The Joe Rogan ExperienceJoe Rogan Experience #1922 - Sam & Colby
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 1:07
Sam’s TikTok stunt: missing the beanbag and fracturing his back
The conversation kicks off with Sam recounting a pandemic-era TikTok challenge that went disastrously wrong: a second-story jump meant to land on a beanbag. Joe reacts to the injury footage and asks about recovery, setting a tone of risk-taking and consequences.
- •Sam attempts a balcony jump onto a beanbag during pandemic TikTok challenges
- •He misses the beanbag and fractures bones in his back
- •Joe and Sam discuss how serious back injuries can be
- •Sam avoids surgery but wears a back brace for ~6 months
- 1:07 – 6:26
Do hauntings follow you? The curtain incident and skepticism about “mediums”
Joe pivots from the back injury to the idea that paranormal activity might attach to investigators and travel home with them. They discuss the odd timing of a curtain falling in the studio, and the broader problem of incentives and fakery in psychic/paranormal claims.
- •Question of whether repeated haunted investigations can bring something home
- •Studio curtain falls at an uncanny moment, prompting joking suspicion
- •Sam describes people claiming to see an entity “behind” him
- •Joe argues many people pretend psychic abilities due to incentives
- •They weigh openness vs skepticism about recurring ghost themes in history
- 6:26 – 11:09
The Comedy Store’s haunted reputation: mob history, tunnels, and a stage encounter story
Joe explains why he believes The Comedy Store is haunted, citing its past as a mob nightclub and the lore around underground passageways. He shares a vivid story from comedian Carl LaBeau about being grabbed and pulled off the stage in the dark main room.
- •Comedy Store history: Bugsy Siegel, Ciro’s nightclub era, alleged murders
- •Crest Hill house above the club and rumored tunnel connections
- •Joe nearly bought the Crest Hill house; stalkers and location concerns
- •Carl LaBeau story: ankle grabbed and pulled off the stage in darkness
- •Lack of cameras/footage makes verification difficult
- 11:09 – 20:49
From Kansas band camp to confidence “boot camp” at the mall
Sam & Colby trace their friendship back to band camp and describe intense social anxiety in their teens. They deliberately trained confidence by challenging each other to embarrassing public tasks—essentially a year-long self-made social boot camp.
- •They meet young in Kansas; both shy, anxious, socially awkward
- •Confidence-building via repeated exposure to uncomfortable social challenges
- •Mall challenges with push-up penalties for refusing tasks
- •Joe and Sam discuss getting comfortable being uncomfortable
- •Joe reflects on failure, self-definition, and psychological traps
- 20:49 – 30:34
Vine era, mall ban, and moving to LA: grinding without a plan
They describe transitioning from pranks and challenges into early social media fame, starting with Vine. After getting banned from their mall “training ground,” they push toward LA, prove earnings to their parents, and live extremely frugally while building revenue streams.
- •Vine beginnings and the shift toward building an online audience
- •TikTok discussion: addictiveness, data/privacy concerns, algorithm incentives
- •They get banned from the mall after escalator-couch stunt and other antics
- •Parents set a $20k goal to justify skipping/pausing college plans
- •They move to LA right after graduation with minimal planning and tight budgets
- •Early monetization struggles: brand deals, livestreams, touring/hosting events
- 30:34 – 37:30
Trespassing turns into felonies: Tampa arrest, jail, and a career inflection point
Their abandoned-exploration phase escalates when they’re arrested in Tampa for trespassing on a construction site treated as government property. Colby spends the night in jail due to multiple felonies (including old fake IDs), and the incident unexpectedly boosts their notoriety and forces a content pivot.
- •Trespassing normally minor—becomes felony due to construction-site rules in Florida
- •Large police response; sheriff wants to ‘make an example’ of YouTubers
- •Colby’s fake IDs add charges and prevent immediate self-bail
- •Colby describes navigating jail socially and staying safe
- •‘Free Sam and Colby’ trends; fans call the jail and show up outside
- •They decide illegal exploring can’t continue and look toward ‘legal’ haunted content
- 37:30 – 47:27
The Queen Mary B340: faucet, knocks, and a 35-minute yes/no ‘conversation’
They recount the pivotal paranormal origin story: investigating the Queen Mary’s once-closed B340 room. After hours of nothing, a faucet blasts on, and later they experience structured knocks answering questions—captured unintentionally via an audio recording in a friend’s pocket.
- •B340 lore: reopened after decades; rumors of deaths and unexplained events
- •Faucet turns on full blast as they’re leaving, triggering renewed investigation
- •Knock-based yes/no system leads to extended ‘conversation’
- •They test for prank explanations: volume changes, hallway checks, location context
- •A question about heaven receives a ‘no,’ alarming religious friends who insist on leaving
- 47:27 – 1:01:17
Belief after the first shock: demons, faith crisis, and why they kept going back
The Queen Mary experience becomes a psychological turning point—especially for Sam—reopening questions about faith, spirituality, and the possibility of something beyond death. They debate whether it was demonic or simply unexplained phenomena and discuss returning to the ship multiple times despite fear.
- •Sam describes a next-day emotional breakdown and worldview shift
- •Roommates interpret events through a Christian/demonic framework
- •They return to the Queen Mary several times; later revisit it as a ‘goodbye’ trip
- •They acknowledge marketing/lore might exaggerate history, but the experience felt real
- •Discussion of haunted employees, repeated reports, and why stories persist
- 1:01:17 – 1:09:00
True-crime horror meets ‘energy’ theory: JonBenét and why places feel heavy
Joe and the guests explore the idea that traumatic events can leave a residue—whether as “energy,” memory in objects, or a psychological/placemaking effect. Joe shares a personal real-estate anecdote involving the JonBenét Ramsey house and discusses why stigma clings to certain locations.
- •Rupert Sheldrake’s ‘objects contain memory’ concept and ‘vibe’ in spaces
- •Legal/ethical reality: some jurisdictions require disclosure of murders in homes
- •JonBenét Ramsey case and how it affects property value and perception
- •Debate: placebo/expectation vs a genuine lingering presence
- •Broader framing: dimensions, soul, energy persistence, and trauma imprints
- 1:09:00 – 1:21:26
Villisca Axe Murders: the most disturbing location and ‘Man from the Train’ theory
They dive into the Villisca Axe Murder House case—an unsolved massacre of a family and visiting children—and describe the oppressive feeling of being inside. The discussion expands into suspects and the ‘Man from the Train’ hypothesis connecting similar family slayings near rail junctions.
- •1912 Villisca case: parents and six children killed with an ax; unsolved
- •They describe immediate “thick air”/negative feeling and needing to leave
- •Gruesome details: blunt side of ax; physical evidence like marks in the house
- •‘Man from the Train’ theory: patterns across many rail-adjacent family murders
- •How research and storytelling deepened their interest beyond pure ghost hunting
- 1:21:26 – 1:29:38
Conjuring House lore and the cost of extraordinary experiences (UFO parallels)
They discuss the Conjuring House’s reported phenomena, the Perron family, and the role of Ed and Lorraine Warren—plus the idea of a layered “demonic controller” behind hauntings. Joe then connects the social fallout of paranormal claims to UFO experiencers like Travis Walton, asking whether it’s worth being disbelieved.
- •Conjuring House backstory: soldiers/spirits, escalating events, alleged injuries
- •Ed & Lorraine Warren’s involvement and the exorcism narrative
- •Meta-belief layers: ghosts vs demons controlling ghosts
- •Travis Walton abduction story as an analogy for stigma and lifelong labeling
- •Sam argues experiences provide hope of something beyond death, despite skepticism
- 1:29:38 – 1:45:41
Most intense moments and the tools: EMF, Rem-Pod, cat toys, and the Waverly setup
Colby describes a standout solo moment in Texas where a door slams on cue, provoking an emotional reaction. They then explain core ghost-hunting tools and experiments—especially EMF detectors and the Rem-Pod—using Waverly Hills footage and the infamous rolling ball setup as examples.
- •Bowers Mansion solo challenge: requesting a door slam and it happens immediately
- •Why ‘jump-scare’ proximity makes events feel more real than distant noises
- •EMF detectors: what they measure and how investigators interpret spikes
- •Rem-Pod explained: antenna creates a field; triggers when something enters it
- •Cat-toy ‘trigger objects’ used to reduce skepticism (simple touch-to-light devices)
- 1:45:41 – 1:50:15
Are they ‘opening a doorway’? Access to locations, egregores, and manifestation debates
Joe questions whether repeated engagement makes paranormal experiences more likely—like building accessibility to something unseen. They discuss access barriers to famous sites, the “egregore” idea (belief manifesting reality), and broaden into manifestation, work ethic, and the creator economy’s psychological traps.
- •Theory: repeated interaction may increase phenomena (or sensitivity to it)
- •Getting access: famous locations sell out quickly; growth unlocks bigger sites
- •Egregore concept: collective belief potentially ‘creates’ or amplifies activity
- •Manifestation debate: visualization vs hucksters, plus discipline and luck
- •Social media reality: virality, one-hit wonders, follower illusions, and burnout
- 1:50:15 – 1:58:37
International danger stories: Romania’s Dracula history and Ukraine catacombs near-disaster
The conversation shifts from ghosts to real-world risk: traveling for investigations and exploration. They recount Romania’s Vlad the Impaler context and then a harrowing Odessa catacombs trip involving a shady guide, getting lost, and discovering a booby-trapped pipe bomb.
- •Romania episode: Dracula mythology vs Vlad the Impaler’s real brutality
- •Joe and guests discuss historical trauma and why certain places feel saturated with death
- •Odessa catacombs: labyrinth navigation risk and guide’s intimidation test
- •Guide claims rivalry among guides; produces a pipe bomb and warns of cave-ins
- •They compare paranormal fear to tangible threats like getting lost or killed
- 1:58:37 – 2:04:29
Held at gunpoint in Florida and defining ‘real danger’ vs haunted danger
They recount being mistaken for a threat near an elementary school while leaving an abandoned site, resulting in guns drawn and aggressive detainment. Joe then asks them to distinguish that kind of danger from the fear of haunted environments, teeing up their most unsettling haunted-object stories.
- •Mistaken identity scenario: black clothes, backpacks, masks near a school triggers ‘code red’ response
- •Officers detain them at gunpoint; escalates with multiple responders
- •They explain the property confusion: abandoned hospital adjacent to school grounds
- •They immediately continue filming afterward—risk tolerance and momentum
- •Transition: Joe asks about the scariest ‘haunted’ danger specifically
- 2:04:29 – 2:09:59
Zak Bagans museum deep dive: Dybbuk Box, Devil’s Rocking Chair, and the Estes Method
They review Joe’s recent visit to Zak Bagans’ museum and how staging can blur psychology and the paranormal. The discussion focuses on the Dybbuk Box lore and their intense experience with the Devil’s Rocking Chair—using the Estes Method (sensory deprivation + spirit box) to test for responsive communication.
- •Dybbuk Box: folklore, alleged curses, and high-profile stories (e.g., Post Malone)
- •Museum atmosphere: lighting, clips of patrons fainting—mind-fuck vs genuine effects
- •Devil’s Rocking Chair: exhibit closures due to nausea/fainting reports
- •Estes Method explained: blindfold + noise-canceling headphones + spirit-box scanning
- •Sam reports physical effects in the chair: paralysis-like heaviness and muscle fatigue
- 2:09:59 – 2:42:57
Haunted dolls and ‘paranormal hangovers’: Robert the Doll, Annabelle, and the long tail
They describe visiting Robert the Doll in Key West and the widespread belief in its curse, including thousands of apology letters and celebrity anecdotes. Sam details an intense nausea/dry-heaving episode afterward—interpreted as possible “trauma echo” from a yellow-fever corridor—before they close by discussing longevity and future expansion beyond haunted content.
- •Robert the Doll origin story (Gene Robert Otto) and decades of disturbing reports
- •Rules/rituals: don’t photograph or disrespect; blurring the doll to avoid ‘cursing’ viewers
- •10,000+ apology letters; Ozzy Osbourne anecdote and skepticism about causation
- •Sam’s sudden dry heaving and the idea of ‘paranormal hangovers’ lasting days
- •Annabelle’s real-life appearance vs film version; Warrens’ practices and fear of objects
- •Future: building a broader ‘mystery’ brand (true crime, unsolved cases, haunted experiences)
