Joe Rogan Experience #1785 - Earthquake

1. 0:00 – 3:05

   Netflix special praise: finally getting the spotlight (with Chappelle producing)

   1. EAEarthquake0:00

      (drum roll) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:04

      The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. EAEarthquake0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music)

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:12

      All right. Talk to me, Earthquake. What's happening?

   5. EAEarthquake0:14

      (laughs) Hey. What's up, Joe? How you doing, fam?

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      Great to see you, man.

   7. EAEarthquake0:17

      Thanks for having me, first of all.

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:19

      My pleasure. Listen, your special is fucking outstanding. It is one of the best specials I've seen in a long time. It's hard to laugh by yourself out loud on a phone-

   9. EAEarthquake0:28

      (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:28

       ... when you're watching someone on a phone. I laughed hard.

   11. EAEarthquake0:30

       Thank you.

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:30

       It was great. It's you! It's like, uh, y- you know, sometimes someone does a special, and it's like (inhales sharply) it's better seeing them live, but-

   13. EAEarthquake0:36

       Right.

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:37

       ... you captured it.

   15. EAEarthquake0:38

       It was, um, it was a journey. It was the first time I was properly financed.

   16. JRJoe Rogan0:43

       Mm.

   17. EAEarthquake0:43

       You know what I mean? Um, we wasn't, um, borrowing money or had the right vehicle, properly supported by the distributors and everything. So, it was, it was the opportunity. Then I knew the significance of it by Dave being a part of it, that this was th- the one I needed to elevate me to get off of this level that I'm on right now.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:04

       Well, we were talking about this before but, in my mind, your level, in terms of your ability-

   19. EAEarthquake1:10

       Mm-hmm.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:10

       ... you're already there. You're one of the best comics alive. There's no-

   21. EAEarthquake1:13

       Thank you.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:13

       ... there's no doubt about it. So this is a great representative of that. It's a great representation of that. 'Cause it's very rare that someone gets as good as you are that's not selling out arenas.

   23. EAEarthquake1:25

       Mm-hmm.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:25

       Like, you n- that's how good you are.

   25. EAEarthquake1:26

       Well, thank you.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:27

       So, it's ex- it's exciting for me.

   27. EAEarthquake1:29

       Yes. And, um, you know, I hope, but you know it. You're a comic, man. You never know what's gonna do it, what's gonna generate.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:36

       Yeah.

   29. EAEarthquake1:36

       I never had a problem with, um... I never equated quantity with quality.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:42

       Right.
2. 3:05 – 5:20

   Being “frontline” as a comic: touring polish, staying close to fans

   1. EAEarthquake3:05

      (laughs) Yeah. I mean, when you have nothing but your jokes, you gotta at least perfect that aspect of the career.

   2. JRJoe Rogan3:11

      Well, you're a hustler too. You're always out there. And the guys that are constantly working, there's a polish that you get when you're on the road and you're doing those Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sundays, when you just constantly doing sets.

   3. EAEarthquake3:21

      Mm-hmm.

   4. JRJoe Rogan3:21

      There's a, there's an undeniable polish that a guy gets.

   5. EAEarthquake3:26

      Yeah. I mean, you there. I call them the frontline workers.

   6. JRJoe Rogan3:29

      Mm-hmm.

   7. EAEarthquake3:29

      You know what I mean? Success takes you off the frontline. You know what I mean?

   8. JRJoe Rogan3:34

      It does.

   9. EAEarthquake3:34

      It, it, it, it, it, it, um, keeps you from your fans to feel exact... 'Cause we, we feed off the information that we get from our fans.

   10. JRJoe Rogan3:43

       Yeah.

   11. EAEarthquake3:43

       And, um, if you're isolated with security or other things that you have to do or the mon- you know, the enormance of your career, you kinda, like, get away from the people who actually, um, support you. And that's the key to me. I always stay within my constituents some way, family member or somebody... I take a young comedian on the road with me who I, I, um, I look up to and say, "He can make it." And just allow him to be in the life, and I just watch what he do and what he going through, and that's how I keep my s- my stuff, uh, in check.

   12. JRJoe Rogan4:17

       Yeah, I do the s- I do the same.

   13. EAEarthquake4:19

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan4:19

       I do the same, and I also bring a lot of comedians to the shows that I do in town.

   15. EAEarthquake4:23

       Mm-hmm.

   16. JRJoe Rogan4:23

       Bring open mic-ers. I bring, uh-

   17. EAEarthquake4:25

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan4:25

       ... you know, have them go up. I, uh, give 'em tips.

   19. EAEarthquake4:28

       Yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan4:28

       Give 'em good spots, you know, let 'em, let 'em try it out.

   21. EAEarthquake4:31

       Right.

   22. JRJoe Rogan4:31

       Give 'em rough spots sometimes after someone really good.

   23. EAEarthquake4:34

       Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan4:34

       Let 'em feel that. You know?

   25. EAEarthquake4:35

       Let 'em feel that.

   26. JRJoe Rogan4:36

       And I think for a lot of guys, a lot of guys get big, and then they start getting television shows and movies. And you don't realize how much time that takes away from your standup.

   27. EAEarthquake4:44

       True.

   28. JRJoe Rogan4:44

       When I was doing Fear Factor, I remember, like, seeing guys that would come into town, you know, that were doing the road constantly, and I'd be jealous.

   29. EAEarthquake4:52

       Mm-hmm.

   30. JRJoe Rogan4:52

       I, I would. I was on a television show.
3. 5:20 – 6:48

   “In the pocket”: how great comics find unexpected angles

   1. EAEarthquake5:20

      Yeah. And you can see it too.

   2. JRJoe Rogan5:22

      Mm-hmm.

   3. EAEarthquake5:22

      And relevant. And they talking about things, you're like, "Damn."

   4. JRJoe Rogan5:25

      Yeah.

   5. EAEarthquake5:26

      "I didn't see it that way."

   6. JRJoe Rogan5:27

      Yeah.

   7. EAEarthquake5:28

      "Damn."

   8. JRJoe Rogan5:28

      Yeah.

   9. EAEarthquake5:28

      You know what I mean? So it's the beautiful part. That's what I look for. "You never seen it this way."

   10. JRJoe Rogan5:33

       Right.

   11. EAEarthquake5:33

       "You never seen this angle of it." You know what I mean?

   12. JRJoe Rogan5:35

       Well, that's the best when you watch a comic, and they say something that you have never expected. And you're like, "Wow, that's, that's a nice angle. That's a nice angle."

   13. EAEarthquake5:43

       Yeah. That's it. That's the-

   14. JRJoe Rogan5:44

       That's the craft.

   15. EAEarthquake5:45

       That's the hook.

   16. JRJoe Rogan5:46

       Yeah.

   17. EAEarthquake5:46

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan5:47

       Yeah.

   19. EAEarthquake5:47

       That's the sweet spot. We call it in the pocket. That's when you in the pocket. You get it.

   20. JRJoe Rogan5:51

       Where did you record this?

   21. EAEarthquake5:53

       Um, Washington DC.

   22. JRJoe Rogan5:55

       Nice.

   23. EAEarthquake5:55

       Um, yeah, at home. I'm from Washington DC, Southeast DC, so when Dave came to me, "Where do you wanna go?" I said, "Well, let's go ahead and make it as rough as possible. Let's go on and do it at home." (laughs)

   24. JRJoe Rogan6:05

       (laughs)

   25. EAEarthquake6:06

       And let everybody be here. So if at least... if nothing else, I, um...... I, I stamped my hometown 'cause it's-

   26. JRJoe Rogan6:11

       Oh, that's right. You talk about that in the beginning of it.

   27. EAEarthquake6:14

       Yes.

   28. JRJoe Rogan6:14

       There's a, uh, the other guy that, uh, you know, I've had on recently who's also, uh, it's undeniable and un- uh, unbelievable that he's not huger, is Tony Woods.

   29. EAEarthquake6:24

       Yes.

   30. JRJoe Rogan6:24

       Yeah. I had Tony Woods on recently and then we did a show together at the Vulcan. I'm like, "Goddamn he's good."
4. 6:48 – 8:32

   Earthquake’s writing method: building from truth into a bigger lie (no notebook)

   1. JRJoe Rogan6:48

      When you write, do you sit down and write? Do you just collect information throughout the day? Like, how do, how do you come up with material?

   2. EAEarthquake6:55

      Um, I never... I'm, I write in my mind. I never physically write. What I do, I come up with a, um, concept and elaborate on it. And usually it comes with a true, well, of a truth and then it expand to a big ass lie. You know what I mean?

   3. JRJoe Rogan7:10

      (laughs)

   4. EAEarthquake7:11

      (laughs) Like they say, the first casualty of war is the truth.

   5. JRJoe Rogan7:15

      Yeah.

   6. EAEarthquake7:15

      So, that's what it is. Um, I'll say there it is, and then I just expand on it, and expand on it, and expand on it. So when I get on stage I never know what I'm going to say, but once I see it then I just say what I see 'cause I see it in my mind and then I just... it comes out that way. That's how I do it.

   7. JRJoe Rogan7:33

      So when you write new material, do you just go up with it or do you try to sandwich it in between material that you've already do?

   8. EAEarthquake7:38

      Uh, no. Like, this right here I say like, "This is what I'm not gonna talk about." I take everything, like this special, I'm not gonna talk about any of that, and then I start from then on.

   9. JRJoe Rogan7:49

      So like, so you take all the material that you're not gonna do anymore-

   10. EAEarthquake7:53

       Right.

   11. JRJoe Rogan7:53

       ... 'cause you did it in the special.

   12. EAEarthquake7:54

       Right.

   13. JRJoe Rogan7:55

       But when you, like, say if you have a new bit that you're trying to work in your act, do you try to do it first? Do you try to-

   14. EAEarthquake8:00

       Yeah. I, I do it right there 'cause I know where it is to be funny with it. You know what I mean?

   15. JRJoe Rogan8:05

       Yeah.

   16. EAEarthquake8:05

       So, um, I'll start. Just say what I find is funny. Like, we going through this thing with Kuwait, I mean, with, um-

   17. JRJoe Rogan8:14

       Ukraine.

   18. EAEarthquake8:15

       ... COVID... Ukraine. Excuse me. And I'm like, "Okay, the Russians are marching. (laughs) They're marching." So you start from that point on and just elaborate all the way through.

   19. JRJoe Rogan8:24

       And do you just work it out on stage?

   20. EAEarthquake8:26

       Work it right there on stage.

   21. JRJoe Rogan8:27

       Interesting.

   22. EAEarthquake8:28

       Yeah. I work it right on stage.

   23. JRJoe Rogan8:29

       S- have you always done it that way?

   24. EAEarthquake8:31

       Always.

   25. JRJoe Rogan8:31

       Really?

5. 8:32 – 14:43

   The Atlanta club crucible: boycotts, necessity, and becoming a riffing machine

   1. EAEarthquake8:32

      Yeah. See, I had my own comedy club and, um, it was the Uptown Comedy Corner and, uh, the Comedy Act Theater wouldn't allow me to perform there. So when I, um-

   2. JRJoe Rogan8:42

      Where was that?

   3. EAEarthquake8:43

      In Atlanta, Georgia. So they wouldn't let me, um, perform there. So I told my mother, "They won't let me say it." My mama said, "Told you, if they not gonna let you ride their bike, you either get your own bike or walk."

   4. JRJoe Rogan8:54

      (laughs)

   5. EAEarthquake8:54

      So I was like, "All right." Um, I got my own club and because I was affiliated with this dude, they said, "It's not all black comedy club. There's white dudes and brothers own it." So they kind of like boycotted my club. So they left me there to do all the jokes and I had to entertain them. So I was able to just go up there and just go, and it was the best thing that ever happened for me.

   6. JRJoe Rogan9:18

      Who the fuck boycotted your club?

   7. EAEarthquake9:20

      Other comedians. And you know back in the day-

   8. JRJoe Rogan9:21

      What?

   9. EAEarthquake9:21

      Because you know back in the day, you've been in the game long, if you worked this club, you can't work this club.

   10. JRJoe Rogan9:26

       Yeah.

   11. EAEarthquake9:26

       You know? Comedy Act Theater was the, uh, was the premier black comedy club. So you got a club in Los Angeles and Atlanta that's the premier black club, and there's this new club with the dudes that's not from here named Earthquake and the owner say, "You go up here, you'll never work in my club." What they, what you... You know what comedians gonna do.

   12. JRJoe Rogan9:44

       Right.

   13. EAEarthquake9:44

       They going like, "Nah, man, I would do your club, but Gary said if I go up there I ain't gonna be able to work." I'm like, "All right." And it was only until Steve Harvey, which is a good friend of mine, called him up and said, "Steve, none of these motherfuckers ain't doing 'em." He's like, "Fuck that. I'll do it." Steve came in, sold it out, and when they saw him, come seeing him, they saw me, and the rest was history.

   14. JRJoe Rogan10:07

       Wow. So you were basically working at your club almost every night.

   15. EAEarthquake10:11

       Every night.

   16. JRJoe Rogan10:12

       Wow.

   17. EAEarthquake10:12

       I was the feature, the open mic, and the headliner.

   18. JRJoe Rogan10:15

       (laughs)

   19. EAEarthquake10:17

       (laughs) You know what I mean? That's why people see and they thinking I'm drunk or something leaning up against the wall. That's just what I would do. I used to just lean up on the wall and do an hour straight off the top and just hit it that way.

   20. JRJoe Rogan10:29

       Wow.

   21. EAEarthquake10:30

       And that just became my style and I just continue on, see what I say-

   22. JRJoe Rogan10:35

       Wow.

   23. EAEarthquake10:35

       ... and just riff right off of it.

   24. JRJoe Rogan10:37

       That's an amazing gym to train at, like to, to, to have that kind of a setup. It's ki- kind of by necessity-

   25. EAEarthquake10:44

       Exactly.

   26. JRJoe Rogan10:45

       ... but still.

   27. EAEarthquake10:46

       Yes.

   28. JRJoe Rogan10:46

       That's an amazing way to, to work on your act.

   29. EAEarthquake10:49

       M-

   30. JRJoe Rogan10:49

       Holy shit.
6. 14:43 – 21:07

   Special taping strategy + perfectionists: Chappelle and Dr. Dre comparisons

   1. JRJoe Rogan14:43

      Now, when you prepped for this special, how many shows did you do?

   2. EAEarthquake14:47

      Mm. I did two shows.

   3. JRJoe Rogan14:49

      Two shows?

   4. EAEarthquake14:49

      Two shows.

   5. JRJoe Rogan14:50

      Same night?

   6. EAEarthquake14:51

      No, one per night.

   7. JRJoe Rogan14:52

      Mm-hmm.

   8. EAEarthquake14:53

      One, um, one per night.

   9. JRJoe Rogan14:55

      Like a Friday and a Saturday?

   10. EAEarthquake14:56

       Friday and a Saturday.

   11. JRJoe Rogan14:58

       And which one was the better one?

   12. EAEarthquake15:00

       Um... Second one, I think. Everybody else said the second one.

   13. JRJoe Rogan15:05

       Yeah.

   14. EAEarthquake15:06

       The first one, you say, "Let me get it in the can." If... The name... The number one objective for me was to make sure it captured who I was. You know what I mean?

   15. JRJoe Rogan15:15

       Yeah.

   16. EAEarthquake15:16

       That, that and, um... I made sure that was on the first one. Then the second one, it was like it was another night at the club. I knew I had that one in the can. They was like, "You ain't even gotta do a second show if you don't want to. We got it in the first." I said, "Nah, let me do this one." And I did it a whole different way. He's like, "Goddam." So...

   17. JRJoe Rogan15:31

       Well, that is what it's about, right? When you do a special, like, when someone has to do one special and you have one hour to do it. Like, uh, uh, I always talk about Bill Hicks' special, Relentless. It was this HBO special.

   18. EAEarthquake15:42

       Yeah, I love Bill.

   19. JRJoe Rogan15:43

       Where it's... Bill was amazing. But that special, you could tell he's kinda tense. Like-

   20. EAEarthquake15:49

       Right.

   21. JRJoe Rogan15:49

       ... it's just he's got one shot to do this in one hour. There's no, like, looseness that you would get from a regular show.

   22. EAEarthquake15:57

       Right.

   23. JRJoe Rogan15:57

       So if you can get a few shows in... I, I do four. I do two on Friday, two on Saturday.

   24. EAEarthquake16:03

       When you tape-

   25. JRJoe Rogan16:03

       Yep.

   26. EAEarthquake16:03

       ... would you do?

   27. JRJoe Rogan16:04

       Yeah.

   28. EAEarthquake16:04

       Okay.

   29. JRJoe Rogan16:05

       'Cause I did two, uh... Like, the last time I did two was in 2014, a lady heckled me during the first show.

   30. EAEarthquake16:11

       Mm.
7. 21:07 – 30:20

   From Air Force to open mic: accidental start and the origin of “Earthquake”

   1. JRJoe Rogan21:07

      What year did you start?

   2. EAEarthquake21:09

      '91. After getting out the military.

   3. JRJoe Rogan21:13

      Oh, yeah?

   4. EAEarthquake21:13

      Yeah. I was in the Air Force for nine years.

   5. JRJoe Rogan21:16

      Oh, wow.

   6. EAEarthquake21:17

      Yeah. Wanted to do 20 years, but the war broke out. So I had to let them know.

   7. JRJoe Rogan21:21

      (laughs)

   8. EAEarthquake21:21

      I had to tell them, "I don't mind practicing for war." (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan21:25

      (laughs)

   10. EAEarthquake21:25

       Y'all fighting for real.

   11. JRJoe Rogan21:26

       (laughs)

   12. EAEarthquake21:27

       I gotta tell you the truth, I ain't no real soldier. (laughs)

   13. JRJoe Rogan21:30

       Ah.

   14. EAEarthquake21:30

       I just got here to get out of my mother's house.

   15. JRJoe Rogan21:33

       Did you plan on doing standup eventually?

   16. EAEarthquake21:36

       No. What happened was, um, I used to just sit there, anything to get out of work, you know, because I was that, I was that soldier. Anything to get out. So the USO had a tour. I said, "I'll go up there and talk a couple of times on that stuff." Anything to get out of the military. I mean, get out of work. And then, um, I saw what's about to happen. I knew they was getting tired of me because I was a terrible soldier.

   17. JRJoe Rogan22:02

       (laughs)

   18. EAEarthquake22:02

       (laughs) You know what I mean? Came in as an E1, left as an E1, so-

   19. JRJoe Rogan22:05

       What's an E1?

   20. EAEarthquake22:06

       That's the first stripe you get. (laughs)

   21. JRJoe Rogan22:08

       Really?

   22. EAEarthquake22:08

       Nine years later, still just one stripe. Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan22:12

       Wow.

   24. EAEarthquake22:12

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan22:13

       What do you have to do to get stripes?

   26. EAEarthquake22:14

       Um, some of them come with seniority, and then they get to a level that you have to pass tests and know all the different aircraft. I didn't give a damn about this.

   27. JRJoe Rogan22:23

       (laughs)

   28. EAEarthquake22:23

       I'm just over here trying to find out what my real purpose is. You the one got me when you said it's a great place to start. You ain't say nothing about finish, so let's-

   29. JRJoe Rogan22:31

       Ah.

   30. EAEarthquake22:31

       ... let's just kick it until we break up. You know, like dating a woman, like, you ain't gonna be my wife. Until this real woman I want to mess with come along, I'll just kick it with you.
8. 30:20 – 46:42

   Building the business: investors, Buckhead strategy, and Steve Harvey’s media lesson

   1. EAEarthquake30:20

      Yeah. We was, um... We would get some comedians that come on it, but we didn't get any of the main, um, comedians, because, uh, Comedy Act wasn't having it.

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:31

      That's such a cocky move to open up your own club two years in. That's amazing.

   3. EAEarthquake30:36

      But they were so vulnerable. They was in the bad ti- bad part of town. They didn't serve, uh, food. And then they... The cotton was being more... And, I mean, the one that really would bring them down, they were so arrogant with it that they'll book a comic-... two comics for the whole month. Same comic, every week. Every week.

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:58

      Oh, that's crazy.

   5. EAEarthquake30:59

      Yes. I remember it was Joe Torre, um, Joe Torre and Ted Carpenter and they did the whole month. So when I'd brung my investors there to get the club, I said, "Look, these same two gonna be here. There's 400 people in here, they got two waitresses. Plus they ain't got no food, plus they in a bad part of town. So what we gonna do, we gone put it, we gone put the club in Buckhead. Black people don't go there that much right there 'cause they don't go there. We gone call it Uptown and we gone, we gone serve food, we gone have valet service, we're gonna be in a better part of the town." And that's how I got it. So once you, any of you gone go up against anybody, you first gotta, uh, recognize their weakness and where you can draw from what they got. And that's why I pivot all my commercials to 'em that way. "Are you tired of going down to a place you park your car and you might don't know who gone be there and they begging you for money? Nah. Come get your jokes up at Uptown Comedy Corner. You know what I'm saying? Where you don't see the same comedian over and over again. And we have food. And we have prompt service and everything else. Come to Uptown." So I just (makes punching sounds) . And as you sit there, you give them a comparison about Uptown and people are like, "Yeah, we like it." And that's how I got 'em.

   6. JRJoe Rogan32:15

      That's amazing though that you did that two years in. Like, y- you go from your career in the military-

   7. EAEarthquake32:21

      Mm-hmm.

   8. JRJoe Rogan32:21

      ... where you kinda half-ass it, you're not-

   9. EAEarthquake32:22

      Right.

   10. JRJoe Rogan32:23

       ... really into it and then all of a sudden you find this new thing-

   11. EAEarthquake32:26

       Mm-hmm.

   12. JRJoe Rogan32:26

       ... and you're all in.

   13. EAEarthquake32:28

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan32:29

       You're all in. You're, you're opening up your own club 24 months in. That's crazy.

   15. EAEarthquake32:34

       But what, you know, it was outta necessity 'cause I got tired of driving night, all the way to Lakeland, Florida to get $50 a show. And then the biggest one, you'll tell a woman you a comedian and she's like, "Well, I ain't never seen you at The Comedy Hut." You know, we segregation... uh, we, we segregated in the black community. If you ain't here, then you ain't doing it. You know what I mean?

   16. JRJoe Rogan32:56

       Mm-hmm.

   17. EAEarthquake32:56

       So it ain't done, just, it wasn't as expanded as it is now that they can even imagine this other club. This was the club of all club, the only club. If you didn't work there, you weren't no black comedian. And-

   18. JRJoe Rogan33:09

       So, so you had this in your head that you wanted to do this, and how did you make that happen? Like, who did you get to invest in it? Like how did, how'd you start a club?

   19. EAEarthquake33:17

       Well, it was this dude named Gary Abdu. He was book... he was a comedian too and, but he booked things in like, um, he used to do little, little small places like Denny's, for example, and put a plywood box up there, little small place. Sit there and he'll throw a show and, um, he'll book me and pay me $150. Me, Ricky Smiley, and the rest of 'em. And we sat down and said, "What you need to do is we need to open up a black club." So I showed it to him and I said, "This is how we can get 'em," what I previously said. He said, "Good idea." So we all went out and tried to get investors. I went to all... Deon, Sanders, Dominique, all the people in Atlanta. "Hey man, sure, just call this person, call this person." Motherfuckers ain't never do nothing.

   20. JRJoe Rogan34:08

       (laughs)

   21. EAEarthquake34:08

       One, one of the person was real. Uh, one of the person represented was very honest with me. He said, "Listen man, quick I get five of these calls a day. He ain't gonna do shit." (laughs)

   22. JRJoe Rogan34:17

       (laughs)

   23. EAEarthquake34:17

       I'm just... He ain't gone through that, man. I ain't even gonna waste your time. You know what I mean? So Lucky, um, Gary found, um, the number one plastic surgeon in Atlanta and he invests, but he told us, "I'm gonna give y'all $10,000. If y'all can flip this and show it can work on a smaller stage, then I'll get the club." So we went to Birmingham, a couple places, and turned the 10 into about 50 to 60,000. And then when we get that, from that point on, he said, "You could do it," and he gave us the half a million dollars to get the club.

   24. JRJoe Rogan34:50

       Wow.

   25. EAEarthquake34:51

       Yeah. Dr. Tom.

   26. JRJoe Rogan34:53

       Wow.

   27. EAEarthquake34:54

       Rest in peace, my brother.

   28. JRJoe Rogan34:56

       Wow.

   29. EAEarthquake34:56

       Yeah, white dude was great. He, um, he used to give... put all the titties in the women in Atlanta, Georgia.

   30. JRJoe Rogan35:02

       (laughs)
9. 46:42 – 58:03

   Comics vs fame: honest laughs, tough lineups, and surviving after killers

   1. EAEarthquake46:42

      Let me ask you this. Uh, when you see this self-proclaimed great comic that the industry done put up on there, and then you actually go see his act and it's no, I mean, it's elementary at best, but just being that-

   2. JRJoe Rogan46:56

      Yeah.

   3. EAEarthquake46:57

      How do you react to it? Do you tell him-

   4. JRJoe Rogan46:59

      No.

   5. EAEarthquake46:59

      ... or you just say, "Good set"? Do you, you know, 'cause a lot of them, "Oh, you was outstanding." I'm like, "Man, stop lying to that man. You know he, that wasn't outstanding." Say you happy for his success-

   6. JRJoe Rogan47:09

      Yeah.

   7. EAEarthquake47:10

      ... but he's not a great comic.

   8. JRJoe Rogan47:11

      There's a few guys that get stuck on shows. You know, when you get sh- stuck on a show or get-

   9. EAEarthquake47:16

      Mm-hmm.

   10. JRJoe Rogan47:17

       ... stuck on, and you get famous for a show, and then, you know, your- your comedy suffers 'cause you don't have the time.

   11. EAEarthquake47:23

       True.

   12. JRJoe Rogan47:23

       But your profile gets elevated.

   13. EAEarthquake47:25

       Right.

   14. JRJoe Rogan47:26

       And then you start believing the hype, and everybody loves you anyway. It's one of the things that, like, Steve Martin said when he got really famous, he stopped doing standup because he wasn't getting an honest reaction.

   15. EAEarthquake47:37

       Hmm.

   16. JRJoe Rogan47:37

       They were just so- so happy to see him, Steve Martin-

   17. EAEarthquake47:41

       Right.

   18. JRJoe Rogan47:42

       ... this huge star, that they were laughing at everything. And you see that sometimes with people. They're just happy to see you. And so, you don't get this honest reaction. So you- you, the difference between, and that's what I was jealous about when I was doing Fear Factor.

   19. EAEarthquake47:56

       (laughs)

   20. JRJoe Rogan47:56

       Like, there was these guys that were just, they- they didn't have a TV show like I did, but they were so good. They were so polished. And it made me realize, like, after I was done with Fear Factor, "No more of that. I'm done. No more." Now I'm just gonna be like fully dedicated to standup and podcasts.

   21. EAEarthquake48:12

       So, when you decided to do that, how much more did you hit the stage after that?

   22. JRJoe Rogan48:17

       Constantly. Constantly. Much more. Much more. And much more touring. That's the big one. The big one is the road, you know. Charlie Murphy, me, and John Heffron did, uh, a tour for, uh, Bud Light, this Real Men of Comedy Tour.

   23. EAEarthquake48:32

       (laughs)

   24. JRJoe Rogan48:32

       And we were, it was the first time I ever did a tour where we did 22 shows in a month.

   25. EAEarthquake48:38

       Hmm.

   26. JRJoe Rogan48:38

       And that was, like, 2007. And we did 22 shows. We were c- we- we- we'd wake up in a hotel room, "I don't know where the fuck I am."

   27. EAEarthquake48:46

       Right.

   28. JRJoe Rogan48:46

       Stare at the ceiling, "Ohio? I don't know where I am. I forgot. I'd have to look at my phone." And we did these shows where we're headlining just, we would go back and forth, like he would headline one, I would headline the other.... and by the end of the month, my shit was so tight.

   29. EAEarthquake49:05

       Right.

   30. JRJoe Rogan49:05

       It was just cracking. And I remember, I was talking to my friend, Brian, and he was like, "Have you ever done this before, where you've done, like, 22 hour-long shows in a, in a w- in a month?" And I said, "No." And he goes, "Man." He goes, "Your show is so tight. Everything is so smooth." And I go, "This is what I gotta do."
10. 58:03 – 1:14:28

    Lifestyle and discipline: carnivore diet, working out, Dave’s IV vitamin routine

    1. EAEarthquake58:03

       Well, yeah. But you look good though, man.

    2. JRJoe Rogan58:06

       Thank you.

    3. EAEarthquake58:06

       I'ma lose about 20 pounds, man.

    4. JRJoe Rogan58:07

       How you gonna do it?

    5. EAEarthquake58:09

       Um, just be disciplined.

    6. JRJoe Rogan58:10

       Yeah.

    7. EAEarthquake58:10

       I mean, I did it before, but after a while I said, "Fucking, damn. Too much."

    8. JRJoe Rogan58:14

       You know how I lose weight?

    9. EAEarthquake58:15

       How?

    10. JRJoe Rogan58:16

        I eat only meat.

    11. EAEarthquake58:17

        Really?

    12. JRJoe Rogan58:18

        Yeah. Only meat. Yeah. I'm on the, it's called a carnivore diet. Yeah. I eat meat and fruit. That's it. No-

    13. EAEarthquake58:24

        Yeah?

    14. JRJoe Rogan58:25

        No bread, no pasta, no sugar, no bullshit. I just eat steak and fruit.

    15. EAEarthquake58:31

        That's it?

    16. JRJoe Rogan58:32

        That's it. And I take a lot of vitamins.

    17. EAEarthquake58:35

        Mm-hmm.

    18. JRJoe Rogan58:35

        And I work out a lot. The-

    19. EAEarthquake58:37

        Okay, there you go.

    20. JRJoe Rogan58:38

        ... helps too. That helps too.

    21. EAEarthquake58:39

        I knew that workout had to come somewhere in that motherfucker. (laughs)

    22. JRJoe Rogan58:42

        Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's, that's how I keep saying.

    23. EAEarthquake58:43

        (laughs)

    24. JRJoe Rogan58:43

        I, I need to work out. That's me. I d- I d- I don't have like a, I don't have like a "I can just hang out" brain.

    25. EAEarthquake58:50

        Yeah.

    26. JRJoe Rogan58:51

        My brain needs activities. My brain needs, uh, it needs tasks. And if I don't give it tasks, it turns on me.

    27. EAEarthquake58:58

        Really?

    28. JRJoe Rogan58:58

        Yeah.

    29. EAEarthquake58:59

        Mm-hmm.

    30. JRJoe Rogan59:00

        Yeah. My brain's like, "What are you doing, pussy? What are you doing, bitch?" I'm like, "Listen-"

Episode duration: 2:06:51