EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,049 words- 0:00 – 1:53
Studio warm-up: Beeple art, aging eyes, and UFC eye injuries
- NANarrator
(drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.
- LCLouis C.K.
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (instrumental music plays) Wow, it's a fucking machine.
- JRJoe Rogan
I never thought about sh- ... Yeah, there's a lot of shit going on over there.
- LCLouis C.K.
That thing in the fr- is weird.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) What, this thing right here?
- LCLouis C.K.
What is that?
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, that's a piece of art. That's, um, uh, th- that comes from, um-
- LCLouis C.K.
Beeple.
- JRJoe Rogan
Beeple. Bee- B- beeplecrap on, uh, Instagram. Beeple is a, a digital artist.
- LCLouis C.K.
Uh-huh.
- JRJoe Rogan
He puts up a new piece of digital art every day.
- LCLouis C.K.
Oh, cool.
- JRJoe Rogan
And he came in to do the podcast and he gave us this thing. That's, that's, uh, Elon Musk-
- LCLouis C.K.
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
... if he was jacked, like once genetic engineering comes along.
- LCLouis C.K.
I'm just gonna grab a paper towel for when I take my glasses-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, okay.
- LCLouis C.K.
... because they're stupid. Oh, you know what, this is better. Okay, so oh, I didn't... Oh, sorry about that.
- JRJoe Rogan
Glasses are brutal.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah, it's a big pain in the ass. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
I wear reading glasses when I try to, like, look at my phone in the morning and I'm like, "Jesus fucking Christ." Every day, I'm going a little blinder.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yes, you are.
- JRJoe Rogan
Every day, just like ...
- LCLouis C.K.
That's just the way it goes.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
I mean, they're just such intricate little machines and they're organic, so they just start to soften on you, you know? Just the way it goes.
- JRJoe Rogan
I had a guy in the other day, Belal Muhammad, he's a UFC fighter who's had a, a detached retina and a detached, uh, lens on his other eye.
- LCLouis C.K.
Oh, no.
- JRJoe Rogan
On both eyes. It's like, you're talking to people like that and the game they're playing is, you know, you're punching-
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- 1:53 – 4:18
Fighters vs. comedians: nerves before the bell (or the spotlight)
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah, it must be those guys retire so young-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... and then what's left are huge expanse of life ahead of you.
- JRJoe Rogan
Not just that. It's like the things that you've looked forward to are these enormous events-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... where you're in your underwear and you're walking out in front of this gigantic group of people that's there to watch-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... you slam your fists into someone's face.
- LCLouis C.K.
Well, and you've worked up to it, too.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
All of the training and the getting ready, the challenging someone-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... the setting the fight and the where it is in your career and who, you know, are you ch-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
Are you challenging? Are you, are you defending? And th- so it's like a year, right? A fight's like a year of your life.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yep.
- LCLouis C.K.
I mean, in boxing. UFC, they fight more often, right, I guess? I don't know.
- JRJoe Rogan
Depends. Depends on the fighter, depends on-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... you know, what stage they are in their career.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, but the guys like to fight more often just to stay comfortable.
- LCLouis C.K.
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
Because otherwise, the, the moment's so big-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
... like when you have more fights, like, you can relax and you just can kinda-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah, it's more ... No, I remember Ali describing ... Somebody asked him, does he get nervous? He's a g- he was a great guy because he wasn't a bullshitter. Like he bullshitted-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
... when it was time to sell the fight. But whenever e- anybody asked him things like that, he was honest and-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- 4:18 – 5:25
Perspective and burnout: taking time off to live a fuller life
- LCLouis C.K.
Yes. That's what I've tried to do in the last few years and, um, this, I'm at about the end of this tour and then I'm, I'm gonna take a year off, I think. 'Cause-
- JRJoe Rogan
100% off?
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah, no, no stage anywhere.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really? That's great.
- LCLouis C.K.
That's the plan, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
I think that there's a, like I said, there's a balance between performing a lot and perspective.
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like and one of the things that happens to guys when they perform too much-
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
... is that they talk about things that are related to their life as a traveling comedian.
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's all tr- air travel and flights and hotels and restaurants and, and so much of their material revolves around this very narrow window of existence.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yes, that's true, and, but also, you put all this pressure on performance, uh, that it's gotta fix all your life.
- JRJoe Rogan
Hmm.
- LCLouis C.K.
And it's not going to.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
But if you live a fuller life, then, then comedy has the place it should, which is like, it's a weird thing to do. It should-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... always be weird and it should always be like, "Man, I can't believe I'm doing this."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
And if your life is normal, then comedy's a gas, it's a, it's a jolt. And inside of it, you d- you know, for me, you do wor- you're working in there and there's routine and there's, you know?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
Uh, but it should stay special, you know? So ...
- 5:25 – 7:54
Madison Square Garden return: in-the-round costs and livestream strategy
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, you're at, you're at a point right now, like you're ready to do this special, which is, uh, the, this thing that you're gonna f- livestream-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... in Madison Square Garden-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
... which is fucking super exciting. I love it.
- LCLouis C.K.
That's s- Yeah, thanks. January 28th, it's my ... And I'm going back to the Garden. I used to play there all the time, haven't played there in a number of years and I didn't know they ever had a comeback.
- JRJoe Rogan
Look at that.
- LCLouis C.K.
There it is, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Whoo.
- LCLouis C.K.
And so we put the sale, Joe on Sale. I remember I g- I wrote to you because I d- I wanted to do it in the round.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
I never did it that way. And, uh, so I asked you if it was good. You said it was really fun that way.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's so fun.
- LCLouis C.K.
Uh, and then I found out that it costs twice as much because you got to light from two sides.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
And also you need four ... You need to be able to see the guy from four angles.... so you need more cameras.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
And then we sold the thing out, like we sold 10,000 tickets on the first day. It's n- it's sold out now, it's 18,000 seats. It's the most people I've e- I'll ever have... Well, I mean, I'm doing this 38 years, that'll be the biggest audience I ever played for. And so, it cost so much money though to put the cameras in there-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... for the jumbotron, and then I thought just fl- let's livestream it 'cause it, it's actually only costing a little bit m- you know, there's not that much more because we already have all the shit in there.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, right.
- LCLouis C.K.
So, yeah, so we're gonna livestream it, yeah, and on my website. You just go and you p- it's like 25 bucks and-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's awesome.
- LCLouis C.K.
... we'll keep it up there. It's a live event. It's not a special so much, it's a live event. So, it's all new material since my last special and it'll be, um, up 'til the 17th, I think, of February, then we take it down and then it'll go away. And then in April, I'll put out a special of the same material that I already shot-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh.
- LCLouis C.K.
... at the, at the Dolby Theater in LA, I shot a special there.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, really?
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
When'd you shoot that?
- LCLouis C.K.
Uh, earlier this month.
- 7:54 – 9:11
Comedy’s moment: pushback against “woke” constraints and why crowds crave it
- JRJoe Rogan
I'm excited for comedy right now.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah, comedy is getting-
- JRJoe Rogan
It's amazing.
- LCLouis C.K.
... picking up steam again, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, it's also, it's like people are really longing for it because there's so much political correct-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... bullshit, this woke bullshit-
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
... what you can and can't say in so many people-
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
... feel upset about it and that, like, they don't know what to say 'cause they can't talk at work or they get fired.
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
They can't talk amongst their community or they get shamed.
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
And they don't... They like, "Ugh."
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
And then you go see someone talk on stage, you're like, "Yeah!"
- LCLouis C.K.
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
"Fuck yeah."
- LCLouis C.K.
And that's what comedy always was.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
It's always been that.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
And it's, to me, everything that's happened has been natural. It's like normal that comedy has to d- be defended every few years.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
Like when th- when everybody's being cool, like when the world is kinda cool like it was up 'til maybe 2015 or so, like it's just kinda cool, comedy is cool and every, you know. But then when things get shitty in, in terms of this sort of thing, people being more divided and unable to uh, um, express themselves, comedy gets more important but also starts getting attacked.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- LCLouis C.K.
And we have to defend it, that's all.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
I mean, by just doing it, that's all. I don't, I don't get into defending it by saying, "Fuck these people." It just means you have to keep doing it at the same discipline.
- 9:11 – 13:35
Offense as craft: testing edgy bits and learning what audiences actually resist
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, that's one of the things I really loved about your last special. It was like 100% a Louis C.K. special. There wasn't... You didn't back off of anything.
- LCLouis C.K.
No.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like that whole thing that you d- you did, uh, uh, at the end, the, the, the faggot thing was-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... so funny, man.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's so funny. It's such a good bit.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah. That's-
- JRJoe Rogan
It's-
- LCLouis C.K.
... s- new... Today's straight men are fagots, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes, it's so funny. It's so good-
- LCLouis C.K.
Oh, thanks, man.
- JRJoe Rogan
... 'cause it's so like, "Ah!"
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
"He's going there." You know? But it was-
- LCLouis C.K.
Well, I saw-
- JRJoe Rogan
... really well thought out.
- LCLouis C.K.
My audiences are really diverse. I, I mean, in terms of like, I get young people and some kind of like progressive-looking people. I get men and women and in all races. Mostly white, but you know, some cities I get more. But, uh, but I tested it in front of so many people, that bit.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
And they... Every kinda person laughed at it. Every... The only people that got offended by it were people like in the South or more kind of like red state people, because when I said, "Straight men are faggots-"
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
... I'm talking about, you know, Brooklyn twinks and whatever.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, right, right. They don't know those people.
- LCLouis C.K.
But they, but they think I'm talking about them. "Hey, man."
- JRJoe Rogan
"Hey, man."
- LCLouis C.K.
"What are you callin' me..." You know.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
So they didn't, they missed it. I thought I would be offending progressive young kids, but they're, they... For them it was a relief because it's th- about them-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
... and they feel that way. In real life people like being laughed at. They like their community to... Like when you do good jokes about Black people, not like white perspective about being alienated from them, but if you do a good joke about Black culture or Chinese culture or Jewish culture, the people in those groups laugh 'cause they're in the show and they-
- 13:35 – 18:56
The audience as instrument: Patrice’s rule and Louis’s Houston Improv story
- LCLouis C.K.
... I like, I like... The other thing is that this time was good for comedy, the time of people getting their assholes a little tighter. Because, like, I was listening to Patrice last night with my opener, a- um, Ariel, I just, three names for some reason, fucking Ariel Isaac Norman. She was, w- we-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... worked together in New Orleans. We, we did a show in Mobile and we drove through New Orleans. And I was playing for her, Patrice's album, Mr. P. And, uh... Patrice O'Neal. And he does a couple bits and he says to the crowd, "You guys are laughing, that's good. But you're not all laughing, and that's good. I don't want you all to laugh."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
If everybody's laughing, it's not funny. You need somebody in here going like, "That's not..."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
"That's not okay." And I believe that, like that's, it-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... it actually makes comedy better if it has an adverse... If you have pushback. Because... A- a- and the thing, the problem that c- some comedians have is they get hurt, they get their feelings hurt. If someone doesn't like the joke, they feel that it's, "Oh, you don't like me?" And then they back away from anything that makes them feel like that.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
But if you can be like, "Here's a terrible thing."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
And then, and the audience goes like, "Ugh." And you just hear, you don't get emotionally involved.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
You hear the ugh and you go, "Okay, I can either go around it or I can go into it. We can go further into this." There's some, there's potential in that horrible feeling for another laugh past it that they've, they've never experienced.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
'Cause usually when an audience shows, "I don't wanna hear that," people back away. But if you stay with it, they go, "I'm still talking about it."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
"I'm still talking. I'm still your friend." It's like, I'm not going, "Fuck you, people."
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
You know, that thing? That's another cop-out.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
"Fuck you, you pussies." You just go, "Okay, you didn't like it? Well, here's a little more about it." And they're just sitting there...
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. (laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
And if you get them like that and then you can... I remember once I was in Houston and there was, uh, uh, the Houston Improv. And there's, it's pretty much a Black club. Like, it's mostly Black comedians go there. And the clientele for the Houston Improv is mostly Black people, Texas Black people. And so I went and did a weekend there. And it was a lot of my fans, but it was a lot of folks that just come to the Improv. So they, I could see in their faces that they don't know me. And there was this one table of people, they were dressed like it's Easter. Like, beautiful clothes, you know? And this woman, in like a, like a robin's egg dress and just beautiful makeup, this Black woman. I was doing this bit about pedophiles, one of the-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- LCLouis C.K.
... many pedophile bits.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
I don't remember which one. It was the thing about that they should make doll, very realistic dolls of children for, for pedophiles to fuck.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- 18:56 – 25:05
Drop-ins and culture shock: Australia, Perth’s mining world, and cities changing fast
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... that's, that's fine too. I mean, there's a great audience for that too. The, uh, I think one of the unique things that y- you've always liked to do is you like to go to clubs unannounced, so they don't know you're going to be there, they're not your fans necessarily-
- LCLouis C.K.
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
... they're just people, and then you, you just drop in and try stuff out.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah, that's the most honest thing, you know? I mean, there is the, uh, it's a, uh, thinking of some analogy where if you turn up all the dials, it all becomes zero again.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- LCLouis C.K.
So if you're doing your audience, there's also a huge amount of pressure. They're paying more money-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- LCLouis C.K.
... and they've been waiting, so-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... they're, you feel this thing of like, "This has gotta be good." The pressure's really high for those shows. There's support, but those are your customers.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- LCLouis C.K.
So they're just like, "Let's go."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
But when you just walk in, I mean, a lot of times if I walk in a place, they know who I am, but there's enough in the audience, they didn't come to see me, and there's enough in the audience that's just, I can get a honest sense of how this material works. Um, there's some place in Australia, there's a club in Melbourne, and I've done it twice, 20 years apart. And both times, nobody had any idea who I was. Like, the, uh, the emcee did, he's a comic, so he was like, he said a lot of really nice things, and he said, "This guy, what a, what a treat."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
And he brings me on and the crowd's like... And they're just, and I could see them going like this to each other.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
And I'm doing material that has been killing in large concert venues, and they just don't give a fuck. Like then y- then I found out what's actually, you know, means something to anybody.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm.
- LCLouis C.K.
Um, so it's-
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, it's different culturally too, like they, they'll laugh at things over there that we don't laugh at.
- LCLouis C.K.
Australia, do you find that?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah? I didn't notice that much.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, Au- Australia's a fascinating place. They're-
- LCLouis C.K.
It is.
- JRJoe Rogan
... they're wild people. They're like, uh, they're very similar to Americans, but not-
- LCLouis C.K.
But, but not at all.
- JRJoe Rogan
... cool. (laughs)
- 25:05 – 29:06
9/11 from nearby: Louis’s personal timeline and the post-attack travel atmosphere
- JRJoe Rogan
Were you living in-
- LCLouis C.K.
Just killed.
- JRJoe Rogan
... New York City when that happened?
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah, I was. I was i- not in the city. The day before, on the 10th, I flew to LA to pitch a sh- fucking TV show.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- LCLouis C.K.
And my wife was pregnant, and we were living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, which was right... I mean, that... You come out of our house, the towers were our view right out the door.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm.
- LCLouis C.K.
And so she was there six months pregnant and whamo. And, uh, she called me. It was like 9:00 in the morning in LA, at- at- at- or, or earlier. I guess it was like 6:00. And she called me, and she was just bawling. And I was like, "What's wrong?" And she couldn't say anything. And I was like, "What the fuck is going on?" Partly I'm like, "Am I in trouble?" Like... (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
And then she says, "Turn on the TV," and I saw these, the towers on fire. And I was like, "Oh, okay." (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
It's not... It's nothing to do with-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
... with home. This is a big... It's a world-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) .
- LCLouis C.K.
World problem, not a me problem.
- JRJoe Rogan
Woo.
- LCLouis C.K.
I'm pretty sure that's not my fault.
- JRJoe Rogan
No.
- LCLouis C.K.
No. Anyway, she was, uh... She handled... Actually, she handled it really well. Uh, Todd Barry, uh, you know who Todd is, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
He, uh, uh, called her... She's the one who told him, like, what had hap-... He c- woke up not understanding what was happening, and he was really scared and called my ex-wife, and she calmed him, calmed him down. She's a good, she's a good person. Um, but anyway, yes, and then w-... And I was like, "Get out of this." I just panicked cu- living in Manhattan, I... 'Cause I grew up with movies like, uh, Warriors-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm.
- LCLouis C.K.
... and with memories like the blackouts, and I wasn't even there for the blackouts, but there was all these blackouts where pe- everybody got killed. And there was a lot of movies about, like, New York City is shut down, and everybody... And, you know, the wolves come out.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
So I thought... As soon as it happened, I told her, "Get out of Manhattan." There's just gonna be people throwing TV sets through windows in, like, five minutes. I just believed it.
- JRJoe Rogan
I Am Legend.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
That kind of thing.
- 29:06 – 33:23
Everyday aggression: plane conflicts, entitlement, and public-space cruelty
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, I got asked once by a lady. These two guys were fighting, and they were thinking about removing the guys from the plane 'cause one guy had put his bag above this other guy's seat.
- LCLouis C.K.
Uh-huh.
- JRJoe Rogan
And the other guy goes, "Hey, man, that's for my seat." And he's like, "No, it's first come, first serve."
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's like, "No, fuck you."
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
And then they were like, "Fuck you." "No, fuck you." And then-
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
... the lady ca-... Had to come in and go, "Hey, hey," like, "I will fucking kick both of you guys off the plane."
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah. This is before you took off?
- JRJoe Rogan
(clears throat) Before we took off. She goes, "Do we have an understanding?" And they go, "Yeah." And then she comes to me and she goes, "Hey, if anything goes down, you're gonna help, right?"
- LCLouis C.K.
(laughs) She deputized you?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, she deputized me.
- LCLouis C.K.
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
I'm like, "Okay."
- LCLouis C.K.
I mean-
- JRJoe Rogan
"What do you want me to do?" (laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah. Yeah, like, "What am I allowed to do?"
- JRJoe Rogan
What are the official-
- LCLouis C.K.
But yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
What are my... What are... What's my directive?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
What are my... What are my orders?
- JRJoe Rogan
If I go back there and smash some guy, am I in trouble?
- LCLouis C.K.
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Like, what, what happens?
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
What am I allowed to do?
- LCLouis C.K.
Yes. You were directed by a company employee, and she has, like, federal power.
- 33:23 – 48:00
Newton, MA adolescence: fights, intimidation games, and latchkey childhoods
- LCLouis C.K.
I remember the first conversation we had, um, I guess I was like 20 and you were-
- JRJoe Rogan
Ever?
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
How old were you?
- LCLouis C.K.
Well, because this reminds me of it-
- JRJoe Rogan
How old were you then?
- LCLouis C.K.
... because it was about Newton South.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, okay.
- LCLouis C.K.
Cafeteria. I'm 55.
- JRJoe Rogan
55 too. I'm 55 as well.
- LCLouis C.K.
Okay, so we must have both been around 20. You, when you started comedy-
- JRJoe Rogan
21.
- LCLouis C.K.
... you were 21?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
All right, so I must have been the same age. But, uh, we talked about fight- 'cause I found out you were a Taekwondo guy or something. Is that what you'd fought?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
And I asked you about fights. Like, I said, "Do you have skills for fighting in real life?" And you said, "Well, it's just some things you know that are put, you know, that put you way at advantage with people that aren't fighters. Like you don't wait for the fight to start," you told me. Like you told me you were in a cafeteria once in South and some, some kid came up and... You know, people think they're gonna get to do a preamble. They think that there's gonna be a whole, "Hey, fuck you, and now we're g-" They think there's going to be like...
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
And as soon as you knew he was there to, uh, threaten you, you just punched him in the sternum and he just went down. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
He's like, "Hey, man, you..." (gasps) And then he just... Anyways, so that was the first time you explained that to me.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, that could've been avoided. I thought about that one for a lot afterwards.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
You think you'd jump the gun?
- JRJoe Rogan
Sometimes you jump the gun. Because like there, with great power comes great responsibility.
- LCLouis C.K.
Sure.
- JRJoe Rogan
You know, the guy-
- 48:00 – 58:29
Bullying, trauma, and integration: what damage leaves behind
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, it just... Those... Uh, I mean, the getting through that though is, like, a very unusual education-
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
... in, in human beings and, and development and, like, why people do the things they do and why they say the things they do and why they're trying out different kinds of behaviors-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... and, you know, and, and bullies and people who are pacifists and people-
- LCLouis C.K.
Yep.
- JRJoe Rogan
... who get bullied and you see it ruin their lives-
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
... you know, it can ruin your fucking life, man. I've, I've, I really feel for people who get bullied. 'Cause if you get bullied in high school, and you just decide, "That's who I am. I'm just this fucking loser, I'm just gonna hide."
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
And then you hide in your apartment, and you hide in your house, and you hide at your job. And then, like, your life is hiding now because somebody fucked with you. And somebody-
- LCLouis C.K.
Well, also, you were very badly hurt when you were-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... extremely vulnerable.
- JRJoe Rogan
Exactly.
- LCLouis C.K.
And you're probably hurt 'cause you already were vulnerable. You are r- already were-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
... uh, unsure of yourself for-
- JRJoe Rogan
So it's ultra-devastating.
- LCLouis C.K.
... a million different reasons.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
And so, you never really recover from that, I don't think. It's, it's-
- JRJoe Rogan
You can.
- LCLouis C.K.
... some, it's part ... I mean, it, it doesn't mean it destroys your life, but it's in your life.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
All the things it s- ... All the things that happen to you that are horrible, like, unbelievable, (laughs) they just stay with you. They just become part of you. You don't-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... swap it out. You don't, you don't clean it out. It doesn't go away.
- JRJoe Rogan
You don't clean it out-
- LCLouis C.K.
It just stays in you.
- 58:29 – 1:02:11
Loving difficult people: ‘strays,’ friendships, and the Alex Jones discussion
- LCLouis C.K.
But, uh, anyway, just, uh, to say that, yeah, the, the, the point of it is, I tried to stay friends with that kid. When there is a kid who's really fucked up and has a wire loose, someone's gotta be their friend.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
I don't think... You know, it's like I've had girlfriends that are like really cuckoo, and my friends have been like, "She's bad news. She's crazy." I'm like, "Well, somebody has to love her. I mean, I'm not-" (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
If everybody walks away from her 'cause she's nuts, she's gonna be alone.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, that was always the case with Brian Callan. With Brian Callan-
- LCLouis C.K.
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
Me and Brian Callan, like, Brian Callan was always like the guy who took in all the strays.
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's like, "Everything's gonna be fine. She's fine, she's fine. We're fine."
- LCLouis C.K.
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
And I was always, you know, his friend going, "Hey man, you gotta fucking get outta this."
- LCLouis C.K.
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like, "You gotta get out of this now. This is a, this is a, a dark road you're going down."
- LCLouis C.K.
Sure.
- JRJoe Rogan
"And this is only gonna lead to doom."
- LCLouis C.K.
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
And he was always like, "Eh, you know, someone's gotta be her girlfriend." (laughs)
- LCLouis C.K.
(laughs) Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've had a few friendships and relationships like that-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- LCLouis C.K.
... where I'm like, "This person's tough." Like, comedian-
- JRJoe Rogan
Uh-
- LCLouis C.K.
... friends that I've had that everybody else-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... is like, "I hate that guy." I'm like, "I get it."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
"I'm staying friends with them. I get it. I'm not gonna defend them all over the place, but-"
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, you're talking to me.
- LCLouis C.K.
"... he's gonna stay my friend."
- JRJoe Rogan
I'm friends with Alex Jones. (laughs)
- 1:02:11 – 1:06:08
Media as exploitation and entertainment: Sandy Hook coverage and cable-news incentives
- LCLouis C.K.
Well, you know, pretending that i- he wasn't the way to start this (laughs) conversation, I remember when that happened, uh, Sandy Hook?
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- LCLouis C.K.
That was Sandy Hook, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
And, and, uh, I remember that the media went up there right away.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
I remember it made me really sick, 'cause it was such a horrible thing that happened.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
And what everybody should've done is just let the chief of police talk to you and let him say, "We don't know any of these things yet. Just wait, just wait for information to come out of this very painful place." But the media flew in.
- JRJoe Rogan
Of course.
- LCLouis C.K.
And they're on the fucking grounds of the school, and Anderson Cooper is talking to fucking-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... kids who were there, and their parents have their hands on the kids' shoulders, and you can see in both the kid's face and the parent's face that they're not sure they should be doing this. They don't know.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
They don't... We take for granted this thing of being exposed to the, uh, media and being talking on cameras.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
And there's been things, of course, in your life and my life where you say something or have an experience and then afterwards you go, "Fuck, that was... I wish I hadn't said that."
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- LCLouis C.K.
Or, "Uh, I didn't know how this would feel," is the thing, right? So somebody who's not even in public life and who just suffered a un- off the charts trauma, and Anderson Cooper and their, and his producers going, "No, you should talk," uh, talking them into it, saying, "You should talk to the world right now. You should be on the news talking about it now. We don't wanna wait till later. We don't wanna do an expose 10 years later, what was it like-"
- JRJoe Rogan
Hm.
- LCLouis C.K.
"... or even a year. We wanna know right now."
- JRJoe Rogan
So exploitative.
- LCLouis C.K.
Why does it have to be now? Why can't you just talk to the, to the stoic chief of police-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- LCLouis C.K.
... who says, "Here's wha-..." Why? 'Cause you're fu-... 'cause it's just dirty greed. It's just dirty-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- LCLouis C.K.
... "I want it. It'll be great on camera."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yep.
- LCLouis C.K.
"I don't give a fuck what happens to this person when I leave Sandy Hook today. I don't give a shit. I'll be back in my CNN studios. I'm picking him 'cause that's the face I remember."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
Episode duration: 2:56:14
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Transcript of episode NNHLeMjgOSU
