Joe Rogan Experience #1971 - Howie Mandel

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drum roll) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drum roll) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music)

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:12

      Hey, what up?

   3. HMHowie Mandel0:13

      Can you hear me?

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:13

      I hear you perfect.

   5. HMHowie Mandel0:14

      Okay.

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      Hello, Howie Mandel.

   7. HMHowie Mandel0:16

      Hi, Joe Rogan.

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Good to see you, my friend.

   9. HMHowie Mandel0:17

      I know.

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:18

       Very good to see you.

   11. HMHowie Mandel0:19

       I know. And a- and amazing to see you. Before you start anything, I've gotta tell you how exci- are you ... uh, uh, uh, uh, did we start?

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:26

       No. Yeah, we're starting.

   13. HMHowie Mandel0:27

       Okay.

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:27

       Yeah.

   15. HMHowie Mandel0:28

       Uh, I gotta tell you how excited I am to see you. I am the biggest fan. If, if there's one thing that I'm a fan of, it's innovation.

   16. JRJoe Rogan0:37

       Mm.

   17. HMHowie Mandel0:37

       And I think that you have become the comedy innovator. And, and, um, uh, I'm blowing smoke up your ass r- right at the beginning of this. And I, I gotta say, what I've seen from the outside, you know? In 1978, I came down to The Comedy Store, and I, I got up on a lark. Mike Binder got me up there on a lark. I, I, I was not pursuing it. I had gone on at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, and I fell in love with this. Mitzi gave me my biggest break. Um, and there was a guy by the name of George Foster who was in the audience that night that said, "Hey, do you wanna do TV?" And I said, "Yeah." And then he hired me to do Make Me Laugh, which I did with Binder and a bunch of other-

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:18

       Wow.

   19. HMHowie Mandel1:18

       ... people. And with no intent of making this a, um, a, a career, you know? I, I didn't, I didn't pursue comedy. I knew nothing about comedy. I was a fan of comedy. I watched comedy, stand-up. I, even when I went to Yuk Yuk's, I had never, you know... I don't know. Uh, uh, let me get back to you, and then I'll talk about, I'll talk about me. But-

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:42

       (laughs)

   21. HMHowie Mandel1:42

       ... the, the thing is that I'm aware of the history of comedy. And when I was a kid, it was in New York. Everybody went to New York. That's where Lenny Bruce was working. You just showed me a picture of Lenny Bruce. And then when Carson made his way out to California, there was a shift where everybody had to come to California, you know? And you had to get on at The Comedy Store or maybe the Improv with the intent of maybe, if you were lucky, getting a spot on The Tonight Show.

   22. JRJoe Rogan2:10

       Mm.

   23. HMHowie Mandel2:11

       Right?

   24. JRJoe Rogan2:11

       Yeah.

   25. HMHowie Mandel2:11

       And I, I don't know. How old are you?

   26. JRJoe Rogan2:13

       55.

   27. HMHowie Mandel2:14

       55, you're a kid.

   28. JRJoe Rogan2:15

       How old are you?

   29. HMHowie Mandel2:16

       (laughs) I'll be 68 this year.

   30. JRJoe Rogan2:17

       You look fucking great.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   (clears throat) Uh, I did…

   1. JRJoe Rogan15:00

      "Oh, this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go on stage. I don't have anything prepared. I'm just gonna, like, fumble through it. And I got some rubber gloves in case shit goes sideways." I'd be like, "Oh my God, I'm gonna watch a spectacular bombing." I would sit in the back of the room like, "This guy's gonna eat shit." But no, because whatever it is that you have, this weird, intangible thing that you can't write down, that you can do that, and it's hilarious. My friend, Demetri, rest in peace, he, uh, sent me, w- he, he gave me one of your CDs when we were both like... I guess I was like 21 or 22. When did you do your first CD?

   2. HMHowie Mandel15:34

      (clears throat) Uh, I did an album in '84.

   3. JRJoe Rogan15:39

      Okay. So somewhere around then, a little bit after that, he gives me the CD. And it was a lot of that, but it was so funny. It was so rid- We were like crying laughing, like me and him. He's like this fucking hulking, national Tae Kwon Do champion dude, this bi- enormous heavyweight guy. And he's like dying laughing, just dying laughing, with two of us in my car, just laughing our asses off.

   4. HMHowie Mandel16:05

      'Cause I'm just silly, uh-

   5. JRJoe Rogan16:06

      You know, but it was so good, dude. It was so fun, and it was one of those-

   6. HMHowie Mandel16:10

      Thank you.

   7. JRJoe Rogan16:10

      ... things where you can't, you can't, like, figure out why that's funny. Like s- that's not even-

   8. HMHowie Mandel16:16

      Because it's funny, you know?

   9. JRJoe Rogan16:17

      Right.

   10. HMHowie Mandel16:17

       This sense of humor. I think most people don't have a sense of humor. I always say this. And a sense of humor is to find humor where other people don't find it. Richard Pryor found it in a very dark, bleak, historical upbringing-

   11. JRJoe Rogan16:29

       Yes.

   12. HMHowie Mandel16:30

       ... you know, and, and characters that were probably scary, probably fucked up. And when he imitated them and told you these stories, we laughed really hard. You know, that's why the, the tragedy and the comedy masks are very close together. They're, they r- they are close together.

   13. JRJoe Rogan16:45

       Yeah.

   14. HMHowie Mandel16:45

       And if you could find the humor in those moments, then that's what it is. The humor for me is, I was drowning in public-

   15. JRJoe Rogan16:53

       (laughs)

   16. HMHowie Mandel16:53

       ... you know? And I have th- uh, th- and that's the truth. And I had... You know, as a kid growing up, I didn't have a fucking friend in the world. I'm weird. I have mental health issues. I, uh, which weren't diagnosed until I was in my 40s. And, uh, everything I was ever expelled for, gotten in trouble for, paid for is, uh, I mean, is what I get paid for today. And I found a, you know, I found a stream that is flowing my way. But it's, uh, I feel more lucky than skilled.

   17. JRJoe Rogan17:20

       Well, well what was it like? 'Cause you had to develop an act, right? 'Cause then you went on to do these huge places, and you're doing an hour. Like, you had an act. So how did you-

   18. HMHowie Mandel17:29

       It came.

   19. JRJoe Rogan17:29

       ... did you just piece it together with all the different performances?

   20. HMHowie Mandel17:33

       Yes.

   21. JRJoe Rogan17:33

       Oh.

   22. HMHowie Mandel17:33

       So what I do, and still do now, is I go- I put together an act. I put together... Like, if something funny happens, I realized, well then, you could just talk about it.

   23. JRJoe Rogan17:44

       Right.

   24. HMHowie Mandel17:44

       And you can just talk about it. And if you real- if you really talk about it, then it becomes something funny. And you could even talk about how I'm putting together an act. You know, I was talking about how, um, in my act, you know, I'm, um, I'm here playing in town. I wanna come over to-

   25. JRJoe Rogan17:58

       Come over.

   26. HMHowie Mandel17:59

       Can I play here for-

   27. JRJoe Rogan18:00

       Two shows tonight. Yeah.

   28. HMHowie Mandel18:01

       I would, I would love to drop in and-

   29. JRJoe Rogan18:02

       Come on down. Jim Breuer's gonna be there.

   30. HMHowie Mandel18:04

       I love Jim Breuer.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Ah. Mark Harmon. …

   1. HMHowie Mandel30:00

      appearances and acting appearances on this thing.

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:02

      Ah. Mark Harmon.

   3. HMHowie Mandel30:03

      Mark Harmons started there, too. That's Mark-

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:05

      Sexiest Man Alive one of those years.

   5. HMHowie Mandel30:07

      Yeah. Well, you remember all the Sexiest Men Alive?

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:09

      (laughs) Just a few.

   7. HMHowie Mandel30:10

      Yeah, and Bill Daniels-

   8. JRJoe Rogan30:11

      Yeah.

   9. HMHowie Mandel30:11

      ... he was, uh, Kit.

   10. JRJoe Rogan30:12

       Wow.

   11. HMHowie Mandel30:13

       And Norman Lloyd, who just died at 106 at the bottom there. Norman Lloyd, uh-

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:17

       Who's that gentleman to the left of, um, Denzel? I know that guy. That guy's been in everything.

   13. HMHowie Mandel30:22

       To the left? Uh, David Morse.

   14. JRJoe Rogan30:23

       Yes.

   15. HMHowie Mandel30:23

       David Morse.

   16. JRJoe Rogan30:24

       That guy's been in everything.

   17. HMHowie Mandel30:25

       He's been in everything. Uh, and so was Bill Daniels, was in The Graduate, Mark Harmons on NCIS. Um, Norman Lloyd was, um, the muse for Al- Alfred Hitchcock. He was the bad guy in Spellbound.

   18. JRJoe Rogan30:37

       Whoa.

   19. HMHowie Mandel30:38

       So I walked onto this and, and I, I replaced a guy by the name of David Paymer. Do you know who that is?

   20. JRJoe Rogan30:43

       No.

   21. HMHowie Mandel30:44

       He won... He... I got nominated for an Academy Award for Mr. Saturday Night. I think he played Billy Crystal's brother in Mr. Saturday Night.

   22. JRJoe Rogan30:52

       Whoa.

   23. HMHowie Mandel30:52

       That's who I, that's who I replaced.

   24. JRJoe Rogan30:53

       Oh, yeah, that guy is great.

   25. HMHowie Mandel30:53

       Another, another Jew-y looking guy.

   26. JRJoe Rogan30:56

       He's great, though.

   27. HMHowie Mandel30:56

       It was Jew for Jew. Yeah, he is great, and I was so happy. I always felt guilty, you know, taking somebody's place.

   28. JRJoe Rogan31:02

       'Cause some of those guys, th- well, they'll play like a, a, a tortured intellect, like a very high anxiety guy, like he's the best at that shit.

   29. HMHowie Mandel31:12

       He is, he's-

   30. JRJoe Rogan31:12

       When he's play... He, you, you like get tense, like whenever he's dealing with something, like, "Oh, shit."
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Yes. …

   1. HMHowie Mandel45:00

      at your club?

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      Yes.

   3. HMHowie Mandel45:01

      Oh, I love it.

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:02

      Yes.

   5. HMHowie Mandel45:02

      So then I could-

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:03

      Yeah.

   7. HMHowie Mandel45:03

      ... I can do my, uh-

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:04

      Yeah, and get crazy. Don't... We'll tell everybody. Don't tell anybody. Shh.

   9. HMHowie Mandel45:07

      Don't tell anybody that I said cunt.

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:10

       (laughs)

   11. HMHowie Mandel45:12

       Can I say cunt?

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:13

       You definitely can, yeah.

   13. HMHowie Mandel45:13

       No, on this.

   14. JRJoe Rogan45:14

       Yeah, you did twice.

   15. HMHowie Mandel45:15

       I was... Oh.

   16. JRJoe Rogan45:16

       Yeah, it's all good.

   17. HMHowie Mandel45:17

       Yeah, I know. And- and then you can... I already signed... The- the... Just coming here was... It drove me crazy. You had a car pick me up, and in the back of the car was dude wipes. I asked the guy, "What's that?" He says, "For your balls?" What is dude wipes? Is that-

   18. JRJoe Rogan45:30

       I think it's for your butt, right?

   19. NANarrator45:32

       It's for everything.

   20. JRJoe Rogan45:32

       It's for everything.

   21. HMHowie Mandel45:32

       But just dude wipes what bo- bothered me that they're in the car.

   22. JRJoe Rogan45:36

       It seems odd that those are in the car.

   23. HMHowie Mandel45:36

       Like, what would you do? But... Like, I'm on my way-

   24. JRJoe Rogan45:38

       Like, you have a shitty ass in the car and you wanna wipe it off before you get out. That's amazing. (laughs)

   25. HMHowie Mandel45:40

       In the fucking car, so they offer me that, and then I walk into this place and the guy that's sitting right here says, "You gotta sign this." The- uh, like a- a release.

   26. JRJoe Rogan45:48

       Yeah.

   27. HMHowie Mandel45:49

       But it's not... I- I could hold a pen with my sleeve. It's a- it was an iPad. I had to touch...

   28. JRJoe Rogan45:53

       Yeah, with the finger.

   29. HMHowie Mandel45:54

       Yeah, so it's like-

   30. JRJoe Rogan45:54

       Those are ridiculous.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:07:25

   Yeah.…

   1. HMHowie Mandel1:00:00

      this technology, to answer your question, which could be, like, you can say, "Well, we don't have to travel anymore. We're gonna be locked in our own little worlds."

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:07

      Yeah.

   3. HMHowie Mandel1:00:08

      ... at the same time, it gives me access to worlds that I couldn't go to.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:12

      Sure.

   5. HMHowie Mandel1:00:12

      You can go do, I can go to a con- a concert right now. I could take one of those boxes and be all over the world. We have them at, all over the world, in Japan, in London, all over Asia, everywhere. I could be in 20, 20,000 theaters all at the same time and see every face of every person.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:29

      Whoa.

   7. HMHowie Mandel1:00:30

      So, I can do a, a world tour without getting on a plane.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:34

      That's pretty dope.

   9. HMHowie Mandel1:00:35

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:35

       I'm still gonna wanna see people live, but I could totally see why that would be very appealing to a lot of people.

   11. HMHowie Mandel1:00:40

       You think you wanna see people live?

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:42

       Especially if you want-

   13. HMHowie Mandel1:00:42

       But I'm telling you, like, even, even at the, the Mothership, if somebody didn't wanna fly in, if during the day, you wanted to do Q&As with Chappelle-

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:50

       Mm-hmm.

   15. HMHowie Mandel1:00:50

       ... or whatever, I promise you that those people sitting in the room will feel like, and he will feel like, he's in the room with them, talking to them.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:00:58

       It's a great idea.

   17. HMHowie Mandel1:00:59

       It is a great idea. But that's, I think that speaks, that's just one part of-

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:01:03

       That's interes- I'm interested in that. That's interesting.

   19. HMHowie Mandel1:01:05

       Yeah. So, what I'm saying is, technology can be really scary. It could fuck you up. It's kinda like the knife (laughs) you know?

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:01:12

       Oh, yeah. But it's also... I, look, I love the, the technology of cell phones. You know, I'm, I'm so hypocritical in that way. Like, a part of me is like, "My God, we're so addicted to these things." But also, look how goddamn convenient it is. You can take photo and video anytime you want.

   21. HMHowie Mandel1:01:27

       When's the last time you made a phone call? (laughs) You don't anymore.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:01:29

       I make 'em all the time.

   23. HMHowie Mandel1:01:30

       Oh, you do?

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:01:30

       Yeah. I like talking to people.

   25. HMHowie Mandel1:01:31

       Okay.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:32

       You have to talk to Joey Diaz. You can't text him.

   27. HMHowie Mandel1:01:34

       (laughs)

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:01:35

       If you text him, he's like, "Call me, cocksucker." And you gotta call him.

   29. HMHowie Mandel1:01:38

       Okay, so for Joey Diaz-

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:01:39

       Yeah.

Episode duration: 2:23:13