. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  You know what? I, I, (sighs) I like a- I like a lot of pasta. Um, I like a nice Bolognese sauce. However, I'm trying to stay away from those types of meals-
3. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
4. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... because in the past I ballooned up to, you know, 205, 207-
5. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
6. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... not giving a-
7. JRJoe Rogan
  Oof.
8. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... uh, crap about my, my health or, or, or anything. And recently, I've lost some weight due to the fact that, um, been watching, um, My Diet. 'Cause you know, I mean, I don't know. I mean, you're, you're in shape, so you, you, you seem a lot more disciplined than a lot of comedians when it comes to-
9. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
10. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... (laughs) to health. But, uh, for myself, I have, you know, taken on a regimen of, um, not drinking, uh, wine. I used to have like a little wine after, uh, the meal or during the meal. So I've eliminated that, and, uh, I've been doing some, uh, Pilates.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  Pilates?
12. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  Nice.
14. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Which has helped my, uh, my, um, balance and my core, and, and-
15. JRJoe Rogan
  Underrated exercise. Very underrated.
16. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  I gotta tell you, Joe. This Pilates is really changed the way I look at, uh, physical fitness.
17. JRJoe Rogan
  You know who's really into Pilates? Sergey Kovalev.
18. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (clicks tongue) Really?
19. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. He just re- regained the U-- uh, the, um, WBC or WB... I forgot which, which light heavyweight championship on, uh, Saturday night. He's the Crusher. He's this badass Russian motherfucker. And, uh, he just, um, just, I mean, at 35, I think he is, just regained his title. And his routine's very unusual. And one of the things that he does for his exercise is Pilates. And, you know, people make fun of it, but the guy has got strength in all these weird places.
20. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  And the f- full range of motion and flexibility and...
22. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Well, that's what I have.
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
24. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  I'm 45 so my range of motion, my, my shoulders screwed up, my legs, my knee, and this has given me an exercise where I could, uh, not only improve my flexibility, but man, I mean, you walk out, I'm drenched.
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
26. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And, uh, so yeah, I'm getting back on the physical fitness thing 'cause I've been on the road so, so much that, uh, I kinda let that slip a little. But I wanna get, uh, I wanna get back into it.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. You know, some guys are real good about working out on the road. Like, Bryan Callen goes, everywhere he goes, he'll go to a gym, and he's real good at that. Like, he'll go and, uh, go work out with kickboxers, work out with jujitsu guys. Bryan does a lot of boxing.
28. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Mm-hmm.
29. JRJoe Rogan
  So he'll find like a local boxing gym and have a guy hold the pads for him, maybe do even a little light sparring. He gets really into it on the road. But that, I think that's the key is like to force yourself to not stay in your hotel and wait till the show goes. You just gotta force yourself to get out and go do something.
30. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah. I, I wish I was a self-motivated guy, but I need help. So I've taken, uh ... My buddy, John Petrelli is personal trainer, so he comes on the road with me and, uh, you know, moti- motivates me to-
43:14 – 55:38
Sushi science and ocean ethics: sashimi myths, tuna auctions, and regulation gaps
1. JRJoe Rogan
  Did you ever see that movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi?
2. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Oh, is that the guy that's got the, uh, sushi joint at the, uh, in the train station?
3. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, in Japan.
4. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. Have you seen that?
6. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  I've seen half of it.
7. JRJoe Rogan
  It's really weird, 'cause, uh, it changed my idea of what sushi is. I used to think it's, oh, they're cutting fish up, they slap it on a piece of rice, it's great. It's good, tastes good, clean, easy for you.
8. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Mm-hmm.
9. JRJoe Rogan
  Now I realize, like, this guy, it's, is like his life's dedication to putting together the perfect tastes.
10. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. Like, there was one guy that's been working on this egg plate for a year trying to perfect it, trying to get it right.
12. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Similar to like a joke, you know, like trying to make the joke so perfect-
13. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
14. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... this guy's trying to get the dish so perfect. Um, yeah. He-
15. JRJoe Rogan
  But I would never have thought that with sushi. With su- I thought, uh, like if someone-
16. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (laughs)
17. JRJoe Rogan
  ... said a sushi chef, I'd be like, "Oh yeah, right. Okay." Like he's not really a chef, he's just cutting up fish.
18. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah, but there's something about the way they're preparing these, uh, I mean, uh, yeah, it's one thing if you're getting like, uh, sashimi, just salmon, but if they're putting it together with rice and, you know, it's, uh, it's like a science.
19. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. No, it's definitely a science. It's also a science because they age the fish, which I didn't know.
20. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  I didn't know that.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, I was watching this YouTube thing, uh, where these guys were going to this sushi place and they were saying that tuna, they, they will have their tuna in the frigerator for as long as two weeks in preparation for sushi. And just like dry aged steak, the aging of the tuna breaks down the, the, the bacteria breakdown some of the tissue and make it softer and more delicate and change the flavor profile.
22. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (smacks lips) Yeah, no, I had, had no idea. I thought they caught it, they float-
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
24. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Don't, don't you freeze fish for it to be sashimi grade? Is, is that the deal?
25. JRJoe Rogan
  I don't know. Is that the case?
26. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  I don't know.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  Let's find out. What makes something sashimi grade? I saw there was a guy who caught a big ass fucking tuna and they sold it for $3 million. Yes.
28. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
29. JRJoe Rogan
  That's what I had cued up until you made me ask. Yeah, go back to that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What in the fuck is that? $5,000 a pound. Japan's king of tuna. Is that racist? Is that racist?
30. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (laughs)
55:38 – 57:34
Four sold-out Madison Square Garden shows: performing in the round
1. JRJoe Rogan
  So, I, um, what was it like doing Madison Square Garden? You did four shows-
2. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  ... in the Madison Square Garden. And you did it in the round.
4. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah. So, um-
5. JRJoe Rogan
  How many shows have you done in the round before?
6. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Leading up to then, I'd say probably 15, 16.
7. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh, so you've done quite a few in the round?
8. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
9. JRJoe Rogan
  Do you like it?
10. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Um, it's a different animal. And, uh, my act is very physical and expressive, so it kind of works for that type of environment. Uh, although, you have to... L- listen, there's a screen above you, so people are watching screens-
11. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
12. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... uh, when they go to shows anyway. Uh, but the challenge to do it in the round is to hit those people within the first five rows that maybe can't see the screen. 'Cause once you go to the other side of the stage, you got your back to them.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
14. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And it's, it's kinda difficult to, uh-
15. JRJoe Rogan
  Look at you there.
16. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
17. JRJoe Rogan
  Wow. That's so crazy.
18. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  It was-
19. JRJoe Rogan
  That's 18,000 people?
20. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  That's fucking bananas, dude.
22. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So yeah, it's been, for New York, uh, New York for me has been really, really good to me over the years. Um, obviously I'm Italian, and there's a lot of Italians in the New York City area. But, uh, what I think has happened is I'm talking about, like, family, and I'm talking about, like, the immigrant experience, uh, my father being an immigrant from Sicily. And what I'm seeing at my shows is not only an 88-year-old grandmother, but a 12-year-old kid and kinda everybody in between.
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Wow.
24. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So, uh, it's very broad. It's comedy, and I'm not tooting my own horn here, I'm just saying it's comedy that you could come and not cringe because the material might be a little blue or what have you, and-
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Joey Diaz.
26. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (laughs)
27. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs) Imagine if you had Joey Diaz open for you at Madison Square Garden.
28. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Oh my god.
29. JRJoe Rogan
  "Let me tell you, cocksucker, this is how you eat that muffler."
30. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (laughs)
57:34 – 1:06:20
Saying yes vs doing your best work: press overload, family time, and focus
1. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So, yeah, I mean that's why I think I was able to do four shows at Madison Square Garden, just because my audience is a large swath of multi-generational, uh, it's multi-generational. There's just a lot of different people at the shows. And, um, to do Madison Square Garden for me, as, as we were talking prior to getting on here, I was saying that I think I took a little too much on my plate. And what I mean by that is, coming up in comedy, I used to say yes to everything.
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
3. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  The phone used to ring and it was my agent, "You wanna do-" "Yeah. Put me down. I'm in."
4. JRJoe Rogan
  Right. Well, you were trying to work, yeah.
5. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Trying to work.
6. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
7. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And what has happened, once you get too busy, I think, uh, you need to learn to, you know, press the brakes a little bit. So, uh, I did a l- ton of press when I was in New York. And I had family there, I had friends there. And I think I, I spread myself a little too thin. So when the shows s- uh, came, I don't feel like I was r- operating at an optimal level to, to perform. Yeah, i- i- it was fun. I, I still had a good time. But, you know, the more and more I do standup, the more and more I feel like you really gotta be clear-headed, in the moment, and you can't, you can't overwork yourself. It's just who I am. I, I've always been a worker. I mean, when I wasn't going to college and I had time off in the summer, I was working. Uh, when I... I used to work summers as a janitor, uh, during high school. So all the time was always occupied with work. And I feel if I'm not working, I feel like... Or I'm not doing press or I'm not doing, uh, anything, I, I feel like, um-
8. JRJoe Rogan
  You're slacking.
9. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah. I feel like... 'Cause my father, uh, has always put it in my head, you know, "What do you, what do you, you know, what are you doing?" Like, he'd come home and go, "What'd you do today?"
10. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
11. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  You know? I'm like, "I don't know."
12. JRJoe Rogan
  All that angry face. (laughs)
13. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (laughs) Yeah, yeah. It was like, all right, you know, "You're gonna paint the fence this, this week." And I'm, "Eh, I ain't gonna paint the fence." So there was always something to do.
14. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
15. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And that work ethic has bled into my career. And now that I've had some success in my career, I, I think I'm, have to kind of pull it back a little bit and not say yes to an interview that maybe, you know-
16. JRJoe Rogan
  Is not gonna help, but is gonna take up a lot of your time.
17. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yes.
18. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
19. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Exactly.
20. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, no, I'm in the same boat. And, uh, I mean, I think sometimes even I do too many podcasts. I think, um... But there's a lot of fucking people I wanna talk to, so it's hard. But I think, um, I've d- I've definitely stopped doing interviews and all those different things for that reason. It's just, there's only a certain amount of time you have. And, you know, uh, like you, I have a family. Like you, I exercise. And I have a lot of hobbies, man. Between archery and martial arts and, and reading and just watching documentaries. And, you know, it's, is it gonna help... Like, I don't wanna be any more famous.
21. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
22. JRJoe Rogan
  You know? We, we were talking about this earlier. I don't... It's good. I'm working. It's all I wanna do. What I wanna do now is do my best work.
23. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
24. JRJoe Rogan
  That's my number one objective. Whether it's standup, whether it's UFC commentary, whether it's doing a podcast, I wanna do my best work. And I don't think that I can do my best work if I'm scattered. And I often am.
25. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  I think you put the, hit the nail on the head, doing your best work, whatever you're doing.
26. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
27. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So, if, if you're gonna come in here today and do a podcast, whatever you did prior to this cannot really take away from the energy that you need to do this.
28. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
29. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Same thing with the MMA and then the announcing, and the same thing with the standup comedy. I feel...... that sometimes I jeopardize myself and I take on too much, and I've realized that and I'm going to kinda... 'Cause now, I got a fa- I got another baby coming, so-
30. JRJoe Rogan
  Congratulations.
1:06:20 – 1:13:40
How Joe became “the voice of the UFC”: from post-fight interviews to commentary
1. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  ... the MMA is definitely a, or the UFC is definitely a, an, an animal in itself. How did, how did you get, uh, into that position? Did you know th- Dana White and you started... H- I, I, for you, I, I, I, I always wanted to ask you this in the, at The Comedy Store, how did you become kinda the voice of, of the UFC?
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Well, I started, uh, in 1997. I was the post-fight interviewer. That was, uh, it was just a position that was available, and the UFC was very small back then, very few people knew w- what it was. It was off of cable. You couldn't get it on cable, you could only get it on satellite. And, uh, they needed someone to do post-fight interviews. So-
3. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  But you, you were in that world to begin with?
4. JRJoe Rogan
  I was in the martial arts world, you know. I, I used to teach martial arts for a living before I became a comedian, I used to fight. Uh, fought in a lot of Taekwondo tournaments and had some kickboxing fights, and I'd always been a martial artist-
5. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Mm-hmm.
6. JRJoe Rogan
  ... since I was a kid. And so, um, I just was interested in watching the UFC, and then I started training in jujitsu. And when I was training in jujitsu, I was just a white belt, I was just starting out. That's when, uh, I got hired by the UFC to be a post-fight interviewer. But I only did that for two years and then I quit. It was just too much, and it was actually, like, it was...... I, I was losing money. I would make more money, uh, doing a weekend at a comedy club than I would doing it, doing the UFC.
7. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Hmm.
8. JRJoe Rogan
  And it just got to a point where it was just, it was too much of a pain in the ass. And so, uh, I still remained a fan, but I backed away. And then the UFC was purchased by this company called Zuffa in 2001 and when that happened, um, they started putting on shows in Vegas and I would go there, uh, with my friends. They got me free tickets. They reached out and they would try to get celebrities to go sit there so that it would, uh, they would... 'Cause they were very small at the time.
9. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
10. JRJoe Rogan
  And they were trying... They were hemorrhaging money and they were trying to build it up. And in talking to Dana White one day, he, he... You know, I was talking to him about fights going on in Japan. I'm like, "Have you ever seen Sato fight? Do you know... What, what... Do you, do you know Sakurad? Do you know this guy?" And I, and I was bringing all these names and he was like, "Do you wanna do commentary?"
11. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  (laughs)
12. JRJoe Rogan
  I'm like, "I don't wanna do commentary, man. I- I'm, I'm here to get drunk and watch people kick the shit out of each other."
13. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
14. JRJoe Rogan
  "I'm not here to work." And he talked me into it for one show. Uh, UFC 37 and a half, it was a, a show that was on, um, one of those, uh, Fox Sports Networks, small- smaller networks, and, um, I think it was The Best Damn Sports Show Period was a part of it. I did that and then the rest is history.
15. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Wow.
16. JRJoe Rogan
  And then I did like 12 of them for free. Like the UFC didn't have any money. Like, well, they were hemorrhaging money. I mean, they had... There were rich people that owned it, but it was not a profitable venture.
17. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
18. JRJoe Rogan
  And I said, "Look, just get me there, get me and my friends tickets and I'll do it." And so that's how I operated for like a, like over a year and then I just became the commentator. It's just weird.
19. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  That's crazy.
20. JRJoe Rogan
  It's just Dana White. He's, he's a crazy man and he's, uh, he's got a, you know, weird way of looking at things that, that's very effective in, in, hi- in his crazy mind. He's like, "Let's take this guy who's never even thought about being a commentator and make him our commentator." I mean, I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. I mean, I really didn't... I didn't have any training at all in sports commentary. I just would see what was happening and start talking about it. You know, which is really like the wrong j-... I was more even play-by-play and color. It was like doing both of them at the same time. It was really weird.
21. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  And as far as you doing that, do you, um, get any notes from anybody going, "Hey Joe, uh, try this, try that." Or you just developed that whole, that voice all on your own? What, what-
22. JRJoe Rogan
  100% on my own.
23. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  So there's-
24. JRJoe Rogan
  The only thing that, uh, I had was, uh, there's like Marc DellaGrotta who's a good friend of mine. He is, um, he's, uh, one of the top trainers in the world. He's in the truck and, uh, I can communicate with him. There's a button where I can communicate with him and we talk about stuff. Like, I can say, uh, "Does he look like he's limping to you?" And he's like, "Yeah, there's something wrong with his leg." I go, "The left leg, right?" He's like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And then I'll start talking about it. Like I'll, I'll be able to bounce it back and forth-
25. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Oh.
26. JRJoe Rogan
  ... with him. Or sometimes I just... It's obvious and I'll say it myself and I'll k- I'll ask him, like, "I- am I wrong? Is he dropping his hand or is, is this... Is it..." Like, it's a nice, it's a nice thing to have someone to bounce-
27. SMSebastian Maniscalco
  Yeah.
28. JRJoe Rogan
  ... uh, things off. It used to be Eddie Bravo. Eddie Bravo used to do it as well where I would, uh, be able to talk to him about certain positions 'cause he would be in the truck and I'd be able to ask him, like, uh, "Hi- which... His left leg's in jeopardy right now, right? Or he needs to step over with his right leg." We'd be able to go over... 'Cause like there's some aspects of martial arts that are extremely technical, especially jujitsu when things go to the ground and you're trying to commentary, do commentary and I- I have to decipher which is his left leg, which is his right leg, where is he tied up, where is he tangled, and I'm doing it in real time while I'm trying to be entertaining and talking. It's very complicated.