Joe Rogan Experience #1257 - Steve Sweeney

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   Look at you. I'm,…

   1. SSSteve Sweeney0:00

      Look at you. I'm, I'm enjoying this. Jim, I wish we had a speed bag. That's my favorite thing.

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Two, one, uh ...

   3. SSSteve Sweeney0:11

      Test. (claps hands)

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:11

      Steve Sweeney, ladies and gentlemen. How are you?

   5. SSSteve Sweeney0:13

      Hey, I'm great. I can't believe-

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      Great to see you.

   7. SSSteve Sweeney0:15

      You know what? I've done so many things in my life, you know, movies, TV, (camera clicks) all this stuff, stand up, but Joe Rogan, oh my God. Back in Boston, "Jesus, you're on Joe Rogan?" (laughs) Yeah, I get ... You got fans, you know, that are, like, all these different ages and all different kinds of people. And, um, I'm very proud of you.

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:38

      Thank you.

   9. SSSteve Sweeney0:38

      One of the things that happened, you don't remember this, but you opened for me.

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:42

       Many times.

   11. SSSteve Sweeney0:43

       Louis C.K. opened for me. Nick DiPaolo opened for me. So people that want a little show business advice, open for me.

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:51

       It helps.

   13. SSSteve Sweeney0:52

       And then you get to go by me and, uh, you know, I get to watch you guys become stars.

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:57

       I've said-

   15. SSSteve Sweeney0:57

       While I'm playing fucking Chinese restaurants-

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:00

       (laughs)

   17. SSSteve Sweeney1:00

       ... in Saugus.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:02

       Some of the best standup comedy in the world is at Chinese restaurants in Saugus. And that's a fact, still to this day. All those people that live there, they don't know how good they have it.

   19. SSSteve Sweeney1:10

       Well, you know what it is? I ... You know, you work with these guys. You and I have worked with guys that are, like, genius, you know, a transcendent, whatever word you wanna use. But doing standup is not about being funny. It's about going into these shitholes and, like, developing this extra skin. You know, you s- you're a martial artist and sort of, you have s- kind of that mentality. But, you know, when I started, it was like, I came from... You know, I was an actor, I was very serious person. I was, like, an actor, you know, and I'd, I'd do, like, these obscure impressions. I'd... Paul Scofield and Laurence, (imitates British accent) Laurence Olivier, you know, Raisinets, and all this bullshit. And I'd be playing at places like The Sugar Shack.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:55

       (laughs)

   21. SSSteve Sweeney1:56

       Do you remember The Sugar Shack?

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:57

       Yes, I do.

   23. SSSteve Sweeney1:57

       It was a Black, um, R&B joint, and I opened for B.B. King.

   24. JRJoe Rogan2:03

       Wow.

   25. SSSteve Sweeney2:04

       Yeah, and I'm doing, like, John Lennon. (imitates British accent) "It was very important when we started the ..." And the Black dude, "Do some dirty shit, man. What the fuck are you doing?"

   26. JRJoe Rogan2:11

       (laughs)

   27. SSSteve Sweeney2:11

       "Don't you know any jokes?"

   28. JRJoe Rogan2:14

       (laughs)

   29. SSSteve Sweeney2:14

       So in the back, I get heckled. My first heckler, he said, "You suck." And I said, "Yeah, f- fuck you. Who are you?" He says, "I'm B.B. King. I hired you, motherfucker."

   30. JRJoe Rogan2:23

       Oh, no.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   What, is it a,…

   1. SSSteve Sweeney15:00

      get into something where we could really work, you know? And they all did it. They're all in the movie, and it was a fantastic experience. Woman director, Lisa Muller, and it was just... It was great. It's the first time I've produced a movie, which is really hard.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:14

      What, is it a, a, like, a dramatic movie? Like, what is it?

   3. SSSteve Sweeney15:18

      I'll tell you the plot briefly. No, I guess it's a comedy, but it has its moments. It's, uh, the HBO maybe or Showtime or some company comes to town, and they want me. But they say the characters, they're too local. Gotta get rid of the characters. So then my characters try to kill me. So I play five different parts, six different parts.

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:42

      (laughs)

   5. SSSteve Sweeney15:42

      Like a Peter Sellers kind of thing-

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:43

      Oh, okay.

   7. SSSteve Sweeney15:44

      ... from Doctor Strange, but-

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:45

      So, like, you're losing your mind? Like your characters are trying to kill you?

   9. SSSteve Sweeney15:47

      Well, you gotta figure that out.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:48

       Mmm, okay, okay.

   11. SSSteve Sweeney15:49

       Yeah. You don't know whether I'm losing my mind. Um, but I had just come off The Equalizer with Denzel Washington. I was in that. And, uh, that was an interesting experience because, like, I got this beard, you know? And, um, the director who did Training Day, he said to me, "You know, you gotta shave your beard." And I said, "Listen, man, I saw my face 25 years ago. It scared the shit out of me. This beard is here for a reason. I'm, I'm the most ugly motherfucker I've ever seen. I can't do it." Then he told me how much money I was gonna make. I said, "Would you like me to shave my balls too?"

   12. JRJoe Rogan16:28

       (laughs)

   13. SSSteve Sweeney16:28

       Similar experience, Something About Mary. So my scene, if you haven't seen it, Ben Stiller's thing is caught in the zipper. So I, uh, I'm the cop, I come in the window. And Peter, who directed it, I said, "You know, I don't have to grab his crotch, right?" He says, "Yeah, you're an actor, you gotta grab it." I said, "I don't have anything against it, but I ju- I just can't do it." Then he told me how much money I was gonna make. I said, "You want me to just grab it, because I'll give him..." Anyway, uh-

   14. JRJoe Rogan16:54

       (laughs)

   15. SSSteve Sweeney16:55

       (laughs) That was my experience with that.

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:57

       Do you really feel like it's demeaning working clubs? 'Cause I still enjoy working clubs. I love it. I mean, uh, out here, of course, we do the Comedy Store all the time, I do the Improv.

   17. SSSteve Sweeney17:07

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan17:07

       But I do clubs on the road too.

   19. SSSteve Sweeney17:08

       Those audiences are easy. They're great. They're there-

   20. JRJoe Rogan17:11

       You mean like-

   21. SSSteve Sweeney17:11

       ... they're there to laugh.

   22. JRJoe Rogan17:12

       You mean, like, shitty clubs? You mean, like, uh, bar gigs?

   23. SSSteve Sweeney17:16

       You know, here, here's the thing, is when I'm on stage, I'm okay. You know? But when I'm driving to fucking East Methune Elks Club, I-

   24. JRJoe Rogan17:27

       It bothers you that-

   25. SSSteve Sweeney17:28

       ... I get a fucking depression you wouldn't believe.

   26. JRJoe Rogan17:30

       It's funny because-

   27. SSSteve Sweeney17:31

       You start, you start to feel old.

   28. JRJoe Rogan17:32

       In the day, like, driving to those gigs was awesome.

   29. SSSteve Sweeney17:36

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan17:36

       Right? Like, something shifts. Like, what is it that shifts? Is it, is it in your own head? Is it, is it just that you've done too many of them?
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   (laughs) . …

   1. SSSteve Sweeney30:00

      said, "What are you doing at home? You gotta go back out there." "What?"

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:02

      (laughs) .

   3. SSSteve Sweeney30:02

      "I gotta go back out and fight him again?" I said, "Fucking all right." Yeah. But I ... You know, there's a lot of different ways to be like in Charlestown growing up. I mean, I was ... I grew up with some guys that were like unbelievable. Like, you know, there's a, there's a whole moral thing maybe or a social thing about, say, robbing a bank. I mean-

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:23

      Yeah.

   5. SSSteve Sweeney30:23

      ... would that ever fricking cross your mind?

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:25

      No. But that's a Charlestown thing. That's one thing-

   7. SSSteve Sweeney30:28

      Yeah, but-

   8. JRJoe Rogan30:28

      ... that is true about that movie, The Town.

   9. SSSteve Sweeney30:29

      But, but what ... I was in awe of people that would do it. It's like-

   10. JRJoe Rogan30:33

       Yeah.

   11. SSSteve Sweeney30:33

       ... where do you get the balls to ... You know. And I'll never forget-... this friend of mine, Joey Rocco, who's no longer with us. So I see him up at Government Center. Do you remember Government Center?

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:44

       Yeah.

   13. SSSteve Sweeney30:45

       So I see him up there and he's got, like, his lunch. And, um, I said, "Joe, how you doing?" And he kind of blew me off. Then I see him a week later and he says, "Hey, Sweenes, what's up?" I said, "What's up? You blew me off a week ago." He said, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I was waiting to rob Crimson Travel and I had my gun there and-"

   14. JRJoe Rogan31:04

       (laughs)

   15. SSSteve Sweeney31:05

       ... I was interrupting, I was interrupting his work. So he came into the next comedy stop with 400 people. I did fantastic. I was, like, practically a standing ovation, whatever. So Joe's in the audience, right? And I, I... So I talked to him afterwards. So there's a number of things he could say, like, "Geez, I liked his show." "I didn't like your show." "Good for you getting out of Charlestown." He gave me this look. I was like, "Wow, there's gotta be a lot of money in here." I said, "You think I'm here to case the joint for you?"

   16. JRJoe Rogan31:36

       (laughs)

   17. SSSteve Sweeney31:38

       It was unbelievable. We used to, um... Part of the thing about Charlestown growing up was you had to shoplift. That was... Did you do that when you were a kid?

   18. JRJoe Rogan31:45

       I sh-... I got caught shoplifting candy once.

   19. SSSteve Sweeney31:48

       Candy, yeah. You were bad.

   20. JRJoe Rogan31:49

       Yeah.

   21. SSSteve Sweeney31:49

       You probably were terrified, right, of getting caught?

   22. JRJoe Rogan31:51

       Terrified. I got brought into a manager's office. I think I was 12.

   23. SSSteve Sweeney31:55

       Oh, yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan31:55

       I got in trouble.

   25. SSSteve Sweeney31:56

       I was terrible, too. I was so paranoid. But anyway, there was a department store called Jordan Marsh and, uh, my job was to catch the football. They'd throw me the football, I'd catch it and run down Tremont Street. So we've just, you know, stolen a football, right? So that's-

   26. JRJoe Rogan32:16

       Right.

   27. SSSteve Sweeney32:16

       That was my gig. So one time I'm up there and, uh, this other kid says to me, "Pick up the end of this canoe." I said, "What?" He said, "Grab the end of the canoe." We're stealing a fucking canoe, you know?

   28. JRJoe Rogan32:30

       (laughs)

   29. SSSteve Sweeney32:31

       So we're walking down Washington Street in Boston with a canoe, right? Now-

   30. JRJoe Rogan32:35

       (clears throat)
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Yeah. …

   1. SSSteve Sweeney45:00

      Any minute anything can happen.

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:01

      Yeah.

   3. SSSteve Sweeney45:02

      You know? So...

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:03

      Well, you're, you're dealing with a bunch of very impulsive people that also have a very short fuse. They're, they're used to violence.

   5. SSSteve Sweeney45:10

      Violence is one way of acting out, so what I say to them is, "I have the same thing, but it's not through violence." For me, it's like texting or something, you know?

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:18

      Mm-hmm.

   7. SSSteve Sweeney45:19

      I react or I drank.

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:21

      Yeah.

   9. SSSteve Sweeney45:21

      You know? So it's, it's about (deeply inhales) stepping back-

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:24

       Staying calm.

   11. SSSteve Sweeney45:25

       Yeah.

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:25

       It's hard when you get tripped up.

   13. SSSteve Sweeney45:27

       But y- but you, the mind listens to the breath.

   14. JRJoe Rogan45:30

       Mm-hmm.

   15. SSSteve Sweeney45:30

       That's the key. Rather than going up in your mind (deeply inhales) , take that breath (deeply exhales) and, you know, like when something's happening, like a car crash or something, first impulse is (deeply inhales) hold your breath. Don't hold your breath, let your breath out.

   16. JRJoe Rogan45:46

       Mm-hmm.

   17. SSSteve Sweeney45:46

       I mean, a lot of traditions have this, you know, Tai Chi, you know, Pranayama in, in-

   18. JRJoe Rogan45:52

       Mm-hmm.

   19. SSSteve Sweeney45:52

       ... yoga. So...

   20. JRJoe Rogan45:53

       Yeah, breathing is critical. It's everything. I mean, when Wim Hof teaches it, you know, if you follow those methods, you can, you can, uh, really change your physiological state. You can, you can get out of a lot of things. It, it can get you through a lot of things.

   21. SSSteve Sweeney46:08

       You know the thing that I don't buy though, is that fucking cold water.

   22. JRJoe Rogan46:11

       (laughs)

   23. SSSteve Sweeney46:11

       I don't wanna go into the Arctic like him. Holy shit.

   24. JRJoe Rogan46:14

       It's 'cause you live in Boston. You get-

   25. SSSteve Sweeney46:16

       Oh my God.

   26. JRJoe Rogan46:16

       ... you get an allergy to cold. My friend, Mark DelliGrotte, he's, he's ready to go. He's done. He's been there for too long.

   27. SSSteve Sweeney46:23

       I know, a lot of-

   28. JRJoe Rogan46:23

       We were just talking about it this weekend.

   29. SSSteve Sweeney46:24

       A lot of people, they get like that, but-

   30. JRJoe Rogan46:26

       They hit the wall.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:10:50

   Mm-hmm. …

   1. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:00

      was so low.

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:01

      Mm-hmm.

   3. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:01

      And then Ali would stay away from him and just jab, and it was just a beautiful exhibition of fighting styles, inside fighting and outside fighting.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:09

      Do you think there's anybody-

   5. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:10

      Left hook ... Listening to this that is interested in this shit?

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:13

      Yes, they are, believe it or not.

   7. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:15

      (laughs)

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:15

      That left hook that Joe Frazier dropped Muhammad Ali with-

   9. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:16

      Are the, there's people interested in this?

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:18

       100%. The left hook Joe Frazier dropped Muhammad Ali with when he won the title, when he, when he beat him on Ali's comeback.

   11. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:25

       Yeah.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:25

       And that was like, oh, this is one of the greatest punches of all time, one of the most epic, uh, uh, one of the ...

   13. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:30

       Oh, big time.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:30

       Yeah, I mean, just swung that wild left hook and clipped him right on the chin and dropped him. It's one of the most iconic photos of all time is Joe Frazier leaping through the air, landing that left hook on the jaw of Ali and Ali going down.

   15. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:45

       I'm gonna go back, okay?

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:00:47

       What are you gonna do?

   17. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:48

       There was a guy named Floyd Patterson.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:00:50

       Sure.

   19. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:51

       Who had that ...

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:00:52

       He lost to Sonny Liston.

   21. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:54

       Sonny Liston.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:00:55

       Yeah.

   23. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:55

       I'm just reading about Sonny Liston.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:00:57

       Sunny Liston was a murderous puncher.

   25. SSSteve Sweeney1:00:58

       Sonny Liston was one of 25 kids. He was ... His, his-

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:03

       Ooh.

   27. SSSteve Sweeney1:01:03

       ... mother, um, you know, whatever. His father was, like, a sharecropper.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:01:07

       Wow.

   29. SSSteve Sweeney1:01:07

       And he got involved in gangs and all this and, um, one of those guys, you know?

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:01:13

       I think he ended his career-

Episode duration: 1:31:34