Skip to content
The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan Experience #1844 - Tom Segura

Tom Segura is a stand-up comedian, author, and podcaster. He is the co-host of two podcasts, "Your Mom's House" with Christina Pazsitzky, and "2 Bears, 1 Cave" with Bert Kreischer," and host of his own Spanish language podcast, "Tom Segura en Español." His new book, "I'd Like to Play Alone, Please: Essays," is available now. www.tomsegura.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joe RoganhostTom Seguraguest
Jun 27, 20243h 11mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:000:25

    Tom Segura becomes a bestselling author (and the reality of writing a book)

    1. NA

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast. Check it out.

    2. The Joe Rogan Experience.

    3. JR

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (instrumental music) Tom, you're a fucking author.

    4. TS

      I'm an author.

    5. JR

      Not only are you an author, but you're a New York Times bestselling author.

    6. TS

      Pretty crazy, man. Pretty crazy.

    7. JR

      That's pretty crazy.

    8. TS

      Yeah. Yeah.

    9. JR

      That's pretty crazy.

    10. TS

      I know. I really didn't think that would happen, to be honest.

    11. JR

      It's wild.

    12. TS

      (laughs)

    13. JR

      You had a wild following though, pal.

  2. 0:253:20

    Deadlines, editor bloodbath notes, and writing while injured

    1. TS

      I know. It's just, um... I remember there, you know... That's the whole thing. They... Once you s- once you have, like, everything in, they start talking about the sales, obviously. Like, first is the work of writing the book.

    2. JR

      Right.

    3. TS

      Which is its own thing, and everybody's like, "Don't do it." At least comics are. They're like, "Don't fucking do it." You know? 'Cause-

    4. JR

      Everybody I know that's done it said exactly what you said, "It's a grind."

    5. TS

      Yeah, yeah. It is. It, it... What it is, too, is that for somebody that's out of school work for so long, it's the, it's the thing that feels like going back to school the most.

    6. NA

      Mm-hmm.

    7. TS

      'Cause you, you, you have deadlines. And we, we don't, we don't write dead- you don't have deadlines in standup, you know?

    8. NA

      Oof.

    9. TS

      It's like... And you send it and you get notes back, and they're like... There's blood all over the pages, right? Like, you got-

    10. NA

      (laughs)

    11. TS

      You're like... And they're like, "This doesn't even make... How do you connect these two?" And you're like, "I don't, I don't know." And they're like, "Well, that's what you have to do now. You're writing it." And you're like, "Fuck! Okay." So it's just, like, it feels like you're back to work, you know? You're back to doing work again.

    12. JR

      How's your typing?

    13. TS

      Um, it i- th- it was rough with the arm, with the hand, right?

    14. JR

      Oh, that's right.

    15. TS

      So, I actually... I started writing this book... I, I got the deal for it in, at, when the pandemic was, like, just had t- when they, when it was clear everything was shut down. So everything started in March, and then it was like April, May. I feel like in that window is when I got the deal to do this, and I was like, "Yeah, I'm not gonna do any touring." Like, they were like... Remember? Touring is, like, done. So I'll write a book. I sent in, like... I don't know. I sent in 10,000 words, um, and then a little while later, I sent in 20,000 more, and I remember (laughs) that I, I gave it to the publisher, and she took her time with it. You know? Like, to do the, to do her notes. I mean, it's, it's, you know... I don't know how many pages that is, but it's like... Let's say it's like 100 pages or something, so it took a while. So I'm just, like, waiting to get notes back, and then when they come back, it's, like, right before I get injured. So I think I... I'm then in the hospital, and I have an arm that doesn't work for a while, and they go, "How's the, uh, how's the notes coming?" I'm like, "I'm not doing them. I, I can't write right now." (laughs) Like, 'cause I was-

    16. JR

      Yeah.

    17. TS

      ... up in... And when I finally did get to them, it took a while. Like, some, some chapters you get notes on, say things like, you know, "Just add something here and there," and, uh, "This, this works great." You know? "Make this more clear." And you're like, "Oh, that's not bad at all." And you flip the page, and the next thing is like, just, "We don't know what the fuck this story is about," and it's just, like, lines all over the place. "Lose this, add this, add humor, add..." And you're like, "Oh, my god."

    18. JR

      Add humor?

    19. TS

      Add humor, yeah.

    20. JR

      Oh.

    21. TS

      That's definitely one, where they go, "This story is a good story, but it, you need to add humor to it." And you're like, "Er."

    22. JR

      Why do you have to add humor to a story?

    23. TS

      'Cause you're a comedian.

    24. JR

      Yeah, but you're also a podcaster.

    25. TS

      Mm-hmm. Yeah.

    26. JR

      Right?

    27. TS

      Mm-hmm.

    28. JR

      Isn't that the best thing about podcasting?

    29. TS

      Mm-hmm.

    30. JR

      'Cause, like, you don't have to, like, hit a very specific note. You can kinda talk about anything. Serious, goofy. Sh-

  3. 3:205:31

    Standup rhythm: pauses, crowd energy, and when to skip slow bits

    1. TS

      And y- you get comfortable. It's weird, because most comedians, you see it, are so uncomfortable with moments without laughter sometimes.

    2. JR

      Marc Normand.

    3. TS

      And, and... Marc... Oh, really? Comedy.

    4. JR

      (laughs)

    5. TS

      Uh...

    6. JR

      He's not uncomfortable. He's just-

    7. TS

      But it... No.

    8. JR

      He just can't help himself with the one-liners.

    9. TS

      Oh, yeah, yeah. He just zings. Uh-

    10. JR

      He, it's kinda like he- he's got, like, a file in his head that just comes flying out.

    11. TS

      Yeah, it does. It comes flying out.

    12. JR

      (laughs)

    13. TS

      Yeah, I just did his podcast with, uh, with Sam Morril. It's fun.

    14. JR

      Oh, yeah?

    15. TS

      Yeah, very fun. Uh, We Might Be Drunk, it's a great podcast.

    16. JR

      Yeah?

    17. TS

      Um, but, you know, you, you see comics who also, on stage... I mean, obviously, you wanna get laughs on stage, but there's comics who can't even take a beat, a moment.

    18. JR

      Right. They get scared, yeah.

    19. TS

      They get real scared. Like, "There's not laughter right now." And then you see people who really are super comfortable-

    20. JR

      Yeah.

    21. TS

      ... setting up those moments.

    22. JR

      Gillis is great with that.

    23. TS

      Yeah.

    24. JR

      He's locked in.

    25. TS

      It's one of my favorite things to watch in standup, is I c- I really enjoy being taken on a ride.

    26. JR

      Yeah.

    27. TS

      You know? And that-

    28. JR

      Yeah.

    29. TS

      And that, and a comic who's really masterful at pauses-

    30. JR

      Yeah.

  4. 5:3111:21

    Hecklers, theater crowds, and the “balcony pisser” incident

    1. JR

      There was a guy the other night at the Vulcan. Like, while I was on stage, everything's like, "Yeah, definitely."

    2. TS

      Yeah.

    3. JR

      "Oh, no way."

    4. TS

      That's the worst. That's one of the worst.

    5. JR

      "Don't do that." Like, oh, Jesus, bro. Shut... And everyone around him is like, "Shut the fuck up."

    6. TS

      Yeah. "You tell them, Joe."

    7. JR

      (laughs)

    8. TS

      And you're like, "That's what I'm doing." Uh, do you know what I just had, had happen at the show that... I don't know. I mean, this is so crazy that this happened at a show. I'm in Baltimore and doing a great venue there, like, the Lyric. Um, and it's, it's probably 30 minutes into the show.... and somebody says something, you know, and it's a b- it's a theater. There's, I don't know, 2,500 or something people at the show, so... But somebody says something on the, on like a pause, right? So everybody hears it. Sometimes you, you navigate whether to deal with something or not in... The bigger the rooms get, you know, you ignore things. This person says it like, "Why is Bert fat?" Or something like that. Um, because he eats too much. I don't fucking know, right? But my response made other people go, "Oh, this is when we can..." Right?

    9. JR

      Oh, no, I've had that happen. Yeah.

    10. TS

      Right. So they start going, they start saying other things like podcast jokes or, you know, "Bikes," and like s- shit from like other standup shows and I'm like, "Okay." And then at one point it ha- it happens, you know, like 10 people in a row. I go, "Do you guys... Do you wanna keep doing the show or do you want me to not do this?" And they're all like, "Yeah, do the show." And when I say that, another guy jumps in from the balcony with another comment, you know. Like, "Do you like Old Bay on your crab?" Or (laughs) you know, something like that. And I go, "I hope you die in a house fire." Or so- something like-

    11. JR

      Right.

    12. TS

      ... aggressive and rude. And people laugh and I, you know, I just... And then I turn back and I do, I just continue with the show. But moments after that, you know when you can... You don't even hear something, you feel commotion.

    13. JR

      Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    14. TS

      Where it's like an energy.

    15. JR

      Yeah.

    16. TS

      You're like... So I'm, I'm up there and I'm moving on and I'm like, "What is that?" But I, I don't say it, I just... 'Cause I just got through dealing with chaos. But I feel it and I look up there and I'm just like, "Whatever." And it, it kinda dies down after a moment and I just keep doing the show. So when I get off stage, I see, uh, Dave Okin, uh, who, who you met, uh, my tour manager who was at the, the party, and he's like, "You're not gonna believe what happened." I go, "Where?" He goes, "Up in the balcony." I go, "Oh, yeah. I, I, I sensed that something was going on there." He goes, "A guy pulled his dick out and started pissing on people in the audience." And I'm like-

    17. JR

      (laughs)

    18. TS

      ... "What?" (laughs) What? And he goes-

    19. JR

      (laughs)

    20. TS

      He goes, "Yeah." But, you know, we... What we learn is that he was aiming for somebody, but sprayed-

    21. JR

      (laughs)

    22. TS

      ... a bunch of other people. And... (laughs)

    23. JR

      (laughs)

    24. TS

      And the reason we know this is that one of the people that got-

    25. JR

      Ugh.

    26. TS

      ... some collateral damage is a friend of another guy I work with on the tour, Kier. So he's like, "Yeah, my friend was sitting in that section," and he goes, "I see this guy pull his dick out," right? And what we learn is that... Remember the guy that said the thing and I'm like, "I hope you die in a house fire."

    27. JR

      Yeah.

    28. TS

      The guy behind him was like, "You don't fuck with Tom's show." Pulled-

    29. JR

      So he's... (laughs)

    30. TS

      So he's, he's on my side.

  5. 11:2113:52

    Comedians behaving badly: peeing in bottles, nudity, and legendary “balls” lore

    1. JR

      Ari's done it in the studio 100 times.

    2. TS

      In the studio?

    3. JR

      Yeah.

    4. TS

      Oh.

    5. JR

      He pulls out his dick and sticks it in a kombucha bottle.

    6. TS

      He always likes pulling out his dick, though.

    7. JR

      He loves pulling out his dick. He did it the other day. We had a podcast and he, he went... He left to go pee-

    8. TS

      Yeah.

    9. JR

      ... but he didn't pee in a bathroom. He pissed in a whiskey bottle in the hallway and we got video footage of it 'cause we have cameras.

    10. TS

      Yeah.

    11. JR

      We have security cameras. He's like, "Why are you filming me?" I go, "No, no, we're filming everything 'cause you have security cameras. The real question is, why are you pissing in my hallway?"

    12. TS

      He didn't see that? Like...

    13. JR

      Look at him.

    14. TS

      Why couldn't he walk... The bathroom's 10 feet away.

    15. JR

      'Cause he's Ari. It's part of his fun. Part of his fun is he's just completely inappropriate.

    16. TS

      The pull your dick out move is usually for-... having a real nice-looking dick, a big one-

    17. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    18. TS

      ... or comically, if you have a very small one. It's like a-

    19. JR

      Right.

    20. TS

      ... fun move too.

    21. JR

      Like a Bobby Lee move.

    22. TS

      Yeah, yeah.

    23. JR

      So, what has he got?

    24. TS

      I don't know. I mean, I don't remember the la- I haven't, I've seen it before but I don't really remember it. I've, I dare to say-

    25. JR

      Hmm.

    26. TS

      ... it's not a memorable dick.

    27. JR

      It's a regular dick.

    28. TS

      Yeah.

    29. JR

      It's not a bad dick.

    30. TS

      No, it's not bad.

  6. 13:5223:43

    Bert Kreischer as ‘The Machine’: when your persona consumes you

    1. TS

      Him and, I feel like him and Bert probably have the most like, "I don't wanna know the results."

    2. JR

      Yeah.

    3. TS

      Mentality (laughs) .

    4. JR

      For sure.

    5. TS

      You know? They're like, "Don't tell me."

    6. JR

      Yeah. Bert got his blood work done. He's like, "Oh, thank God, my liver panel's good."

    7. TS

      Mm-hmm.

    8. JR

      I'm like, "How? How is it, how is it possible that it's good?"

    9. TS

      He got, he got a call, he said, from the cardiologist, and he was in a panic. And then she goes, "I don't know how you did it, but looks good. Go, go celebrate, like go have a good time." And he was like, "You just gave me orders to do that? Okay." And then he just-

    10. JR

      (laughs)

    11. TS

      I was like, "She doesn't really mean that. It just means congratulations."

    12. JR

      We were talking about it today, like he is becoming The Machine.

    13. TS

      Yeah, yeah.

    14. JR

      He's not Bert Kreischer anymore.

    15. TS

      No, no.

    16. JR

      He's now The Machine.

    17. TS

      He's morphed, yeah.

    18. JR

      Yeah. It's like how Andrew Silverstein became Dice Clay.

    19. TS

      Yeah, yeah.

    20. JR

      For people that don't know, The Dice Man was part of Dice's act, um, part of Andrew's act. Andrew had an act where he does great impressions. Dice has-

    21. TS

      Yeah.

    22. JR

      ... fucking fantastic impressions. He used to do John Travolta and a bunch of other people.

    23. TS

      You can find them on YouTube. He-

    24. JR

      Yeah.

    25. TS

      He does really good impressions.

    26. JR

      And then he had this character that he created called The Dice Man, and he would put on the leather jacket and, "Oh," and then it became his whole act. It became him.

    27. TS

      Mm-hmm.

    28. JR

      S- uh, Sam Kinnison, same thing. He became The Beast, you know? Like he even talked about it, how it kinda like ruined his life. Hunter Thompson talked about that, that he-

    29. TS

      Yeah.

    30. JR

      ... he became Gonzo. He became this guy.

  7. 23:4325:51

    ‘I’m Coming Everywhere’ tour: 198 shows, arenas, and why some cities rule

    1. JR

      Dude, you're going so hard.

    2. TS

      It is, it's wild.

    3. JR

      I don't know anybody who, who's doing a tour like you.

    4. TS

      I don't, I-

    5. JR

      I've never, I've never done nathing- anything like that.

    6. TS

      No, I've never even honestly heard of it.

    7. JR

      (clears throat)

    8. TS

      Totally. Uh, I mean, people... We tour aggressively, but this is kind of other level.

    9. JR

      The name of it, though, is amazing.

    10. TS

      It's pretty great.

    11. JR

      I'm Coming Everywhere (laughs) .

    12. TS

      Yeah.

    13. JR

      Is this what you're doing? (laughs)

    14. TS

      And we haven't even announced-

    15. JR

      (clears throat)

    16. TS

      ... the, uh, the final leg.

    17. JR

      That is so crazy you have more legs.

    18. TS

      Yeah. So we, we have everything remoun- announced through this year.... uh, domestically, so I do- I do so many ... This just-just ... So, the tour started in '21, right? And just in '22, this year I'll do 198 shows.

    19. JR

      Oh, my God.

    20. TS

      And I did, I think ... Because I started in August of '21. I think I did 70-something between August and December of last year.

    21. JR

      (sighs)

    22. TS

      And then I do Australia/New Zealand in January. And then I announce the final leg, which is more international shows.

    23. JR

      Are you doing mostly theaters, mostly arenas? Are you doing, like, half and half?

    24. TS

      It's, uh, it's a lot of theaters, and then the arenas have started to increase, so I, you know, I started to do a couple. I have a few, uh, Canadian, uh, arenas, and then I'm doing ... Well, I'm doing ... I have a big ... I'm doing two ball arenas in Denver, July 23rd and 24th.

    25. JR

      Nice.

    26. TS

      So that's- that's- that's big. I'm doing-

    27. JR

      Double, double arenas.

    28. TS

      Double arena.

    29. JR

      Ooh.

    30. TS

      Mohegan Sun Arena, um, and we have a couple others on the- on the books.

  8. 25:5130:50

    Homelessness and city policy: Austin cleanup vs LA sprawl

    1. JR

      The homeless thing's out of control there, though.

    2. TS

      In Denver?

    3. JR

      Yeah, they have a very liberal mayor, and they're- they're nuts.

    4. TS

      What did we do with them here?

    5. JR

      We killed them.

    6. TS

      When I got ... (laughs) Did we throw them in the- in the river?

    7. JR

      No, the river's not gonna get polluted by homeless people.

    8. TS

      Oh. I, uh, I remember when I got here, it was a library.

    9. JR

      Yeah.

    10. TS

      Like, on Cesar Chavez, was, um-

    11. JR

      (coughs) Totally taken over.

    12. TS

      Completely taken over.

    13. JR

      Yeah.

    14. TS

      And then just one day, you go- you drive by and you're like, "What happened here?"

    15. JR

      Yeah. They did a good job. They fixed it. They brought them into shelters. They brought- they- they bought hotels. They spent a lot of money, and they cleaned it up. And they cleaned it up substantially. Like, no other city that I've ever been a part of, and it was a- a- just a great relief that this city is doing the right thing.

    16. TS

      Yeah.

    17. JR

      The gate, they got them shelter. They took care of them.

    18. TS

      Yeah.

    19. JR

      You know? And they- they moved them out of the streets. You can't litter on the street.

    20. TS

      Right.

    21. JR

      You also can't camp there.

    22. TS

      Sure.

    23. JR

      Both those things are true. And you-

    24. TS

      But you have to have a solution, right?

    25. JR

      Yeah.

    26. TS

      You can't just be like, "Well, you can't do this, and we have nothing, no option for you."

    27. JR

      Right.

    28. TS

      So ...

    29. JR

      No, they did a good job.

    30. TS

      Yeah.

  9. 30:5035:15

    LA crime stories, Subway chaos, and ‘bread that isn’t bread’

    1. TS

      I just read about the guy that... He killed a Subway worker, you saw that? Over too much mayo.

    2. JR

      Yep.

    3. TS

      And he had just gotten out.

    4. JR

      Shot her in front of her da- her daughter.

    5. TS

      (sighs) He's a career criminal too.

    6. JR

      Yeah.

    7. TS

      Yeah.

    8. JR

      Too much mayo.

    9. TS

      I like mayo. That's why it-

    10. JR

      I love it too.

    11. TS

      ... really stuck with me, but-

    12. JR

      I like a juicy Subway sandwich.

    13. TS

      ... but that story really stuck with me.

    14. JR

      Do you know the bread in Subway sandwich has so much sugar you can't legally call it bread?

    15. TS

      No. (laughs)

    16. JR

      Yes.

    17. TS

      Really?

    18. JR

      Yeah, it's like a pastry.

    19. TS

      (laughs)

    20. JR

      Yeah, pull that up.

    21. TS

      Eat fresh, man. (laughs) That's their fucking slogan.

    22. JR

      Remember when Jared the pedophile was eating bread from Subway and claiming that that's how he-

    23. TS

      You remember that he was my buddy and that I have his phone number?

    24. JR

      Oh, that's right.

    25. TS

      We shot commercials together.

    26. JR

      Oh.

    27. TS

      (laughs)

    28. JR

      Jesus Christ, that's crazy.

    29. TS

      We split a pizza at the W Hotel in New York.

    30. JR

      That's crazy.

  10. 35:151:29:30

    Tax loopholes, Forbes obsession, and Trump’s ‘John Barron’ tape

    1. TS

      ... there's the big tax loophole that exists in Ireland, right, which, uh, corporations funnel their money through them.

    2. JR

      Oh, yeah?

    3. TS

      Uh-huh.

    4. JR

      What is that? What's the loophole?

    5. TS

      So I believe the loophole has to do with, you know, when... If you, if you route your money through certain, uh, countries and they're, they have laws that allow, they allow you to go, like, "Our money is actually deposited here." They collect a tax on it, but it's far less than what they would pay if they kept it, let's say, here.

    6. JR

      Oh.

    7. TS

      So they end up... It's essentially housing that money there to pay less tax.

    8. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    9. TS

      So it's, I, I believe it's the Irish... It's called, like, the Irish corporate tax loophole or something like that.

    10. JR

      Just so many tax loopholes.

    11. TS

      It's loo- But it's a big one, and they, like, you know, there's, uh, American politicians who have, like, lobbied to try to get that done away with, like, uh, ban the ability to do that so that people would have to pay more taxes here. But so far...

    12. JR

      The problem with paying more taxes is they're just gonna find more ways to spend your money. I don't necessarily think it's gonna make anything better.... you know? I think the, the bureaucracy in this country is so clogged up and fucked up and ineffective. I just, I don't think they'd be better if they ... Like, if we all just gave 75% taxes-

    13. TS

      Yeah.

    14. JR

      ... they, they're not gonna fix the streets, they're not gonna cure the homeless problem, fix all the crime.

    15. TS

      Yeah. They would just figure out more ways to spend.

    16. JR

      Yeah.

    17. TS

      Yeah.

    18. JR

      They'll find new ways to tell you that the rich people are not paying their share, so you turn on them.

    19. TS

      Yeah.

    20. JR

      You ever see ... There's like a ... I love memes. I've been fucking meme happy lately.

    21. TS

      Yeah? (laughs)

    22. JR

      Well, yeah. They're so funny. It's like when things are gone, gone crazy-

    23. TS

      Mm-hmm.

    24. JR

      ... like, I love memes.

    25. TS

      Mm-hmm.

    26. JR

      Because it just seems like those are the ... That's the shit that makes-

    27. TS

      They sometimes summarize things perfectly, right?

    28. JR

      Yeah.

    29. TS

      Yeah.

    30. JR

      But, uh, someone just sent me one, um, about ... Here, let me find it for you. About people with pitchforks turning on the people with torches. Hold on a second. I'm fucking this up. It's not good? Bro, my vision is dog shit.

Episode duration: 3:11:13

Install uListen for AI-powered chat & search across the full episode — Get Full Transcript

Transcript of episode DSzhHIFo22g

Get more out of YouTube videos.

High quality summaries for YouTube videos. Accurate transcripts to search & find moments. Powered by ChatGPT & Claude AI.