Joe Rogan Experience #1967 - Mike Vecchione

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience. (drumbeats) Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music plays)

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:12

      We're up. What's up?

   3. MVMike Vecchione0:13

      All right.

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:14

      How are you, man? Pleasure to meet you.

   5. MVMike Vecchione0:15

      Thanks for having me on, Joe. It's a pleasure to be here.

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:17

      Hey, my pleasure. You're a funny motherfucker, man.

   7. MVMike Vecchione0:19

      Thank you, man.

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:19

      I enjoy your shit.

   9. MVMike Vecchione0:20

      Thank you, man.

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:20

       How long have you been doing it?

   11. MVMike Vecchione0:22

       23.

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:23

       Nice.

   13. MVMike Vecchione0:23

       Started in October of 2000. Did about three and a half years in Philly with, um, um, De Rosa, Big J, those guys, and then moved h- to New York at the end of, uh, 2003.

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:36

       Nice.

   15. MVMike Vecchione0:37

       Yeah. I was a teacher. I got a master's in special education. I was working with, uh, kids who had behavioral problems for about eight years.

   16. JRJoe Rogan0:45

       You seem like a guy who would work with kids with behavioral problems.

   17. MVMike Vecchione0:47

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan0:47

       You're very calm.

   19. MVMike Vecchione0:48

       (laughs) Yeah. Very calming.

   20. JRJoe Rogan0:50

       (laughs)

   21. MVMike Vecchione0:50

       Very calming. But, uh, th- it was very, very challenging. Very challenging.

   22. JRJoe Rogan0:54

       I can imagine that.

   23. MVMike Vecchione0:54

       'Cause kids would, uh, flip, you know, a lot. Every day at work was something different, you know?

   24. JRJoe Rogan0:58

       Oh, man.

   25. MVMike Vecchione0:59

       I worked in a behavioral school for a while, and then, uh, and then went back at night and got my master's 'cause I figured if I'm gonna do this, I might as well teach, and then, uh, taught in a classroom in, in three different public school systems. So, uh-

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:11

       When did you decide to leave to go comedy full time?

   27. MVMike Vecchione1:16

       Um, I did about th- I started going to open mics. I was in a relationship and, uh, I thought we were gonna get married, and it broke up. I think a lot of comics have this story, you know, where it's a, it's like a heartbreak situation, and then I was just on my own, kinda out there, finishing up my master's. So I started just going to open mics at the Laff House, which is not there anymore. It's a, um, comedy club on South Street, and I just started going every Wednesday, and then I started going on Thursdays and a little bit more, and then I wasn't funny at first. You know, I'd bomb, I would do okay, bomb, do okay, bomb, but I was like, you know, "I'm probably not gonna be able to do this, but it's gonna help me public speaking-wise."

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:53

       Mm.

   29. MVMike Vecchione1:53

       "It's gonna help me somewhere down the line, you know? I got a good vibe for it." So I was like, "Let me just keep doing it." And at that point, you know, I was, uh, you know, alone and I was going through a tough time, so I was like, "I kinda don't care if I fail. I kinda just don't care. I'm gonna just fail-

   30. JRJoe Rogan2:08

       Wow.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Mm-hmm. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan15:00

      just, like, cements it all in my head.

   2. MVMike Vecchione15:01

      Mm-hmm.

   3. JRJoe Rogan15:01

      Solidifies it all in my head, and then it's just about getting fired up. By the time I'm getting to an arena though, my set is rock solid.

   4. MVMike Vecchione15:08

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan15:08

      I don't... That means I've done the clubs, I developed the hour-

   6. MVMike Vecchione15:12

      Right.

   7. JRJoe Rogan15:12

      ... and then I went to theaters and I, I started feeling it, and I know-

   8. MVMike Vecchione15:14

      Oh, that's a great way to do it.

   9. JRJoe Rogan15:15

      Yeah. I, I... By the time... You can't just go up in front of 16,000 people not knowing whether or not it's gonna go well.

   10. MVMike Vecchione15:22

       (laughs) Yeah.

   11. JRJoe Rogan15:23

       (laughs) You know? You have to be fucking, you have to be tuned in and ready to go.

   12. MVMike Vecchione15:27

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan15:27

       And you gotta, you gotta go out there with a lot of energy 'cause, you know, these people, like, they got fucking babysitters.

   14. MVMike Vecchione15:33

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan15:33

       They, they bought the tickets a long time in advance.

   16. MVMike Vecchione15:36

       Right, right.

   17. JRJoe Rogan15:36

       It's a big deal for them.

   18. MVMike Vecchione15:37

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan15:37

       You can't... You gotta treat it like it's very important.

   20. MVMike Vecchione15:41

       Right.

   21. JRJoe Rogan15:41

       Yeah.

   22. MVMike Vecchione15:42

       Right. And, uh, just opening for Nate, Nate Bargatze-

   23. JRJoe Rogan15:45

       Mm-hmm.

   24. MVMike Vecchione15:45

       ... my friend who put my special on, um, yeah, you got... A- theater is a different... Especially than the New York City clubs.

   25. JRJoe Rogan15:51

       Mm-hmm.

   26. MVMike Vecchione15:51

       'Cause it's intimate in New York.

   27. JRJoe Rogan15:53

       Right.

   28. MVMike Vecchione15:53

       And, and on the road even. But it's like those theaters, it's like, it can be overwhelming.

   29. JRJoe Rogan15:57

       Mm-hmm.

   30. MVMike Vecchione15:57

       And there's a lot of space to fill, it feels like.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan30:00

      did to Teofimo.

   2. MVMike Vecchione30:01

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan30:01

      And then you see what Devin Haney did to Kambosos-

   4. MVMike Vecchione30:04

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan30:04

      ... two fights in a row.

   6. MVMike Vecchione30:05

      Right, right.

   7. JRJoe Rogan30:05

      Like, Jesus Christ, those levels.

   8. MVMike Vecchione30:06

      Led to Australia. I mean, I think that's a lot-

   9. JRJoe Rogan30:08

      Yes.

   10. MVMike Vecchione30:08

       He deserved a lot of credit for that.

   11. JRJoe Rogan30:09

       Fuck yeah. Oh, he's so good.

   12. MVMike Vecchione30:11

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan30:11

       He's so good. There's... And him and, and, um, Lomachenko is gonna be very interesting.

   14. MVMike Vecchione30:16

       It's a great fight.

   15. JRJoe Rogan30:17

       Very, very interesting.

   16. MVMike Vecchione30:18

       Very technical fight.

   17. JRJoe Rogan30:18

       Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. There's so many good fighters now. It's a really good time-

   18. MVMike Vecchione30:23

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan30:23

       ... for boxing. And finally, they're making the Terence Crawford-Errol Spence fight.

   20. MVMike Vecchione30:26

       For June 17th, right?

   21. JRJoe Rogan30:27

       Yeah, finally.

   22. MVMike Vecchione30:27

       But, uh, I'm following that like crazy.

   23. JRJoe Rogan30:30

       Yeah.

   24. MVMike Vecchione30:30

       But it's like they tried to do that before, so I don't get too excited.

   25. JRJoe Rogan30:33

       ... I don't know why-

   26. MVMike Vecchione30:33

       ... until they actually make it.

   27. JRJoe Rogan30:35

       ... what's going on with that. That was weird.

   28. MVMike Vecchione30:36

       I mean-

   29. JRJoe Rogan30:36

       Like, when, when, um, Terence decided to fight that other dude for his last fight and everybody was like, "What the fuck?" Like, "Wha- I thought you were gonna fight Errol Spence."

   30. MVMike Vecchione30:44

       Yeah.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      is so crazy. Deontay Wilder's the greatest knockout artist in the history of the heavyweight division. There's no one that's had one-punch knockouts like that guy. The Luis Ortiz fight-

   2. MVMike Vecchione45:10

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan45:10

      ... just catches him on the forehead-

   4. MVMike Vecchione45:11

      Yeah, and was losing.

   5. JRJoe Rogan45:12

      ... with flatlines... Yeah.

   6. MVMike Vecchione45:12

      Was losing every round.

   7. JRJoe Rogan45:13

      Yes.

   8. MVMike Vecchione45:14

      Yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan45:14

      I mean, and then you see Deontay is like, "I can't believe this motherfucker is still up." And then you... There's also, like, an emotional thing that happened. Look at the wildness-

   10. MVMike Vecchione45:24

       Yeah.

   11. JRJoe Rogan45:24

       ... of Deontay.

   12. MVMike Vecchione45:25

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan45:25

       He is-

   14. MVMike Vecchione45:25

       To be able to survive that...

   15. JRJoe Rogan45:27

       Yeah.

   16. MVMike Vecchione45:27

       First of all, I mean, I have a huge respect for mental toughness and the mental toughness it took- it takes to get up.

   17. JRJoe Rogan45:32

       Yeah.

   18. MVMike Vecchione45:33

       And then, and then you know the guy who just did that to you is waiting on the other side-

   19. JRJoe Rogan45:38

       Yeah.

   20. MVMike Vecchione45:38

       ... of the ring to come and do it again.

   21. JRJoe Rogan45:40

       And then he moves forward. And he survives the-

   22. MVMike Vecchione45:43

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan45:43

       ... initial barrage and then he starts moving forward.

   24. MVMike Vecchione45:45

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan45:45

       Then he dings Deontay. And you see Deontay got rocked-

   26. MVMike Vecchione45:48

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan45:48

       ... at one point and um-

   28. MVMike Vecchione45:49

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan45:49

       ... and he starts pushing him back. I'm like, "Oh my God, he won the rest of the round." Like, he literally made it like-

   30. MVMike Vecchione45:54

       Yeah.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:03:35

   It's funny when you…

   1. MVMike Vecchione1:00:00

      is my job."

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:01

      It's funny when you hear him talk.

   3. MVMike Vecchione1:00:01

      A lot of those guys have that mentality, where it's like, "Boxing is my job."

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:04

      And I guess he kinda...

   5. MVMike Vecchione1:00:06

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:06

      It's like it's how he keeps himself sane because his work rate is fucking preposterous. I mean that... You ever see that guy train? Holy shit, man.

   7. MVMike Vecchione1:00:13

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:13

      He's a monster. He's a monster. And then when you hear him talk, he's so like respectful and low-key.

   9. MVMike Vecchione1:00:20

      Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:20

       It's weird watching that demon come out when he gets inside the ring.

   11. MVMike Vecchione1:00:23

       Yeah. It just looks like he doesn't... A lot of these Russians have that, where it's just li- it looks like it's just workmanlike.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:29

       Mm-hmm.

   13. MVMike Vecchione1:00:30

       They don't have like the emotion that we do here in the West. They just... It looks like they're just in there...... and regardless of what you throw at them, it's just workmanlike what they're gonna do.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:39

       Mm-hmm.

   15. MVMike Vecchione1:00:39

       It's pretty crazy.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:00:40

       Well, it's, you know, they're coming from a hard world.

   17. MVMike Vecchione1:00:43

       Yeah, yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:00:43

       He's from Chechnya.

   19. MVMike Vecchione1:00:44

       Yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:00:44

       That is a fucking hard world.

   21. MVMike Vecchione1:00:47

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:00:47

       That, that's ... There's something about those European or Eastern Bloc, like, uh, from Soviet Union, former Soviet Union guys, and from Russia and Dagestan, th- they're so tough.

   23. MVMike Vecchione1:00:58

       So tough.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:00:59

       And there's something to be said for like, com- ... I mean, it's just like kids from the ghetto in the United States.

   25. MVMike Vecchione1:01:03

       Right, right.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:04

       Those are the best fighters.

   27. MVMike Vecchione1:01:05

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:01:05

       People who just come from the hard ... Like, Mike Tyson-

   29. MVMike Vecchione1:01:07

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:01:08

       ... came from Brownsville.

Episode duration: 2:41:14