Joe Rogan Experience #1826 - Fahim Anwar

1. 0:00 – 2:55

   Cigars, whiskey, and Austin’s comedy boom at Vulcan

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. FAFahim Anwar0:04

      The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music) Cheers, sir.

   4. FAFahim Anwar0:13

      Cheers.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:14

      Good to see you, my friend.

   6. FAFahim Anwar0:15

      Likewise. Thanks for having me. I was commenting on the round ice. I'm a fan.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:20

      Yeah, I like the round ice. It makes you feel fancy.

   8. FAFahim Anwar0:22

      Mm-hmm.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:23

      You're a fancy person, drinking bourbon on round ice.

   10. FAFahim Anwar0:26

       Yeah, when in Rome. Like, I was like-

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:28

       Yeah.

   12. FAFahim Anwar0:28

       ... "Can we do this again?"

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:29

       Yeah. You don't ever, uh, smoke cigars and drink whiskey unless you're with me.

   14. FAFahim Anwar0:34

       No. I do other people, but, like... Yeah, this is, like, the thing to do.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:38

       Yeah.

   16. FAFahim Anwar0:38

       You know what I mean?

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:39

       Yeah.

   18. FAFahim Anwar0:39

       Last time was fun, we did it.

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:40

       Yeah, we're conversating.

   20. FAFahim Anwar0:41

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan0:42

       I like that word too.

   22. FAFahim Anwar0:43

       I think you're... Yeah, conversating.

   23. JRJoe Rogan0:44

       Conversating. Doesn't seem like it's a real word, but I think it is.

   24. FAFahim Anwar0:47

       I think so.

   25. JRJoe Rogan0:50

       Yeah.

   26. FAFahim Anwar0:50

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan0:51

       Yeah. Good to see you, buddy.

   28. FAFahim Anwar0:52

       Likewise. Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan0:53

       It was fun hanging out last night.

   30. FAFahim Anwar0:54

       Yeah. I mean, I was here when things were shut down in LA with the pandemic-
2. 2:55 – 4:53

   Why comedians are releasing specials on YouTube (and the Schulz blueprint)

   1. FAFahim Anwar2:55

      Do you know where he's gonna put his, Ari's?

   2. JRJoe Rogan2:57

      Uh, I think he's gonna do the YouTube route. Um, we were talking about that last night. I honestly think that most of us are gonna wind up doing that. I mean, I think, um, there's a lot of money in Netflix, right? Uh, and Netflix is great, but for the widest possible distribution, I think you should put it everywhere and put it out for free.

   3. FAFahim Anwar3:17

      Yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan3:17

      Put it everywhere. 'Cause that's what you're doing. When you're doing a special, you're essentially saying, "Hey, this is like an advertisement to come see me live," which is w-... It's way better live anyway. Like-

   5. FAFahim Anwar3:26

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan3:27

      ... I always say that coming to see someone in a club or in a theater or what have you is probably... It's at least 30 or 40% better than watching it on TV.

   7. FAFahim Anwar3:36

      Oh, for sure.

   8. JRJoe Rogan3:37

      At least, right?

   9. FAFahim Anwar3:38

      Yeah. Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan3:38

       It might be twice as good.

   11. FAFahim Anwar3:40

       It's always better live.

   12. JRJoe Rogan3:41

       Way better live.

   13. FAFahim Anwar3:41

       'Cause things get lost.

   14. JRJoe Rogan3:42

       Yeah.

   15. FAFahim Anwar3:42

       Like, um... But YouTube is the play now, um, honestly. And I think I'm getting better about this, just giving compliments and giving flowers to people. Uh, like, my hat goes out to Schultz. I think he really kind of broke it for-

   16. JRJoe Rogan3:54

       Yeah.

   17. FAFahim Anwar3:55

       ... all these comics and shifting our thinking.

   18. JRJoe Rogan3:57

       Totally.

   19. FAFahim Anwar3:57

       'Cause for the longest time, all of us were just hoarding our material 'cause we were still in that old legacy Hollywood, traditional Hollywood mindset.

   20. JRJoe Rogan4:06

       Yeah.

   21. FAFahim Anwar4:06

       Where, like, "All right, I have this polished stuff. I'm waiting to be tapped. I'm waiting for Netflix to say, 'You can do the thing you can do.'"

   22. JRJoe Rogan4:13

       Yeah.

   23. FAFahim Anwar4:13

       "I'm waiting for Comedy Central." We're waiting... We're asking for permission to do something we already know we can do. And, and he just saw the power of YouTube and was like, "No, this is, like, powerful enough on its own." And when he did that, and all the comics kind of saw, "Oh, that's a route," every... Now, look, there's, like, all... There, there... It's a clip economy on Instagram.

   24. JRJoe Rogan4:34

       Mm-hmm.

   25. FAFahim Anwar4:34

       And everyone isn't so precious with their material. It's, uh, they're taking their lead from music with SoundCloud and mixtapes. It's like, get it to the people.

   26. JRJoe Rogan4:42

       Yeah.

   27. FAFahim Anwar4:43

       Exposure is more important than short money.

   28. JRJoe Rogan4:46

       Yeah.

   29. FAFahim Anwar4:46

       Like, what's the point? Like, this special, mine's on YouTube 'cause I just want eyeballs. I made it myself. I'm not trying to make money off this.

3. 4:53 – 8:32

   Fahim’s specials: ‘CSIL’ comedy jail vs the DIY ‘Hat Trick’ concept

   1. JRJoe Rogan4:53

      Is this your first one?

   2. FAFahim Anwar4:54

      No, I did one the traditional route, like, on CSIL. With, like, who the fuck knows what CSIL is?

   3. JRJoe Rogan4:59

      CSIL.

   4. FAFahim Anwar4:59

      Remember CSIL?

   5. JRJoe Rogan5:00

      I do remember CSIL.

   6. FAFahim Anwar5:01

      That was, like, Quibi before Quibi just, like... Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan5:03

      What happened to all the... Didn't Doug Stanhope had a, has a special-

   8. FAFahim Anwar5:06

      A couple guys did.

   9. JRJoe Rogan5:07

      ... on CSIL?

   10. FAFahim Anwar5:08

       Yeah. Brody had one on there, too. Um...

   11. JRJoe Rogan5:10

       Did he? Brody had one on?

   12. FAFahim Anwar5:10

       I think Brody had one, yeah. So, I mean, I'm gl-... It, it allowed me to have a special that way. It's in a theater. It's glossy, it's polished and all that, but it's in comedy jail. Like, no one saw it because nobody knew what CSIL was, nobody knew how to get it, and nobody wanted to... There was a paywall.

   13. JRJoe Rogan5:28

       And does CSIL own it now?

   14. FAFahim Anwar5:30

       Well, Comedy Dynamics produced it, so they licensed it to Comedy Central, so it's on Comedy Central's YouTube, my first special, which is great.

   15. JRJoe Rogan5:38

       Oh, so you can, you can watch it right now?

   16. FAFahim Anwar5:39

       My old one, yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan5:40

       What's it called?

   18. FAFahim Anwar5:41

       The old one's called, there's no business like show business.

   19. JRJoe Rogan5:43

       Ari Shaffir Jew?

   20. FAFahim Anwar5:44

       It's called The Ari Shaffir Jew.

   21. JRJoe Rogan5:45

       (laughs)

   22. FAFahim Anwar5:45

       Yeah. But the new one-

   23. JRJoe Rogan5:47

       There's no business like show business? That's what you called it?

   24. FAFahim Anwar5:49

       Yeah, that's the old one. Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan5:50

       Boy.

   26. FAFahim Anwar5:51

       And then the new one's called Hat Trick.

   27. JRJoe Rogan5:53

       Oh.

   28. FAFahim Anwar5:53

       And I did that one at the store. And I directed it. I did everything.

   29. JRJoe Rogan5:57

       And this is the one you did each room.

   30. FAFahim Anwar5:59

       Yeah.
4. 8:32 – 11:31

   Being a “comic’s comic” without the visibility: representation, touring, and market-building

   1. FAFahim Anwar8:32

      Yeah, I can't believe no one had done one this way, so it was just my ace in the sleeve. I'm like ... 'Cause I'm in this weird place where I've been doing standup 20 years, I'm a comic's comic, like comics like me and stuff, and, like, artistically, I'm further along than I am visibility-wise.

   2. JRJoe Rogan8:47

      Why do you think that is?

   3. FAFahim Anwar8:51

      I think, I think I would enjoy ... Or I naively, when I was younger and a younger comic, I just thought, "If I'm funny and crushing the clubs and stuff, and I have representation, I trust my representation is getting it done. Like, they will make it happen." My job is just to, like, keep writing material, doing well in the clubs. I would get validation from other comics, like, "Oh my God, that's great," blah, blah, blah. Like, "I don't know why you're not popping," or like, "You're under the radar." And I'm like, "Aw, thanks, man." Like, that feels good when you get validation from other comedians, you know?

   4. JRJoe Rogan9:23

      Right.

   5. FAFahim Anwar9:23

      Like, that means more than anything. Like, when Burr texts me about a bit or whatever, that means more than any, like, getting a, a guest star on something. 'Cause like I, I respect Burr, 'cause I, I love standup. I respect the craft. Like, when you do it, like, that means more to me than these little Hollywood things. So I just trusted that my people would get it done. But they have big rosters. Like, people, your people don't care as much as you do about you.

   6. JRJoe Rogan9:49

      Do you think that's really what it is?

   7. FAFahim Anwar9:51

      What?

   8. JRJoe Rogan9:51

      Bel- well, listen to what you just said earlier. You have a special. It's on CSIL.

   9. FAFahim Anwar9:55

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan9:56

       So who the fuck saw that? Nobody.

   11. FAFahim Anwar9:57

       Nobody.

   12. JRJoe Rogan9:58

       So how would people know about you?

   13. FAFahim Anwar10:00

       Yeah. Okay, here's the thing though. Like-

   14. JRJoe Rogan10:02

       But-

   15. FAFahim Anwar10:03

       ... wh- why do that?

   16. JRJoe Rogan10:04

       What about other stuff? What, what about other ways to get your name out there? And have you been on the road a lot?

   17. FAFahim Anwar10:10

       Uh, yeah, I would go out a little bit.

   18. JRJoe Rogan10:12

       Yeah, that's not a lot.

   19. FAFahim Anwar10:13

       Yeah. (laughs)

   20. JRJoe Rogan10:13

       That's the thing. It's like you gotta develop markets.

   21. FAFahim Anwar10:16

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan10:16

       Right? So you have to bel- develop a following.

   23. FAFahim Anwar10:18

       Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan10:18

       Like, a lot of guys ... Like, Gabriel Iglesias is a great example. That guy developed a following just fucking hustling.

   25. FAFahim Anwar10:23

       Mm-hmm.

   26. JRJoe Rogan10:23

       Just constantly hustling, constantly doing shows.

   27. FAFahim Anwar10:26

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan10:26

       You know? Like, you didn't do that a lot, and you were also in the writing ecosphere.

   29. FAFahim Anwar10:32

       Only during the pandemic.

   30. JRJoe Rogan10:33

       Only during the pandemic?
5. 11:31 – 13:59

   The writing-room “golden cage” and protecting the standup ‘superpower’

   1. JRJoe Rogan11:31

      There's a lot of great comics that got trapped in that writer's world.

   2. FAFahim Anwar11:34

      Yeah. I can see-

   3. JRJoe Rogan11:35

      And people never found out about them. It's a tr- it's, it's a tragedy. You know, like, to this day I say Owen Smith is one of the greatest fucking comics alive.

   4. FAFahim Anwar11:44

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan11:44

      And people don't know who he is, unfortunately-

   6. FAFahim Anwar11:46

      Mm-hmm.

   7. JRJoe Rogan11:46

      ... other than people talking about him.

   8. FAFahim Anwar11:48

      Mm-hmm.

   9. JRJoe Rogan11:48

      'Cause you, you know, you can make a really good living doing what he does. He makes a very good living as a, a writer and a producer. But when you watch that guy do standup, you're like, "How is this guy not huge?"

   10. FAFahim Anwar11:58

       Yeah.

   11. JRJoe Rogan11:59

       How is he not selling out theaters and stadiums, and he's, he's fucking excellent.

   12. FAFahim Anwar12:04

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan12:04

       His timing, his writing, everything's excellent. He's far beyond ... You wanna talk about a guy whose ability is far beyond his, his name, it's Owen Smith.... in my book.

   14. FAFahim Anwar12:15

       Totally. Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan12:15

       That's my number one guy.

   16. FAFahim Anwar12:16

       I love Owen too. Yeah. I see him in the store all the time. He's very funny.

   17. JRJoe Rogan12:18

       He's my number one guy in terms of, like, underrated guys.

   18. FAFahim Anwar12:21

       Yeah. Yeah. I think once you get that writing opportunity, you kinda decide what... Some guys just gravitate towards it. You know, some people get into com- uh, standup, they do it for four years, they get a writing gig, and they're happy. That's all they wanted to do. They weren't like real standups. It was kind of a springboard for them. But there are some people who do it and they're like, "I don't..." Like, it's a, it's like a deal with the devil a little bit.

   19. JRJoe Rogan12:45

       Yeah.

   20. FAFahim Anwar12:45

       Like, yeah. You'll get complacent.

   21. JRJoe Rogan12:48

       Yup.

   22. FAFahim Anwar12:48

       You'll get tired at night, you don't wanna go out and do a set.

   23. JRJoe Rogan12:50

       Yes.

   24. FAFahim Anwar12:50

       The money's good. Maybe you have some kids and a wife, and then you're in this like golden cage.

   25. JRJoe Rogan12:55

       Mm-hmm.

   26. FAFahim Anwar12:55

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan12:56

       Yeah. Tony was telling me how when he was doing it, he, you know, he, he did a lot of writing, but he never stopped doing sets. And they would say, "Com- man, come on, come out with us for drinks. You don't have to do a set." And he'd go, "What? What the fuck did you say?"

   28. FAFahim Anwar13:10

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan13:10

       And his mind was very clear. He's like, "I am a comic. I am doing this writing thing for money while I develop an act to be one of the best comics in the world."

   30. FAFahim Anwar13:20

       That's how I approach it too. Um, yeah, when I was writing In the Room, 'cause people are like, "Oh, you should just like keep on doing it and just go down that writer path." But, but the thing is, then you, you like put out your flame. Like the whole reason I got the job is because they liked my standup. Every opportunity I've gotten in Hollywood is because of my standup.
6. 13:59 – 16:43

   Singular artistic vision: South Park, Chappelle’s Show, and corporate meddling

   1. JRJoe Rogan13:59

      But, you, I guess you know you're funny if you're funny in a room. Like, like perfect example, Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

   2. FAFahim Anwar14:05

      They're hilarious. Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan14:06

      The funniest fucking guys on earth. They don't do standup, but South Park is one of the greatest shows the world has ever known.

   4. FAFahim Anwar14:13

      Mm-hmm.

   5. JRJoe Rogan14:13

      If not the greatest comedy show of all time. It's a real good argument that it's the greatest comedy show of all time.

   6. FAFahim Anwar14:18

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan14:18

      The greatest cartoon of all time, for sure.

   8. FAFahim Anwar14:20

      And for how good it is for how long is amazing.

   9. JRJoe Rogan14:22

      Insane.

   10. FAFahim Anwar14:22

       I don't know any show that's had that type of consistency.

   11. JRJoe Rogan14:24

       Insane. And apparently it's just Trey Parker. He's a fucking complete maniac.

   12. FAFahim Anwar14:30

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan14:30

       Have you ever watched that show? What is it called?

   14. FAFahim Anwar14:32

       Seven Days to Air or Six Days to Air?

   15. JRJoe Rogan14:33

       Yeah.

   16. FAFahim Anwar14:33

       Yeah, Seven Days-

   17. JRJoe Rogan14:33

       Something like that, whatever it's called.

   18. FAFahim Anwar14:34

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan14:35

       It's a great documentary.

   20. FAFahim Anwar14:36

       I love that inside baseball stuff.

   21. JRJoe Rogan14:37

       Yes.

   22. FAFahim Anwar14:37

       No matter what the subject is, just I'm so fascinated.

   23. JRJoe Rogan14:40

       It's interesting to see how the sausage is made.

   24. FAFahim Anwar14:43

       Mm-hmm.

   25. JRJoe Rogan14:43

       You know? And it's- a lot of it is Trey Parker.

   26. FAFahim Anwar14:46

       (laughs)

   27. JRJoe Rogan14:46

       There's people like that that are just wizards.

   28. FAFahim Anwar14:49

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan14:49

       You know? They just, they just have a thing and they know... And obviously he's got it systemed completely down and they hire great writers and, you know, they've got... The people at Comedy Central are smart enough to leave them the fuck alone.

   30. FAFahim Anwar15:00

       Mm-hmm.
7. 16:43 – 35:26

   Comedy backlash, “woke” gatekeeping, and why audiences (not critics) decide

   1. FAFahim Anwar16:43

      What's your take on that? What do you think is going on?

   2. JRJoe Rogan16:46

      Well, for sure the Will Smith thing opened up the door to the idea to that guy, the guy who attacked Chappelle. And it's also, you know, this... There's a narrative that his jokes are transphobic. They are not. That, that set is not transphobic. That set, if you really watch it and pay attention to it, it has a transgender person in it who he loved, who was a good friend of his, who he had open for him at shows, at least one show, and, and talked about with great love and respect, and f- with humor. But it wasn't transphobic.

   3. FAFahim Anwar17:26

      Yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan17:27

      It wasn't. It was about, it wa- it had to do with a trans person. But we live in this weird era where you can't even make fun of a thing unless you're a, you're a bad person, you're, you're a, uh, hater. Like fun equals hate now. It's like Ricky Gervais is catching a lot of it-

   5. FAFahim Anwar17:48

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan17:48

      ... now for his latest special.

   7. FAFahim Anwar17:49

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan17:50

      That fucking first 15 minutes of that special is fire. It's fire.

   9. FAFahim Anwar17:54

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan17:54

       He's- it's the best Ricky that I've ever seen. It's his best shit.

   11. FAFahim Anwar17:58

       Yeah, and I was telling you too, it's like the Rotten Tomatoes just shows you the disparity between what's going on in the country and what the critics are saying. And same with Chappelle stuff too.

   12. JRJoe Rogan18:06

       Well, the critics, criti- the, the critics, you know, what are they? What does that mean? You know, they're just humans, right? But they're humans that are captured by a system.

   13. FAFahim Anwar18:13

       Mm-hmm.

   14. JRJoe Rogan18:13

       And that system i- i- is like either it's a system that's propagated by social media or it's a system that, you know, they're on a website that is almost... They're almost all like left-leaning websites that have a problem with it, which is really interesting.

   15. FAFahim Anwar18:29

       Mm-hmm.

   16. JRJoe Rogan18:29

       You know, it's like the right wing website... It's like who would've thought that w-... if you look back on the early days, what we used to think of as conservative versus liberal. Liberal was pro-free speech, people were open-minded, non-violent, you know, and people were open to other people's ideas. And the right was, like, suppressive, you know, the nanny state, you know, u- uh, condemns certain language, condemns certain behaviors. That's not the case today.

   17. FAFahim Anwar18:58

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan18:58

       Today, the left has gone so fucking far left, so radical that the right are the ones that are celebrating comedians and celebrating Chappelle and-

   19. FAFahim Anwar19:09

       (laughs) Yeah. It's, it's interesting. Mm-hmm.

   20. JRJoe Rogan19:09

       ... they had my back through all the crazy shit that happened with me. It was Fox News that fucking had my back.

   21. FAFahim Anwar19:15

       Would you ever think that they would be the ones to cape for you, like-

   22. JRJoe Rogan19:18

       (laughs)

   23. FAFahim Anwar19:18

       ... you know, 10 years ago?

   24. JRJoe Rogan19:19

       I'm so liberal.

   25. FAFahim Anwar19:20

       Yeah. I know.

   26. JRJoe Rogan19:20

       Like, I talk about it all the time. Like, I, I say, "I am not a conservative. I'm not conservative." But I am pro-Second Amendment.

   27. FAFahim Anwar19:27

       Uh-huh.

   28. JRJoe Rogan19:27

       And I am a hunter and I am a cage fighting commentator and I, you know, and I drink and I smoke cigars, and I like to bow hunt.

   29. FAFahim Anwar19:35

       Th- yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan19:35

       So there's a lot in there that's like, "Hey-"
8. 35:26 – 39:53

   Austin culture notes: bats, growth, and imagining jetpacks breaking borders

   1. FAFahim Anwar35:26

      I went to go see the bats, you know, underneath the bridge.

   2. JRJoe Rogan35:29

      Oh, yeah.

   3. FAFahim Anwar35:29

      That's a good thing to do.

   4. JRJoe Rogan35:29

      Yeah.

   5. FAFahim Anwar35:30

      Is that every night?

   6. JRJoe Rogan35:31

      Yes.

   7. FAFahim Anwar35:32

      So-

   8. JRJoe Rogan35:32

      Every night at dusk.

   9. FAFahim Anwar35:33

      Yeah, it's interesting. It's like bat Coachella.

   10. JRJoe Rogan35:35

       (laughs)

   11. FAFahim Anwar35:35

       Everyone is just on that hill. They're like, (hissing) "The bats are gonna come out."

   12. JRJoe Rogan35:39

       Even during the pandemic.

   13. FAFahim Anwar35:40

       Really? Still?

   14. JRJoe Rogan35:40

       Like, they didn't develop a bat phobia.

   15. FAFahim Anwar35:42

       No. Yeah, and it started from-

   16. JRJoe Rogan35:44

       Yeah.

   17. FAFahim Anwar35:44

       ... supposedly from bats.

   18. JRJoe Rogan35:45

       Allegedly.

   19. FAFahim Anwar35:46

       Yeah, yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan35:47

       Probably not really.

   21. FAFahim Anwar35:47

       But they didn't give a shit. They're like, "They're not gonna bite me. They're just gonna fly by me."

   22. JRJoe Rogan35:49

       Yeah.

   23. FAFahim Anwar35:50

       But it's just so funny seeing all those people on the hill and on the bridge, like, "Bats, bats." (hissing)

   24. JRJoe Rogan35:54

       It is weird when you see them come out, 'cause they come out as-

   25. FAFahim Anwar35:56

       So many.

   26. JRJoe Rogan35:57

       Yeah, there's like this big flow of them. There's m- apparently there's millions of bats under there.

   27. FAFahim Anwar36:02

       So was that just inadvertent? They built this bridge, and they go, "Oh, fuck. We built the perfect bat habitat"?

   28. JRJoe Rogan36:08

       I believe so.

   29. FAFahim Anwar36:09

       Huh.

   30. JRJoe Rogan36:09

       Yeah, because when you go under that bridge ... Have you ever been under that bridge?
9. 39:53 – 44:42

   Building the Comedy Mothership: a “home base” for comics (and health insurance)

   1. FAFahim Anwar39:53

      So-

   2. JRJoe Rogan39:53

      It's, it's wild.

   3. FAFahim Anwar39:54

      How did you design it? What was going through your head? Wha- what do you want it to be? Is there a vibe you're trying to capture? Is there other clubs that you kind of are trying to pull some things from, or ...

   4. JRJoe Rogan40:04

      Well, I wanted to make it very, um, hospitable to comics. And obviously to audience members too. But one of the cool things about the store was the hang, you know.

   5. FAFahim Anwar40:14

      Mm-hmm.

   6. JRJoe Rogan40:15

      Is that like, it's our home base.

   7. FAFahim Anwar40:17

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan40:17

      You know, so the name of the club is The Comedy Mothership.

   9. FAFahim Anwar40:20

      (laughs) Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan40:21

       And that the reason ... I want it to be like a feel ... I want you to feel like this is your, this is mother, this is home. Like you can do the road from here, you can hang out and you'll always be welcome. You'd be taken care of. Like I wanna give the comics health insurance and-

   11. FAFahim Anwar40:37

       Whoa. For real?

   12. JRJoe Rogan40:38

       ... take care ... Yeah, for real.

   13. FAFahim Anwar40:38

       That's-

   14. JRJoe Rogan40:39

       Yeah.

   15. FAFahim Anwar40:39

       ... so not typical. That's like insanity in America.

   16. JRJoe Rogan40:42

       Yeah, but it should be like that because you know how many comics have paid for their fucking surgeries?

   17. FAFahim Anwar40:46

       (laughs) Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan40:46

       When comics that have like things wrong with them and, uh, I find out that like, "What's wrong? You, are you okay?" And they're like, "Um, I got something wrong with my neck." I'm like, "What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong."

   19. FAFahim Anwar40:55

       Yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan40:55

       And then I take care of it. Like it's, I've had, I've had that happen multiple times because a lot of us, you know, in the early days, you're broke and you're barely paying your rent. You can't afford surgery.

   21. FAFahim Anwar41:07

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan41:07

       You can't afford insurance. And so if something goes wrong, you're kind of fucked.

   23. FAFahim Anwar41:11

       For sure. Like, uh, I feel like standups we're the lowest rung on the entertainment ladder. At least actors have SAG health insurance-

   24. JRJoe Rogan41:18

       Mm-hmm.

   25. FAFahim Anwar41:18

       ... and writers. There's nothing like that for standups really. It's just you're alone out there. And you just have to hope you have friends if some calamity befalls you. Like a GoFundMe or hopefully you, you know the person, you know?

   26. JRJoe Rogan41:31

       Yeah.

   27. FAFahim Anwar41:31

       And that's kinda fucked up, so ...

   28. JRJoe Rogan41:33

       Well-

   29. FAFahim Anwar41:33

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan41:33

       ... the idea is to make, you know, make it more ... But, but again, you gotta be careful that you don't set it up where people become too lax and they get ... You know, the people have a tendency to sort of like relax too much.
10. 44:42 – 59:27

    How comedians get better: writing habits, stage reps, and using shows strategically

    1. JRJoe Rogan44:42

       They're great fucking comics. They just go up a lot, and they remember what they said. And some guys write exclusively, and they go up and they basically have, like, a fully formed bit when they get to the stage, and they kinda tweak it and edit it. And then some guys just improvise, like literally just go on stage with a premise and just, under the pressure of the audience, improvise. I think you should do all those things.

    2. FAFahim Anwar45:04

       Uh-huh.

    3. JRJoe Rogan45:04

       I think you should write. I think you should improvise. And I think you should, you know, you should go up as much as possible. I think all those... Like, people say I write on stage. I'm like, "I can write on stage too." Like, anyone can write on stage. But I actually sit down. Like last night, I got home-

    4. FAFahim Anwar45:19

       Mm-hmm.

    5. JRJoe Rogan45:19

       ... I sat in front of the fucking computer for two hours. And I might have nothing outta that, or I might have my best bit ever.

    6. FAFahim Anwar45:27

       Yeah.

    7. JRJoe Rogan45:27

       I never know. And you don't know until you try, you know? Just stay the fuck off of YouTube.

    8. FAFahim Anwar45:32

       Mm-hmm.

    9. JRJoe Rogan45:33

       Don't jerk off. (laughs)

    10. FAFahim Anwar45:35

        (laughs) No incognito mode.

    11. JRJoe Rogan45:37

        Yeah.

    12. FAFahim Anwar45:37

        I gotta, I gotta buckle down.

    13. JRJoe Rogan45:38

        And just write, you know?

    14. FAFahim Anwar45:41

        Yeah. Yeah.

    15. JRJoe Rogan45:42

        So the way I do it is I have two laptops. I have a laptop that is like my, like, what's going on in the world laptop, and then I have a laptop like, "Okay, time to write." I pull that fucker out, and I'm writing.

    16. FAFahim Anwar45:53

        I found I will... I like maximizing my stage time. Any show I do, I know what I want to achieve with that show. I know what... This is a lesson that came later in life for me too, is when I was... I just... The part of standup I love the most is chasing the new bit. I'm always chasing. I did it to a detriment early on. And, uh, what clicked for me was knowing what to do, what bits to do on what show.

    17. JRJoe Rogan46:14

        How'd you do it to a detriment? What do you mean?

    18. FAFahim Anwar46:16

        It might be a showcase or something, and I'm like, "Oh, let me try this new thing-"

    19. JRJoe Rogan46:20

        Oh, God.

    20. FAFahim Anwar46:20

        "... I thought of tonight," or, uh, like earlier today.

    21. JRJoe Rogan46:22

        (laughs)

    22. FAFahim Anwar46:22

        I think it's f-... You know what I mean?

    23. JRJoe Rogan46:23

        (sighs) Yeah.

    24. FAFahim Anwar46:23

        Where I didn't realize I need to shine in this show-

    25. JRJoe Rogan46:26

        Yeah.

    26. FAFahim Anwar46:26

        ... not try a new bit.

    27. JRJoe Rogan46:28

        Right, right, right.

    28. FAFahim Anwar46:28

        So, once it clicked for me knowing what to do, what needs to be achieved on what show. Is this a impress show? I'm beyond that now. Like, I'm known in LA and shit. Like, it's kind of nice to be farther enough in your career where the store trusts you and you can take big swings and like, "I'm a made man, I'm fine." You know?

    29. JRJoe Rogan46:47

        Mm-hmm.

    30. FAFahim Anwar46:48

        But when you're coming up and the, you're not a paid regular yet, you-
11. 59:27 – 1:08:26

    Old media vs new media: Tonight Show pipeline, sitcoms, podcasts, and staying ‘just funny’

    1. FAFahim Anwar59:27

       So, you had to have the right person like you at The Tonight Show. I was even thinking about this. Remember back in the day, the- the- the path for a standup, you would try to get on The Tonight Show. That was, like, early standup, right? And then, you would try to get a sitcom. Say, like, in the '90s, you would try to get a sitcom, act in the sitcom, and then that would boost you as a comedian.

    2. JRJoe Rogan59:48

       Yes.

    3. FAFahim Anwar59:48

       But nowadays, if you are a standup comedian and you get on a sitcom, nobody cares. Like, nobody watches anything any- it's so fractured-

    4. JRJoe Rogan59:57

       Yeah.

    5. FAFahim Anwar59:57

       ... the viewership, that if- even if you get on an ABC sitcom as a standup, no one really cares. I feel like podcasting and this world is the new acting. So now, when I get an audition and they go, "Hey, it's, like, three months in Atlanta," and it's- and it's, like, a very small show or some cable thing, that's great if you just wanna be an actor, but it's not gonna help your standup.

    6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:22

       Right. Right, right.

    7. FAFahim Anwar1:00:23

       Whereas back in the day, it would.

    8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:25

       Well, it'll help you a little. Like, there's some guys that get on TV shows and they- they start doing really well on the road-

    9. FAFahim Anwar1:00:31

       Standups?

    10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:32

        Yeah.

    11. FAFahim Anwar1:00:33

        Like who?

    12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:34

        Um, that's a good question. It used to be r- the only way, right? So, it became, like, a well-worn path and everybody would wanna get on a sitcom. You got on a sitcom or on some other show, like Soup to Soup or, you know-

    13. FAFahim Anwar1:00:50

        Yeah.

    14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:50

        ... like, uh, some kind of a show where you could be on television and showcase that you have, like, a funny personality.

    15. FAFahim Anwar1:00:58

        Mm-hmm.

    16. JRJoe Rogan1:00:58

        And then, that would be an ad to get you to come to the clubs. Like, Stanhope said that best. We were talking about doing TV projects and he goes, "Let's be honest, like, every time you do a TV project, it's really just an ad to get people to come see you at the clubs." I was like, "You're 100% right. You're 100% right." But the- the problem with that way is that everybody wanted to do a specific kind of comedy because you wanted to get a television show. So, like, you wouldn't try to be ... Like, I remember there was a guy who was the host of an open mic night when I was up and coming, and he was, like, a local headliner in Boston, local professional. And he was telling me to stop swearing.... and telling me that I should stop talking about sex and t- talk about things that make people uncomfortable. And I said, "But the, but my favorite comedians all do that."

    17. FAFahim Anwar1:01:44

        Yeah.

    18. JRJoe Rogan1:01:44

        I go, like, "My favorite comedians, so, like, Sam Kinison and, and Dice Clay." He goes, "I got news for you. You're not Dice Clay."

    19. FAFahim Anwar1:01:51

        (laughs)

    20. JRJoe Rogan1:01:51

        And I was like, "Well, how do you become Dice Clay?"

    21. FAFahim Anwar1:01:54

        Yeah.

    22. JRJoe Rogan1:01:54

        Like, "What are you saying? Like, y- you're saying that there's only one style of comedy, even though the best ones are like Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy, who didn't follow that at all?"

    23. FAFahim Anwar1:02:03

        Yeah. Yeah.

    24. JRJoe Rogan1:02:04

        Like, "What are you saying?" And this was, this is me back then, trying to figure out what was going on here. And so, the, the path was... And Jay Leno still believes this to this, to this day. We actually talked about it when we were doing that Comedy Store documentary.

    25. FAFahim Anwar1:02:17

        Uh-huh.

    26. JRJoe Rogan1:02:17

        He still thinks to this day, you gotta be clean, and that's, that's the way you get the, the big, long market. You know, you're just gonna get short-term success if you're dirty. I'm like, "This is-"

    27. FAFahim Anwar1:02:26

        I know, yeah.

    28. JRJoe Rogan1:02:26

        "... such a crazy conversation." Like, d- clean or dirty, like, I do not give a fuck. Some of my favorite comedians are clean. Gaffigan-

    29. FAFahim Anwar1:02:32

        Mm-hmm.

    30. JRJoe Rogan1:02:33

        Clean, genius, brilliant.
12. 1:08:26 – 1:19:23

    From Florentine street-fighting to steak science: cooking over fire, salt, and sauces

    1. JRJoe Rogan1:08:26

       She's al-... Like, she's one of the people, I, I'll have a conversation with her. She goes, "I'm about to make a documentary on violence."

Episode duration: 2:56:53