Joe Rogan Experience #2050 - Ehsan Ahmad

1. 0:00 – 1:06

   Ehsan’s first open-mic: bombing, one hit, and the 9/11-y name joke

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) What's up, brother?

   3. EAEhsan Ahmad0:14

      Hey.

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:14

      How you doing?

   5. EAEhsan Ahmad0:15

      Good, good to-

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Good to see ya.

   7. EAEhsan Ahmad0:16

      ... see ya. Glad to be here.

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:17

      Glad to have you, finally, man.

   9. EAEhsan Ahmad0:19

      (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:19

       Dude, I was probably around... When, when did you first, when was your first time on stage?

   11. EAEhsan Ahmad0:23

       My first time on stage was, um, in this place called Tommy T's in Livermore, California.

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:30

       Oh, I know that place.

   13. EAEhsan Ahmad0:31

       Yeah, yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:32

       Yeah.

   15. EAEhsan Ahmad0:32

       It was a, it was an open mic at 2012, end of 2012.

   16. JRJoe Rogan0:37

       Wow.

   17. EAEhsan Ahmad0:37

       Early 2013. Yeah, that's when I started. And I remember going up on stage. My first joke kinda hit, and I bombed the whole time.

   18. JRJoe Rogan0:46

       (laughs)

   19. EAEhsan Ahmad0:46

       But that one little hit was enough. It was enough to-

   20. JRJoe Rogan0:50

       Do you remember what it was?

   21. EAEhsan Ahmad0:51

       Yeah. Oh, my name is Hasan Ahmad, and I know that's very 9/11-y.

   22. JRJoe Rogan0:54

       (laughs)

   23. EAEhsan Ahmad0:54

       That was my opening (laughs) that was my opening line in comedy.

   24. JRJoe Rogan0:59

       Wow.

   25. EAEhsan Ahmad1:00

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01

       So I probably met you around 2014 then.

   27. EAEhsan Ahmad1:04

       2015 is when we met.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:06

       Okay.

2. 1:06 – 4:18

   Comedy Store door-guy realities: mentorship moments and cleaning “bar poop”

   1. EAEhsan Ahmad1:06

      Yeah, I, uh, and this is a story I tell to all the door guys on what it's like to be a door guy at a, at a comedy club, 'cause this is the first time we've ever had a conversation. I was sitting by the back door, and you had just stopped, and this is something that you just talked to like all the new guys. I've noticed that you do that, you know? And then you were showing me your phone and telling me your process on how you write and how you listen to every single set as you drove back home after the store, and you talked to me for like 20 minutes. And then you left, and Curtis came up to me, and it was like, "Hey, so someone pooped in the bathroom and missed."

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:39

      (laughs)

   3. EAEhsan Ahmad1:41

      And I had to go clean it up, and it was pure liquid.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:45

      Oh. (laughs)

   5. EAEhsan Ahmad1:46

      (laughs) It was pure liquid. Yeah, every time I kept wiping, more would come in.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:52

      Oh.

   7. EAEhsan Ahmad1:52

      It was unreal. Unreal.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:56

      Oh.

   9. EAEhsan Ahmad1:56

      And, yeah, and that's, I told you that, I tell all the door guys that's what it's like working at a comedy club.

   10. JRJoe Rogan2:00

       Wow.

   11. EAEhsan Ahmad2:01

       (laughs) Especially at a high level one. You get these really cool moments, and then you have to... And you get, (laughs) you also learn your place a little bit. (laughs)

   12. JRJoe Rogan2:08

       I didn't know door people have to clean shit.

   13. EAEhsan Ahmad2:10

       Oh. (laughs)

   14. JRJoe Rogan2:11

       Really?

   15. EAEhsan Ahmad2:12

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan2:12

       Why don't... Don't they have like a janitor or something?

   17. EAEhsan Ahmad2:14

       Not, not during the night.

   18. JRJoe Rogan2:15

       Oh, wow.

   19. EAEhsan Ahmad2:16

       You know, this was, this is a... What made it crazy, this was at like 7:30. It wasn't like... (laughs)

   20. JRJoe Rogan2:20

       Oh my God.

   21. EAEhsan Ahmad2:20

       Yeah, it was like way too early to be pooping and missing.

   22. JRJoe Rogan2:23

       Oh my God. There's something about bar poop.

   23. EAEhsan Ahmad2:26

       (laughs)

   24. JRJoe Rogan2:26

       You know, poops when people are drinking. (laughs)

   25. EAEhsan Ahmad2:28

       (laughs) It's just so chaotic.

   26. JRJoe Rogan2:30

       Like every time I've ever gone into like a bar bathroom and there's dudes in there shitting, it's just like, "Oh my God, I can't wait to get out of here quick." Ugh.

   27. EAEhsan Ahmad2:38

       I- if, if you're shitting in a bar, it's basically like, "Oh, this is the last resort. I have no other options."

   28. JRJoe Rogan2:42

       Yeah. Yeah, nobody wants to do some fucking public shitting.

   29. EAEhsan Ahmad2:46

       No. And, and it was back when the store in the hallway had the single bathrooms.

   30. JRJoe Rogan2:49

       Oh, yeah.
3. 4:18 – 5:59

   Building a clubhouse: the Mothership’s green room, history, and momentum in Austin

   1. EAEhsan Ahmad4:18

      Well, and it's like when you're in a place with other comics like that, it just feels like home.

   2. JRJoe Rogan4:23

      Yeah.

   3. EAEhsan Ahmad4:24

      You know? So it's like, "Oh, I want to hang out at home." And-

   4. JRJoe Rogan4:26

      We talk about this all the time-

   5. EAEhsan Ahmad4:28

      Mm-hmm.

   6. JRJoe Rogan4:28

      ... about the mothership. That green room is our clubhouse.

   7. EAEhsan Ahmad4:31

      I live there. (laughs)

   8. JRJoe Rogan4:32

      (laughs) It's so fun.

   9. EAEhsan Ahmad4:33

      I practically live there.

   10. JRJoe Rogan4:34

       Last night was so fun. It was so... And they're always fun. Like every night we're there, we just have so much fun. Just on stage and also in the green room watching each other's new jokes and shit.

   11. EAEhsan Ahmad4:46

       Well, talking about comedy, and the green room itself is just such a comedy place. You have Lenny Bruce's mic, Mae West's couch-

   12. JRJoe Rogan4:53

       Yeah.

   13. EAEhsan Ahmad4:53

       ... Joey Diaz's words.

   14. JRJoe Rogan4:55

       Yeah.

   15. EAEhsan Ahmad4:56

       Rodney Dangerfield's notes. It's like-

   16. JRJoe Rogan4:58

       Handwritten notes.

   17. EAEhsan Ahmad4:58

       Handwritten notes.

   18. JRJoe Rogan4:59

       Yeah.

   19. EAEhsan Ahmad4:59

       It is like a place where I feel like, "Oh, I'm in it."

   20. JRJoe Rogan5:03

       Yeah.

   21. EAEhsan Ahmad5:03

       "I'm inspired." It's-

   22. JRJoe Rogan5:05

       Yeah.

   23. EAEhsan Ahmad5:05

       ... it's a, it's the best place in the world, I think.

   24. JRJoe Rogan5:07

       I think so too. I mean, we were talking about what we hoped it would be and what it is, and I don't even know if I... I don't think I ever hoped it would be this good.

   25. EAEhsan Ahmad5:16

       I mean, the club's not even a year in. I mean, the, I think we're only just sort of at the start of what it can be and-

   26. JRJoe Rogan5:22

       We have like 660,000 Instagram followers already.

   27. EAEhsan Ahmad5:26

       Yeah. (laughs)

   28. JRJoe Rogan5:27

       (laughs) It's sold out every night. It's just, it's crazy. And now that Gillis is here-

   29. EAEhsan Ahmad5:32

       Oh my God.

   30. JRJoe Rogan5:32

       ... and Shane moved here, McCusker's here, and you know, and we've got Ari, and we've got fu- I mean, Ari's been coming down a lot. We're doing another Protect Our Parks.
4. 5:59 – 8:16

   COVID as a cultural reset: distrust, relocation, and the “indoor stage time” speakeasy era

   1. JRJoe Rogan5:59

      Most of the time. I mean, obviously horrible things go wrong for good people. But the reality is that like every time something happens in your life, it gives you an opportunity to figure it out. Okay, where do I go now? What is...

   2. EAEhsan Ahmad6:12

      Mm-hmm.

   3. JRJoe Rogan6:13

      And 9/11, or excuse me, 9/11, the new 9/11-

   4. EAEhsan Ahmad6:17

      (laughs)

   5. JRJoe Rogan6:17

      ... the COVID.

   6. EAEhsan Ahmad6:18

      Oh, yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan6:19

      That, you know, like there's this monumental shifts in culture and society. 9/11 was a big one, obviously. But COVID was a big one too, man. It shifted a lot of things. It destroyed people's belief in mainstream media. It made people completely distrust the government and their regulations and their wisdom behind closing this and closing that and forcing this and forcing that. And it made everybody just go, "Man, where, where the fuck am I going? Because this is not what I used to live in anymore. This is a different place now."

   8. EAEhsan Ahmad6:50

      Right.

   9. JRJoe Rogan6:51

      And all that happened...... we come to Austin, and then I'm like, "I gotta open up a club. I have to." Like, there's no real, like, fucking comedy store thing here. And we're, there were so many of us already here. You were already here. Simpson was already here. Derek was already here. It was like, a bunch of fucking scouts went out early with fucking cold camping and tipis and shit. It was, it was wild.

   10. EAEhsan Ahmad7:17

       Y- it was wild. The first, the first door guy that moved out here, uh, was a, a funny dude, uh, regular at The Mothership named Dylan Sullivan. And-

   11. JRJoe Rogan7:23

       Yeah, very funny dude.

   12. EAEhsan Ahmad7:24

       Yeah. He got on a Discord call with me. I was in California, we were in the midst of the second lockdown, which was brutal. And he goes, "You gotta come out here. There's stage time indoors."

   13. JRJoe Rogan7:38

       (laughs) Isn't it crazy? Just that.

   14. EAEhsan Ahmad7:40

       Just the, the per- to perform indoors, it was like you, it was like drinking water after being in a desert for two years.

   15. JRJoe Rogan7:47

       It was like a speakeasy, 'cause you knew you couldn't do it everywhere.

   16. EAEhsan Ahmad7:51

       No.

   17. JRJoe Rogan7:52

       But-

   18. EAEhsan Ahmad7:52

       And there was still those rules where you had to walk in with the masks.

   19. JRJoe Rogan7:54

       Yes. I mean-

   20. EAEhsan Ahmad7:55

       That, that was still here. And so it was like, if-

   21. JRJoe Rogan7:56

       And then you take it off once you start laughing. Like, what?

   22. EAEhsan Ahmad7:59

       (laughs) Yeah, yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan7:59

       You're fucking (spitting noise) spraying COVID.

   24. EAEhsan Ahmad8:02

       (laughs)

   25. JRJoe Rogan8:02

       This poor guy, whoever you are in the front row last night, I'm so sorry.

   26. EAEhsan Ahmad8:05

       (laughs)

   27. JRJoe Rogan8:05

       I accidentally spit on you twice. You know, when you're punctuating your words and I'm seeing this guy going like this, and I'm, I wanted to address it, but I didn't wanna stop the bit.

   28. EAEhsan Ahmad8:13

       No.

   29. JRJoe Rogan8:13

       So if you're out there, buddy-

   30. EAEhsan Ahmad8:15

       (laughs)
5. 8:16 – 10:03

   Cold audiences and the opener’s job: bombing, recovering, and podcast-crowd expectations

   1. EAEhsan Ahmad8:16

      I remember-

   2. JRJoe Rogan8:17

      I think I hit him twice.

   3. EAEhsan Ahmad8:18

      I, I, I remember one time I was o- opening a show with Fatman, and I was eating, I was eating it-

   4. JRJoe Rogan8:21

      (laughs)

   5. EAEhsan Ahmad8:21

      ... like it was bad. And then I spit.

   6. JRJoe Rogan8:25

      Ow.

   7. EAEhsan Ahmad8:25

      But when you're eating it, everyone's just watching you, so the whole audience sees me just spit on the guy in the front row. (laughs)

   8. JRJoe Rogan8:31

      (laughs) I've been spit on before. I've been in the front row.

   9. EAEhsan Ahmad8:33

      (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan8:33

       It's like when people ... Joey Diaz will spit on you like c- crazy.

   11. EAEhsan Ahmad8:37

       Hmm.

   12. JRJoe Rogan8:37

       It's like when someone's on stage, they don't mean to. Sorry.

   13. EAEhsan Ahmad8:41

       Right. It, uh, uh, it really-

   14. JRJoe Rogan8:42

       Yeah.

   15. EAEhsan Ahmad8:42

       ... means that we're into it.

   16. JRJoe Rogan8:43

       Yeah, we're just going hard.

   17. EAEhsan Ahmad8:44

       Right.

   18. JRJoe Rogan8:44

       You know, or bombing. (laughs)

   19. EAEhsan Ahmad8:46

       (laughs) Yeah, and re- and trying to save ourselves.

   20. JRJoe Rogan8:48

       Trying to save yourself at the saddest fucking moment of your life.

   21. EAEhsan Ahmad8:52

       (laughs) Then it comes a point where you have to be like, "All right, I'm not gonna ask what they do for work."

   22. JRJoe Rogan8:56

       Right.

   23. EAEhsan Ahmad8:56

       "I'm just gonna live in the bomb."

   24. JRJoe Rogan8:57

       Oh, yeah.

   25. EAEhsan Ahmad8:57

       "I'm just gonna live in it. I deserve this."

   26. JRJoe Rogan8:59

       Well, you need a bunch of bombs to figure out how to bomb.

   27. EAEhsan Ahmad9:02

       Hmm.

   28. JRJoe Rogan9:02

       You know, and I've seen some people pull out of bombs. That's some of the most impressive shit of all time.

   29. EAEhsan Ahmad9:07

       Mm-hmm.

   30. JRJoe Rogan9:07

       When someone starts bombing and then they hit and then they get their confidence back.
6. 10:03 – 16:42

   Fear Factor memories, Joe’s shaved head, and a detour into concussions and fighting

   1. JRJoe Rogan10:03

      Oh, that's, I used to get that on Fear Factor.

   2. EAEhsan Ahmad10:05

      (laughs)

   3. JRJoe Rogan10:05

      People come to see me because they recognize me from Fear Factor.

   4. EAEhsan Ahmad10:09

      And they're like-

   5. JRJoe Rogan10:10

      And they want, "I love that guy. That show's great."

   6. EAEhsan Ahmad10:12

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan10:12

      And then they'd go, and I'd be talking about the pyramids being built and shit.

   8. EAEhsan Ahmad10:15

      (laughs) And they'd be like, "There's no animal dicks. Where are the animal dicks?" (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan10:17

      Yeah, "What is this guy talking about?" (laughs)

   10. EAEhsan Ahmad10:21

       (laughs)

   11. JRJoe Rogan10:21

       And then I would make fun of Fear Factor too, you know. S- but that was, you know, it was like, th- that show, when I think about it today, like, what the fuck were they thinking?

   12. EAEhsan Ahmad10:31

       It was, it was a thing. It was a real, I re- I remember I was sitting down with my parents and we would watch Fear Factor.

   13. JRJoe Rogan10:37

       Yeah.

   14. EAEhsan Ahmad10:37

       That would be a family thing.

   15. JRJoe Rogan10:39

       Yeah. I never watched it.

   16. EAEhsan Ahmad10:40

       (laughs) Well, it's like-

   17. JRJoe Rogan10:41

       I watched it once and I, I threw up at home.

   18. EAEhsan Ahmad10:44

       R- really?

   19. JRJoe Rogan10:44

       Yeah, I never threw up on the show.

   20. EAEhsan Ahmad10:45

       Yeah, that's, that seems weird.

   21. JRJoe Rogan10:47

       I threw up at home once because I didn't expect to be so grossed out. I wasn't prepared.

   22. EAEhsan Ahmad10:51

       Hmm.

   23. JRJoe Rogan10:51

       And I guess like on the show I was always prepared to not throw up.

   24. EAEhsan Ahmad10:54

       All right.

   25. JRJoe Rogan10:54

       So this-

   26. EAEhsan Ahmad10:55

       And there's no closeup angles when you're there, right?

   27. JRJoe Rogan10:57

       Yeah, this, this lady was eating worms and she (retching noise) and she threw it up back in her glass and then started eating it again. And I went ... (retching noise)

   28. EAEhsan Ahmad11:05

       (laughs)

   29. JRJoe Rogan11:05

       (laughs) I just ran to the sink and threw up.

   30. EAEhsan Ahmad11:08

       Oh. That's a level of competitiveness that I don't know if I have. (laughs)
7. 16:42 – 23:56

   Private-investigator assistant days: insurance scams, human nature, and a truly wild boss

   1. JRJoe Rogan16:42

      I deliver newspapers in the morning and I work for, uh, a private investigator in the afternoon.

   2. GUGuest16:48

      You work for a private investigator?

   3. JRJoe Rogan16:50

      I guess I was 21 by then.

   4. GUGuest16:51

      So were you, like, tracking-

   5. JRJoe Rogan16:53

      Yes.

   6. GUGuest16:53

      ... like, husbands cheating on wives, pretty much?

   7. JRJoe Rogan16:54

      It was mostly insurance scams.

   8. GUGuest16:56

      Okay.

   9. JRJoe Rogan16:56

      Most of that was insurance scams.

   10. GUGuest16:58

       Okay. (laughs)

   11. JRJoe Rogan16:58

       Most of it was, uh, people would say that they got a back injury and they couldn't work, so they were getting money. But then they would go and work another job.

   12. GUGuest17:06

       And then, and then you're following them around?

   13. JRJoe Rogan17:07

       Yeah.

   14. GUGuest17:07

       Okay.

   15. JRJoe Rogan17:07

       I'm just like a lot of dumb people. (laughs)

   16. GUGuest17:09

       Right. (laughs)

   17. JRJoe Rogan17:10

       Follow... Just a lot of scammers that thought they were being slick and we bust them. But one lady, oh, it was the saddest fucking thing. The guy I worked for, by the way, his name is Dave Dolan and he would call himself Dynamite Dickless Dave Dolan.

   18. GUGuest17:21

       Oh, my god. (laughs)

   19. JRJoe Rogan17:22

       He was one of the funniest guys I have ever met in my life.

   20. GUGuest17:25

       Yes. (laughs)

   21. JRJoe Rogan17:25

       A natural comedian.

   22. GUGuest17:26

       Oh, there's so many people in your, in li- in life like that, I think, you're like-

   23. JRJoe Rogan17:29

       Yeah.

   24. GUGuest17:29

       ... "Damn, you are the funniest person I've ever met."

   25. JRJoe Rogan17:32

       And the craziest thing is, by chance, that dude was cousins with the dude who owned The Comedy Connection, Billy Downs.

   26. GUGuest17:39

       Hmm.

   27. JRJoe Rogan17:39

       Billy Downs was his cousin. So I f- I f- found an ad for a private investigator's assistant. I was trying to figure out jobs that I could do to make money while I was trying to do standup.

   28. GUGuest17:48

       Mm-hmm.

   29. JRJoe Rogan17:48

       And so I found this job, I go, "That would be fun. Private investigator's assistant." What it really was, the dude lost his license from a DUI and he needed someone to drive him around.

   30. GUGuest17:58

       (laughs)
8. 23:56 – 33:22

   Comedy as an ecosystem: open mic program, door guys leveling up, and Austin’s club explosion

   1. JRJoe Rogan23:56

      Well, one of the things we really wanted to do when we started the Mothership (clears throat) , you know, and you and I talked about this, we all talked about this-

   2. EAEhsan Ahmad24:02

      Mm-hmm.

   3. JRJoe Rogan24:02

      ... was have a real program.

   4. EAEhsan Ahmad24:04

      Mm-hmm.

   5. JRJoe Rogan24:04

      Like a real solid open mic program. And the best way to do that is obviously have a lot of open mic times. So there's two nights a week.

   6. EAEhsan Ahmad24:11

      Right.

   7. JRJoe Rogan24:11

      Every Sunday and every Monday we have open mic where anybody can go on stage and try it.

   8. EAEhsan Ahmad24:17

      Right.

   9. JRJoe Rogan24:18

      And l- and, and you're gonna be able to see all the different levels. People been doing open mics for four months, six months, folks who've been doing it a year, guys who are coming in that are pros that are gonna drop in and do a set, and you getting to see the, the, the, the door people do their sets.

   10. EAEhsan Ahmad24:34

       And, and the door people here are ... What I, w- what I love about, what I love about the people here in Austin is that, you know, you don't run into the sort of people in LA who would ru- you would run into that are like, they're just really doing this to become a writer or they're just really doing this to become an actor, right? So this is just something that, you know. The door people here are like wannabe standup comedians.

   11. JRJoe Rogan24:53

       Yeah, they're fans of the art form.

   12. EAEhsan Ahmad24:54

       They're fans of the art form and they l- are taking this opportunity and they're, uh, the amount that they're improving that I can see is incredible. I'll look at some of the door guys and be like, "I wasn't like that at five years in."

   13. JRJoe Rogan25:06

       Hmm. Yeah.

   14. EAEhsan Ahmad25:07

       I wasn't like ... I wasn't doing that.

   15. JRJoe Rogan25:09

       Well, we all feed off of each other.

   16. EAEhsan Ahmad25:11

       Mm-hmm.

   17. JRJoe Rogan25:11

       And we were talking about Shane moving into town the other night and you guys were talking about his new half hour and like you bo- you-

   18. EAEhsan Ahmad25:16

       Fantastic.

   19. JRJoe Rogan25:17

       ... and Tony had the same reaction. You went back home and you started writing.

   20. EAEhsan Ahmad25:20

       Started writing.

   21. JRJoe Rogan25:21

       Yeah.

   22. EAEhsan Ahmad25:21

       Immediately started writing. I, uh, I went ...... uh, I went to Wisconsin recently, and I took one of the door guys, CJ Landry with me. And one of the reasons I took him with me is I did a random show with him in Dallas, like, this is last year, 12:30, just a horrible show at like midnight, and he buried me.

   23. JRJoe Rogan25:40

       Really?

   24. EAEhsan Ahmad25:41

       He buried me, and I was like, "Oh, if when I get the chance, you're gonna go on the road with me, 'cause I have to follow this."

   25. JRJoe Rogan25:46

       Mm.

   26. EAEhsan Ahmad25:47

       I wasn't expecting it. You know, I'm in there all cocky, I've been doing it so long, and then I was like, "I got... Wow, I got buried by a door guy."

   27. JRJoe Rogan25:54

       (laughs)

   28. EAEhsan Ahmad25:54

       (laughs) Oh, I gotta, I gotta... You know, it's like the- the energy around the place, like when Shane was there, the energy of just, like, everyone was just like-

   29. JRJoe Rogan26:02

       Yeah.

   30. EAEhsan Ahmad26:02

       ... "This is awesome. We can get to watch the best. We can all become better."
9. 33:22 – 40:51

   Old gatekeepers vs new platforms: Tonight Show career-making, Netflix secrecy, and strike tensions

   1. EAEhsan Ahmad33:22

      It just kind of became an A-city. I mean, the only time it really happened I f- I feel like is when Carson moved to LA.

   2. JRJoe Rogan33:29

      Well, I bet LA had comics already though, no?

   3. EAEhsan Ahmad33:33

      I mean, I'd imag-

   4. JRJoe Rogan33:33

      Or was there-

   5. EAEhsan Ahmad33:34

      I'd imagine so, but then you, y- y- you hear, like... I guess my view is the view of The Comedy Store's history, but, you know, all these people came from... All these high-level comics came from New York, right? It's like Letterman, Leno-

   6. JRJoe Rogan33:46

      When Carson moved to LA?

   7. EAEhsan Ahmad33:46

      Yeah, yeah, yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan33:47

      Really?

   9. EAEhsan Ahmad33:48

      I think The Tonight Show being in LA was a big monumental shift in people being like, "Oh, let me come here."

   10. JRJoe Rogan33:53

       Well, that was, uh, back in the time where a spot on The Tonight Show could make your career.

   11. EAEhsan Ahmad33:58

       Right.

   12. JRJoe Rogan33:58

       Like, that's when I first saw Richard Jeni.

   13. EAEhsan Ahmad34:00

       Mm-hmm.

   14. JRJoe Rogan34:01

       I was like, "Wow, who's this guy?"

   15. EAEhsan Ahmad34:03

       Mm-hmm.

   16. JRJoe Rogan34:03

       He did a spot on The Tonight Show. And you would get these, like, five to seven-minute spots, and guys would prep forever for that spot.

   17. EAEhsan Ahmad34:10

       Right.

   18. JRJoe Rogan34:10

       They just wanted that one... They wanted... Th- there were some guys that only had, like, one kill or seven minutes, because their whole idea was just get on Letterman.

   19. EAEhsan Ahmad34:20

       Mm-hmm.

   20. JRJoe Rogan34:20

       Get on The Co- The Tonight Show. Get on something. And that was, that was, like, your career move back then. This is pre-, uh, HBO Comedy Hours. This is pre-everything.

   21. EAEhsan Ahmad34:31

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan34:31

       You know?

   23. EAEhsan Ahmad34:31

       And I remember reading stories about, like, oh, Freddie Prinze got called over to the couch on his first time.

   24. JRJoe Rogan34:35

       Yeah.

   25. EAEhsan Ahmad34:35

       That never happens to anybody.

   26. JRJoe Rogan34:37

       Well, also you gotta remember, what were the numbers back then for The Tonight Show?

   27. EAEhsan Ahmad34:41

       Oh, they must've been massive, right?

   28. JRJoe Rogan34:42

       Yeah.

   29. EAEhsan Ahmad34:42

       That's only one of four shows you can watch at the time.

   30. JRJoe Rogan34:44

       Right.
10. 40:51 – 1:18:53

    AI, deepfakes, propaganda, and war coverage: ‘You’ll never know what’s real again’

    1. EAEhsan Ahmad40:51

       ... the, the AI characters too.

    2. JRJoe Rogan40:54

       Yes.

    3. EAEhsan Ahmad40:54

       That, that, that's a big part of this, 'cause SAG's still on strike, right?

    4. JRJoe Rogan40:58

       I believe so, yes. So, I think the AI thing was, there was one contract that, I don't know if it was actually being... someone actually trying to pe- get people to sign up or if it was just being discussed, where they would pay the extra, like an extra would be on the set.

    5. EAEhsan Ahmad41:14

       And they'd scan their face.

    6. JRJoe Rogan41:15

       And then they kn-... They owned their digital image.

    7. EAEhsan Ahmad41:18

       Mm-hmm.

    8. JRJoe Rogan41:19

       They could use it forever.

    9. EAEhsan Ahmad41:20

       Mm...

    10. JRJoe Rogan41:20

        So they could put you in the background of the fucking Hulk movie. They could put you in the background of a...

    11. EAEhsan Ahmad41:24

        (laughs)

    12. JRJoe Rogan41:25

        So you could... You know, like, uh, conspiracy theorists believe there are crisis actors-

    13. EAEhsan Ahmad41:28

        Right.

    14. JRJoe Rogan41:28

        ... that show up at every mass shooting and start talking about something and it's bullshit. Like, this is the, the most evil of conspiracy theories, right?

    15. EAEhsan Ahmad41:36

        Right.

    16. JRJoe Rogan41:37

        But these, this crisis actor thing, imagine if you just start seeing, like, AI people in every fucking movie, every disaster movie you see that same guy.

    17. EAEhsan Ahmad41:46

        Yeah.

    18. JRJoe Rogan41:46

        Like, "That's that dude."

    19. EAEhsan Ahmad41:47

        Yeah, it's like the-

    20. JRJoe Rogan41:47

        And that dude probably got paid $200.

    21. EAEhsan Ahmad41:50

        (laughs) It's like the Wilhelm Scream, but with like people's faces.

    22. JRJoe Rogan41:52

        Right, right.

    23. EAEhsan Ahmad41:53

        Yeah, that's what it'd be like, "Oh, if it's a disaster scene, you know this, this guy's in it."

    24. JRJoe Rogan41:57

        Well, maybe they'll be able to morph your image, give you a mustache-

    25. EAEhsan Ahmad42:00

        Oh, they probably could.

    26. JRJoe Rogan42:00

        ... a fake nose. Yeah, I'm sure they can. They could tweak your face.

    27. EAEhsan Ahmad42:03

        (laughs)

    28. JRJoe Rogan42:03

        I mean, they could face-swap you with different extras.

    29. EAEhsan Ahmad42:06

        Mm-hmm.

    30. JRJoe Rogan42:06

        They could do all kinds of stuff.

Episode duration: 2:27:38