Joe Rogan Experience #1584 - Todd White

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. TWTodd White0:00

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. NANarrator0:04

      The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (instrumental music plays) Hey, buddy.

   4. TWTodd White0:15

      Hello, Tom Wade. How are you, my friend?

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:17

      What's up, buddy? Dude, you're one of the reasons why I'm here.

   6. TWTodd White0:19

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:19

      I remember you told me multiple years ago, like when... How many years ago did you move here?

   8. TWTodd White0:23

      I moved here seven years ago.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:25

      And you were telling me how fucking great it is. I remember running into you, you're like, "Dude, it's fucking great. I love it." I'm like, "Man, I don't know."

   10. TWTodd White0:31

       You said, "My wife would never move there."

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:34

       (laughs)

   12. TWTodd White0:34

       That's what you said. We were at, we were at-

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:36

       Yeah.

   14. TWTodd White0:36

       ... the Commons at Marmalade.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:37

       Yeah, Calabasas.

   16. TWTodd White0:38

       Yeah, in Calabasas.

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:38

       Yeah, yeah. Well, uh, dude, I've known you for what, fucking 20 years?

   18. TWTodd White0:43

       Yeah. So-

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:43

       Um, I probably met you in, like, 2000-ish or something like that. Uh, maybe before.

   20. TWTodd White0:49

       I, I... The day you walked into Jean Jacques's, I was on the mat and we were rolling and you came walking in. And I had... I was a fan of your first show (laughs) you ever did. And I saw you and I go, "Oh, shit, that's Joe Rogan." And my friend says, uh, "Who's that? Who's that?" I go, "He's on a show. He's on News Radio." And, uh, he goes, "Oh, I don't know who that is." And I go, "Yeah, he's the pl- He's the, uh-"

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:08

       Handyman.

   22. TWTodd White1:09

       Handyman. He's a mechanic. He's always running around with his toolbox. And he goes, "I don't know who he is." And I go, "Okay, well..." And then that was the first time I ever saw you and you came in.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:16

       That's like '98, dude.

   24. TWTodd White1:17

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:17

       I think it's like '98.

   26. TWTodd White1:18

       That was about, that was about... Yeah, I was a white belt and...

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:20

       Yeah. John Jackpot and Tarzana.

   28. TWTodd White1:23

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:23

       Yeah.

   30. TWTodd White1:23

       I saw... I saw the... Uh, I was working at, uh, Warner Brothers, uh, Tiny Toon Adventures and I was a, I was a... I was a PA, production assistant at that time. It was the first job I ever had in LA and that guy says, uh, "Hey, we're gonna have a party tonight. We're gonna watch these fights. They're like cockfights. Come on over and let's watch them." And I, I went over to his house and I was literally hypnotized watching Royce Gracie do what he did. I couldn't believe it. Everybody else was talking-
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Yeah. …

   1. TWTodd White15:00

      way to, the way to put life into character and the way to give a drawing life, which is the hardest thing, by the way. I look at a lot of paintings and I ... It, it, they may be technically great, but there's no life. They're dead looking.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:11

      Yeah.

   3. TWTodd White15:11

      The eyes are dead. It's a dead looking painting. And so I learned through super talented artists to t- teach me how to put that kind of personality and life into the drawing and then translate that into the painting. And, uh, I was always obsessed with The Rat Pack and Sinatra and Dean Martin-

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:30

      Mm.

   5. TWTodd White15:30

      ... and Sammy Davis, Jr. And I just, I would, I had VHS tapes of them at the Summit and everything and I used to watch them all the time and try to-

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:36

      They looked like they were having so much fun.

   7. TWTodd White15:38

      God, men were men and women were dames and they had the drinks-

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:41

      (laughs)

   9. TWTodd White15:41

      ... and the cigarettes and they were blowing smoke in each other's face and they weren't worried about masks. It was just amazing time and, and, uh-

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:48

       Women were dames.

   11. TWTodd White15:49

       I loved it. You know?

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:50

       Dames is such a great word. (laughs)

   13. TWTodd White15:52

       And so, uh, so I just kind of, I wanted to capture that in painting and I wanted to, I wanted to kind of bring some of that timelessness back. And, uh, and, you know- (clears throat) I would, uh, I was really good with marker work, uh, marker color comps, uh, in animation 'cause th- then I quickly after that I became a character designer. And, and so I spent the next, you know, 10 years in animation designing characters for shows. And I ended on SpongeBob. And that was like, uh, Steve Hillenburg, a lot of my friends from a previous show said, "Hey, we're going over to Nickelodeon. They got this new show they're working on. It's a pilot, SpongeBob, and they need a character guy." And, and I met with Steve and, and he said, uh, he gave me marine biology books. He's like, "Here, make these characters." And, uh, I went home-

   14. JRJoe Rogan16:32

       A marine biology book?

   15. TWTodd White16:34

       Yeah, he was a marine biologist. Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:35

       Really?

   17. TWTodd White16:36

       He went to CalArts. He, he wasn't the best draftsman but he had good ideas. And, uh, and he was a really cool dude and a surfer.

   18. JRJoe Rogan16:41

       So why marine biology? Was he just-

   19. TWTodd White16:43

       Because it was all about underwater life.

   20. JRJoe Rogan16:45

       ... the concept of the show? Okay.

   21. TWTodd White16:45

       I don't know if you've ever seen the show. Um-

   22. JRJoe Rogan16:47

       I've, well, I've seen it a few times with my kids. I never really paid attention.

   23. TWTodd White16:50

       It's just underwater.

   24. JRJoe Rogan16:50

       Is it-

   25. TWTodd White16:50

       Yeah, it's just like fish.

   26. JRJoe Rogan16:50

       I didn't know it was underwater.

   27. TWTodd White16:52

       Yeah. (laughs)

   28. JRJoe Rogan16:53

       (laughs)

   29. TWTodd White16:53

       It's all fish life.

   30. JRJoe Rogan16:54

       I know Bubble Guppies is underwater. (laughs)
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Do it over and…

   1. JRJoe Rogan30:00

      but good luck."

   2. TWTodd White30:01

      Do it over and over again.

   3. JRJoe Rogan30:03

      Good luck.

   4. TWTodd White30:03

      Be fresh.

   5. JRJoe Rogan30:03

      But good luck understanding what that is. Like, you're looking ... It seems like you're just talking 'cause everybody talks.

   6. TWTodd White30:10

      Uh-huh.

   7. JRJoe Rogan30:10

      I talk. I can be funny. I say funny things sometimes. My wife laughs at me. Like, I think I can do it. And then go get an idea across in front of people.... and it seems like you're doing hypnosis, is what you're doing. That's right. You're doing some weird sort of artistic hypnosis with built-in ideas that spark lights in people's head. And you either can do that or you can't. And even if you, even if you can make your friends laugh, doing that on stage in front of people, that shit's gonna take forever.

   8. TWTodd White30:42

      It, you know, people get, uh, very accustomed to like saying stuff with their boys or their friends and they, and they get these laughs and they think they're really good. But then if you got up on stage and you said something and it dropped dead silent-

   9. JRJoe Rogan30:53

      Yeah.

   10. TWTodd White30:53

       ... that's gonna hit you and you're gonna be like, "Uh..."

   11. JRJoe Rogan30:55

       (laughs)

   12. TWTodd White30:56

       Uh, it's gonna throw you like a gut check kick.

   13. JRJoe Rogan30:59

       Yeah.

   14. TWTodd White30:59

       You know, and all of a sudden you're like, "Uh, my next thing is..." You know?

   15. JRJoe Rogan31:03

       Yeah. Well, you know, Eddie really got into comedy again.

   16. TWTodd White31:05

       Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan31:06

       You know, Eddie took a long... I j- I forced Eddie on stage like in the early 2000s. I forced him on the stage. I'm like, "Dude, you're funny. You make me laugh all the time. Go do it." And he did it like eight or nine times, but the bombing was too much. He couldn't do it.

   18. TWTodd White31:18

       (laughs)

   19. JRJoe Rogan31:18

       But then when he started running 10th Planet, when he started teaching, he got way more comfortable talking to people.

   20. TWTodd White31:24

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan31:25

       And he would make the crowd laugh in the gym, you know, when he was teaching classes. And then he eventually was doing seminars. And during seminars, he would have funny stories and he would do it and he would, yeah, he would be killing. He's like, "Dude, I was killing at my seminar."

   22. TWTodd White31:38

       (laughs)

   23. JRJoe Rogan31:38

       "I'm thinking about doing standup again." I'm like, "Do it! Fucking do it." And that turned into him actually doing standup. And dude-

   24. TWTodd White31:45

       Good.

   25. JRJoe Rogan31:45

       And he was touring with Sam Trippeley for a while. He was doing really well.

   26. TWTodd White31:49

       Yeah, I saw that tin foil hat group, whatever.

   27. JRJoe Rogan31:50

       Yeah, Tin Foil Hat Conspiracy Theory Podcast.

   28. TWTodd White31:52

       I follow them on Instagram. Occasionally talk.

   29. JRJoe Rogan31:53

       Dude, he's funny.

   30. TWTodd White31:55

       Good.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   (laughs) …

   1. TWTodd White45:00

      you do this?" And I'm like, "Well, I'm not a fighter. I just did jujitsu and, and I know that really well." And they'd say, "Well, we're gonna have him put them in the guard and they're gonna roll around." And I'm like, "Okay. (laughs) Do it like this."

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:09

      (laughs)

   3. TWTodd White45:10

      And we, and he loved it, and John K, who r- did Ren & Stimpy, uh, he, he was obsessed with jujitsu and UFC.

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:16

      Really?

   5. TWTodd White45:16

      And he would have huge parties at his house every UFC and Tank Abbott was his favorite guy and, and he would wanna in- integrate those fighting moves into his cartoons and he would always get blowback from networks and such. And he, so... I mean, there's a great documentary, uh, the Ren & Stimpy Happy Happy Joy Joy that I, I sent it to you.

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:35

      Yeah.

   7. TWTodd White45:35

      And I don't know if you can see it. I think it's on Apple, it's on...

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:37

      Mm-hmm.

   9. TWTodd White45:37

      It's everywhere.

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:38

       Yeah.

   11. TWTodd White45:38

       But, uh, I- I had a small hand in that with, uh, some... Fuck, it came on and... They're awesome dudes and, uh, they did a beautiful documentary on the whole history of that show and the failure of it. And it, and it has a lot to do with, like, just that mental, um, inner genius going over the edge.

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:56

       Mm.

   13. TWTodd White45:57

       You know? And I see that a lot. You have to see it a lot where you... Somebody's on path and they're doing something so great and then all of a sudden, it just starts twisting and going in a different direction, but in their mind it's still great.

   14. JRJoe Rogan46:06

       Mm-hmm.

   15. TWTodd White46:08

       I mean, how do you, how do you contend with your own writing abilities and that... Like, for me, I feel like I have this kind of black hole that I'm, I'm, everything I'm doing, I'm trying to fill in. And I know, I've heard only stories of comedians who are like, "Well, we're all kind of like miserable that we're using this comedy to put Band-Aids on."

   16. JRJoe Rogan46:24

       Mm.

   17. TWTodd White46:25

       And, and I don't know if that's a thing with you at all 'cause you have outlets like working out and fighting-

   18. JRJoe Rogan46:30

       Yeah.

   19. TWTodd White46:30

       ... and you're healthy and-

   20. JRJoe Rogan46:31

       That keeps me sane.

   21. TWTodd White46:32

       It does.

   22. JRJoe Rogan46:33

       Yeah.

   23. TWTodd White46:33

       It keeps me too when-

   24. JRJoe Rogan46:34

       It keeps my approach to comedy, uh, reasonably healthy too. Like, uh, my, I always... The way I describe it is I- I make my own bullshit. Like, I don't, I don't like to have real struggle in my life, so I make brutal workouts and I put myself through horrific struggle so that regular life, like-

   25. TWTodd White46:55

       It's easy.

   26. JRJoe Rogan46:55

       ... the other struggles is easy. K- if y- anybody... Like, I'll tell people like, "Come work out with me. You wanna feel like shit? You wanna feel like-" (laughs)

   27. TWTodd White47:03

       (laughs) Your arms are gonna fall off?

   28. JRJoe Rogan47:03

       "You wanna feel like it never ends? You wanna feel like you're, you know, like you can't do this? Like, come do that." And then once you do do it, then other things feel easier, you know. It's like, like Jocko. Like, Jocko, you look at his Instagram. Every fucking morning, the aftermath. And he'll show you a puddle of sweat on the ground, some fucking sweaty kettlebells, jump ropes, dip rings, whatever the fuck it is he did that day. Like, beat yourself up in that way and then you're not mind-fucking yourself the way you do if you have all this unchecked, unbridled energy and angst and you, you don't have a handle on it. And I don't think it affects your creativity. I think, and anyway, there it is. Always.

   29. TWTodd White47:45

       Yeah. It's just-

   30. JRJoe Rogan47:46

       Yeah, the aftermath. Kettlebells, had a bad attitude this morning. (laughs) This, but to, to do that in my mind is the best way to deal with things that we all deal with. Everybody's got some sort of internal struggle. Everybody's got some demons.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:02:37

   ... or shot the…

   1. TWTodd White1:00:00

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:00

      ... or shot the pheasant and we were eating. You know, we camped out, we're eating over the fire. Bro, that guy got fucked up. I mean, he got fucked up at a level, like, I, I ve-

   3. TWTodd White1:00:09

      Yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:09

      You know, I don't get that fucked up.

   5. TWTodd White1:00:11

      (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:11

      Like, he kept going. Like, he kept going. We were stoned, we were drunk and he's like-

   7. TWTodd White1:00:15

      And he was-

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:16

      "What else you got? You got more pot?"

   9. TWTodd White1:00:17

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:17

       "You got more booze? Like, open that bottle."

   11. TWTodd White1:00:19

       Yeah.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:19

       I'm like, "Jesus Christ." Like, I'm sitting here barely hanging on to this log trying to sit in front of the fire and he, he just got blasted.

   13. TWTodd White1:00:28

       Man.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:28

       He- he was escaping.

   15. TWTodd White1:00:29

       (coughs) Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:00:29

       He was escaping something.

   17. TWTodd White1:00:30

       Hiding. Burying the pain.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:00:31

       Yeah. He was, uh, he was, uh, escaping something. But he was obsessed with jujitsu, man. He really lo- he had a competition he did. He entered into competition and, you know, he was training all the time. He developed a six pack. Like, he got like really ri- He went from being a guy with like a little pouch, little-

   19. TWTodd White1:00:47

       Punch.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:00:47

       ... punch, little ph- fat belly to being a guy who was, like, pretty ripped and, you know, he's doing a lot of-... exercises and training basically every day. And he was training every day on the road. Look at him there, man.

   21. TWTodd White1:01:00

       Look at that.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:01:00

       I mean, cut the fuck up. I mean, that was a guy who was not... I don't think he even got on a mat until he was, like, 59 or something like that.

   23. TWTodd White1:01:09

       Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:01:09

       His, uh, ex-wife, uh, Octavia, she's, uh, she's, um, really into jujitsu.

   25. TWTodd White1:01:17

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:17

       I think Octa- I think she's, uh, she might be a black belt now.

   27. TWTodd White1:01:20

       Wait a minute. Is that, on the right-hand corner, scroll back to the left side, Jamie, right there, is that Joe? No, it's not.

   28. NANarrator1:01:26

       No.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:01:26

       No. No, I never trained with him.

   30. TWTodd White1:01:28

       Uh-huh.

Episode duration: 2:18:04