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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan Experience #1421 - Jim Norton

Jim Norton is a stand-up comedian, radio personality, author, and actor. Check out his podcast the “Chip Chipperson Podacast” available on iTunes and the Riotcast Podcast Network. Look for Jim on "The Degenerates - Season 2" now streaming on Netflix.

Joe RoganhostJim Nortonguest
Feb 4, 20203h 5mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:0015:00

    Three, two, one. Vancouver,…

    1. JR

      Three, two, one. Vancouver, April 20th, we're doing a 4/20 show. Cheeto Santino, Andrew Santino, Tony Hinchcliffe, and me at some big-ass arena. Go to joerogan.com. We're doing, uh, every year... Hi, Jimmy Norton.

    2. JN

      Hi, buddy.

    3. JR

      I do a 4/20 show. No headphones? You wanna do headphones or no headphones?

    4. JN

      I don't mind doing it-

    5. JR

      Casual?

    6. JN

      No, I don't, uh, I don't mind doing it.

    7. JR

      You do that weird thing with one in, one out.

    8. JN

      Well, I, well, I have to. I'm claustrophobic.

    9. JR

      Really?

    10. JN

      Yeah, it feels weird.

    11. JR

      You feel like the headphones are trapping you?

    12. JN

      I don't know. I, uh, I feel like I'm underwater. Like, I don't like the way that sounds, and now I know... Uh, that's better. I look like an asshole-

    13. JR

      Oh.

    14. JN

      ... but it, it feels better.

    15. JR

      A lot of people do that.

    16. JN

      Yeah.

    17. JR

      A lot of musicians do that, they'll do, like, one in, one out.

    18. JN

      It's the air, it's feeling the air. I don't know why. The pressure of the headphones, I just don't like it.

    19. JR

      I like to be trapped.

    20. JN

      You do?

    21. JR

      Trapped in the headphones.

    22. JN

      No, I don't care for it at all.

    23. JR

      Yeah. I like, uh, hearing the other person's voice right next to mine so I don't talk louder than they talk, we don't talk over each other.

    24. JN

      That's-

    25. JR

      That's what it does.

    26. JN

      That's professional, but I can't... Like, Howard, I heard, would do it where like, uh, they wouldn't even look at each other. Like, I have to be in the room looking at the person's mouth. Like, I, I don't like to do it.

    27. JR

      You wouldn't look at each other? What do you mean?

    28. JN

      No, I mean, uh, the way they were set up for the cameras, sometimes you're facing both kinda the same way because of the cameras. They weren't always-

    29. JR

      Oh.

    30. JN

      ... I don't think face to face. If you looked at his old setup, wasn't, like, Artie sitting behind him at one point?

  2. 15:0030:00

    (laughs) …

    1. JN

      happy-

    2. JR

      (laughs)

    3. JN

      ... I was there for that. I was happy I got to see that.

    4. JR

      It was so fun. That show, when it was in its prime, when it was in its peak, was so fun.

    5. JN

      Yeah.

    6. JR

      And it was, it was a hang, and it really influenced, in a lot of ways, the way I do podcasts, because it's ... there's no structure. It's just hanging out-

    7. JN

      Yeah.

    8. JR

      ... with funny people and just talking about stuff.

    9. JN

      Yeah.

    10. JR

      No structure.

    11. JN

      Yeah, just bullshitting. Wherever it goes-

    12. JR

      Yeah.

    13. JN

      ... it goes. I mean, it'll always-

    14. JR

      Yeah.

    15. JN

      ... go somewhere. I mean, you, you-

    16. JR

      Exactly.

    17. JN

      ... got people k- having a conversation. It's always gonna flow somewhere.

    18. JR

      Exactly.

    19. JN

      Doesn't have to be controlled and regimented and, uh ... What do you wanna talk ... Is there anything worse when you go to a radio show? Like, w- w- like, what do you wanna...

    20. JR

      Oh, dude. I've done radio shows where they tell you they want you to bring up certain subjects where you have jokes, you know? There's, uh, uh ... Not even that long ago, man, like, less than 10 years ago, I did one of those, uh, n- national radio shows in the Midwest-

    21. JN

      Yeah.

    22. JR

      ... and they asked me to do that. And I was like, "What?" And the p- the producer got upset. And I go, "I don't do that."

    23. JN

      Yeah.

    24. JR

      I go, "I'm not gonna do that." And they're like, "We need subjects." Like, the guy was, like, pissy with me.

    25. JN

      Yeah.

    26. JR

      I'm like, "Oh."

    27. JN

      It's hard to do 'cause you feel embarrassed. It's like proc- ... You feel just, you feel dirty, like when someone's doing your bit and you know-

    28. JR

      Yeah.

    29. JN

      ... you're doing it and they're, "Ah-ha!" They're fake laughing.

    30. JR

      Right. Oh, it's the worst.

  3. 30:0045:00

    Yeah. …

    1. JN

      I mean, there had to be somebody who had to be getting fucked because there's no way all of us were that-

    2. JR

      Yeah.

    3. JN

      ... sexually active for no reason.

    4. JR

      Yeah.

    5. JN

      I just don't remember. I have too many memories.... like, uh, being in a basement and then not exactly remembering. I have weird memories possibly with adults. Like, it's, it's, it's kind of like watching a, a, you know, it fades in and out. It fades-

    6. JR

      Mm.

    7. JN

      And I wish my memory was better, but it's just not.

    8. JR

      No one's really is, you know? That's the weird thing about memories when it comes to being, you know, a young person. No one's memories are very good. You have, like, flashes. I have, like, some things that I definitely remember, but, like, 'cause they're like facts. Like, when I was seven, we drove across the country, you know? I remember those.

    9. JN

      Yeah.

    10. JR

      I remember we got in an accident on Lombard Street in San Francisco, you know, that's like the crookedest street in the world.

    11. JN

      Right.

    12. JR

      I remember that, 'cause I remember someone tried to pass us and I remember I scratched the car. I remember that. But, like, there's little tiny things, like sometimes I'll talk to my sister or I'll talk to my mom. She's like, "Do you remember that thing?" Then all of a sudden it's like I open up a folder, like, "Oh, yeah, I remember that guy. Whatever happened to him?" You know? Like, that guy didn't exist in my brain until a couple seconds ago.

    13. JN

      That's right.

    14. JR

      And then I'm like, "Oh, look at this old folder. Let's open up my old memory of that fella."

    15. JN

      Yeah.

    16. JR

      You know?

    17. JN

      Sometimes those are scary, though. And like I'm inno- I, I, I many times drive back to that area 'cause it's in Edison. And I'll drive back when I'm doing the Stress Factory or a gig, and I'll just, I'll drive through that neighborhood and I'll be like, "What the fuck happened here?"

    18. JR

      Right.

    19. JN

      Something happened here. And it might not just be one moment, but something happened here that kinda shifted me because I don't know exactly what it is. Uh, and Dr. Drew told me I was molest- ... I mean, uh, maybe he's right. I don't know.

    20. JR

      Well, i- at the very least you were sexually involved with someone else who might've been molested.

    21. JN

      Yeah, well, I mean, without a-

    22. JR

      You know?

    23. JN

      ... the, the, the odds are it had to be one of them.

    24. JR

      That was another thing that came up in this article that I was saying that the origins of homosexuali- ... uh, that's one of the things they were saying, that I was homophobic 'cause the origins of sexuality, homosexuality is them, people being molested when they're younger. That is not what I said. And let me explain that to people if you're gay, if you read that, you feel bad. That can happen to people who would not be inclined towards homosexuality if they're molested when they're younger. (clears throat) Dr. Chris Ryan, the guy who wrote Sex at Dawn, was explaining it to me, is that there's a, um, uh, you, you pa- ... like, what is the, the term? Um, n- not necessarily pattering. Imprinting, that y- when you're sexually active, like if someone's sexual with you when you're young and that person happens to be a man, you can imprint and you can develop sexual feelings in response to that. Like, you get, y- your, your brain triggers sexual feelings towards men where you might not be inclined. So, like, even if you're not actually homosexual, you're still turned on by men in a certain way-

    25. JN

      Mm-hmm.

    26. JR

      ... because you were molested. It's one of the reasons why they say, but they don't really know, why people who get molested wind up molesting people, but it's really common.

    27. JN

      Yeah.

    28. JR

      It's like, uh, you know, somebody described it best, like it's almost like a vampire bites you and this thing, like, you're passing it on to the next person, this, this creepy thing. But that, you know, the, this is another thing where people took out of context saying that, you know, I'm homophobic, that-

    29. JN

      Well, for me, it was all kids in my age group that I remember. I, I have vague adult memories, but not anything concrete that I can say was sexually ... like, you know what I mean? Like, it just kind of, it's, it's like a smoke that comes by and it leaves, and that's kinda how those memories are. But with the, with the kids, they were all kids in my age within a year or two of each other, so it wasn't like ... I, I, that's why I don't like being a victim, so I feel like, you know, I j- I volunteered, man. I showed up. There was a lot of times I wanted to play the game and ...

    30. JR

      Well, you were five, you know? I mean, uh, I have so few memories when I was five. I mean, I bet you probably don't know why you were doing or what, what happened before that that started it and caused it. I bet the person who you were doing it with, you know, may ... you know, when people get molested when they're really young, one of the big issues is they block it out, man.

  4. 45:001:00:00

    (coughs) …

    1. JN

      in the middle of their grief-

    2. JR

      (coughs)

    3. JN

      ... and they're like, "Hey, fuck you, pal." Like, people are angry.

    4. JR

      Yeah. Yeah.

    5. JN

      But then it gets to a point where those, that day has passed and then there are people who just wanna hurt you for it.

    6. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    7. JN

      There's people who just wanna punish you. There's people who just wanna see you suffer. So like, how do you tell all the time who's just reacting to something you said? 'Cause as a comedian, I say public things. People who are in the public with me have the right to say something.

    8. JR

      Yes. Yeah. Well, I think what Ari did, you have to come up with a new word, 'cause I don't d- think dumb is good enough. We need a better word. It's, it was so stupid. But it's also what you said earlier, that you gotta keep ramping it up.

    9. JN

      Yeah.

    10. JR

      You do think, like we were talking about earlier? Was that before the podcast? I think it was.

    11. JN

      Uh, before Adan, I think, yeah.

    12. JR

      What the, the thing is, when you do outrageous things just to get people to, like, "Oh, look at... Jimmy's crazy. Look at the c-" You gotta, you get caught in a trap and you keep doing it more and more outrageous. And with Ari, he's always done this thing where when people die (clears throat) he would make the meanest comment, even about someone he loved, like Tom Petty. He said some horrible shit about Tom Petty and Aretha Franklin and all these different people that died. But he just did it for shock value.

    13. JN

      Yeah.

    14. JR

      And you gotta keep upping that every time. Like, e- every time someone dies, people, like his sicko fans (laughs) would go straight to Ari and want Ari to comment on it.

    15. JN

      Right.

    16. JR

      And, you know, it's a trap, man. That's a, that's a terrible tra- And you, you see guys lean into those things, right? Like, it becomes a part of their persona, it becomes a part of their identity.

    17. JN

      Well, the trap is also when you... If there's something you don't wanna say or if you're like, "Nah, that's too fucked up to say, but if I don't say it, they're gonna think that I'm selling out or I'm not the same performer."

    18. JR

      Yeah.

    19. JN

      Like, you have to be willing to, uh, disappoint people that wanna hear that too if you're gonna survive in that kind of a, i- in doing that stuff.

    20. JR

      Yeah, I don't know how, what's gonna happen with Ari, like how he's gonna get through this. But in some ways, and I never wanna say it is a good thing that he did that, but he needed to know that there are consequences for just, just saying ridiculous shit that you're not supposed to say when people die. You know? And he's a... The thing, the really fucked up thing about Ari is he's a really good guy but in his persona sometimes, he's a heel. And he does it on purpose.

    21. JN

      Yeah.

    22. JR

      You know? And so, like, you see that video and he's an- you know, he's like smiling and laughing 'cause Kobe Bryant's dead. That's his heel persona.

    23. JN

      Yeah.

    24. JR

      And he thinks he's playing it up like, "Oh, this is gonna be great. People are gonna be so mad." But he had no idea. He had no idea.

    25. JN

      He misjudged, uh, the country's grief.

    26. JR

      Oh, yeah.

    27. JN

      And obviously I think there's, he didn't know who else was on the helicopter.

    28. JR

      He didn't know who else was on.

    29. JN

      I believed his explanation. When I read his explanation, I believed it. Like, I don't... When I first saw it, I didn't know if he was serious or not. I mean, I know what he does, but I just saw that clip, I'm like, "Maybe he hated him." I didn't-

    30. JR

      He didn't.

  5. 1:00:001:01:58

    Yeah. …

    1. JR

      these stupid things and I'm on stage and I'm bombing. And I remember, like, looking down at the way I was dressed, and I had a button-up shirt. And I was, I followed Jim Brewer. It's, it was, uh, a pivotal moment in my career, 'cause I, I bombed so hard. I, I really, like, tightened up my act after that and really got to work, 'cause it was the most painful bombing I'd ever had.

    2. JN

      Yeah.

    3. JR

      And I'm standing there with Cavariccis on, with a nice shirt, like, a dress shirt, like I'm going to the club.

    4. JN

      Yeah. Dressed like an entertainer.

    5. JR

      Oh, dickhead. What a dickhead. And then I'm looking down at these fucking terrible pants. And those pants were the shit for, like, two years or three years.

    6. JN

      Yeah.

    7. JR

      And then everybody was like, "What the fuck are we wearing?" And they just went away.

    8. JN

      Wasn't there, uh, there was, like, a members only jacket with it, or, or, like, Capezio shoes?

    9. JR

      Ah.

    10. JN

      Do you remember Capezio shoes were very big?

    11. JR

      I do, but I don't, I can't picture them in my head.Jamie, pull up Capezio shoes. (laughs)

    12. JN

      Yeah, I remember them from, uh, I, I wanna say early '90s or late, might have been late '80s. But I remember, uh, a guy I knew, a, a sober guy I knew, we were, we used, I used to go to these sober dances, which were very fucking depressing. Like, I would do that-

    13. JR

      Yeah.

    14. JN

      ... when I was 18 and 19-

    15. JR

      Wow.

    16. JN

      ... just to go try to meet girls. Um-

    17. JR

      And they're sober too.

    18. JN

      Yeah.

    19. JR

      And they're all suspicious of you, "You just wanna fuck me, I know what's going on here."

    20. JN

      No, I would just kinda stand there, just kinda stand there in the back.

    21. JR

      That's a Capezio?

    22. NA

      I don't know.

    23. JN

      No, that's not what... The, the black one may be, but-

    24. JR

      What are those things?

    25. JN

      Oh yeah, there you go. That's kinda, they're like bowling shoes.

    26. JR

      Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

    27. JN

      In the '80s.

    28. JR

      That with Cavariccis, yes.

    29. JN

      Yeah.

    30. JR

      Ugh, like you're a ballet dancer.

Episode duration: 3:05:40

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