Joe Rogan Experience #1594 - Yannis Pappas

1. 0:00 – 3:01

   Texas vs. New York: first impressions, guns, and Austin barbecue

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:00

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. NANarrator0:04

      The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. YPYannis Pappas0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (instrumental music plays) Oh hello, Joe. Hello, Joe Rogan.

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Good to see you here.

   5. YPYannis Pappas0:17

      Good to see you.

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:17

      Nice to, uh, have you in Texas.

   7. YPYannis Pappas0:20

      Yeah. N- well, it's been ... Yeah. This is nice. I'm trying to work on being a better New Yorker-

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:26

      How's that?

   9. YPYannis Pappas0:26

      ... by not, like, comparing everything the first day to, like, New York. That's how New Yorkers are. Every time you, like, go to a new city they're like, "Ah, this is like the Brooklyn of ..." "This is like the Queens of ..."

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:36

       Oh, yeah.

   11. YPYannis Pappas0:36

       "This is like the Brooklyn Bridge of ... "

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:39

       Yeah, this is a different animal down here.

   13. YPYannis Pappas0:40

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:41

       It's uh-

   15. YPYannis Pappas0:42

       It's like hipsters who have guns. I like it. (laughs)

   16. JRJoe Rogan0:44

       (laughs) That's a good way of putting it.

   17. YPYannis Pappas0:45

       Yeah, yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan0:46

       Hipsters with concealed carry permits.

   19. YPYannis Pappas0:47

       Yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan0:48

       Yeah.

   21. YPYannis Pappas0:48

       I hung- I hung out, uh, last night with one of the dudes from the Drinking Bros podcast.

   22. JRJoe Rogan0:52

       Oh, okay.

   23. YPYannis Pappas0:53

       And, uh, yeah. He was like, "I'm gonna walk home in the park." And then he made a joke. He was like, "Yeah, if anyone talks to me I'll just shoot 'em." And he was like, "Don't worry, I haven't killed anyone st- stateside." And I was like, "Uh, he means that shit." Yeah. (laughs)

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:04

       (laughs)

   25. YPYannis Pappas1:06

       Yeah, so it's, uh, I went to Terry's too.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:09

       Terry Black's?

   27. YPYannis Pappas1:09

       Is that, uh-

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:10

       Yeah.

   29. YPYannis Pappas1:10

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:10

       Terry Black's Barbecue.
2. 3:01 – 4:58

   Why New York feels unmatched (and why Joe worries it won’t come back)

   1. JRJoe Rogan3:01

      But at its best, New York is the ultimate city. At its best, it's the ultimate place. It really is. Th- it's jammed with people, there's a million different flavors, there's all kinds of different restaurants and neighborhoods and it's- it's- and- and it's a legitimate melting pot where you get on the subway, you sit- there's millionaires next to homeless people and everybody's together and everybody walks down the street together.

   2. YPYannis Pappas3:27

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan3:27

      And that is one thing that separates it and makes it superior to Los Angeles. Los Angeles is isolated. Everyone's isolated in a little community, isolated in their car, they drive to a place, they give their key to a valet. They don't mingle as much.

   4. YPYannis Pappas3:40

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan3:40

      In New York people are out there g- they're- they're mingling. Th-

   6. YPYannis Pappas3:44

      It's true. I went to, uh, school in DC and that was the first time I left New York and I realized how segregated that city was. And in New York people are forced to interact with each other-

   7. JRJoe Rogan3:54

      Yeah.

   8. YPYannis Pappas3:54

      ... just 'cause it's a walking city.

   9. JRJoe Rogan3:55

      Yeah.

   10. YPYannis Pappas3:56

       And so you gotta take the train. I mean, you're crazy to try to drive across town. It'd take you longer to go across town than it will to like go to another state.

   11. JRJoe Rogan4:04

       Yeah.

   12. YPYannis Pappas4:04

       So it's like, yeah, you're forced to mingle and see. And it is a universe crammed into one. It is kind of unique that way where you kind of actually meet a Peruvian person or like-

   13. JRJoe Rogan4:11

       Yeah.

   14. YPYannis Pappas4:12

       ... someone who's half from Bolivia, half Peruv- You go to other places it's like Mexicans, you know?

   15. JRJoe Rogan4:16

       (laughs)

   16. YPYannis Pappas4:17

       (laughs) New York it's like you fi- you- you learn about countries you didn't even know was existed.

   17. JRJoe Rogan4:21

       Yeah.

   18. YPYannis Pappas4:21

       You're like, "You're from Uganda? All right. That's a country. All right."

   19. JRJoe Rogan4:24

       And you can go to Chinatown and you might as well be in Asia. You will get legit-

   20. YPYannis Pappas4:29

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan4:29

       ... Chinese food at 2:00 in the morning.

   22. YPYannis Pappas4:31

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan4:31

       They got a fish tank. They'll scoop the fish out and kill it in front of you.

   24. YPYannis Pappas4:35

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan4:35

       Cook it and it's as fresh as it can be.

   26. YPYannis Pappas4:37

       Yeah. It-

   27. JRJoe Rogan4:38

       I mean, it's- it's an amazing place when it's at its best. My- my worry is that it's not gonna be that place again.

   28. YPYannis Pappas4:44

       It's not right now. I mean, I was about to say that you ever go to Chinatown in the summer-

   29. JRJoe Rogan4:48

       It gets hot.

   30. YPYannis Pappas4:49

       It's, uh-
3. 4:58 – 6:31

   Garbage strikes, rats, unions, and ‘NYC immunity’ jokes

   1. JRJoe Rogan4:58

      Well, I remember in New York when the, um, the garbage strikers- the garbage workers were on strike.

   2. YPYannis Pappas5:03

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan5:04

      And, uh, I was in Harlem. I was in Harlem because a friend of mine who was a professional pool player was going there to meet this guy who was a- a- a pimp who was also a pool hustler and he would bet high. And so we went to this pool hall in Harlem and dude d- I'm not exaggerating by saying the garbage was stacked seven feet high and there was rats running all over the place 'cause no one had picked up the garbage. So people would go outside, put a bag of garbage, go back inside and the garbage would just keep stacking.

   4. YPYannis Pappas5:32

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan5:32

      And for, I don't know how long the strike lasted, but for as long as it lasted it was bizarre. Like you would be like, "Jesus, that's a rat. That's another rat!" Like-

   6. YPYannis Pappas5:40

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan5:40

      ... "How many fucking rats are here?"

   8. YPYannis Pappas5:42

      Yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan5:42

      It was- there was so many rats.

   10. YPYannis Pappas5:44

       I would think that they would go on strike more because they have such leverage.

   11. JRJoe Rogan5:48

       Oh yeah.

   12. YPYannis Pappas5:48

       Like they could just be like, "All right," you know? "You want this city to stink worse?"

   13. JRJoe Rogan5:53

       The problem is, it's a good job and other people will jump in.

   14. YPYannis Pappas5:57

       Yeah, that's true. But then that's when you gotta do the picket line and break people's heads-

   15. JRJoe Rogan6:00

       Yeah.

   16. YPYannis Pappas6:00

       ... and go old school, you know?

   17. JRJoe Rogan6:02

       ... and that's what they do.

   18. YPYannis Pappas6:02

       You gotta unionize and, you know-

   19. JRJoe Rogan6:04

       Like, how much does a garbage worker get paid?

   20. YPYannis Pappas6:05

       They get paid, 'cause nobody wants to do... That's it, you have to be strong.

   21. JRJoe Rogan6:09

       Right.

   22. YPYannis Pappas6:09

       You gotta have a high tolerance for-

   23. JRJoe Rogan6:11

       Smell.

   24. YPYannis Pappas6:11

       ... smell, yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan6:12

       I bet your immune system gets fucking pumped up, though.

   26. YPYannis Pappas6:14

       Oh, dude, that's the one thing about being a New Yorker. Like, that's why I was surprised I got so sick with COVID, 'cause I was like, "I've been eating rat piss for a year."

   27. JRJoe Rogan6:21

       (laughs)

   28. YPYannis Pappas6:21

       Every time you order out-

   29. JRJoe Rogan6:23

       Yeah.

   30. YPYannis Pappas6:23

       ... there's, like, a little rat piss on it. A little rat shit and a lot of... A little rat piss.
4. 6:31 – 9:31

   Twitter brain: funny, addictive, and bad for your soul

   1. JRJoe Rogan6:31

      You are a fantastic follow on Twitter. You're hilarious.

   2. YPYannis Pappas6:34

      Thank you.

   3. JRJoe Rogan6:34

      But I, I worry about your mental health.

   4. YPYannis Pappas6:36

      Yeah, me too.

   5. JRJoe Rogan6:36

      'Cause you tweet, you tweet so much, I'm like, "God, this is really funny-"

   6. YPYannis Pappas6:39

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan6:39

      ... and I don't wanna tell him to stop doing this, but goddamn, this is not good, 'cause I know he's probably reading replies and..." (inhales deeply)

   8. YPYannis Pappas6:46

      Yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan6:46

      Hmm.

   10. YPYannis Pappas6:47

       Yeah, I got that thing where, uh, I, I, I don't th-... It doesn't seem like I'm, uh... It seems like a lot of us get infected by that, where we just, we start, we see the reply and we're like, "Motherfucker!"

   11. JRJoe Rogan6:56

       Exactly. Yeah, everybody does. (laughs)

   12. YPYannis Pappas6:58

       No, fuck you. (laughs)

   13. JRJoe Rogan6:59

       (laughs)

   14. YPYannis Pappas7:00

       No, fuck you. And then you're going, "What am I doing?"

   15. JRJoe Rogan7:02

       And, you know, in the beginning of a comic's career in particular, it's a crucial tool, because people can see your funny writing. They can see your perspectives. But there's a lot of people that I follow, especially during COVID, I can watch their descent into madness. I watched them arguing with people about shit, and yelling and being, like, really uncivil. And I'm like, "Goddamn." Like, "I know you."

   16. YPYannis Pappas7:23

       Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan7:23

       "You're not this guy."

   18. YPYannis Pappas7:24

       I know.

   19. JRJoe Rogan7:24

       Like, "Why are you... What are you doing?" Like, you wanna go hug them.

   20. YPYannis Pappas7:27

       Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a negative, evil place. And actually, I think the first time we communicated, I jumped in when you were arguing with, uh, like, some woke chick who was just trying to get you, and I just started, like, asking her questions, and then you, like, personally messaged me like, "Hey man, thanks for having my back."

   21. JRJoe Rogan7:42

       (laughs)

   22. YPYannis Pappas7:42

       So you see, you, it was-

   23. JRJoe Rogan7:43

       That's true.

   24. YPYannis Pappas7:44

       That was positive reinforcement.

   25. JRJoe Rogan7:46

       That was years ago, bro. When was that?

   26. YPYannis Pappas7:46

       You should've told me. Should've been like, "Hey man, you shouldn't, you shouldn't have done that." It was years ago. It was, uh, I don't remember.

   27. JRJoe Rogan7:50

       It was before I swore off.

   28. YPYannis Pappas7:52

       Yeah, you did the right thing. It's-

   29. JRJoe Rogan7:54

       I had to. It got, it got untenable for me. It's like, uh... And also, I realized, like, I'm not getting anything. I, I'm just be- honest with myself. I'm not getting any, uh, anything out of this. I'm not getting any progress, like with my head.

   30. YPYannis Pappas8:07

       Yeah.
5. 9:31 – 11:38

   Celebrities, ‘Imagine’ cringe, and why podcasts beat late night

   1. YPYannis Pappas9:31

      Yeah. But also, the, another reason I love this show is, um, I always just, I always wondered, like, when I would watch a late night show, I'd be like, "Why the fuck do I care about what Gal Gadot has to say about anything?"

   2. JRJoe Rogan9:44

      Gal? It's Gal.

   3. YPYannis Pappas9:45

      I don't even fu-... You know, the hot ch-

   4. JRJoe Rogan9:46

      She's Wonder Woman.

   5. YPYannis Pappas9:46

      She's hot. Yeah, but I mean, like, she's an actress.

   6. JRJoe Rogan9:49

      Yes.

   7. YPYannis Pappas9:49

      What interesting thing could she say besides me looking at her, wanting her, the same reason why she's famous, you know? Like, I'd rather hear from an astrophysicist or a fucking astronaut or, you know, Elon Musk. I mean, this is the only show that has me on and Elon Musk.

   8. JRJoe Rogan10:04

      (laughs)

   9. YPYannis Pappas10:05

      (laughs) I was talking to JB, I was like, "You probably get, like, calls from big publicists like, 'Hey, we wanna have Matt Damon on.'" And they're like, "No, we gotta have this small, crazy comedian from New York on." (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan10:12

       I would have Matt Damon on. I like Matt Damon a lot.

   11. YPYannis Pappas10:14

       Yeah, he's a cool dude.

   12. JRJoe Rogan10:14

       I like him a lot. But he's an interesting guy that happens to be an actor. I had Matthew McConaughey on. He's one of the most interesting people I talked to.

   13. YPYannis Pappas10:21

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan10:21

       He's a fascinating guy who happens to be an actor.

   15. YPYannis Pappas10:23

       Right.

   16. JRJoe Rogan10:23

       Like, there's a lot of people that happen to be actors, and, uh, maybe Gal Gadot is one of them. I don't know.

   17. YPYannis Pappas10:28

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan10:29

       I don't think so, but I might be wrong.

   19. YPYannis Pappas10:31

       I mean, she-

   20. JRJoe Rogan10:31

       We, we shit on her hard, me and Tom Segura, when they released that, uh, Imagine video.

   21. YPYannis Pappas10:35

       Oh, that was the best. (laughs)

   22. JRJoe Rogan10:36

       I felt bad. We went hard.

   23. YPYannis Pappas10:39

       Nobody cares about America more than actors in Hollywood. They're such patriots, don't they?

   24. JRJoe Rogan10:45

       Well, you know what it was? We were talking about it. It's like, they just didn't have any attention for a long time.

   25. YPYannis Pappas10:49

       Right.

   26. JRJoe Rogan10:49

       And then, because of COVID. Everything was locked down. There was no movies. There was no interviews. So, they needed something to get their name out there.

   27. YPYannis Pappas10:55

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan10:55

       And so, they, they attached themself to that. And then there was another one that they did, the black and white one, where they were talking about race.

   29. YPYannis Pappas11:01

       Yeah, (laughs) that was a good one. Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan11:02

       That was the dumbest one ever. I will no longer tolerate... It's like-
6. 11:38 – 13:36

   Tim Dillon vs. Airbnb and a detour into Long Island politics

   1. JRJoe Rogan11:38

      SPE- speaking of silly gooses, we were talking about Tim Dillon and his battle with Airbnb.

   2. YPYannis Pappas11:42

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan11:43

      So, Tim Dillon, who, uh, does a lot of renting with Airbnb, apparently left some dishes. That's it. Just left some dirty dishes. And, uh-

   4. YPYannis Pappas11:51

      That's his side of the story.

   5. JRJoe Rogan11:53

      Th- yeah, that's true.

   6. YPYannis Pappas11:53

      We don't know what he was coming on, who he had over. Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan11:56

      Good point.

   8. YPYannis Pappas11:56

      Yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan11:57

      I don't think that was the complaint, though.

   10. YPYannis Pappas11:59

       No, I'm just saying.

   11. JRJoe Rogan12:00

       I think the real issue was not even just that, that he left dishes behind, which he shouldn't. You're supposed to clean the dishes.

   12. YPYannis Pappas12:06

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan12:07

       That's on Tim. But then afterwards, he did a long podcast where I believe he said their names-

   14. YPYannis Pappas12:13

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan12:13

       ... and, uh, uh, (clears throat) made reference to their sexual orientation, which he's allowed to do, being a gay man.

   16. YPYannis Pappas12:19

       He's a gay guy.

   17. JRJoe Rogan12:19

       That... But he doesn't seem like a gay guy.

   18. YPYannis Pappas12:21

       Yes, no.

   19. JRJoe Rogan12:22

       So it throws a lot of people off.

   20. YPYannis Pappas12:23

       He kinda c- p-... He kinda comes off as like he was molested gay. Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan12:27

       Hmm.

   22. YPYannis Pappas12:27

       Like he was straight-

   23. JRJoe Rogan12:28

       Interesting.

   24. YPYannis Pappas12:28

       ... and then like, they got to him. Yeah, he got got.

   25. JRJoe Rogan12:29

       Well, he comes off as a fucking Republican from Long Island-

   26. YPYannis Pappas12:32

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan12:32

       ... is what he comes off as.

   28. YPYannis Pappas12:33

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan12:33

       Yeah.

   30. YPYannis Pappas12:33

       He is that, yeah. (laughs)
7. 13:36 – 17:34

   Dangerfield’s nostalgia: checks, burgers, doormen, and NYC roast culture

   1. JRJoe Rogan13:36

      Interesting, interesting. Yeah, I always enjoyed working in Long Island and then, um, in the '80s, or I guess, uh, it was the '90s actually when I came to New York, there was this weird sort of superiority complex that people had about New York City. Like, you either worked the city or you were a hack.

   2. YPYannis Pappas13:53

      Mm-hmm.

   3. JRJoe Rogan13:53

      And I was always like, "G- Goddamn, I guess I'm a hack 'cause I need to do the road." Like, that's where you make money.

   4. YPYannis Pappas13:59

      Right.

   5. JRJoe Rogan13:59

      Like, I would work the city and I would do gigs in the city and I'd make like $15 for a 15-minute set. And I was like, "Okay, how many of these do I have to do-

   6. YPYannis Pappas14:06

      Right.

   7. JRJoe Rogan14:06

      ... to pay my fucking rent?"

   8. YPYannis Pappas14:08

      Right.

   9. JRJoe Rogan14:08

      I don't remember if it was 15 bucks-

   10. YPYannis Pappas14:09

       Yeah.

   11. JRJoe Rogan14:09

       ... but I remember Dangerfield's was slightly more-

   12. YPYannis Pappas14:11

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan14:11

       ... so I did Dangerfield's. But when you did Dangerfield's, they didn't count it, like, that's not really the city.

   14. YPYannis Pappas14:15

       Yeah. (laughs)

   15. JRJoe Rogan14:16

       Like, what... It's right... It's in the fucking city.

   16. YPYannis Pappas14:18

       Yeah, yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan14:18

       Like what are you talking about?

   18. YPYannis Pappas14:19

       It was a city in 1977.

   19. JRJoe Rogan14:20

       (laughs)

   20. YPYannis Pappas14:21

       (laughs) Yeah, they should put that in the address, like, "We're on First Avenue in 1983."

   21. JRJoe Rogan14:26

       (laughs)

   22. YPYannis Pappas14:27

       Great club though. It's closed now, unfortunately, but the thing was, man-

   23. JRJoe Rogan14:31

       Did it went on... It went under from COVID?

   24. YPYannis Pappas14:32

       It went under, yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan14:33

       It... Is... Are they planning on reopening? I heard they were.

   26. YPYannis Pappas14:35

       I hope so. I hope so. You know? It was a great place, but you know, yeah, when you go to work Dangerfield's, they would like... You'd have to wa-... You know, 'cause yeah, like you said, in New York you're running around doing sets and like lately, when I would go there like once in the blue moon where you're like, "Fucking let me just fill this spot," they would, uh, pay you in check. So you'd have to like wait-

   27. JRJoe Rogan14:52

       Yes.

   28. YPYannis Pappas14:52

       ... but they would write it.

   29. JRJoe Rogan14:53

       Yeah.

   30. YPYannis Pappas14:53

       They wouldn't have it for you. So you'd do your set and then you're just like waiting for your check by the bar-
8. 17:34 – 24:59

   Fighting cities and performance cultures: Boston, England, and standup styles

   1. YPYannis Pappas17:34

      You grow up and... I mean, Boston takes it to another level where it's like the ball breaking is like-

   2. JRJoe Rogan17:39

      They get a little too mean.

   3. YPYannis Pappas17:40

      They go mean, yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan17:41

      (laughs)

   5. YPYannis Pappas17:42

      I mean, I d-... I m-... I did Laff- Laff Boston once. This guy came up to me afterwards and he was like, the first thing he said to me was that I needed to change my outfit. And he was like, "You dress too good for here."

   6. JRJoe Rogan17:51

      Oh.

   7. YPYannis Pappas17:52

      Yeah. He was like, yeah, you know, "Fucking. You sneak it..." Like he was just like the... He just a critique. They're just aggressive. Like-

   8. JRJoe Rogan17:58

      They're a little too aggressive.

   9. YPYannis Pappas17:59

      They're a little too aggressive, yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan18:00

       Well, it's one of the rare places where people would still have street fights every night.

   11. YPYannis Pappas18:04

       (laughs)

   12. JRJoe Rogan18:04

       And, and they wouldn't pull weapons. Like, I remember when we were in Faneuil Hall when, uh, the Comedy Connection was in Faneuil Hall, I went there with Chris Maguire.And, uh, we went to McDonald's afterwards and we were walking across the street and we saw a fucking giant brawl, like, happen right in front of McDonald's. And Chris and I were like, "You know, there's something cool about this place." Like, it's the last place where people actually fight. They're not shooting each other.

   13. YPYannis Pappas18:24

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan18:24

       They're not stabbing each other. They just agree.

   15. YPYannis Pappas18:26

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan18:26

       They just agree to fisticuffs.

   17. YPYannis Pappas18:27

       Yeah. That's so- There's something nice about that.

   18. JRJoe Rogan18:29

       (laughs)

   19. YPYannis Pappas18:30

       Yeah. That's, uh, that's like, uh, Manchester, like, uh, in England. You ever go to Manchester?

   20. JRJoe Rogan18:34

       Oh, yes.

   21. YPYannis Pappas18:34

       I mean, they, they just fight.

   22. JRJoe Rogan18:36

       Yeah.

   23. YPYannis Pappas18:36

       They look for fights.

   24. JRJoe Rogan18:37

       That's where Michael Bisping's from, I believe. I believe he's from Manchester.

   25. YPYannis Pappas18:40

       Yeah, that's a fucking-

   26. JRJoe Rogan18:41

       Yeah.

   27. YPYannis Pappas18:41

       ... fisticuffs town. And then there's like- Yeah. Those guys just can't handle their liquor. Like, nighttime, there's just piles of vomit everywhere.

   28. JRJoe Rogan18:46

       (laughs)

   29. YPYannis Pappas18:46

       You gotta like avoid them like a speed skater, like ... (laughs)

   30. JRJoe Rogan18:50

       (laughs)
9. 24:59 – 43:04

   Wrestlers’ mindset and Khabib’s dominance: calm, discipline, and Dagestan

   1. YPYannis Pappas24:59

      That's what I love about, um... And I, I realized that when I was doing... I had a sports show for a little while on AOL called Two Point Lead, and we would interview like, and I-

   2. JRJoe Rogan25:07

      AOL?

   3. YPYannis Pappas25:07

      It was AOL, yeah. I still got a AOL email address too-

   4. JRJoe Rogan25:10

      Do you really? (laughs)

   5. YPYannis Pappas25:10

      ... 'cause I'm good at marketing, yeah. (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan25:13

      What year was this?

   7. YPYannis Pappas25:14

      Uh, th- uh, this was recent, it was, uh, 2015, '14, '15. And it was, you know, they were, uh, they had a lot of money before they got bought by Verizon. Um, so they, they were owned by Ti- Time Warner, and this was like their big push. They did a lot of programming, little... They did a show with, uh, Steve Buscemi. When we did the NewFronts, we had Gronk come on. We paid him like 100 grand. I did a skit with him.

   8. JRJoe Rogan25:36

      Steve Buscemi had a show on AOL?

   9. YPYannis Pappas25:37

      Yeah, yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan25:38

       What was he doing?

   11. YPYannis Pappas25:39

       He was sitting on a bench interviewing p- people.

   12. JRJoe Rogan25:41

       Outside?

   13. YPYannis Pappas25:42

       Outside, yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan25:42

       In a park?

   15. YPYannis Pappas25:43

       In a park, yeah. So he was one of the shows. And we had, we were getting like major athletes, like major athletes. And, uh, I remember I interviewed, um, uh, Weid- Chris Weidman, and he was fighting, um, uh... He wasn't fighting, the other guy, uh, the-

   16. JRJoe Rogan25:59

       Anderson Silva?

   17. YPYannis Pappas26:00

       No.

   18. JRJoe Rogan26:00

       Lyoto Machida?

   19. YPYannis Pappas26:01

       I can't remember who-

   20. JRJoe Rogan26:02

       Luke Rockhold?

   21. YPYannis Pappas26:03

       It might have been when he was fighting Luke Rockhold. I can't remember. Um, and-

   22. JRJoe Rogan26:07

       What year?

   23. YPYannis Pappas26:08

       This was about 2015.

   24. JRJoe Rogan26:09

       Was he the champ?

   25. YPYannis Pappas26:11

       He was the champ.

   26. JRJoe Rogan26:12

       So the odds are it's either Vitor, Lyoto Machida-

   27. YPYannis Pappas26:15

       Vitor. It was Vitor.

   28. JRJoe Rogan26:16

       Vitor.

   29. YPYannis Pappas26:16

       He was fighting Vitor.

   30. JRJoe Rogan26:17

       Oh.
10. 43:04 – 50:14

    MMA evolution, steroids in baseball, and freak athletes who can really fight

    1. JRJoe Rogan43:04

       But there's no other sport where...... in the past, like from 1993 to 2021. It's unrecognizable. Like, it's so much better.

    2. YPYannis Pappas43:13

       Right.

    3. JRJoe Rogan43:13

       Like, if you go back in baseball in 1993 and you watch baseball today, not that much different. Arguably, not as good because they can't do steroids as easily.

    4. YPYannis Pappas43:21

       (laughs) Right.

    5. JRJoe Rogan43:22

       You know?

    6. YPYannis Pappas43:22

       Kinda helped the game. You can't, I mean-

    7. JRJoe Rogan43:25

       Kinda.

    8. YPYannis Pappas43:25

       Sosa, McGwire, that, that brought baseball back.

    9. JRJoe Rogan43:28

       Yes.

    10. YPYannis Pappas43:28

        And those kids were roided up.

    11. JRJoe Rogan43:30

        Yes.

    12. YPYannis Pappas43:30

        Yeah.

    13. JRJoe Rogan43:30

        For sure.

    14. YPYannis Pappas43:31

        They looked like He-Men characters.

    15. JRJoe Rogan43:32

        Dude, when I used to wo- I used to be a fitness trainer at the Boston Athletic Club, and Jose Canseco came in once-

    16. YPYannis Pappas43:37

        Yeah.

    17. JRJoe Rogan43:37

        ... when he was in the prime of his career.

    18. YPYannis Pappas43:40

        Yeah.

    19. JRJoe Rogan43:40

        And he was a giant human being.

    20. YPYannis Pappas43:42

        Yeah.

    21. JRJoe Rogan43:42

        Just a, a tank of a man. He walked in, I was like, "Jesus." This is when he was at the top and everybody was like, "Canseco's coming in. Canseco's coming in." And he walked in the building, I'm like, "Wow." Like, you don't realize how big a, an elite pro athlete is.

    22. YPYannis Pappas43:56

        On steroids. (laughs)

    23. JRJoe Rogan43:57

        Yeah, on everything. He was on all the steroids.

    24. YPYannis Pappas44:01

        And he dropped dime on everybody. That whole era is a little tainted. It's a little weird.

    25. JRJoe Rogan44:06

        That was very unfortunate.

    26. YPYannis Pappas44:07

        Yeah.

    27. JRJoe Rogan44:07

        Because that ruined him too.

    28. YPYannis Pappas44:08

        They should've just kept go- Yeah, they should've just ke- ke- kept go- I mean, like, keep it going.

    29. JRJoe Rogan44:12

        Why did, why did he have to... Did he get caught and then he have to come clean? Like, what happened?

    30. YPYannis Pappas44:16

        It was, um... I, no, I th- Yeah, I think-
11. 50:14 – 53:35

    Joe’s origin story: discovering Taekwondo after Fenway, and ‘finding your thing’

    1. JRJoe Rogan50:14

       Yeah. I got bored with it. I- I played baseball when I was a kid, and that's actually how I found martial arts. How I really got into martial arts was I went to see a baseball game at Fenway Park. I went to see a Sox game and, uh, me and my buddy were coming home, and I was 14 at the time. We were walking, and we had to get on the T. And, uh, the T is the Boston, uh, train system.

    2. YPYannis Pappas50:34

       Yeah.

    3. JRJoe Rogan50:34

       And the lines were so huge. We were, we were walking and we're like, "Let's just go."

    4. YPYannis Pappas50:37

       Oh, it's like New York Subway?

    5. JRJoe Rogan50:38

       Yeah.

    6. YPYannis Pappas50:39

       Okay.

    7. JRJoe Rogan50:39

       But it was, but it's-

    8. YPYannis Pappas50:39

       Yeah, now I understand. (laughs)

    9. JRJoe Rogan50:40

       Yeah. It's not as, you know, obviously not as extensive, and it's outside. It's- it's not underground. So, we, uh, we got to this, uh... We were- we're walking towards the train station and- and I found this TaeKwonDo school. And I walked up, and it was the craziest divine timing of all. I walked up the stairs, and as I was walking up the stairs to this TaeKwonDo school, I heard this crazy sound like whump, ka-chink, whump, ka-chink. Like a s- like a metal, like a thud and then metal. And I didn't know what the fuck that... It like sounded like chains and metal. I was like, "What is this?" And I went up there, and there's this guy, John Lee. And John Lee was the national champion, and he was preparing for the World Cup, and he was in- in his peak training. And he was kicking this bag with a spinning back kick, and he was literally folding this bag in half, and then it wa- it was hanging from a chain. So, we'd hear the whump and when his heel slammed into the bag, and then ka-chink, like the bag would slam, you know, go flying and the chains would rattle. And I remember being a 14-year-old kid standing there staring at this guy just smashing this bag. And I rem- remember thinking like, "I wanna learn how to do that." And I signed up that day.

    10. YPYannis Pappas51:47

        Wow.

    11. JRJoe Rogan51:48

        And that became my whole life.

    12. YPYannis Pappas51:49

        Right.

    13. JRJoe Rogan51:49

        Like from that moment on, I was there every day until I was like 22.

    14. YPYannis Pappas51:54

        Right.

    15. JRJoe Rogan51:54

        Like literally became my whole life.

    16. YPYannis Pappas51:56

        Right.

    17. JRJoe Rogan51:57

        From that one moment, just going up there and seeing this guy. But wha- like I coulda gone up there and there'd be little kids practicing, and it woulda been like, "Get the fuck outta here." But what I saw was so insanely impressive that I, uh, I, uh, immediately signed up.

    18. YPYannis Pappas52:12

        Do you think... This is sort of like a free will versus like destiny question. Do you think like that's because you had something in you that that connected to? Like, if I walk by there, I'd be like, "What's that noise?" And then I'm gonna be like, "All right, let me go get a burger," or whatever.

    19. JRJoe Rogan52:27

        Could be.

    20. YPYannis Pappas52:27

        Like do you think it's because like it was like meant to happen, like there's something in you that...

    21. JRJoe Rogan52:32

        That, that's a tricky one to buy into. You know, you could say like, "That's my destiny." But uh, it just appealed to me, you know? I mean, I've- I'd seen a lot of other things that didn't appeal to me, right?

    22. YPYannis Pappas52:45

        Mm-hmm.

    23. JRJoe Rogan52:45

        Like, I was just at a baseball game where I saw the best baseball players in the world.

    24. YPYannis Pappas52:48

        Right.

    25. JRJoe Rogan52:49

        Professionals-

    26. YPYannis Pappas52:50

        Right.

    27. JRJoe Rogan52:50

        ... play. I didn't give a fuck. I was like, "Yeah, that's great."

    28. YPYannis Pappas52:52

        But- but why? That's my question. Like, do you think that's just like it's in you? Like that's like your genetic kind of pre... Like you're predisposed to it, I guess they would say, like fighting or-

    29. JRJoe Rogan52:59

        I don't know, man. It- it clicked on... It hit all my switches, pushed all my buttons.

    30. YPYannis Pappas53:02

        Yeah.
12. 53:35 – 1:16:10

    Writing, podcasts, and the fragility of comedy in the cancel era

    1. JRJoe Rogan53:35

       Yeah. In a way. Yeah, in a way. But also in a way that, you know, it requires you to spend time on your own disciplining yourself. And one of the things that separates comics from comics that don't do well is the time they spend writing, you know? And some comics, they get great, but they don't write. They don't write, you know? And some comics have an interesting way of wri... Like Bill Burr I think has the most fascinating way of writing 'cause what Bill is basically doing is two days a week he does a solo podcast, like, uh, just uninterrupted stream of consciousness. And out of that has come some of the best comedy we've ever experienced-

    2. YPYannis Pappas54:10

       Right, right.

    3. JRJoe Rogan54:11

       ... because he just sits by himself and talks shit.

    4. YPYannis Pappas54:14

       Right.

    5. JRJoe Rogan54:14

       Like I was listening to him talk shit about the Apple Store today.

    6. YPYannis Pappas54:16

       Yeah.

    7. JRJoe Rogan54:16

       "And these fucking cunts in this fucking Apple Store."

    8. YPYannis Pappas54:18

       (laughs)

    9. JRJoe Rogan54:19

       "I- I just went down there. I wanted, I wanted an, I wanted a fucking iPad." And you know, and he'll... He's got no one interrupting him. So, it's just him in his office by himself with a microphone and just thinking and talking. And that's... It's a workout.

    10. YPYannis Pappas54:34

        Yeah.

    11. JRJoe Rogan54:34

        It's a type of workout.

    12. YPYannis Pappas54:35

        Yeah.

    13. JRJoe Rogan54:35

        You know, whether you're sitting in front of a laptop, what- whatever the fuck you're doing, like whatever you're doing to kinda create. Some guys don't do that. They just wanna go on stage. And so they go on stage, and then they just sorta spout out what they've already done, and maybe they add a tag here, a little bit there. But they don't develop the way a guy like Bill turns over material-

    14. YPYannis Pappas54:57

        Yeah.

    15. JRJoe Rogan54:58

        ... you know?

    16. YPYannis Pappas54:58

        And I think if you ask him, uh, since when he started a podcast, his- his comedy went to another level-

    17. JRJoe Rogan55:04

        100%.

    18. YPYannis Pappas55:04

        ... because of that probably, yeah.

    19. JRJoe Rogan55:05

        100%.

    20. YPYannis Pappas55:06

        Yeah.

    21. JRJoe Rogan55:06

        It really did.

    22. YPYannis Pappas55:07

        Yeah.

    23. JRJoe Rogan55:07

        I mean, there's no doubt about it. I mean, he was always great. You know, Bill was always... He had- he had talent. He's got a perspective. He's got an... He's got balls, you know? I saw him out here. Uh, he was out, uh, he performed at one of these, uh, outdoor amphitheaters. Freezing cold outside. I had my fucking jacket zipped up to my neck, sitting there freezing on the sidelines watching.... but it was fun to watch real wild comedy.

    24. YPYannis Pappas55:29

        Yeah.

    25. JRJoe Rogan55:29

        You know, he's still doing wild comedy.

    26. YPYannis Pappas55:31

        Yeah.

    27. JRJoe Rogan55:32

        You know, like, like, there's no one that can take him down. Like, there's no cancel culture. Like, you know, just saying all the shit that he thinks of.

    28. YPYannis Pappas55:40

        Yeah. He kinda just ig-... He, he, he performs like it doesn't exist.

    29. JRJoe Rogan55:44

        Mm-hmm.

    30. YPYannis Pappas55:44

        Like cancel culture doesn't exist. Kinda like the way Jack Johnson just kinda... Jack John-... You ever see that documentary, Jack Johnson, um-

Episode duration: 3:49:29