Joe Rogan Experience #2001 - Gabriel Iglesias

Narrator 0:00 (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

0:04 The Joe Rogan Experience.

Joe Rogan 0:06 Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music) Finally, finally you're here. Finally.

Gabriel Iglesias 0:14 Finally. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 0:15 You're one of the most requested guys ever.

Gabriel Iglesias 0:17 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 0:17 And I was like, "I gotta see him somewhere. I gotta run into him." We'll make it happen. So we made it happen. I'm excited to see you, brother.

Gabriel Iglesias 0:24 It's a, it's a pleasure, finally. I mean, we've, we've run into so many similar circles for so many years, and it's like-

Joe Rogan 0:28 Well, we ran into each other at the Canelo fight.

Gabriel Iglesias 0:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:31 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 0:31 But I mean, I, God, I've, I've been seeing you for 20 years.

Joe Rogan 0:34 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 0:35 You know?

Joe Rogan 0:35 Well, you were always the hero of the Icehouse. We'd go down to the Icehouse, well, "How the fuck does he sell out so many shows?"

Gabriel Iglesias 0:41 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 0:41 Gabriel's doing like a 2:00 in the afternoon show, (laughs) a 4:00 PM show. How many shows did you do in a day at one point in time?

Gabriel Iglesias 0:47 Uh, the most I ever did in one day, uh, like full sets, not just like-

Joe Rogan 0:50 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 0:50 ... a 10-minute spot? Four shows.

Joe Rogan 0:52 Four. (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 0:52 Four, four full one-hour shows.

Joe Rogan 0:54 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 0:54 But yeah, we were doing, uh, matinee shows at the Icehouse.

Joe Rogan 0:57 It's wild. It was wild. Like, you know, it would, we'd go down there and see the signs and all the p- It was like, "This is crazy." Like, "Who the fuck is doing that?"

Gabriel Iglesias 1:06 You know, 'cause I was doing, uh, like, they were calling them kid shows because I was allowing all ages, like-

Joe Rogan 1:10 Oh.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:11 Bob Fischer was bending the rules to let me have, you know?

Joe Rogan 1:13 That's great 'cause your act is perfect for that.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:16 But, you know, I mean, I ge- I, I, I tailored it. I tailored it.

Joe Rogan 1:19 Sure.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:19 So, you know, of course, you know, you take out cuss words and certain topics-

Joe Rogan 1:22 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:22 ... but for the most part, it was a friendly show.

Joe Rogan 1:24 Well, you can do that, is what I'm saying. Like, you, you could, you float in and out of that world, you know. You could be clean, then you could fuck around.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:30 A little bit, yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:31 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:32 A little cut loose.

Joe Rogan 1:32 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:32 So the set that yous the he- you would hear at 2:00 probably isn't the set you'd hear at, you know, the 10:30 show.

Joe Rogan 1:37 Yeah. So you go from, go from that to doing Dodger Stadium?

Gabriel Iglesias 1:42 Well, there was a couple shows in between. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:43 I know, but what the fuck, dude? What is that like?

Gabriel Iglesias 1:47 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:47 That had to be a trip.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:49 Y-

Joe Rogan 1:49 What the fuck was that like?

Gabriel Iglesias 1:50 You know what? Um, I, I thought that I was gonna be super nervous doing that show, but it, it was probably one of the most calm experiences for me as far as, like, not feeling pressure because it felt more like a celebration-

Joe Rogan 2:04 Ah.

Gabriel Iglesias 2:04 ... versus me having to perform. Like, all these people are already here because they know what I've done-

Joe Rogan 2:10 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 2:10 ... over the years.

Joe Rogan 2:11 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 2:11 And it's not like, "Oh, I gotta make s- I hope I have a good set."

Joe Rogan 2:14 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 2:15 There's, I forget how many people total, but there were so many people there that all they want is for you to do good.

Joe Rogan 2:21 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 2:21 They want, they wanna see you succeed.

Joe Rogan 2:23 Look at that. (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 2:25 They want this, they want this to go well for you.

Joe Rogan 2:27 Bro, that's so crazy.

Gabriel Iglesias 2:28 And, and to feel that energy of, of people wanting you to succeed, wanting you to do good.

Joe Rogan 2:33 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 2:33 You know, people that were there for, for the ride back at the Icehouse, you know, 20-some-odd years ago.

Joe Rogan 2:38 Look at all those people.

Gabriel Iglesias 2:38 And so, yeah. (clears throat)

Joe Rogan 2:40 That, that is insane. That's insane. (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 2:44 It was, it was a beautiful moment. I was choked up in the first 30 seconds walking out there because they-

Joe Rogan 2:48 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 2:48 ... just kept cheering, like, like, you know. And then I said, "We did it."

Joe Rogan 2:52 Ah.

Gabriel Iglesias 2:52 And it was just, it was over after that, so it was a big emotional, you know, show for me. Um, on Netflix it was an hour and f- almost two hours, but the actual night, I was on stage for over three.

Joe Rogan 3:04 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:05 And they could not get me off that stage.

Joe Rogan 3:06 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 3:07 'Cause then I broke out, broke out a bottle of tequila and then we tur-

Joe Rogan 3:09 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 3:09 It, I turned it into a big quinceañera is what I did at the end.

Joe Rogan 3:12 Ah. (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 3:13 And, uh, I got fined by Dodger Stadium for going over the time.

Joe Rogan 3:17 That's hilarious.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:17 You know, if you run the light at the club, it's, "Ah, all right, come on. Maybe you messed up the-"

Joe Rogan 3:20 How much did they fine you? Well, you don't have to say.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:22 I, it was over 100.

Joe Rogan 3:23 Oh, Jesus Christ, Dodger Stadium.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:24 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:24 Come on, guys. Stop being cunts.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:27 You know.

Joe Rogan 3:27 Is that like operating costs? Like, what is that?

Gabriel Iglesias 3:29 Well, you gotta figure all the costs that go into like, you know, the, uh-

Joe Rogan 3:31 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:31 ... the union, the, the staff.

Joe Rogan 3:32 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:33 I mean, there's so many people that work there.

Joe Rogan 3:35 Had to be worth it, though. Had, had to be worth it.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:36 Yes, I'd do it all over again.

Joe Rogan 3:37 Yeah, fuck yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:38 It was, it was the greatest night of my life, and so happy to pay the fine.

Joe Rogan 3:41 (laughs) That's amazing. That's what, when I saw Bill Burr do, uh, Fenway Park, a similar sort of situation, you know? Like, holy shit, man.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:48 Yeah, and to do it in your hometown, you know?

Joe Rogan 3:50 Yeah, exactly.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:50 That's the best part.

Joe Rogan 3:51 Well-

Gabriel Iglesias 3:51 I, I think it's always harder to get love at home.

Joe Rogan 3:54 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 3:55 You know, that's why you go out on the road and you do your thing, and I, I think that getting that love at home ... Like, I, I never got to perform at a comedy club at home until I became successful on the road.

Joe Rogan 4:05 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 4:05 I didn't get the Laugh Factories or The Comedy Stores or The Improvs-

Joe Rogan 4:08 Why-

Gabriel Iglesias 4:08 ... until I went out and did-

Joe Rogan 4:09 ... that doesn't make sense, though. Why is, why would that be tru- Tr- Were you hanging around?

Gabriel Iglesias 4:13 You gotta figure, 20-some-odd years ago, um, you know, maybe they had a Latino night, you know. It, you had to really know somebody, somebody had to really vouch for you, or you, you just ... It, it was weird. I, most of my shows were at bars.

Joe Rogan 4:26 So what year did you start?

Gabriel Iglesias 4:27 Uh, I started in '97.

Joe Rogan 4:29 '97. So most of those years you were hopping around, doing bars, doing-

Gabriel Iglesias 4:34 One-nighters and stuff like that.

Joe Rogan 4:35 ... one-nighters.

Gabriel Iglesias 4:36 "Oh, so-and-so has a room. So-and-so has a room." You know, blah, blah, blah.

Joe Rogan 4:38 Joey Diaz took me to a lot of those places.

Gabriel Iglesias 4:40 Oh yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:41 Joey Diaz would tell you, "Come on, motherfucker. You wanna go to the real place?"

Gabriel Iglesias 4:44 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 4:44 He would take you to some Chinese restaurant in the middle of nowhere that's run by Mexican people.

Gabriel Iglesias 4:49 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 4:49 It was amazing. Joey would take ... He knew where all-

Gabriel Iglesias 4:51 You wanna see where Escobar would spend his weekends? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 4:53 He would go to all these fucking crazy shows, but he had a philosophy behind it. He was like, "You know, I wanna go everywhere. I wanna go everywhere. I wanna get in front of these fucking momos. I wanna go down to the east side and rock those motherfuckers." He would just like, he wanted to do all kinds of different shows, like just to like f- feel it out, you know? And y- I think he's right, though. Like, those dingy bar shows, there's something about those shows that teach you a little extra, a different muscle.

Gabriel Iglesias 5:18 It's, it's humbling.

Joe Rogan 5:18 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 5:18 But the cool part was, is that I was used to performing in places like that before I actually got an audience that was willing to just be quiet and listen.

Joe Rogan 5:26 Yes.

Gabriel Iglesias 5:27 So I felt like, "Oh wow, that was hard."

Joe Rogan 5:29 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 5:29 You know, 'cause you have to come out the gate swinging-

Joe Rogan 5:32 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 5:32 ... to get people in a bar, people that are focused on the game, focused on trying to hook up, having a drink-

Joe Rogan 5:38 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 5:38 ... trying to wait, you know, waiting for somebody. There's-... all kinds of different things happening. And so the fact that, you know, to be able to go out there and get their attention.

Joe Rogan 5:45 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 5:46 You know? That, that, that was like a, a ... Like, it was school.

Joe Rogan 5:49 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 5:49 It was school.

Joe Rogan 5:50 It is school. It is school. It's a school that no one is gonna give you a lesson plan. You gotta kinda do it all yourself and you gotta learn from the other people that are doing it, like Joey. But it's like, I did the same thing in Boston. We d- mostly, we got road gigs, 'cause those are the ones that, you know, they would pay you to drive for two hours-

Gabriel Iglesias 6:05 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 6:05 ... and do some, you know, 40 minutes in front of a bunch of crazy people.

Gabriel Iglesias 6:10 And you were excited to do it.

Joe Rogan 6:10 I ... Oh my God, yeah. It was amazing. Just the, the fact that you were making money doing comedy was amazing. And you're learning how to do it. You're learning how to do it the hard way, in restaurants and bars and pubs and just weird-

Gabriel Iglesias 6:21 Yeah. There was-

Joe Rogan 6:21 ... weird little outdoor venues.

Gabriel Iglesias 6:23 There was no social media back then, no YouTube-

Joe Rogan 6:25 No nothing.

Gabriel Iglesias 6:25 ... no TikTok video clips, no nothing that you could post.

Joe Rogan 6:27 No.

Gabriel Iglesias 6:27 You just had to go out and ... Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:29 But honestly, that's great, 'cause that, that gave you this chance to, first of all, know you really wanted it. Because if you were gonna, really gonna grind it out every night, going to all these weird, shitty places for no money, for years ... For years, you're not making any money. Like, you gotta be committed to that. 'Cause a lot of people, they got half ... one foot in, one foot out. They have one good set and they're like, "You know, maybe I'll give comedy a try." But guys like you and guys like me, we're out there every fucking night.

Gabriel Iglesias 6:54 Uh-

Joe Rogan 6:54 Every night.

Gabriel Iglesias 6:55 ... I knew that with time, money would come as long as I, I stuck it out, you know? I, I was in a very cush position when I started doing standup.

Joe Rogan 7:04 Ah.

Gabriel Iglesias 7:04 So it was, it was a little, you know, challenging to say goodbye to security.

Joe Rogan 7:09 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 7:09 You know, I had a, I had a great gig selling cellphones. I was making about 5K a month.

Joe Rogan 7:13 Hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 7:14 You know, and I ... In 1997, you know-

Joe Rogan 7:16 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 7:16 ... working in sales, making that, I, I'd never had insurance. I had a, you know, a nice little PPO plan.

Joe Rogan 7:22 Couldn't you work there during the day?

Gabriel Iglesias 7:22 Brand new ... I did.

Joe Rogan 7:24 For how long?

Gabriel Iglesias 7:25 I did. I lasted about a year, because I found out that (clears throat) I couldn't just do my job and then go do shows at night and then go home. You couldn't go home. You had to stay out. We had to wind up at a Denny's. You had to wind up at some freaking taco shop or whatever at two, three o'clock in the morning-

Joe Rogan 7:40 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 7:41 ... talking to other comics, because that was the only other way you were gonna find out about another show.

Joe Rogan 7:45 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 7:45 You couldn't send a tweet. You couldn't send a text, 'cause you, you didn't have that as an option. You had to talk to people.

Joe Rogan 7:50 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 7:50 You know, "Hey, so and so has a room." "Oh, really? What's his ... Okay, give me that number." And you had to learn to write numbers and save numbers and information and learn how to follow up.

Joe Rogan 7:58 Hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 7:59 "Hey, what do you think about," you know? And then, "Yeah, yeah. Uh, can you vouch for me?" That meant a lot back then, someone calling-

Joe Rogan 8:04 Yes.

Gabriel Iglesias 8:04 ... on your behalf. "Hey, so and so's got a tight ten."

Joe Rogan 8:07 Yeah, it's huge.

Gabriel Iglesias 8:08 You know?

Joe Rogan 8:08 That's huge.

Gabriel Iglesias 8:09 So, staying out late at night, uh, coming home at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning and then having to be up at 7:00 to go do my nine-to-five. It ... Fortunately, I was young and I was able to hang for about a year, and then I just couldn't.

Joe Rogan 8:22 Hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 8:22 I was falling asleep at work and I got caught.

Joe Rogan 8:25 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 8:26 I got caught, you know? I was working inside of a little, uh, kiosk selling cellphones. And one time, I just kinda, "Let me do some inventory here on the floor." And then, I guess I was snoring and somebody caught me.

Joe Rogan 8:37 Oh my God.

Gabriel Iglesias 8:38 And I'm like, "Ugh."

Joe Rogan 8:39 Oh my God. That's a beautiful story, though.

Gabriel Iglesias 8:42 L- Yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:43 That's, that's an American dream story.

Gabriel Iglesias 8:44 And I thought that because I had done a couple of, um, television shows and I saw the money that I could make doing standup at that time, I said, "Oh, well." And then you start doing the, the math, the, the delusional math. "Well, if I get one of these a month and I do this and this-"

Joe Rogan 8:58 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 8:58 ... "and this, I don't need this much to pay my rent, this much to pay my car note. I'll be ... I'm gonna be fine." And I quit my day job and I got, um, evicted from my apartment 'cause I ran out of money so fast. Um, they came after my car. The repo guy was looking for the car. I got evicted. I went to go s- uh, sleep on my, uh, sister's couch. It was, it was one of those.

Joe Rogan 9:18 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 9:18 And everybody's like, "Well, go get your job back." And I'm like, "Ah, if I do, then, then I'm not gonna pursue this."

Joe Rogan 9:23 How old were you at the time?

Gabriel Iglesias 9:24 20, 21.

Joe Rogan 9:25 Yeah, you could still kinda fuck up a little bit at 20, 21.

Gabriel Iglesias 9:28 I, e- I had no problem sleeping in a car at that age.

Joe Rogan 9:30 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 9:30 Now, I'm like, "Ah." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 9:32 Now it'd suck.

Gabriel Iglesias 9:33 "Maybe I gotta get that day job back," but-

Joe Rogan 9:34 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 9:34 ... no. Back then, I was willing to do whatever it took.

Joe Rogan 9:37 But that's what you're supposed to do. You know? I've met a lot ... Like, Tony did that. I know a lot of people that did that. A lot of people slept in their car. Brian Simpson was homeless. Yeah. It's like, if you really believe in it-

Gabriel Iglesias 9:47 I ... You know what? Yeah. Uh, what are you willing to do? What are you willing-

Joe Rogan 9:49 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 9:50 ... to sacrifice to make it happen?

Joe Rogan 9:51 'Cause there's a path. It can be done. It's just not easy. It's not easy. And you gotta hope you have talent and hope you're not delusional and hope you can figure it out-

Gabriel Iglesias 10:03 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 10:04 ... and maximize that talent.

Gabriel Iglesias 10:06 'Cause a lot of people say that they want it, but do they?

Joe Rogan 10:09 (sighs)

Gabriel Iglesias 10:10 You know? It's like w-

Joe Rogan 10:11 A lot of people say a lot of things. (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 10:14 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 10:14 People are scared of being uncomfortable. That's really what it is. They're scared of challenges. They're scared of being uncomfortable. And I get it. I get it, but, you know, the key is, like, being around a bunch of other people that are also taking risks. It helps you a lot. You see them do it, then you wanna do it too. If you're around people that are trying to, "Bro, listen to me. Get your fucking job back. Stop being a moron. You're not gonna make it. I never thought you were that funny." If you're around guys like that-

Gabriel Iglesias 10:40 A lot.

Joe Rogan 10:41 ... and those are your buddies-

Gabriel Iglesias 10:42 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:42 (sighs)

Gabriel Iglesias 10:43 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 10:44 That's a drag. That's a drag.

Gabriel Iglesias 10:46 Well, a lot of those voices I heard were family, not necessarily friends.

Joe Rogan 10:49 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 10:49 It's like even closer.

Joe Rogan 10:51 Yeah, but they're just looking out for you, you know? They're worried. They didn't know. You know, if they had a magic crystal ball, they'd be like, "Oh."

Gabriel Iglesias 10:59 D- oh, okay.

Joe Rogan 11:00 "Oh, I should've been more supportive." Maybe it would've-

Gabriel Iglesias 11:01 But it en-

Joe Rogan 11:02 ... bought me something nice. (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 11:03 En- in the beginning, they're also like, "Oh, oh, you wanna do that? How c- how cool. Yeah, yeah."

Joe Rogan 11:07 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 11:07 "You can do it."

Joe Rogan 11:08 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 11:08 "Go for it. Chase your ... Follow your dreams. Happy for you." And then you do it and you're like ... And they're like, "Oh, okay."

Joe Rogan 11:15 Well, when they see the reality, like the homeless part and the, like, the not having any money part, not having any healthcare part when you used to, and then the uncertainty of it all. It's not like going to law school. You graduate with a bar.

Gabriel Iglesias 11:28 There's a, there's a certain-

Joe Rogan 11:29 Yeah, there's a path.

Gabriel Iglesias 11:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 11:30 We, we don't even have a school for it. You have to figure it out on your own. It's like every other ... Even if you want to ... I mean, there's many, many, many self-taught musicians, right? But you could learn on YouTube how to play guitar.... you can learn on YouTube how to play the piano.

Gabriel Iglesias 11:42 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 11:42 You could learn, you can take lessons. They're available everywhere. Someone could teach you how to, uh, maximize your voice, whatever singing voice you have. There is nothing that anybody can show you ab- about comedy. Nothing.

Gabriel Iglesias 11:53 'Cause it's, uh, it's such a broader spectrum. Like, you know-

Joe Rogan 11:55 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 11:55 ... uh, uh, what works for one person w- will definitely not work for another.

Joe Rogan 11:59 Yeah, yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 12:00 You know? And I think it's all in, uh, in, in, in, uh, what you put out-

Joe Rogan 12:03 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 12:04 ... that makes it, makes it work.

Joe Rogan 12:06 Yeah, for sure. The only thing, like, a comedy class is good for is it actually gets people on stage.

Gabriel Iglesias 12:10 Getting on stage is the first thing.

Joe Rogan 12:12 (clears throat) Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 12:12 Um, one thing that, that I w- I feel like I had an advantage when I f- started doing standup was, uh, I took, um, speech classes in high school.

Joe Rogan 12:21 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 12:22 And so I was very comfortable getting up in front of the class and, um, just talking.

Joe Rogan 12:27 Right. (clears throat)

Gabriel Iglesias 12:27 Just talking. There was no jokes back then. It was just, can you get in front of the crowd? Can you, can you, uh, convey a message? Can you talk about whatever? So, I got very comfortable with people being quiet.

Joe Rogan 12:38 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 12:39 A lot of times people don't... They, they freak out when the audience is quiet. And I like it when they're quiet because it means they're listening.

Joe Rogan 12:45 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 12:46 They're listening to you. And at this point, if the crowd is quiet, they trust that whatever I'm gonna do is gonna work 'cause they're paying attention and-

Joe Rogan 12:54 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 12:54 ... you know? It's-

Joe Rogan 12:55 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 12:56 ... it's, so it's one of those like, it, it took a long time for me to get used to that.

Joe Rogan 13:00 Mm. Yeah, getting used to talking to people, that's huge. Just getting used to being, like, the center of attention, that's huge.

Gabriel Iglesias 13:07 Having eyeballs on you.

Joe Rogan 13:08 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 13:08 'Cause a lot of times, you know, it's like people say, "Oh, the scariest thing in the world, jumping out of a airplane or doing this or, you know, going cliff diving." But, you know, most people cannot handle being in front of a crowd. Most people get uncomfortable. They're like, "Ugh, this is not-"

Joe Rogan 13:20 You know what Whitney told me? Whitney Comics told me that that originates from, uh, the ancient tribes that we used to live in when you were brought in front of the tribe to be judged. That's why they were all looking at you.

Gabriel Iglesias 13:31 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 13:32 Like, when there's all these people looking at you, it's not... It's either there's some sort of a dilemma that you have to warn people about or you're being judged. Both those things are riddled with anxiety.

Gabriel Iglesias 13:40 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:41 So, people get-

Gabriel Iglesias 13:41 Totally.

Joe Rogan 13:42 So we have, like, a natural instinct. Not like, "Oh, look. All my friends. What's up, guys?" It's just like, "Oh, Jesus. Everyone's looking at me. Holy shit." Yeah. I used to-

Gabriel Iglesias 13:52 And-

Joe Rogan 13:52 I was teaching martial arts, so I was used to people listening to me. So, I was used... I did that. I think that helped me a lot 'cause I had a lot of social anxiety when I was young, like, just talking to people. But then when I had to learn how to teach people-

Gabriel Iglesias 14:04 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 14:04 ... you know? So I'd teach classes all the time, so I would always have, like, groups of people that I was demonstrating things to. So I got used to talking to people that way.

Gabriel Iglesias 14:12 Yeah. Then you get a, e- you get a microphone and you hear your voice for the first time on a PA and you're like-

Joe Rogan 14:18 Bizarre.

Gabriel Iglesias 14:18 ... "Oh, wow, that's..." You know?

Joe Rogan 14:19 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 14:20 I remember, like, hearing myself and, like, "That's what I sound like to people?"

Joe Rogan 14:23 Shh.

Gabriel Iglesias 14:23 You know? Like, uh, let me put some bass in there. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 14:26 Yeah. Also, you learn how to use the mic, you know? And then there's the dilemma. Do I keep it in the stand? Do I hold it? What do I do?

Gabriel Iglesias 14:33 There's so many factors. Someone taught me about mic technique, you know, the way you hold it.

Joe Rogan 14:37 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 14:37 Do you hold it tight high up? Do you... You know, there are some comics that ride the, the mic really low or keep the mic really lower and there are some that choke the m- you know, have it right here like-

Joe Rogan 14:45 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 14:45 ... like a wrapping or something.

Joe Rogan 14:46 Like a wrap.

Gabriel Iglesias 14:47 Yeah, u- And that works for him.

Joe Rogan 14:51 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 14:51 That works great for him. Kevin does the same thing.

Joe Rogan 14:52 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 14:52 Kevin Hart will keep it in the stand and, you know...

Joe Rogan 14:55 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 14:55 I- I've tried that. It does not work for me. I need to be mobile with it.

Joe Rogan 14:58 Yeah. I- I feel like I have too many hands.

Gabriel Iglesias 15:00 (laughs) Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:00 I want that right there.

Gabriel Iglesias 15:02 And then-

Joe Rogan 15:02 I want to be able to switch hands or move it around. (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 15:05 And then I'm one of those that tells stories with their hands, so I'm always, you know, I gotta, gotta be able to-

Joe Rogan 15:09 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 15:09 ... be mobile and move and just... You know, all right, here we go.

Joe Rogan 15:12 It's crazy that you m- made it and then started getting into clubs in LA. That is crazy.

Gabriel Iglesias 15:19 Yeah, so, uh, first time out on the road I was, uh, I was doing a, a comedy club called Bart Reads Comic Strip in El Paso, Texas. And I was there as an opener, and that was the first time I did a comedy club, was Bart Reads Comic Strip El Paso. That's where I had to go, and I'm from LA.

Joe Rogan 15:35 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 15:35 You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 15:35 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 15:35 Like, I'd done a million bars-

Joe Rogan 15:37 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 15:37 ... and dives and little holes in the wall.

Joe Rogan 15:38 But that was the first real comedy club.

Gabriel Iglesias 15:39 But first actual comedy club. And then, um, I remember I went on the road actually with Joe Diaz and with Marilyn Martinez.

Joe Rogan 15:46 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 15:46 And so, uh, I- I did (laughs) a show with the two of them. And getting a comedy course from Marilyn Martinez and Joey Diaz at the same time-

Joe Rogan 15:53 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 15:53 ... is something I will never forget because the two of them are so, like... They, they were just yin and yang, you know?

Joe Rogan 15:58 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 15:58 I remember how, how awesome that friendship was. And they were just so real and raw with me, and I'm just sitting there and I'm this 21-year-old kid and I'm just like-

Joe Rogan 16:07 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 16:07 ... "Oh, my God." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 16:08 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 16:10 You know? And if you knew the two of them, you'd know, like, wow, that's, that's a hell of a, uh, a lesson that you-

Joe Rogan 16:15 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 16:16 ... you get.

Joe Rogan 16:16 Well, that is a beautiful thing about people when they think you're funny, that they will take you, take you under their wing. They will give you some advice and will talk to you about stuff.

Gabriel Iglesias 16:23 Both of them were super nice.

Joe Rogan 16:25 Yeah, yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 16:25 Super nice.

Joe Rogan 16:25 They were both super nice. Yeah, I miss Marilyn. She was always cool to have hang around at the store. She was hilarious.

Gabriel Iglesias 16:31 Oh, I'd sit in the back and listen to Marilyn critique the comics.

Joe Rogan 16:35 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 16:35 Like, "Oh, look at him. He thinks he's gonna make it."

Joe Rogan 16:39 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 16:39 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 16:39 Her and Joey together, too. What a one-two punch. Yeah. Yeah, like, having relationships with those comics that already gone through the gates and they can tell you what's going on. Like, "Hey, there's... I was right where you were at. You can just keep going. You're gonna be all right. Hang in there."

Gabriel Iglesias 16:55 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 16:55 "Keep doing sets. Keep working on it."

Gabriel Iglesias 16:57 And, and, and the, the beauty of it back then, wh- which I think that, you know, is missing now is because social media is so strong, you know, everybody would rather just talk through the phone.

Joe Rogan 17:06 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 17:06 Whereas back then, I felt like it was a lot more... I've met so many comics online that I haven't met face to face yet.

Joe Rogan 17:11 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 17:11 Which I think is crazy.

Joe Rogan 17:13 (clicks tongue) Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 17:14 You know?

Joe Rogan 17:14 Well, we're a little scattered now. You know, it's like not like a home base anymore. You know, used to be home bases were New York and LA. Now LA is kind of, like, fucked and, and Austin is more of a home base.... for a lot of comics than LA. And New York is different than it used to be, you know, a lot of guys kind of moved to different places during the pandemic, and-

Gabriel Iglesias 17:34 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 17:35 ... so it's weird. It's weird, it's like the s- like, I guess the Cellar is a great place to go and hang out with people. And the store is still a great place, if you know who's going to be there, to hang out with people. But that's half the fun for me. I mean, I know it's like, in the early days, you were getting phone numbers and learning about gigs but it's also, you're hanging out with comics, you know? That is my favorite thing.

Gabriel Iglesias 17:53 'Cause you're all talking about comedy-

Joe Rogan 17:55 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 17:55 ... and you can't talk about comedy with people that don't get it.

Joe Rogan 17:58 Exactly.

Gabriel Iglesias 17:59 Trying to, trying to, you know, talk to my brother about it, he's like, "Oh yeah, it sounds cool." I'm like-

Joe Rogan 18:02 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 18:03 ... "You don't understand," and it's just like, "Ugh."

Joe Rogan 18:05 Yeah, you have to talk to people who are actually doing it, and, and, you know, it's- they're just, they're just the most fun to talk to. Like when we have, uh, sh- shows at, at the Mothership and then afterwards we're hanging out in the green room, we're just laughing. Just laughing, and talking shit, and slapping the couch, and, and having a good time, and everyone's just getting on everybody and it's just... It's fun. It's really fun, man. It's a good time. Music's playing. You know, it's like the- one of the coolest parties you could ever be a part of. And it happens, like, almost every night.

Gabriel Iglesias 18:33 It's-

Joe Rogan 18:33 And we're always laughing, like, "Goddamn, we're so lucky."

Gabriel Iglesias 18:36 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 18:36 You know?

Gabriel Iglesias 18:36 Yeah, 'cause we could be doing something completely different, but-

Joe Rogan 18:38 You could do something that sucks, so you gotta appreciate it.

Gabriel Iglesias 18:40 ... the, the, the beauty of, of just laughter and just being able to hang out and be real and, and just hang out and-

Joe Rogan 18:46 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 18:47 Ugh.

Joe Rogan 18:48 Yeah. No, it's amazing. It's, uh... We're very fortunate we found it, you know?

Gabriel Iglesias 18:53 It's the one job where it's like, normally when you're done you punch out and you go home but like-

Joe Rogan 18:56 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 18:56 ... once you get off stage, like, okay, now, now we-

Joe Rogan 18:59 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 18:59 ... just hang out and watch everybody else-

Joe Rogan 19:00 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 19:01 ... and get a drink-

Joe Rogan 19:02 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 19:02 ... you know?

Joe Rogan 19:03 (yawns)

Gabriel Iglesias 19:03 Hey, how come you don't have food at your club? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 19:07 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 19:07 I just... Sorry, I just put that out there. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 19:08 Why do I not want to have food in my club? Because it's a distraction. Do you wanna look down and see people eating while they're watching a show? They're there for a show.

Gabriel Iglesias 19:15 I get it.

Joe Rogan 19:16 Yeah. I get it with you.

Gabriel Iglesias 19:18 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 19:19 I get it. I get what you're saying.

Gabriel Iglesias 19:20 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 19:21 But... Yeah, no. It gets in the way. It used to be no food at the store and then they started adding food and it was just like... I think it just gets in the way. I mean, I don't have a problem with clubs that do it. I've... A lot of clubs have great food. The Improv's always have great food. But I think it's a distraction, you know? And also, it brings roaches.

Gabriel Iglesias 19:41 Okay.

Joe Rogan 19:41 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 19:41 I didn't think about that.

Joe Rogan 19:42 Yeah. You know, if you have food laying around... One of the things that we found when we first, um, um, looked at the club, the club was the Alamo Drafthouse before it was, uh, the, the comedy club-

Gabriel Iglesias 19:52 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 19:52 ... so we went in there and they had this huge kitchen that they would make pizzas and shit in, and there was fucking giant roaches everywhere.

Gabriel Iglesias 19:58 Ugh.

Joe Rogan 19:58 Like, you were seeing these fat boys just running around with big, thick, b- l- u- c- cigarette lighter-looking motherfuckers-

Gabriel Iglesias 20:04 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:04 ... running around, like, "Jesus Christ."

Gabriel Iglesias 20:05 Them Texas roaches don't play.

Joe Rogan 20:07 And-

Gabriel Iglesias 20:08 Hey, those fly too.

Joe Rogan 20:09 ... there was a very brief time where we entertained the idea of having a restaurant in the club too, and then I was like, "No, no, fuck that." And, uh, e- everybody that I talked to, all the comics were like, "No, no food. No food. It's just a distraction." When people have mouthfuls of food and they're barely paying attention, it's just like... It's weird. It's just-

Gabriel Iglesias 20:25 Hm.

Joe Rogan 20:25 ... you know. Eat before you go.

Gabriel Iglesias 20:27 Got it. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 20:28 Bring snacks. You can always get something to go next door, there's a pizza place next door, there's a Mexican joint that's, eh, right next door to that. There's, uh, there's all sorts of burger places on 6th Street, there's a lot of different food. There's food trucks. Just send one of your boys to go out and get something. You're good.

Gabriel Iglesias 20:45 I'll do it. I'll do it. (smacks lips) I just had to ask.

Joe Rogan 20:47 I hear you.

Gabriel Iglesias 20:48 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 20:48 (laughs) Yeah, Comedy Magic Club has the best food.

Gabriel Iglesias 20:52 Yes.

Joe Rogan 20:53 Yes.

Gabriel Iglesias 20:53 Yes. That's, that-

Joe Rogan 20:54 That's like a real restaurant.

Gabriel Iglesias 20:55 ... it's, it's, it's legit. It is like gourmet.

Joe Rogan 20:57 Yeah. Yeah, their steak is like a, a great restaurant steak. Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 21:00 Yeah. You could actually go there just, just to eat-

Joe Rogan 21:02 100%.

Gabriel Iglesias 21:02 ... and it would be like a great restaurant just to eat at.

Joe Rogan 21:05 Yeah, his place is wild too because of all the f- memorabilia on the wall, like Robin Williams' outfit from Popeyes on the wall and-

Gabriel Iglesias 21:11 Yeah. Little Lucille Ball's dress.

Joe Rogan 21:13 Yeah. Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 21:14 So he's got some, he got some really, really good ones.

Joe Rogan 21:16 Yeah. Do you collect VW vans? Explain.

Gabriel Iglesias 21:21 Uh, that's more like hoarding, I gotta admit.

Joe Rogan 21:23 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 21:24 I got a lot of Volkswagens.

Joe Rogan 21:26 (laughs) How many do you have?

Gabriel Iglesias 21:27 Um... I, I don't wanna sound like a douche but I lost count. It's over 20.

Joe Rogan 21:31 You have more than 20 Volkswagens?

Gabriel Iglesias 21:33 Yes.

Joe Rogan 21:33 But why them?

Gabriel Iglesias 21:35 Um, it's... A Volkswagen was- A Volkswagen Bus, a 1960 Volkswagen Bus was my first car and for some reason, uh, once I started talking to Jay, uh, Leno, um, you know, he showed me his collection and he, he started telling me about investing money and being able to enjoy your investment. And so, um, I had gotten my ex-girlfriend her first car back and then his guys helped me get my first car back, which was a bus, and they said, "Well, if there's anything else you want, let me know," and I go, "Well, if you come across another one of these, let me know." They call me three days later, "We got one," and I said, "Well, I'll take it," and that just kept going. And the reason why is it's just... It's such a cool, iconic car, you know? It's like so- there's some guys that collect nothing but Porsches and-

Joe Rogan 22:19 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 22:19 ... with a bus no one's looking at you like, "Oh my God, look at... Another Porsche."

Joe Rogan 22:22 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 22:22 But with buses it's just... It's, you know, it's, it's a fun bus, it's a, it's a cool car and I, um, I wanted to be known as the Volkswagen Bus guy.

Joe Rogan 22:32 Look at all your buses-

Gabriel Iglesias 22:34 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:34 ... that's so crazy.

Gabriel Iglesias 22:35 I started collecting them about 10 years ago.

Joe Rogan 22:37 So do you, do you buy them in this condition or do you have them refurbished?

Gabriel Iglesias 22:41 No. No. Well, in the beginning I would try to buy them as, as, as, you know, in as good a s- uh, condition as possible. But then I, you know, I- I met some people that do some am- amazing work. There's a friend of mine named Henry Marcheno who does all the restorations and he will take, uh, you know, a bus that's all rusted out and completely just in shambles and he'll make a, a, a Picasso. He'll make a work of art.

Joe Rogan 23:01 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:01 These, uh, these buses are just... When people come in and they see 'em, I mean, they light up.

Joe Rogan 23:07 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 23:08 They light up and, uh, it's a gift to, to be-

Joe Rogan 23:10 So you got some other cars in there too though.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:12 I do. I do. I actually, I actually ha-

Joe Rogan 23:13 What is that? Is that a 356? That pu- the one to the r- oh, th- oh, that's another VW.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:17 ... yeah.

Joe Rogan 23:19 I can't see. What else do you have there?

Gabriel Iglesias 23:21 (smacks lips) Uh, well, I no longer have the, the Bugs. I only have, uh, one Bug now, um, but it's mostly buses.

Joe Rogan 23:29 ... mostly buses-

Gabriel Iglesias 23:29 Mostly buses.

Joe Rogan 23:29 ... and one bug.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:30 Mostly buses.

Joe Rogan 23:30 That's it?

Gabriel Iglesias 23:31 One bug.

Joe Rogan 23:31 So it's all Volkswagens?

Gabriel Iglesias 23:32 Um, well, from what you see right there. Um, I do have muscle cars. I got a, a (sighs) -

Joe Rogan 23:36 That's what I'm talking about.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:38 Okay.

Joe Rogan 23:38 Now we're talking.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:38 Um, let me see. I have two 69 Chevelles.

Joe Rogan 23:40 Okay.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:40 I have one that's a resto mod and one that's all original.

Joe Rogan 23:44 Man.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:44 Um, I have, uh, two Camaros. I have one that's a resto mod, a '69, and another '69 that's all original.

Joe Rogan 23:49 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:49 So I got one and one. Um, I got a 1964. Yeah, there it is. I have a 1964, uh, Impala that's actually stock.

Joe Rogan 23:58 Ah.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:58 So I didn't, I didn't low rider it out-

Joe Rogan 23:59 Oh, wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 23:59 ... 'cause everybody thought I was gonna do that. Um, I-

Joe Rogan 24:02 That's a beautiful year, that 69.

Gabriel Iglesias 24:04 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 24:04 '69 Chevelles are gorgeous. Look at that. Is that the resto mod or is that the original?

Gabriel Iglesias 24:09 No, that's the o- original.

Joe Rogan 24:10 That's the original.

Gabriel Iglesias 24:10 It's got all the paperwork.

Joe Rogan 24:11 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 24:11 I actually got that one at the, uh, Barrett-Jackson car auction.

Joe Rogan 24:14 Oh, yeah, it does.

Gabriel Iglesias 24:15 So-

Joe Rogan 24:15 396. That's the same one from John Wick.

Gabriel Iglesias 24:19 And then, uh-

Joe Rogan 24:19 No, he has a 70.

Gabriel Iglesias 24:20 ... (clears throat) I have a, a black Chevelle, uh, that I call Cocaine Bear because, uh, man-

Joe Rogan 24:25 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 24:25 ... that thing is just obnoxious. It is loud. It's powerful. It rattles. The whole neighborhood hears it. And when you've done it-

Joe Rogan 24:32 That's a '69 too?

Gabriel Iglesias 24:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 24:33 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 24:34 Yeah, it's badass. Um, so, I mean, it's not that I'm just-

Joe Rogan 24:37 (clears throat)

Gabriel Iglesias 24:37 ... strictly Volkswagens.

Joe Rogan 24:38 I get it.

Gabriel Iglesias 24:38 But that's, that's how it started and the beauty of it is, I have people that are constantly sending me pictures. "Hey, my, my friend is selling this. My friend is selling that." So, I-

Joe Rogan 24:46 So what is that? That is a Camaro that they converted into a Firebird? Is that what that is?

Gabriel Iglesias 24:50 Uh, I no longer have that one, but I do have a 1979 Trans Am.

Joe Rogan 24:54 Oh, the real one?

Gabriel Iglesias 24:54 The real one, yeah. This one-

Joe Rogan 24:56 But-

Gabriel Iglesias 24:56 This one's, uh, uh, you know, there was a company, there's a company called Trans Am Depot in Florida, and they will take a Camaro and then they'll turn it into a Trans Am.

Joe Rogan 25:04 And it has the Pontiac logo and everything, huh?

Gabriel Iglesias 25:07 Yeah. No, that's the one I still have right there. It's blue. It's beautiful.

Joe Rogan 25:10 Oh, wow. Look at that pretty thing. Trans Ams are gorgeous.

Gabriel Iglesias 25:15 It's, it's long too.

Joe Rogan 25:16 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 25:16 The whole hood is really, really long.

Joe Rogan 25:17 Does anybody ever make a Trans Am that's, like, that is, like, a really solid driving car, though? Has anybody done, like, a wild resto mod with, like, a custom chassis? I mean, they must have.

Gabriel Iglesias 25:29 I've, I've never driven one or seen one. Uh, and all the Trans Ams I've been in have always been manual.

Joe Rogan 25:35 No, I mean, uh, stock. I mean, uh, it's like, the, the... whether or not they're, you know, they change the suspension. Manual transmission's the way to go with a car like that, always. But, I mean, it... has anybody done, like, a real resto mod with a Trans Am? They must have.

Narrator 25:50 No, uh-

Joe Rogan 25:50 You never see 'em, though.

Gabriel Iglesias 25:51 I don't know.

Joe Rogan 25:51 You see 'em more, like, kind of in stock form.

Gabriel Iglesias 25:53 Yeah. I mean, they try to keep it looking-

Joe Rogan 25:55 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 25:55 ... like it... you know. They want it to have that look, but... anyway, yeah. So I... there's, there's... I have a bunch of muscle cars, but people know me as the Volkswagen bus guy.

Joe Rogan 26:03 What does it say there, Jamie? At the top?

Narrator 26:05 That'd be a Trans Am resto mod?

Joe Rogan 26:06 Yeah. "Trans Am gets a stunning resto mod overhaul from Retro Designs." Okay, so this one, they did. Yeah, there they go. They jazzed up the engine.

Gabriel Iglesias 26:15 That's pretty.

Joe Rogan 26:16 Yeah.

Narrator 26:18 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:19 Still got skinny ass tires. Take that photo of the back of it, the one that shows the back right there. Yeah. Look how skinny those... oh, they're not that bad.

Gabriel Iglesias 26:30 A little bit better.

Joe Rogan 26:30 They're not that bad.

Gabriel Iglesias 26:33 But, yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:33 Yeah, yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 26:34 So, you know, on top of the Volkswagens, I do got a, uh... you know, the muscle car collection, which is nice.

Joe Rogan 26:37 Dude, there's nothing like muscle cars. They, they, there's something about those things. Like, whatever they were doing in that time period from the late '60s to the early '70s, whatever they doing, and then they stop doing it.

Gabriel Iglesias 26:48 Yeah. It's, it's very different.

Joe Rogan 26:49 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 26:50 And, uh, I have some friends that are purists when it comes to muscle cars, so they wanna keep it stock, keep it the way that it was.

Joe Rogan 26:55 I don't get those people.

Gabriel Iglesias 26:56 And then there's some that I'm like... you know, dude, there's nothing wrong with putting an air conditioner in a car.

Joe Rogan 27:00 No.

Gabriel Iglesias 27:00 There's nothing wrong with (laughs) , you know, adding certain safety features.

Joe Rogan 27:02 How about putting brakes that work?

Gabriel Iglesias 27:03 Thank you.

Joe Rogan 27:04 What the fuck are you doing? Like, the... all that numbers matching-

Gabriel Iglesias 27:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:07 ... I get, but that's not for me. I get it that people wanna collect them, "numbers matching," but it's just for them. It's like they say to the other num- numbers matching guys and everybody's like, "Mm, numbers matching uh-huh."

Gabriel Iglesias 27:17 But, yeah. There's, there's more people that just wanna enjoy the car, have fun with the car, and they could care less what the numbers, you know...

Joe Rogan 27:23 You want to not be sucking gas fumes through the exhaust. Like, how bad do some of those smell? (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 27:28 Yeah. Oh, man, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You, you, you... when you have a car that's, uh, that's over 40 years old-

Joe Rogan 27:34 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 27:34 ... you get used to the smell of gas.

Joe Rogan 27:36 Yeah. They stink of gas. But-

Gabriel Iglesias 27:37 And then you think, at first, "Uh, it's leaking," and no, it's not. That's just the way that the cars smelled back then.

Joe Rogan 27:41 Yeah, you're breathing in fumes. You're getting a headache.

Gabriel Iglesias 27:44 You s- you smell the oil.

Joe Rogan 27:45 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 27:45 You smell the gas.

Joe Rogan 27:46 But resto mods don't. Like, resto mods... like what I was showing you, the, uh, the Land Cruiser. When they use a, a modern crate engine, they can just change it completely.

Gabriel Iglesias 27:55 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:55 I mean-

Gabriel Iglesias 27:55 So it looks original-

Joe Rogan 27:57 Yeah, yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 27:57 ... but it drives, it, it handles like a modern car.

Joe Rogan 28:00 That's what I like.

Gabriel Iglesias 28:01 I, uh-

Joe Rogan 28:01 I just like the, the... there's the character of those cars that's undeniable. Like, if they made one today like that, I would say, uh, I would wanna buy one. Like, if they made a resto... like, if... they can't do it, which is kind of crazy, 'cause, like, you could buy one from a company, like Roadster Shop. They made me a 1969 Camaro. But you can't buy a 1969 Camaro from Chevy. Like, if Chevy said, "Look, (clears throat) we're gonna make a 1969 Camaro. It's not gonna have any airbags. It's gonna have disc brakes, but, like, you know, six-piston disc brakes, and we're gonna do a modernized suspension, but it's going to be a 1969 Camaro." But it's gonna be a 1969 Camaro with a 2023 Camaro engine and all the electronics and all that jazz, people would buy it like crazy. But you could never get away with it because regulations would... wouldn't allow it.

Gabriel Iglesias 28:49 Yeah. And then, uh, living in California, all these ca... man, you know how hard it is with the-

Joe Rogan 28:54 Getting smogged?

Gabriel Iglesias 28:55 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:55 Yeah, yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 28:56 So all my cars are 1974 and below.

Joe Rogan 29:00 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 29:00 Just because I don't wanna deal.

Joe Rogan 29:02 Yeah. That's good.

Gabriel Iglesias 29:03 I, I don't wanna deal.

Joe Rogan 29:04 Yeah. Yeah. Isn't that funny? Like, as long as they're old, they can just pollute like crazy (laughs) .

Gabriel Iglesias 29:08 Yeah, you know? I just think it's interesting that, you know, uh, as time goes by, they don't move the... they don't move the needle.

Joe Rogan 29:15 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 29:15 Like, they still keep it at 1974. It's like, come on.

Joe Rogan 29:18 Well, yeah. I think that's because it's almost impossible. Like, if you wanna get, like, a 1974, uh, Porsche, and you wanna convert it to modern standards of exhaust, I wonder what they would even have to do. It might ruin the car.

Gabriel Iglesias 29:32 ... yeah, you're gonna, uh, it's gonna take away from the originality of it. But is, is it gonna make it a better driver? Are you gonna have more fun with it? You know?

Joe Rogan 29:38 Yeah, I don't think so.

Gabriel Iglesias 29:39 I've- I-

Joe Rogan 29:39 I mean, it, uh, I think they would have to... Like, I know they do restomods with those old Porsches. But I think they just take everything out and put all modern shit in. You know, they just kind of re... but then even then, I think it's still held to the same standard of a 1974 car. Like, as long as it's, you know, like, the, the exact-

Gabriel Iglesias 29:56 The, yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:56 ... you know, the VIN number and everything is from that age, even if that's, you're kind of lying. It's kind of not really a 1974 car.

Gabriel Iglesias 30:01 It's not really, yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:03 You know? It's really a 2023 car.

Gabriel Iglesias 30:05 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 30:06 Like, if you had a '74 Porsche built by some madman who, like, made you this wicked air-cooled engine, and... So, you're driving around in a 1974 car that's got all brand new parts.

Gabriel Iglesias 30:16 Yeah, but they're still gonna hold you to the rules.

Joe Rogan 30:18 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 30:18 I, uh, I did do a, with one of my Volkswagens, I actually, uh, s- did a, a s- it's called a Subaru swap. So, I took out the engine from, uh, the Volkswagen and I put in a Subaru turbo engine in it.

Joe Rogan 30:30 Oh, Jesus.

Gabriel Iglesias 30:30 'Cause it, 'cause it fit perfectly.

Joe Rogan 30:32 Oh, wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 30:32 And so now, that car is like, it, it's fast. It is super fast, and it's quiet.

Joe Rogan 30:38 I saw a video online. See if you could find this. It was a Ford, an old Ford Econoline van that they put a supercharged Coyote engine in.

Gabriel Iglesias 30:47 Oh, wow.

Joe Rogan 30:48 So, it was this r- those ones where your face is, like, right at the windshield. You ever see those?

Gabriel Iglesias 30:52 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:53 It's, like, such a flat-faced, weird thing. But he's got this crazy fucking supercharged Coyote Mustang engine in it. Just ... with a, an Econoline.

Gabriel Iglesias 31:06 Yeah. S- some of these, uh, modifications, they don't really, you know, they're not worried about the height or the, you know, it, you gotta put everything else in there to match so that-

Joe Rogan 31:13 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 31:13 ... it can handle, right?

Joe Rogan 31:14 They're doing it just for funsies.

Gabriel Iglesias 31:15 (clears throat)

Joe Rogan 31:16 Nobody really needs an Econoline-

Gabriel Iglesias 31:17 N- nobody needs an E-

Joe Rogan 31:17 ... van with a supercharged fucking Coyote engine in.

Gabriel Iglesias 31:20 Like, I heard-

Joe Rogan 31:20 You find it anywhere?

Gabriel Iglesias 31:21 I heard a rumor that they, they were gonna make a Hellcat minivan.

Joe Rogan 31:25 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 31:25 And I'm like, "You know what? I, I think I'm down."

Joe Rogan 31:27 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 31:28 "I think I'm down."

Joe Rogan 31:30 No, this is an... It's actually even older than that. That's a 1970 f- one. With that one, someone did the same kind of thing, too. Oh, they made that one a sleeper. That's interesting. (laughs) They kept that one kind of looking real stock on the outside. The other one was, like, a tan one. It was, like, a tan Econoline van. But it was a really old one. The real flat-faced front ones. Yeah.

Narrator 31:53 I haven't seen anything.

Joe Rogan 31:54 No worries. I, I should've saved it. Someone sent it to me on, uh, Instagram. It's hilarious.

Gabriel Iglesias 31:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 31:59 But I just always thought it was funny that you, uh, picked that one car. So, I always wanted to know-

Gabriel Iglesias 32:04 It was-

Joe Rogan 32:04 What was it?

Gabriel Iglesias 32:05 ... it, it was just one of those things where I, I, I really liked it and I started, uh, making every single color that they came out with, and then I ran out of... I used the entire, um-

Joe Rogan 32:15 Palette?

Gabriel Iglesias 32:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 32:16 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 32:16 And so then we just started having fun and creating our own, uh, color schemes.

Joe Rogan 32:19 Oh, really?

Gabriel Iglesias 32:20 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 32:20 Oh, that's awesome. Do you drive them?

Gabriel Iglesias 32:22 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 32:23 You take them out? Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 32:23 They all, they all work. Um, I try not to take them on the freeway. I mean, there's a couple that are, like, really, really good on the freeway. But most of the time, I'd just rather keep them on the streets. And they've all broken down. They've all left me on the side of the road at one point in time.

Joe Rogan 32:35 Look! (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 32:35 Uh, 'cause if you're not driving them every day-

Joe Rogan 32:36 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 32:37 ... you're gonna have issues with them.

Joe Rogan 32:38 For sure.

Gabriel Iglesias 32:39 You know? So, I got a team that's like, "All right. I'm going for a drive. Be on, be on standby."

Joe Rogan 32:43 Yeah, 'cause-

Gabriel Iglesias 32:43 Like, I won't take them out at, at, at times when I don't have people that I can get a hold of.

Joe Rogan 32:47 And they're 50-plus-year-old cars.

Gabriel Iglesias 32:49 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 32:49 And they're stock. And when you're, um, when you're saying you have some that are good on the highway, what do... Most of them have, what, a four-cylinder in them?

Gabriel Iglesias 32:56 They're all four.

Joe Rogan 32:57 They're all four?

Gabriel Iglesias 32:57 They're all, they're all tiny. They got-

Joe Rogan 32:57 So, do you have-

Gabriel Iglesias 32:58 ... four, four bolts to put those, uh, engines in.

Joe Rogan 33:00 Really?

Gabriel Iglesias 33:00 Yeah. It's like a, you know, it's a big lawnmower is what it is.

Joe Rogan 33:02 So, the one that does better, though, on the highway? Is it just a stronger engine, just healthier?

Gabriel Iglesias 33:08 I think that, um, because it's the one that gets driven more, like, uh-

Joe Rogan 33:11 Oh.

Gabriel Iglesias 33:11 ... my, my favorite one to drive is a 1968 that I have. It's, uh, called a, uh, bay window. And it's the generation that came after the split, so the, the buses had that little widow's peak in the, in the-

Joe Rogan 33:21 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 33:22 ... you know, the two windows. Uh, and that's 1960, that stopped in 1967. And then 1968 was the full-size windshield.

Joe Rogan 33:28 Hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 33:29 And so, a lot of the components, everything was more, uh, user-friendly. It was more comfortable. The brakes were better. The suspension, you were able to, you know?

Joe Rogan 33:37 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 33:38 Like, the windows are slide on a, on a '67. Whereas the other one, the windows go all the way down.

Joe Rogan 33:42 They slide left and right?

Gabriel Iglesias 33:43 Yeah, slide, slide left and right. So you can't-

Joe Rogan 33:45 Ah!

Gabriel Iglesias 33:45 ... like, hang your arm out. You can't do any of that. But with s- 1968 and above.

Joe Rogan 33:49 Wow. And what is it, like, 100 horsepower or something?

Gabriel Iglesias 33:52 If that.

Joe Rogan 33:53 Wow!

Gabriel Iglesias 33:53 If that. I mean, most of them-

Joe Rogan 33:55 That's crazy.

Gabriel Iglesias 33:55 ... I mean, they started off, like, what, 20, about 25, 30, about 20, between 25 and 30, uh, horsepower.

Joe Rogan 34:01 Wow. For a van?

Gabriel Iglesias 34:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:03 How many bands tried to make their way across the country in those things?

Gabriel Iglesias 34:06 Oh, man.

Joe Rogan 34:06 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 34:06 You know what? That, but I mean, that was the, that was the sprinter van of its day.

Joe Rogan 34:10 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 34:10 That's why people would turn those into camper vans or they'd-

Joe Rogan 34:12 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 34:12 ... get the band in there or they'd, you know, uh, they'd gut the whole thing out. It was a panel van or they, they, you know, there were so many uses for those back then.

Joe Rogan 34:20 Yeah. Did the Manson family have one of those?

Gabriel Iglesias 34:23 I wouldn't doubt it.

Narrator 34:24 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:24 It seemed like something they would have.

Gabriel Iglesias 34:25 I wouldn't doubt it.

Joe Rogan 34:26 A- see if the Manson family had a VW van.

Gabriel Iglesias 34:28 S- someone actually tried-

Joe Rogan 34:29 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 34:29 ... to sell me, uh, Dr. Kevorkian's Volkswagen.

Joe Rogan 34:33 Dude, they have that at the, uh-

Gabriel Iglesias 34:35 I, I got the option to buy it.

Joe Rogan 34:36 Really?

Gabriel Iglesias 34:36 Yeah. They tried to sell me the van. The yellow, that bus that's now at the museum in Las Vegas. So, they, uh, they reached out to me 'cause they knew, you know? And so anytime something Volkswagen bus-related pops up.

Joe Rogan 34:48 That's crazy.

Gabriel Iglesias 34:49 So, uh, the, the-

Joe Rogan 34:50 So, you had a chance to buy it-

Gabriel Iglesias 34:51 I had a chance to-

Joe Rogan 34:51 ... before the museum?

Gabriel Iglesias 34:52 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:53 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 34:53 But I'm like, "I can't," and, like, "Uh, it just-"

Joe Rogan 34:55 You don't want that.

Gabriel Iglesias 34:55 It felt so eerie.

Joe Rogan 34:55 You don't want that. It belongs in the museum.

Gabriel Iglesias 34:57 And even though it's like, "Okay, it's a good talking piece. Hey, hey, guess what I have over here? I got the death machine."

Joe Rogan 35:02 Fuck that.

Gabriel Iglesias 35:02 Um-

Joe Rogan 35:03 That's just crazy.

Gabriel Iglesias 35:04 So, yeah. You could see it at the, uh, the, I think it's called the, uh, Museum of Death, I think.

Joe Rogan 35:09 I almost bought David Koresh's 1968 Mustang.

Gabriel Iglesias 35:12 Oh, wow.

Joe Rogan 35:13 Yeah. It was for sale online. And they were advertising it was David Koresh's Mustang. And apparently, it had provenance so they could prove it. And, uh-

Gabriel Iglesias 35:21 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 35:21 ... I was like, my finger was hovering over my phone. I was like, "Do I fucking-

Gabriel Iglesias 35:25 Do I? Do I?"

Joe Rogan 35:25 'Cause I really want one of those. I really wanted a '69. But, I mean, like, '69-

Gabriel Iglesias 35:28 But did you want his?

Joe Rogan 35:29 ... David Koresh?

Gabriel Iglesias 35:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:30 Part of me was like, "Yes." But the other part of me was like, "What if I'm opening up doors that now can never close? What if he truly was evil-"

Gabriel Iglesias 35:37 The Branch Davidian staff car?

Joe Rogan 35:38 "... and made his way into the car?"

Gabriel Iglesias 35:40 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 35:40 Like Christine? Remember that movie?

Gabriel Iglesias 35:41 Oh, my God.

Joe Rogan 35:42 Christine?

Gabriel Iglesias 35:42 I love that movie.

Joe Rogan 35:43 Fuck yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 35:44 They never ex- they never explained-

Joe Rogan 35:46 That was it. That was his car. Waco cult leader, that was the car.... I mean, come on, son. That looks strong.

Gabriel Iglesias 35:49 That is beautiful.

Joe Rogan 35:50 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 35:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:51 1968. And if... I was gonna just drive it stock like that, I mean, just fuck around, take it to the store. But I thought about it and I was like, "I don't think, I don't want that fucking bad karma."

Gabriel Iglesias 36:02 E- and you could-

Joe Rogan 36:03 That bad energy.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:03 ... you could find a car like that.

Joe Rogan 36:04 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:05 Yeah. I- I have one that looks like that, but I got the white stripe on it.

Joe Rogan 36:08 Hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:09 Beautiful.

Joe Rogan 36:09 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:10 It's a- it's a fun car.

Joe Rogan 36:11 Oh, man, yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:11 It's a fun car.

Joe Rogan 36:12 Yeah. They're- they're amazing cars. Those, uh, and the Restomods in those are particularly good 'cause they're- they're well-balanced, you know. It's like it's good shape, good size car for that kind of application. I have a '69 that Roadster Shop built me. I fucking love it.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:27 I saw it online. It looks cool.

Joe Rogan 36:28 Oh, I fucking love it.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:28 It looks really, really cool.

Joe Rogan 36:29 It's so fun. It's so fun.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:31 I, um, I had, um, done as much as I could to modify the car to make it, uh, safe. So, like, for example, I put LEDs. I took out the old- the old stuff-

Joe Rogan 36:42 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:42 ... and I put LEDs so that it's bright. Uh, changed the, uh, the cluster inside to make sure that it was all digital and bright-

Joe Rogan 36:48 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:48 ... so that I could see it. And-

Joe Rogan 36:50 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 36:50 ... and I had- I had people getting upset with me over it. I'm like, "Come on, man." I'm like, "I just want to enjoy the car."

Joe Rogan 36:55 Oh, because you were changing the original stuff?

Gabriel Iglesias 36:56 "Let me, let me just, let me just enjoy the car."

Joe Rogan 36:57 You gotta stop talking to those fools. Those people are idiots. Just leave it alone.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 37:02 Come on, bro.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:02 Ruining it.

Joe Rogan 37:02 Everyone's gonna die. Everyone.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:06 And then someone else is gonna enjoy it.

Joe Rogan 37:07 Just enjoy it. Don't try to, like... Im- there's plenty of 'em that are out there that are stock. It's not like we're running out of 'em.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:13 You know, I gotta tell you, I- I bought something really cool last week and, uh, I got a chance to play with it yesterday. I bought a 1994 Ford Mustang Cobra.

Joe Rogan 37:25 Ooh.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:25 Um, the difference between that and the- anything else out there is that, uh, it only had 12 miles on it.

Joe Rogan 37:32 Oh, wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:32 And it's... Yeah, so-

Joe Rogan 37:33 So it was a dealer car.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:34 It was covered in plastic. It still had the- the sticker in the window.

Joe Rogan 37:37 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:38 It still had all the- the different, um, you know, the barcodes and just everything on it.

Joe Rogan 37:42 Hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:42 So I had to rip the plastic off the seats.

Joe Rogan 37:45 Whoa.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:46 And that for me was the coolest thing, it's just like, "Wow."

Joe Rogan 37:48 For a 1994 car?

Gabriel Iglesias 37:49 1994.

Joe Rogan 37:51 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:51 And so the guy who bought it, I guess, was, uh, a collector of Mustangs and he just bought it and let it sit.

Joe Rogan 37:57 Hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 37:57 And it just... He kept it in a- a temperature-controlled, uh, room and I guess something happened where, you know, it became available.

Joe Rogan 38:04 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 38:04 And I jumped on it and I'm like... 'Cause 1994 is the year I graduated high school and that's the car I wanted. And so I think it's cool that I'm able to buy a brand new old car.

Joe Rogan 38:14 That's crazy.

Gabriel Iglesias 38:15 And-

Joe Rogan 38:15 How many of those are out there?

Gabriel Iglesias 38:17 Yeah, that's... You know, I got- I got lucky. I found it online and I'm- I just jumped. I'm like, "It's- it's mine."

Joe Rogan 38:22 Hmm. It's funny how cars like, um, uh, and not just muscle cars, 'cause muscle cars are fast, but cars like a Volkswagen, they're fun to drive, even if they're slow. It's, like, so much more engaging than a regular car. It's like you're on a little ride, like you're in a go-kart.

Gabriel Iglesias 38:37 That's exactly what it is. And then you're sitting high.

Joe Rogan 38:40 Hm.

Gabriel Iglesias 38:40 It's a different experience, you know. It's like now you can get an SUV and of course you're up there, but to be that high up and then you're literally, your face is, the windshield's right here.

Joe Rogan 38:49 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 38:49 No safety.

Joe Rogan 38:50 Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 38:50 You hit anything and you're just-

Joe Rogan 38:52 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 38:52 ... "Bye."

Joe Rogan 38:53 And you feel everything. You feel every bump and twist of the road and-

Gabriel Iglesias 38:56 Yeah. You got the wheel and you're sitting on-

Joe Rogan 38:58 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 38:58 ... you're sitting over the wheel, so it's just, you know.

Joe Rogan 39:00 Yeah. Suspension sucks, everything. (laughs) Can't go around a corner, it's terrible. Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 39:05 I actually got up on two wheels one time-

Joe Rogan 39:07 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 39:07 ... by accident and I- I'm lucky I didn't die. I was getting on the freeway and I just cut the corner too hard and I felt it, man. And then you just boom-

Joe Rogan 39:15 It's-

Gabriel Iglesias 39:15 ... came back down.

Joe Rogan 39:15 It's really interesting because it does, a car does not have to be fast to be engaging, you know. That's like what I think gets lost with a lot of these paddle shifter cars, these new cars. Everybody's just trying to go zero to 60 faster and getting around the Nurburgring faster, but that's not really what makes a car fun. Like, you don't really drive like that in real life.

Gabriel Iglesias 39:35 You- you even-

Joe Rogan 39:35 You would wan- like, you'd rather have a car that's more fun slower. 'Cause like some cars like my Tesla, if I'm going 80, you don't even notice you're going 80 miles an hour. It just goes whoosh and all of a sudden you're going 80. But if I'm going 80 in, like, an old Porsche-

Gabriel Iglesias 39:49 You feel that.

Joe Rogan 39:50 ... you feel everything. You feel everything. You feel it, like, it's, like, exciting. Everything is, like, alive, you know? I have an old-

Gabriel Iglesias 40:01 Do that.

Joe Rogan 40:01 ... uh, 1993 RS America, so it's got no power steering, no air conditioning, no radio, no nothing. Air cooled, super light, tiny little car and it only has like 300 horsepower, but it's, like, one of my favorite cars to drive.

Gabriel Iglesias 40:15 But you feel everything in that car.

Joe Rogan 40:17 Yeah, it's a ride.

Gabriel Iglesias 40:17 Everything. You are part-

Joe Rogan 40:18 You are at Disneyland.

Gabriel Iglesias 40:20 You are part of the ride.

Joe Rogan 40:21 You are at Disneyland riding.

Gabriel Iglesias 40:22 You are part of that car.

Joe Rogan 40:22 Yeah. I mean, it's slow as shit compared to, like, my Tesla.

Gabriel Iglesias 40:25 But when you're- when you're doing, if you're doing 80 in that versus 80 in the Tesla-

Joe Rogan 40:28 Big difference.

Gabriel Iglesias 40:29 ... you feel like, "Wow, I'm going-"

Joe Rogan 40:31 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 40:31 "... 100 miles an hour."

Joe Rogan 40:32 You feel alive.

Gabriel Iglesias 40:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 40:33 You feel like you're on a motorcycle or something. It's crazy. It's like... (imitates engine revving) And it's also the way they handle, like, you feel the tires break, like you have, like, a connection to the tires. Like, when you hit the limit and you feel it kick out-

Gabriel Iglesias 40:46 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 40:47 ... and you know where that limit is. Like, you, it's almost like your shoes.

Gabriel Iglesias 40:50 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 40:50 You know when, you know when you're sliding? You know what I'm saying? Like you know how to sli- stop yourself sliding?

Gabriel Iglesias 40:55 You're- you're- you're- you're waiting to see the smoke.

Joe Rogan 40:57 Yes.

Gabriel Iglesias 40:57 Like any second now that, you're gonna, something's gonna, something's gonna snap-

Joe Rogan 41:00 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 41:00 ... and- and you're gonna have to pull over. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 41:01 Well, those cars too, the engine's in the back and so the ass end kicks out around corners, you know, and if you're going around a corner and you let off the gas-

Gabriel Iglesias 41:09 You fishtail it.

Joe Rogan 41:10 Yeah, like especially those old, like, the old turbos?

Gabriel Iglesias 41:13 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 41:13 Those old wild ones that people got? (laughs) Those things, they called them widow makers. G- giant-ass engine in the back, skids out real easy.

Gabriel Iglesias 41:23 Hmm.

Joe Rogan 41:24 Go around a corner, let off the gas, you spin around in a circle and crash.

Gabriel Iglesias 41:27 (laughs) Good luck.

Joe Rogan 41:28 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 41:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:29 You have to teach people to keep their foot on the gas when they're going around a corner. That's crazy. Most people-

Gabriel Iglesias 41:36 I'm- I'm- I'm- I'm, you know, uh, fortunately, I'm- I'm, I don't have the need for speed as much. If I have a nice little straightaway-

Joe Rogan 41:42 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 41:42 ... I'll get it on the 405 if there's an opportunity. All my driving I do o- um, after midnight.

Joe Rogan 41:48 Hmm.... oh, you like to get out of the house?

Gabriel Iglesias 41:50 ... I, I get out of the house at night-

Joe Rogan 41:52 Hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 41:52 ... and I like taking my drives between midnight and 3:00 in the morning because there's nobody out there.

Joe Rogan 41:57 Just enjoy driving.

Gabriel Iglesias 41:57 And I can just drive.

Joe Rogan 41:58 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 41:59 You know, so I'll do a, I'll do a lap. So I'll take, like, the 605 to the 210 to the-

Joe Rogan 42:04 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 42:04 ... you know, the, the, the 134 and I'll just go through LA.

Joe Rogan 42:07 Do you know who Magnus Walker is?

Gabriel Iglesias 42:09 I know the name.

Joe Rogan 42:09 Magnus Walker is, is a Porsche expert. He re- he rebuilds old Porsches, (clears throat) makes them amazing. But he, like, he has these videos about Porsches that are like a love letter to Porsche.

Gabriel Iglesias 42:21 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 42:21 He takes these old Porsches and drives them on the highway and he's a cool looking dude. He's got crazy dreadlocks and fucking wears funky clothes and shit. I think he made his money in clothing business. Pretty sure. Um, and so he has this warehouse in downtown LA where he keeps all these Porsches-

Gabriel Iglesias 42:36 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 42:37 ... and he's got a video where he gets out and drives them. So that's like-

Gabriel Iglesias 42:39 He looks like a Magnus.

Joe Rogan 42:41 Yeah, that's Magnus.

Gabriel Iglesias 42:42 Magnus.

Joe Rogan 42:43 He's got a, um, cool English accent. But see if you can find one of the videos of him, because there's a video of him, I think it's called 911 Outlaw. There was like ... there was a video called 911 Outlaw, I think. It was, like, one of the oldest videos where it just sort of ... it, like ... Urban Outlaw, that's it. So this was, like, the video where I found out about it. This was a long ass time ago. But this dude makes all these cars. Give me some volume. (upbeat music) So this is a real old car. This is probably like a '68 or a '69 or something like that and he's got, you know, like, just sort of a juiced up stock engine, but it's all air cooled. Everything is super, super lightweight. Like that car probably only weighs 2,000 pounds. (engine revs) And when, you know, he's got, like, the little air ducts he's put into the side. A lot of the stuff that he's done on the car is very custom. But listen to that. (upbeat music) So then he takes these motherfuckers out in downtown LA and it's ... when you watch him do it, it's very addicting. Like, here, give-

Narrator 43:59 911s were such ... Red and blue stripes. (instrumental music) I even wrote a letter to the Porsche factory that they-

Joe Rogan 44:05 Go, go earlier when you see him actually going fast in these things.

Narrator 44:09 ... see it's not seen as- Mm-hmm. ... hotel law.

Joe Rogan 44:10 No, no, no. Yeah. (instrumental music) Yeah. So this is, this is it. Like, that is a beautiful little car. And it's not fast, not compared to modern standards, but the pleasure you get out of driving one of those things. It's like everything is analog. You feel every bump, it's like it's all just giving you feedback. It's exciting and, and you know the inside-

Gabriel Iglesias 44:36 And you, and you see how there's no traffic and he's enjoying it? It's a nighttime drive-

Joe Rogan 44:39 Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

Gabriel Iglesias 44:39 ... and he can actually, you know, give it gas if he wants to or chill.

Joe Rogan 44:42 This was before the pandemic though. Go out now, it's a goddamn zombie movie.

Gabriel Iglesias 44:46 I'm not gonna lie, I kind of enjoyed the drives during that. I think that's what got me out of the house.

Joe Rogan 44:49 Oh, during the middle of the pandemic, yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 44:51 Yeah. I'm just like, "Wow."

Joe Rogan 44:52 Yeah. Yeah. I just mean in downtown LA. Downtown LA is fucked. It's fucked. So I don't even know if he's still there anymore. This is quite a while ago.

Gabriel Iglesias 45:03 Hmm.

Joe Rogan 45:04 I would have fucked around like (screams) .

Gabriel Iglesias 45:05 Yeah, you did. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 45:06 Yeah, but I mean, I would have if I was in downtown LA, I really would have.

Gabriel Iglesias 45:10 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 45:10 Like, that place is crazy. Dude, I remember filming Fear Factor in downtown LA in like 2003 or something like that. It was crazy back then. I was like, "This is wild." There's so many homeless people down there.

Gabriel Iglesias 45:22 It is insane the, the amount of, I mean, tent cities everywhere you look.

Joe Rogan 45:27 Insane.

Gabriel Iglesias 45:27 Everywhere you look and it's just like, "What the hell?"

Joe Rogan 45:30 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 45:31 You know, it's-

Joe Rogan 45:31 What, what the hell?

Gabriel Iglesias 45:32 ... so much. It's like, it's ... And what kills me is some, some of these tents have, like, electricity. Like, they got generators-

Joe Rogan 45:39 Oh, yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 45:39 ... and TVs, I'm like, "Whoa!"

Joe Rogan 45:41 They're kind of wiring right into, like, these-

Gabriel Iglesias 45:42 Are, are you homeless or are you camping?

Joe Rogan 45:44 ... poles and shit. They're opening up poles and pulling wires out and diverting power, like ...

Gabriel Iglesias 45:48 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 45:50 Some of these guys are like homeless electricians.

Gabriel Iglesias 45:52 Yeah, no, it's like, okay, that's-

Joe Rogan 45:54 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 45:54 You know, I, I don't... I, I feel like that they're making that choice.

Joe Rogan 45:57 Well, there's probably, as fucked up as it is, some kind of community to being a part of this struggle with all these other people that are sleeping on the streets.

Gabriel Iglesias 46:05 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 46:06 You know? And then there's open air drug use and it's tolerated and, you know, and then there's places where you can go, especially in Skid Row, and you can get some help, you can get food. It's fucked because it doesn't seem like it's getting any better at all. It j- they move them places, they shift them out of certain spots when it becomes inconvenient, and then they sort of drift back in eventually-

Gabriel Iglesias 46:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:26 ... and then the other places, they get bigger and bigger. The places where they neglect it, they just keep getting bigger.

Gabriel Iglesias 46:31 That's, that's all I'm saying is they're getting kicked out and then they're finding, you know-

Joe Rogan 46:34 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 46:34 ... they're not like, "Oh, that, they're, that, that community is now over here."

Joe Rogan 46:38 It's crazy that this was never an issue when we were kids. It was never an issue. Like, when do you remember when you were a kid seeing tents?

Gabriel Iglesias 46:45 Ever seen tents?

Joe Rogan 46:47 Never. Never. And it's like we're just supposed to accept that there's nothing that can be done. Like, what are you gonna do? Now there's tents. Now what did you do? What did, what did the... what the fuck did you neglect that you let these people camp out on streets? Why would you let that happen ever? You know? And is it encouraging them if you do let them do that? I mean, I don't know. But I know there's a lot of them and you're letting them do it and seems like there's more all the time and you're letting them do it and there used to be none.

Gabriel Iglesias 47:14 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 47:14 There used to be no tents anywhere. So tell me what the fuck you're doing. "Well, we have a very comprehensive homeless outreach program."

Gabriel Iglesias 47:21 Nah. Nah.

Joe Rogan 47:21 That doesn't do jack shit. You know, we, uh, we ran a lit- Uh, my friend Colion Noir is a lawyer and he was in San Francisco talking to them about it and he was like, "What is the problem here? Is it a lack of funding?" And this guy who was talking to him goes, "No, no, the opposite. The people that are on these homeless commissions, they're making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year."

Gabriel Iglesias 47:43 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 47:43 So he shows this list to us of all the people in LA that are making money that are, they're supposed to be managing the homeless problems. Some of them are making a quarter million dollars a year.... and they're out there, "Well, we're doing our best to outreach and give them safe s- crack pipes." Like, it's madness. It's complete ne-

Gabriel Iglesias 48:00 People have no concept, they have no understanding of, of the situation.

Joe Rogan 48:03 Well, not only that, they have no incentive. The people that are running it, if the homeless problem goes away, they don't have a job anymore. So what are they gonna do? They're gonna make sure it's manageable and, "Well, we need more funding. We're very close to cracking this problem. We're gonna need more funding," and they just keep getting more funding.

Gabriel Iglesias 48:18 Mm-mm.

Joe Rogan 48:19 And, I mean, it has to be addressed like an environmental problem. Like, if there was a leak, an oil leak in the middle of the street and all those places where the tents were, there was just giant puddles of oil that were coming out of the ground, they would have to deal with that. They would go, "We have an environme- a vi- environment issue."

Gabriel Iglesias 48:34 It's environmental.

Joe Rogan 48:34 "It's real, it's getting into the water supply. It's poisoning... We can fix it, but it's gonna take a lot of resources and time, but we're gonna do it." Y- yeah. You've gotta... (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 48:42 'Cause you have to. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:43 You have an environmental problem. It's just humans. You know? And you've got to figure it out through a, a compassionate solution.

Gabriel Iglesias 48:49 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 48:49 You, you gotta do it with a sense of community. But you can't just let people ta- fucking camp everywhere. Crazy assholes. Like, like, you know?

Gabriel Iglesias 48:57 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 48:57 It's not going to get better. What, are you gonna bury your head in the sand until you're the president? What are you gonna do? What, are you gonna just escape from LA after le- leaving the whole state of California a fucking disaster and move to the White House? Is that the move? Is that how it works? 'Cause no one's fixing it. They're not fixing it in New York. New York is just fucking crazy.

Gabriel Iglesias 49:13 Oh, yeah. Another, another mess. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:14 Crazy. San Francisco's the worst. San Francisco is like a failed state. San Francisco might as well be Libya. That place is wild.

Gabriel Iglesias 49:23 Yeah. And the, and the, and then the streets-

Joe Rogan 49:24 People are just shitting in the streets.

Gabriel Iglesias 49:25 The crime is next level in San Francisco. It is stupid.

Joe Rogan 49:29 Next level. Next level.

Gabriel Iglesias 49:29 It is stupid.

Joe Rogan 49:30 People are parking their cars and, uh, leaving their windows rolled down and their, their hatch is open.

Gabriel Iglesias 49:34 And their trunks are open. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:35 'Cause they don't want to get smashed. Fuck, man.

Gabriel Iglesias 49:37 And, and it doesn't matter what time of day-

Joe Rogan 49:39 It does matter.

Gabriel Iglesias 49:40 It doesn't matter who's around.

Joe Rogan 49:41 Doesn't matter who's around. No one's stopping anybody from doing anything.

Gabriel Iglesias 49:43 Mm-mm.

Joe Rogan 49:43 It's crazy. It's crazy how quick San Francisco fucked. Because everyone's pulling out of there, hotels are pulling out, like supermarkets, or, um, uh, chains like Walgreens is pulling out. They're like, "What the fuck?"

Gabriel Iglesias 49:56 It's becoming a ghost town and they're not pumping the brakes on it.

Joe Rogan 49:59 I don't know what they do now at this point.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:01 Mm-mm.

Joe Rogan 50:01 What do they do? They don't have the resources to fix it now 'cause they fucked it up so bad for so long and they don't have to, they would have to admit that all of their policies sucked.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:10 And nobody's gonna do that.

Joe Rogan 50:11 Nobody's gonna do that.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:12 Nobody's gonna do that.

Joe Rogan 50:12 What are you gonna do, Fluffy? You gonna make your way to Texas?

Gabriel Iglesias 50:14 Hey, man, uh-

Joe Rogan 50:15 Let's go.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:16 You know many times I've be-

Joe Rogan 50:17 Let's go, Fluffy. Let's go.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:18 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 50:18 We're gonna wine ya and dine ya this weekend.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:20 You know how many times I've come close to, uh, to moving out here? Uh-

Joe Rogan 50:23 How many times?

Gabriel Iglesias 50:24 Oh, man. I've been, I've been talking about San Antonio for at least 10 years.

Joe Rogan 50:27 San Antonio's dope.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:28 At least 10 years. Yeah, it's right up the street.

Joe Rogan 50:29 I got a good real estate agent.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:32 I actually already own a house in San Antonio. Do you? Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:35 No shit.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:36 Yeah, I bought it a long time ago.

Joe Rogan 50:37 Oh.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:38 Um, but it's just... I, I feel like I'm gonna get homesick.

Joe Rogan 50:43 Totally.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:43 And, and I, I feel like, "Ah."

Joe Rogan 50:46 Yeah, fly back home when you want to.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:47 You know you can, you keep... (laughs)

Joe Rogan 50:49 Whenever you feel bad, fly back home and go, "What the fuck is wrong with me?" And after a while, San Antonio will be your new home. And there's that nice club out there, too. Was it LOL?

Gabriel Iglesias 50:57 Yeah, they got, they got LOL, you know.

Joe Rogan 50:59 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 50:59 And, uh... Oh, God. What's the other one? Cap, not Cap City. That was here. Um, the, um...

Joe Rogan 51:05 They reopened Cap City.

Gabriel Iglesias 51:05 River Center. The River Center Comedy Club.

Joe Rogan 51:07 They reopened Cap City, but not really. It's, uh... The Helium guys opened it, and it's, um, in, uh, The Domain out here.

Gabriel Iglesias 51:14 Oh, it's not in the same place that it was?

Joe Rogan 51:15 No, no, no. That place is, that place is, uh... I don't know what's going on with that place. The guy who owns that place just got in trouble, some sort of federal shit.

Gabriel Iglesias 51:26 Hmm.

Joe Rogan 51:27 Bribery shit. Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 51:29 Always something.

Joe Rogan 51:30 Yeah. I was looking at buying it a few years ago, but there was a lot of problems and they wanted way too much money for it. And then, uh, I found this cult theater. The theater was owned by the cult and, uh, I had got out of that deal once... There was problems with that place too.

Gabriel Iglesias 51:44 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 51:44 And then we got this place. I'm excited to show it to you tonight.

Gabriel Iglesias 51:47 Uh, yeah, I'm, I'm looking forward to it.

Joe Rogan 51:48 I'm excited.

Gabriel Iglesias 51:49 But yeah, to answer your question, I've been... I've come close. I've come close to coming to Texas-

Joe Rogan 51:53 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 51:53 ... a few times. I've actually thought about Texas and Florida.

Joe Rogan 51:56 Yeah?

Gabriel Iglesias 51:56 I know. Some of you are like, "What? Really?" (laughs) Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:00 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 52:01 You know?

Joe Rogan 52:01 Yeah. When shit gets weird, you start wondering like, I, you know-

Gabriel Iglesias 52:04 It's, it's-

Joe Rogan 52:04 ... I'd kind of be somewhere else.

Gabriel Iglesias 52:06 Yeah, you find yourself shaking your head and you're like, "Wow, what the hell are we doing?"

Joe Rogan 52:09 "What the hell are we doing?"

Gabriel Iglesias 52:11 You know?

Joe Rogan 52:11 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 52:11 It's like, "I'm paying for this? Like, why... Wha- what am I..."

Joe Rogan 52:14 But also, there's-

Gabriel Iglesias 52:15 Like, "Ugh." It's, it's frustrating.

Joe Rogan 52:15 ... the psychological aspect of it. That was what was driving me crazy. People that I knew were morons, like the mayor of LA. The psychological aspect of having, that guy having any control over what I do with my time, what I do with a living, for a living, what I, what, what I can and can't do, what I'm allowed to do and not allowed to do based on whatever guidelines he's presenting? Bro, you can eat shit. That guy's a moron. And I don't like taking instruction from people that I know are bought and paid morons. And that was just so frustrating 'cause y-... Before that, you never had to deal with the mayors. You never... Like, you never thought about the mayor. What was the mayor gonna do that's gonna affect your life? You know, you would vote for the people that you thought had the best policies and, you know, supported the school systems and whatever you hoped that they would do, but you never thought they would keep you from working.

Gabriel Iglesias 53:04 No.

Joe Rogan 53:04 Who the fuck saw that coming? And keep you from even doing outdoor shows and even outdoor dining. These people were maniacs and they were in charge of telling everybody what to do, and I was like, "This is not good." And there's too many people in this town that think there's something, something good about being compliant. You know, there's something good about, like, you, we're doing it for everyone else. Like, are you fucking sure? Are you sure these morons know what they're doing? Are you sure?

Gabriel Iglesias 53:30 More, more, more businesses have, you know, went under and, and, you know-

Joe Rogan 53:33 Oh, God.

Gabriel Iglesias 53:33 If you were lucky enough to recover or just weather the storm, that's one thing, but most people didn't.

Joe Rogan 53:38 Yeah, and not only that, those businesses, I bet all those people got COVID anyway. Everybody got COVID anyway, I bet. And I bet if those people got COVID and recovered, they would have been safe to run their fucking store.... like, they just did- took the decision out of people's hands and it's been proven that it was a disaster. It was a disaster for the economy, it was a disaster for mental health, it was a disaster for people's careers, it was a disaster for people's long-term businesses that they had to close. Family businesses, that they had restaurants for 30 years. The local neighborhood places that everybody went to. "Sorry, you can't work-

Gabriel Iglesias 54:14 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:15 ... for a year and a half." They just bled people out. And meanwhile these big giant stores, they just made more and more money because those are the only places you can go. And they told people their job was essential or nonessential. Like, who the-

Gabriel Iglesias 54:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:28 ... fuck are you? Yeah, guess what's nonessential?

Gabriel Iglesias 54:30 You.

Joe Rogan 54:31 You. You. You fucking halfwit. Telling people what they can and can't do based on what? Not even, no debating the science of it, no real conversations with experts that have disagreeing opinions.

Gabriel Iglesias 54:44 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 54:45 It was gross, man.

Gabriel Iglesias 54:46 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 54:46 I was happy to get out of there.

Gabriel Iglesias 54:47 Yeah, and then we wonder why there are so many tent cities.

Joe Rogan 54:50 You know that Gavin Newsom guy's running for president.

Gabriel Iglesias 54:54 (sighs) (laughs)

Joe Rogan 54:54 He's already started campaigning. He's already started campaigning without campaigning, he just did Sean Hannity and he's just r- ringing up California talking about how great California is. (sighs)

Gabriel Iglesias 55:06 Every day I think about leaving. But it's- it's still home, you know?

Joe Rogan 55:09 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 55:09 I tell people, you know, when they- (laughs) they say, "What- what you still, you're still?" Yeah. You know, I- I love my, I love- it's home, that's what it is.

Joe Rogan 55:16 I get it.

Gabriel Iglesias 55:16 And that's the hard part.

Joe Rogan 55:17 Make it your second home.

Gabriel Iglesias 55:18 Even though I'm a traveling comic, you know.

Joe Rogan 55:20 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 55:20 Yeah, I know. I say I, yeah, (laughs) it's like, uh-

Joe Rogan 55:22 Coming every now and then with like a full- fully armored armada and just block everything down.

Gabriel Iglesias 55:29 You know? And I got my, uh, my little sanctuary that I've worked on, you know, for so many years to- to make my little, my- my spot.

Joe Rogan 55:37 Exactly how you like it. Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 55:38 And then it's like, ugh.

Joe Rogan 55:41 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 55:41 You know? But then I see the, at the end of the year when I'm getting taxed and I'm like, ugh. Like-

Joe Rogan 55:45 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 55:45 ... like that, the tax alone would pay for everything in Texas. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:49 Those tax people are so silly. They want so much money. I wish it was going somewhere. I wish it was going something really good. Like if the, if the taxes were, uh, very high but then you looked at the quality of life that you get from it and you're like, "Wow, they do an amazing job with all this tax money." No, they do a terrible job. (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 56:06 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 56:06 It's fucking overrun with bureaucracy and too many people and nothing gets fixed-

Gabriel Iglesias 56:10 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 56:10 ... and nothing gets done, it's like blah.

Gabriel Iglesias 56:13 Yeah, I still see the potholes. I hit them. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 56:15 Yeah. Yeah. That's minor. That's minor. The homelessness is the biggest one.

Gabriel Iglesias 56:19 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 56:19 Like that is bonkers. That you- you think you are doing your job if you're- you are governing a city-

Gabriel Iglesias 56:26 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 56:26 ... that has 100,000 homeless people or whatever it is. What did we say it is? 65? They guess.

Narrator 56:31 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:31 They're guessing. They're guessing. They ain't doing a fucking survey.

Gabriel Iglesias 56:35 Now you're- you're here all the time, what is it like here?

Joe Rogan 56:38 It's nothing. Very, there's homeless people.

Gabriel Iglesias 56:40 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 56:40 There's homeless people in every city but there's way less, and they cleaned up all the tents around the city. Every now and then they pop up under the bridge but they clean them up and then they come back and then they clean them up and they come back. But at least they clean them up. At least they don't allow them to accumulate and become like a village.

Gabriel Iglesias 56:53 (laughs) Exactly, straight up.

Joe Rogan 56:54 Like in San Francisco. Where the, like San Francisco's essentially they have these open air drug dens. Michael, uh, Shellenberger wrote a great book about it called San FrancSicko and he talks about how these progressive policies are just destroying these cities.

Gabriel Iglesias 57:06 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 57:06 It's like, you have to make a correction and they're not making a correction. So what are you gonna do?

Gabriel Iglesias 57:12 (sighs)

Joe Rogan 57:13 Move out to Wyoming.

Gabriel Iglesias 57:13 I wish I had the answer for that, yeah. Ugh.

Joe Rogan 57:17 When you go on the road, do you go on the road-

Gabriel Iglesias 57:18 Ugh.

Joe Rogan 57:18 ... for just weekends or do you do like long stretches?

Gabriel Iglesias 57:21 Uh, I guess it depends on if it's a- a big tour. If it, like right now I'm just doing nothing but clubs.

Joe Rogan 57:26 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 57:26 It's a, I, you know, after the Dodger Stadium show-

Joe Rogan 57:28 Nice.

Gabriel Iglesias 57:29 ... um, my agent and my manager wanted me to- to ride the wave of the success of the Special and go back and tour hard. And I'm like, "No. I- I- I wanna, I wanna just pump the brakes for a little bit." I wanna remind myself why I love this so much. So I said I just want to do nothing but clubs-

Joe Rogan 57:46 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 57:46 ... for at least half a year.

Joe Rogan 57:47 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 57:48 And so just doing shows, you know, I'll- I'll still do, you know, my four sets a week 'cause I was doing, you know, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. But now I'm just doing it at one place-

Joe Rogan 57:57 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 57:57 ... and then doing two shows Friday, two shows Saturday, you know?

Joe Rogan 58:01 That's beautiful.

Gabriel Iglesias 58:01 So get- get my sets in and- and- and go home. And yeah, I'm not making the same money but the peace of mind is incredible, you know? I'm not stressing about money, I'm not stressing about, uh, paying for these tour buses or paying for the rigs or paying for the production, uh, you know, what- what's going on at the end of the night at the arena, what's... I mean, there's so much that goes into it and to be able to just walk into a club and focus on let me just be funny and have fun.

Joe Rogan 58:23 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 58:23 You know? So I-

Joe Rogan 58:24 It's a great way to write a new hour too.

Gabriel Iglesias 58:26 Yeah. You know, and I love the fact that when I'm doing these clubs everybody's a lot more excited. First of all, the staff is incredible. No matter where I'm going, the, everybody's been super great and the crowds have been super appreciative that they can watch an intimate show like that.

Joe Rogan 58:42 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 58:42 'Cause even if you're sitting in the back row of the club, you know, at an arena that's like row three.

Joe Rogan 58:46 Right. Right.

Gabriel Iglesias 58:47 You know what I mean? And so it's, you know, it's- it's been a lot of fun and I've enjoyed it and it reminded me how much, um, I love this. Because I think at a certain point, um, I became a ho.

Joe Rogan 58:57 (laughs)

Gabriel Iglesias 58:58 I became a ho and it became more about the money.

Joe Rogan 59:01 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 59:01 'Cause dude, once the money started coming, it's like you get scared 'cause it's so much and it's coming at you from all these different angles and you're having these meetings and you're, they're going over your portfolio and-

Joe Rogan 59:12 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 59:12 ... you gotta invest this and we gotta do that and blah, blah, blah, and you're like, oh my god. And now you- you know, I have employees. I never had employees and now I employ like 30 people-

Joe Rogan 59:21 Mm.

Gabriel Iglesias 59:22 ... which is insane, you know?

Joe Rogan 59:23 Mm-hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 59:23 And if, and if I stop working, they all stop working so then it turns into this thing where, you know, you- you- you feel almost like you're obligated to work even more to take care of everybody else.

Joe Rogan 59:34 That's Bert Kreischer.

Gabriel Iglesias 59:36 Oh. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 59:37 Yeah. Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 59:37 So when I told, uh, my team I want to do clubs for half a year, uh, they- they were not happy about it and they're like, "You're- you're missing out. You really, this- this, you gotta strike while the iron's hot."

Joe Rogan 59:47 No, they're missing out.

Gabriel Iglesias 59:48 And- and, but they're- they're-

Joe Rogan 59:49 They're missing out.

Gabriel Iglesias 59:50 ... they're not, they, you know, they see one thing in you, as creatives it's- it's very different.

Joe Rogan 59:54 Yeah, but they have to like-

Gabriel Iglesias 59:55 And the peace of mind-

Joe Rogan 59:56 ... not give you creative advice.

Gabriel Iglesias 59:58 No.

Joe Rogan 59:59 ... that's very important for non-creative people.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:00 But that's not creative advice, it's- it's financial.

Joe Rogan 1:00:03 Right. But it's cre- But creative, for you-

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:05 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:00:05 ... is, "I need m- to fill my creative void. I wanna go out there and fuck around."

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:00:10 "I wanna have a good time." That's the creative aspect of it. When you're doing a show, you got a show. There's 15,000 people in there. It's a show-

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:17 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:00:17 ... it's a different kind of thing. You're not gonna, like, really write in front of 15,000 people.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:00:21 You write and fuck around in front of a small crowd. Like, it's a creative choice. And they- they're wrong anyway. Like, you ain't getting off that wave, son. You don't have to worry about that wave, riding the wave. You'll be on that wave for the rest of your life. You don't have to worry about that wave.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:36 Thank you.

Joe Rogan 1:00:37 Yeah. You don't have to worry about that wave at all. They can relax. You could take a year off and g- get off fucking Instagram and Twitter and just vanish for a year and come back-

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:45 Ugh.

Joe Rogan 1:00:45 ... and crush it. It doesn't matter. You can do whatever the fuck you want.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:48 That was the one thing about COVID is- it is- I- I had never taken a break that long-

Joe Rogan 1:00:53 Hmm.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:53 ... from comedy, ever.

Joe Rogan 1:00:54 It's amazing-

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:54 And-

Joe Rogan 1:00:54 ... how much energy you have when you don't have to work every night (laughs) .

Gabriel Iglesias 1:00:57 You know what? Yeah. Well, it's very diff- You can actually get on a schedule. Like, you know, for me, I've always dealt with the weight issue. It's always been a thing for me. But, um, being home for a year and actually being able to focus, and I had a trainer and everything. I was able to lose 70 pounds.

Joe Rogan 1:01:11 Nice.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:01:12 See, uh, all my- all the doctors that I've been avoiding because I've been on the road, I've actually got to go see everybody and find out how I was doing.

Joe Rogan 1:01:19 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:01:20 So, I felt like it was- it was helpful. I never take time off, ever. I work all the time. I'm on the road 46 weeks out of the year.

Joe Rogan 1:01:27 Well, you always have been. That's always been your reputation.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:01:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:01:29 That's why, you know-

Gabriel Iglesias 1:01:30 Go, go, go.

Joe Rogan 1:01:31 ... we was talking about the- even at the Icehouse shows. Crazy. The guy's doing four shows (laughs) .

Gabriel Iglesias 1:01:36 Do the- do the 2:00 PM kids show, yeah (laughs) .

Joe Rogan 1:01:37 Ridiculous. Nobody does that. Nobody has four shows in a day. That's insane.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:01:42 And- And I used to do- I used to do the shows, and then as soon as I'd get off stage, I'd go outside and do a full-blown meet-and-greet.

Joe Rogan 1:01:47 Oh, wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:01:47 So I would meet every single- Like, do the show, do a meet-and-greet, and then by the time the meet-and-greet was over, it was time for me to go back up on stage.

Joe Rogan 1:01:54 Hmm. Oh my God.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:01:55 And so I was doing that, you know-

Joe Rogan 1:01:57 Wow.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:01:57 ... I was doing that every week forever. But I think that's also what helped to build, um, build everything up, is that-

Joe Rogan 1:02:03 Oh, 100%. 100%.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:04 ... you know, you're- you're engaging with people, you're-

Joe Rogan 1:02:06 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:06 ... you know?

Joe Rogan 1:02:07 Yeah, real grassroots. You were, like, really getting out there and hanging out. We used to always do that at the Icehouse, have those meet-and-greets afterwards. Hang out, talk to people. That's a great club. That setup back there is amazing. Just that little-

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:18 Have you been there recently?

Joe Rogan 1:02:19 No, I haven't. I haven't been when it's remodeled. I heard-

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:21 Uh, the bosses did a- uh, an amazing job with it. It's- It's very modern. Part of it is like, uh, they killed certain things that kind of made it The Club club-

Joe Rogan 1:02:31 Oh, yeah?

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:31 ... where- where now it feels a little bit more- it's- it's too clean.

Joe Rogan 1:02:34 Corporate? Too clean?

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:34 It's too clean.

Joe Rogan 1:02:36 I don't know why they would fuck with it. It was literally perfect.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:38 I know. There's a sky box in the back of the room. Literally, a sky box-

Joe Rogan 1:02:41 I heard about that.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:42 ... in the back of the room. And if it's the room for the comics to chill in-

Joe Rogan 1:02:45 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:46 ... it's badass. It's the greatest green room ever. But it's now considered a VIP room in the back, and there's like, a glass, like a- like a- uh-

Joe Rogan 1:02:53 So, it's a place where people can just talk-

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:56 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:02:56 ... while you're on stage.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:57 Talk, talk, or- or just, you know, just- Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:02:58 That's what it looks like?

Gabriel Iglesias 1:02:59 Back there.

Joe Rogan 1:03:00 Oh, that's weird.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:03:01 So, the room still feels good.

Joe Rogan 1:03:02 Well, I remember that room. So, they just basically opened that room up, 'cause it used to be that room was closed off.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:03:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:07 Right? So it's not like the room's any smaller.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:03:09 No, no, no, no. The room is the same size and, uh-

Joe Rogan 1:03:12 That's still expensive.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:03:12 ... you know, it's still- it's still fun. It's still fun to perform in there. It's just very different.

Joe Rogan 1:03:16 Yeah.

Gabriel Iglesias 1:03:16 And as somebody that spent years going there to all of a sudden see, you know, you- you enter