EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,055 words- 0:00 – 0:37
Billy Corgan addresses the Bill Burr “half-brother” rumor and how it exploded
- NANarrator
(drumming) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.
- BCBilly Corgan
The Joe Rogan Experience.
- JRJoe Rogan
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (instrumental music) All right, we're ... What's happening, man? Good to see you.
- BCBilly Corgan
Thank you for having me back.
- JRJoe Rogan
My pleasure. Um, how many times a day do you get bombarded by the whole Bill Burr thing?
- BCBilly Corgan
When it gets into the family-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
... and people I haven't talked to for 20 years.
- JRJoe Rogan
Ugh, then do you have to break character and tell the truth?
- BCBilly Corgan
No. You know, the thing is, i- i- this is what's crazy, okay? Uh, you want the whole setup story?
- JRJoe Rogan
Sure, sure, sure.
- 0:37 – 4:24
Howie Mandel, the on-camera ‘skit’ that wasn’t, and calls for a DNA test
- BCBilly Corgan
I could be quick about it. Uh, so, uh, where I tape my podcast is in one of Howie Mandel's buildings, and he has another building in this area. So, uh, I was working on something, and, and I was supposed to go on Howie's show that day. And they said, "Howie will meet you out in the street or something, for whatever reason." So I go out in the street, and the first thing Howie says to me when he sees me, he goes, "Here comes Bill Burr." And I go, "You too?" Like, "Do you know this story?" And he said, "No, I don't know about it." And I said, "You know what? Heck with it, I'm just gonna s- tell it on your show, so don't ask me any more." And I went on the show, and I told the story about my, how 10 years ago, my stepmother came to me and said, "Do you know who Bill Burr is?" I'd never heard of Bill, didn't know who he was, 'cause I don't really consume much, you know, popular culture. I had no idea he was a famous comedian. He could've been the lawnmower guy. Looked up Bill, first thing I saw was like, oh my God, he looks just like Daddy. When I was 18 years old, at an IHOP my, on my 18th birthday, my father told me, "You have a half-brother that I sired at the same time as you whose name is Bill." So suddenly, these facts come together of my mother telling me these stories. I talked to my dad subsequently about it, and he was very cagey about it. And when I said, "Why won't you tell me where this person is or who this person is?" He said, um, "I'm trying to protect you." So when my stepmother had told me, it kinda made sense, like, well, if, if my half-brother is this super famous comedian, my dad, in a way, wouldn't want me to know, because he wouldn't want me to feel like I was number two-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
... because Bill's so famous. I know it sounds crazy, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
You think that's why he was trying to protect you?
- BCBilly Corgan
Well, I don't know. So, so fast forward to Howie saying something on the street. So I was like, "You know what? I'm just gonna say something." And I swear to God, hand on my heart, last time I was with you in California, I almost pulled you aside after we were on, and I was gonna tell you the story, 'cause I knew you knew Bill, and I was gonna back channel, see if there was anything to the story from Bill's side.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow!
- BCBilly Corgan
So imagine seven, I think six or seven years since we talked on your show.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, I don't even know-
- BCBilly Corgan
2018, 2018 somebody said to me today, but... So anyway, started talking already, but the point is, is-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
... so here I am, fast forward, I'm just sick of seeing memes of my face with Bills and uh, so I just decide on the spur of the moment, you know? So Howie of course loves it, but I said on, on Howie's show that first time, "I don't think Bill's my half-brother. I don't think, I don't think there's anything there other than a, like an uncanny resemblance." Fast forward, the thing comes out, it gets a little bit of social media, and then it goes away. And I think, "Good." And Bill didn't say anything, so I figured Bill was kind of like, whatever, it was a mild amusement. You know, he could've made a joke out of the whole thing, and he didn't. So then Howie calls me, and I'm in LA working recently, and Howie's like, "Will you come on the show? Bill's gonna be on." And I said, "Is Bill cool with it?" "Oh, yeah. No problem." So then I go there, and it's like, it turns into this thing that you see happening on camera. It's like, it's weirdness times... it's like a, like a sk- like a skit, but it's real. And, and Bill's on me, then Bill's on Howie, and it gets just go... Okay, so I just told you basically everything I know, okay? I have people I've known for 20, 30 years coming up to me, going, "What do you think?" And I say, "I don't, I don't, I don't think we're related. I mean, yeah, there's a resemblance, but I don't think we're related." "Well, did you get a DNA test?" And I'm like, "No, I don't... There's nothing to get a DNA test for." "Well, I think he's your brother." So people that know me, and I'm telling them I don't think he's my brother, now they want a DNA test to prove it.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
That's how much it- it's taken on a life of its own.
- JRJoe Rogan
Do you think it's just because they want a DNA test 'cause it's fun if he's your brother?
- BCBilly Corgan
No, no, they're convinced-
- JRJoe Rogan
For real, for real?
- BCBilly Corgan
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- BCBilly Corgan
For real, I swear to God. I mean, pe- people I'm close to, people that were at my wedding, I'm like, they're like, "No, you need a DNA test."
- JRJoe Rogan
Did Bill's dad know... well, did your dad know Bill's mom?
- 4:24 – 10:07
A chaotic father: rumors of many children and a missing list of names
- BCBilly Corgan
No, my father wouldn't talk to me about it at all. Okay, some more context.
- JRJoe Rogan
Okay.
- BCBilly Corgan
My stepmother in that same time, 10 years ago, when she told me that she thought Bill Burr was my half-brother-
- JRJoe Rogan
Jesus.
- BCBilly Corgan
... this guy I don't know, r- right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
I mean, it's just imagine if like, "Hey, hey, do you know Joe Polanski?"
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- BCBilly Corgan
And you look up, and it's a famous comedian. That's, you know what I mean? That was-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, right, right.
- BCBilly Corgan
So, in that same, uh, thing with my stepmother, she told me that she thought my father had sired 12 children.
- JRJoe Rogan
Whoa.
- BCBilly Corgan
Il- il- you know, uh-
- JRJoe Rogan
All over the place.
- BCBilly Corgan
All over the place. He was a traveling, uh, musician, and a whore, to his own admittance. So it kinda makes sense. He once told me he'd slept with 1,000 women, so-
- JRJoe Rogan
Jesus.
- BCBilly Corgan
12 out of 1,000, (laughs) you know what I mean? It's the-
- JRJoe Rogan
Normal odds.
- BCBilly Corgan
The ma- yeah, the math are-
- JRJoe Rogan
It's actually pretty good.
- BCBilly Corgan
Yeah. Um, and so, um, when I went to my father, and I told him what my stepmother had said, he got really cagey and wouldn't tell me anything. He promised me that he would write down the names of the, of the illegitimate children on a piece of paper so I could find them after he died.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh my God.
- BCBilly Corgan
A- and he died, he's died, and there's no paper.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh my God.
- BCBilly Corgan
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
So now I got people wanting DNA tests because they're convinced that Bill is my half-brother.
- JRJoe Rogan
Is Bill willing to do a DNA test?
- BCBilly Corgan
I think that's ridiculous, (laughs) you know what I'm saying? It's like-
- JRJoe Rogan
No, you have to do it.
- 10:07 – 14:25
Comedy craft vs. music craft: Carrot Top, pitching bits, and why comics hate premises
- BCBilly Corgan
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
And you easily could've been a comedian as well. Just-
- BCBilly Corgan
I, I don't think I'm that funny, but-
- JRJoe Rogan
You're funny. There's a lot of people-
- BCBilly Corgan
See, see-
- JRJoe Rogan
... that are professional comedians-
- BCBilly Corgan
Okay.
- JRJoe Rogan
... that aren't as funny as you.
- BCBilly Corgan
Okay. Uh, I assume you know Carrot Top.
- JRJoe Rogan
Sure, very well.
- BCBilly Corgan
Okay, okay. So Carrot Top and I have become friends recently.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's great.
- BCBilly Corgan
Love him. This ... Total sweetheart.
- JRJoe Rogan
Sweetheart of a guy.
- BCBilly Corgan
And really moused-
- JRJoe Rogan
Genuine.
- BCBilly Corgan
E- eh, just a great guy to know.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
But as you know, because you do this for a living, suddenly everybody wants to start pitching you bits.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm.
- BCBilly Corgan
So I made the mistake-
- JRJoe Rogan
Ah!
- BCBilly Corgan
... of pitching Carrot Top a bit. I thought I had a good bit for him, and he didn't respond. Do you know what I mean?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
And then I texted him, uh, like an hour later and said, "Hey, did you get that bit I sent?" He goes, "Yeah, that's why I didn't respond."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) Yeah, people get tired of that. Also, it's like most comics, they want it to be their idea. Like, the whole idea you're ... What you're doing on stage is essentially like, "Here's the world through my eyes."
- BCBilly Corgan
Ah, I see, I see. Yeah, it's like somebody telling me how to write a song. I get that.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- BCBilly Corgan
Um-
- JRJoe Rogan
I- It's one thing for another c- ... Like, comics give each ... We give each other tags. Like if someone says something, I said, "You know what else you can add to that? Add this."
- 14:25 – 23:10
Chappelle, Pryor, and the power of comedians to ‘heal’—plus Hollywood awards skepticism
- BCBilly Corgan
I actually know Dave from way back in the day.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's the best.
- BCBilly Corgan
When he first, first kind of burst on the scene, we used to hang out a little bit. So I feel like it's cool that I knew him.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like what year is this?
- BCBilly Corgan
Like earl- like w- remember he did s- like a couple things on SNL, like really early on? Or he was kind of around TV. It was like when he f-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- BCBilly Corgan
The first year he was on television, I remember I'd see him in New York and he was hanging out with some other... Maybe it was 'cause he was hanging out with SNL people.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh.
- BCBilly Corgan
And I'd see him out in New York back as guests with like na- late 90s?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
Early 2000s. And so-
- JRJoe Rogan
Okay.
- BCBilly Corgan
... I knew him when, I don't wanna say he was a nobody, but I, like-
- JRJoe Rogan
He wasn't famous yet.
- BCBilly Corgan
... he was, he wasn't a known... I, I, I'd seen him on TV but he wasn't like a household name like he is now.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, right, right.
- BCBilly Corgan
And so it's... So there w- there was this one night where I was out... I did a benefit for Roger Waters and, uh, and military vets. It was amazing, in New York. It was all these guys who were like single, double and triple amputees playing Pink Floyd music. And so I did this concert with them, with, um, Roger. So afterwards, somebody came and said, "Oh, Chappelle's in this hotel," you know? And I hadn't seen him for a few years and I said, "Oh, I, I know him." And, and you could see people think like, "You don't know him."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
You know what I mean? So when he came by, I was like, "Oh," you know? It was like that moment, like, "See, motherfuckers? I do know him."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
So, what a great guy though. Such a, what a-
- JRJoe Rogan
He's a genuine person, yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
What a... Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's another sweetheart. Just a sweet, sweet guy. Easy to hang out with, very fun.
- BCBilly Corgan
Oh, yeah. I mean, the guy, like guys with that kind of mind is just, it's just, it blows my mind 'cause they just... I mean, you could, I, I just, I don't know. I could sit and listen to for hours.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's also, he's kind of a legend for what he did. You know, he left-
- BCBilly Corgan
Oh, walked away?
- JRJoe Rogan
... left Comedy Central in the height of Chappelle's Show, passed up on a $50 million deal, went to Africa, hung out there, and then came back and didn't do standup for 10 years. Didn't do standup.
- BCBilly Corgan
I didn't know that... I didn't know that he didn't do standup for 10 years part.
- JRJoe Rogan
He would do standup occasionally for free.
- 23:10 – 26:24
Old Hollywood mythmaking to dark modern stories: studios, coverups, and a plastination scandal
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, just like those Hollywood tour people that you would get in LA.
- BCBilly Corgan
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. Those were the, the weirdest fucking people.
- BCBilly Corgan
Well, I always get offended when I walk down Hollywood Boulevard and they, they think I wanna go on it, you know what I mean? It's like I don't know what it is they, I feel like, "I don't wanna go on your tour."
- JRJoe Rogan
You look like a guy ...
- BCBilly Corgan
Totally, I get offended like, "I don't wanna go on your tour."
- JRJoe Rogan
Who, who'd get on a tour, just got off the boat.
- BCBilly Corgan
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Just came here from Nebraska.
- BCBilly Corgan
Totally, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
Like, "Gee, I wonder where the stars live," you know?
- JRJoe Rogan
That's such a creepy thing to do. Just drive around and point, "That's where Ben Affleck sleeps."
- BCBilly Corgan
But they've been doing it since the '30s.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, forever, yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
I mean, I, I have some of the old brochures, you know, see where Greta Garbo lives and all that stuff.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's just always been weird. Well, back then it was even weirder because those were the first stars.
- BCBilly Corgan
Well, back then, I mean, they, they, they went way out of their way to turn them into gods, you know, the, they airbrushed the shit out of every photo and, and they-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- BCBilly Corgan
... they'd cover up scandals. There's that one famous scandal where one of the top male stars, maybe it was Gary Cooper or Cary Grant, ran somebody over in a car.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- BCBilly Corgan
You don't know about that?
- JRJoe Rogan
No.
- BCBilly Corgan
You might wanna look that one up.
- JRJoe Rogan
I know the Fatty Arbuckle one.
- BCBilly Corgan
It was, w- w- w- w- it w- no. It was a top A-level star-... I think he was drunk, ran over somebody in a car, and somebody from the studio went to jail for, like, seven years and took the wrap.
- JRJoe Rogan
Whoa.
- BCBilly Corgan
So that the star could stay out, and the studio paid the guy, like, a stipend to go to jail.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- BCBilly Corgan
It's a very famous story. So some guy did seven years or something. (laughs)
- 26:24 – 29:54
Plastic surgery culture and tourism, aging in entertainment, and performance longevity
- BCBilly Corgan
Have you heard the ones where, like, um, 'cause there's so much plastic surgery in Asia, where guys are suing their wives because they marry some woman-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
... that they think is hot, and then the kid comes out and the kid's not very good-looking.
- JRJoe Rogan
Jawline's totally different, different nose. Yeah, there's a lot of plastic surgery over there. In Korea, it's nuts. They do their eyes in this, like, strange doorway.
- BCBilly Corgan
Somebody told me as much as 75% of the women in South Korea have-
- JRJoe Rogan
What?
- BCBilly Corgan
... surgery. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Is it really?
- BCBilly Corgan
Somebody who's Korean told me that. I don't know if that's true.
- JRJoe Rogan
Google that, Jamie. We need to find this out. This is important information.
- BCBilly Corgan
'Cause last time I was in Korea I was like, "Wow, these women here are really hot." Like, this was, like, woman after woman after woman, and somebody pulled me aside and said, "Bro, that's, like, that's just all plastic surgery. That's not real."
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow. Wow.
- NANarrator
One third as many, as up to 50% or higher, maybe. Some people have said.
- JRJoe Rogan
A lot of liars. A lot of them ladies are lying about it.
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Up to 50% or higher. Well, higher could be like 75%. (laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
I like, I like this whole new business of, um, like, plastic surgery tourism, where it's, like, cheaper to get on a plane and go somewhere-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, like, go to Turkey and get your hair transplanted.
- BCBilly Corgan
Yeah, somebody was recently trying to talk me into going to South Korea to get some work done on my face.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
(laughs) It's, like, so, like, what?
- JRJoe Rogan
I guess the idea would be you could go recover over there. Your neighbors don't have to see you with bandages over your head.
- BCBilly Corgan
No, I think it's the idea-
- JRJoe Rogan
Your face all swollen.
- BCBilly Corgan
... it's cheap... it's cheaper.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, cheaper.
- BCBilly Corgan
Cheaper and better, because they can do stuff there that we c- we can't do here yet.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, really? What can they do there that we, we, if we can't do here?
- BCBilly Corgan
Apparently they have, apparently they have some new thing that's unbelievable.
- JRJoe Rogan
What is it?
- 29:54 – 41:11
Fight-world stories: Buffer brothers, Holyfield–Lewis chaos, and private gigs for the ultra-rich
- BCBilly Corgan
... the Buffers, right? Both of them.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, yeah. Isn't it crazy that they didn't know each other until they were like 30?
- BCBilly Corgan
I only have, I-
- JRJoe Rogan
He didn't even know he had a brother.
- BCBilly Corgan
I only have-
- JRJoe Rogan
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- NANarrator
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- BCBilly Corgan
I only have one Michael Buffer story, if you wanna hear it. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Sure.
- BCBilly Corgan
So I went to see, uh, uh, Holyfield-Lennox Lewis at Madison Square Garden.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, wow.
- BCBilly Corgan
And I was hanging out with all the, all the cool people at the time. So I'm in the fourth row, and it was infamously a draw. It was almost all English tourists that had come in for the fight. They were booing the national anthem. I mean, it was a pretty riotous-
- JRJoe Rogan
Whoa.
- BCBilly Corgan
... at- atmosphere. And, uh, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I don't know anything about fights, but it was a pretty boring fight, and it, I, I, it ... Lewis seemed to be a little bit more agile 'cause of youth and all that. Anyway, so right when I, uh, you know, they're, they're in ... Whatever they're doing, HBO, if they're over there in the corner, they're doing their bit. You know what I mean? They're talking before they go to the scorecards. And a guy leans forward, the, the ref, to tell someone in the second row, might have been Don King, and I hear 'em go, "It's a draw." Right? So I, I knew it was a draw like 60 seconds before they announced it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Whoa.
- BCBilly Corgan
And I was with a lot of well-known people, and I said, "Run." And they're like, "What do you mean?" I said, "We gotta run." Like, and I started grabbing people and we ran out of Madison Square Garden. And we're almost totally out the building, you know, kind of where you get to the concourse part? And you hear the decision and it's like brr, and people start, like here comes the riot vibe.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- BCBilly Corgan
So somehow we ended up, because it got so-
- JRJoe Rogan
Was it because the decision was bad?
- BCBilly Corgan
Well, the English people didn't like that it was a draw.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh.
- BCBilly Corgan
'Cause Holyfield was on the older side and ...
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- BCBilly Corgan
I don't know, it's not a well-renowned fight, it just-
- JRJoe Rogan
I g- I can't remember it.
- BCBilly Corgan
It was just a draw. It was a stone-cold boring fight, but because it was a draw and all these English people were mad and Don King was involved, so it was like all that typical brouhaha that was going on in boxing at the time.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- BCBilly Corgan
Anyway, so because of the, suddenly the riotous or po- potentially riotous s- situation, the police started like making people go different ways, like funneling traffic or something. And it was almost like they got like code red or something, 'cause it like suddenly got really weird. So then we couldn't get out of the building. So somebody was like, somebody recognized somebody in our party said, "F- c- follow me." And so then next thing we know, you know, we get, we end up like in the VIP backstage part where it's safe.
- JRJoe Rogan
(sighs)
- BCBilly Corgan
And, and there's, and there's, you know, uh, Michael Buffer on a chair. And he wasn't talking to me, but he's talking to somebody, and I heard him just go, "That's bullshit."
- 41:11 – 43:59
‘Tommy collects billionaires’: pitching, opportunists, and a mystery character in entertainment circles
- BCBilly Corgan
Yeah, um, uh, Jimmy Chamberlain of the Pumpkins, the drummer, uh, is friends with Jimmy John, s- the sub, the sub king.
- JRJoe Rogan
Ah, okay.
- BCBilly Corgan
So I know Jimmy John a little bit. And we were at dinner one night in Nashville at a, at a place he owns, or with other people, and one of my buddies started pitching him on a, like some kind of money thing. And I just saw his face change, 'cause everybody in the world wants to pi-... We're back to pitching ideas, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Of course.
- BCBilly Corgan
And, uh, and, and, and Jimmy John knows this mutual friend, so i- i- it's not as rude as it might sound coming out of my mouth. But at some point, i- i- he looks at him, he goes, "Tommy, you know how I got that money? I made a lot of fucking sandwiches."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
That was the way he shut him down.
- JRJoe Rogan
The...
- BCBilly Corgan
Like, like-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
... I know how... I know what I had to go through to make that money. Like, you just-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- BCBilly Corgan
You just see me as a walking ATM.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. Well, it just changes the dynamic of the friendship now, too. Now he's not gonna be able to trust your friend.
- BCBilly Corgan
Well, nobody, nobody trusts-
- JRJoe Rogan
'Cause he's always gonna think-
- BCBilly Corgan
Nobody trusts Tommy.
- JRJoe Rogan
Tom's a mess?
- BCBilly Corgan
Tom, Tommy's infamous, actually.
- JRJoe Rogan
Infamous.
- BCBilly Corgan
Yes, man. Everybody-
- JRJoe Rogan
Infa-dash-mess. (laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
Um, I've literally been walking down the street in foreign countries and strangers will come up to me and say, "Oh, you know Tommy?" It's like he's just a legendary character in the entertainment business.
- JRJoe Rogan
What was he trying to pitch Jimmy John on?
- BCBilly Corgan
Uh, some kind of investment scheme, or something.
- JRJoe Rogan
Ooh.
- BCBilly Corgan
Because, uh, uh, my friend Tommy collects billionaires.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, boy.
- BCBilly Corgan
I c- I c- I call it, uh, he plays billionaire lotto.
- NANarrator
Mm.
- 43:59 – 53:33
Billy’s father as a ‘character’: addiction, guns, mob ties, and a childhood around drugs
- BCBilly Corgan
The story I wanted to tell you about my father was when I was on your show, um, I told you a story about how I found a, uh, uh, dub- a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun under my father's bed. It was in a guitar case.
- NANarrator
Right.
- BCBilly Corgan
Well, my father heard the show about a month after I told the story on your show. And so I get this text from my father. This is when he's still alive, obviously, and, and, and he goes, "Yeah, I heard what you said on, on Joe's show." (laughs) And I'm like, you know, you're looking at your phone like, "Here it comes," you know, 'cause I thought he was gonna be pissed at me. He goes, "There's one thing you left out of the story." Waiting, text. "Th- the shotgun wasn't loaded." (laughs) That's all he wanted me to know. Like somehow I made it better. (laughs)
- NANarrator
How bizarre. Your f- your father sounds like a fucking character.
- BCBilly Corgan
He was unbelievable. Unbelievable.
- NANarrator
What, what did he play?
- BCBilly Corgan
Guitar.
- NANarrator
Wow.
- BCBilly Corgan
Great, great, great musician. Really, truly great musician. He's the, he's the classic guy that shoulda made it and didn't.
- NANarrator
Wow.
- BCBilly Corgan
So when I made it, it made the whole thing really weird.
- NANarrator
Oh.
- BCBilly Corgan
Because he looked at me and said, "How did my schlubby kid make it and I didn't?"
- NANarrator
Wow.
- BCBilly Corgan
"He must've got lucky. He must've done something."
- NANarrator
Wow.
- BCBilly Corgan
"'Cause if it didn't work for me, how could it work for him?" So that was a weird, a weird thing. But he was talented. I mean, he really was talented.
- NANarrator
That's great. Did he... Did you get a l- did you feel resentment? Did you get along with him after that? Or was it weird?
- BCBilly Corgan
It was a, uh... My father had a lot of issues with drugs, so it was always kind of like it can be with addicts. It was like-
- NANarrator
Mm.
- BCBilly Corgan
... depending on the day.
- NANarrator
Mm.
- BCBilly Corgan
One day, he would tell me I was the greatest thing that ever happened to him, and I was the number one son and da da da, and two weeks later, he's telling me he wished I'd never been born and I should've been aborted.
- NANarrator
Ah.
- BCBilly Corgan
So it was a weird... It was weird. It was a weird thing. So that's why, that's why that story's funny to me, because he didn't mind that I told you about finding a sawed-off shotgun. He minded that I implied it was dangerous when he made sure that it wasn't loaded, so it was okay. (laughs)
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
That's the way his brain worked.
- NANarrator
Do you believe him that it wasn't loaded?
- BCBilly Corgan
Yeah, yeah.
- NANarrator
Yeah.
- 53:33 – 1:03:45
Weed laws, ‘identity stoners,’ and subcultures: from 4/20 to Juggalos to body modification extremes
- BCBilly Corgan
Is weed legal in Texas? I don't think it was.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's not. It's weird. It's decriminalized. There was actually a lawsuit that Ken Paxton tried to stop Dallas from decriminalizing weed, and they just lost in court. So Dallas now, marijuana is decriminalized for personal use. It's stupid. It should be the whole country. It should be legal, just like whiskey is. Don't do it if you don't wanna do it, but, you know, you should probably know what the effects are and we should probably study what the actual correct dose is per person, like we know with drinks. Like, one drink is one drink, right? You know what it is.
- BCBilly Corgan
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
You, you go to the, the bar, you get a shot of tequila. That's what it is. It's one shot of tequila. Everybody's pretty much ... It's standard. With weed, you don't know what the-
- BCBilly Corgan
Oh, I see. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
You don't know what's the right amount. Like, should I take two hits or three hits? What ... You can build up a tolerance, like your dad. You're smoking weed ... Like, if I smoked weed all day long, I'd be a fucking mess. I'd be paranoid and freaked out. I'd be like, "Everyone's out to get me."
- BCBilly Corgan
He, he was. But he was.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
And he just kept doing it. That's what's even crazier. And weed back then was not weed today. It's ... You probably could get some weed that's commensurate with weed today, Acapulco Gold or something wacky, but generally-
- BCBilly Corgan
They have all these crazy strains now, right? Isn't that the ...
- JRJoe Rogan
Now they have scientists, botanists got involved in the game.
- BCBilly Corgan
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
And they, they're, they're making super weed.
- BCBilly Corgan
I noticed one thing 'cause I was in LA for a couple months this winter, and ...... when they first, whatever, decriminalized in LA, it seemed like everywhere you went, everybody was smoking weed. It became like a thing.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- BCBilly Corgan
You couldn't go anywhere without smelling, you know, the telltale smoke. And now it seems to have calmed down-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- BCBilly Corgan
... and I think it's almost like now it's like Holland back in the day-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, normalized.
- BCBilly Corgan
... where it's, like, so normal-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
... that it's no longer a thing to, like, openly smoke weed. Like-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
... so I think it's gone back to a, "Oh, it's not that big a deal," which I think is probably best. Because there was a year there where you would go there and everybody was stoned.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- BCBilly Corgan
You couldn't get service at a restaurant.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
Like, I mean, it was like people were staring off into space and-
- JRJoe Rogan
Edibles. Yeah. Well, for sure you're gonna have, like, a normalization period after a while, where it's like weed's normal. It's just like everyone's not drunk all the time, even though you can get liquor everywhere.
- 1:03:45 – 1:08:30
Family intimacy, affection, and phobias: contrasting upbringings and Howie Mandel’s germ fears
- BCBilly Corgan
Yuri, uh, uh, because of all this body talk... My wife loves all sorts of weird body talk. Um, and she- she wanted me to send you a message 'cause she's l- literally about to have a baby, like, right now.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, congratulations.
- BCBilly Corgan
So we were somewhat concerned coming in because it was possible I may not be able to come because of her about to have this baby. So, um, when we were talking, um, last night, I said, "Please don't have the baby today." You know?
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
"I wanna be on the Joe show." And she said, "You tell Joe that if I start to have the baby, um, I expect him to give you some of his NetJet points so you can get home."
- JRJoe Rogan
Ah.
- BCBilly Corgan
It's a very, very rich person joke, but-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's hilarious. Uh, what does that have to do with body modification? Nothing?
- BCBilly Corgan
Because she loves talking about this type of shit.
- JRJoe Rogan
Why does she like talking about that stuff?
- BCBilly Corgan
I don't know. It's like... But- but in my family, we didn't talk about anything. Sex, you know, was all just kind of implied.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, I see.
- BCBilly Corgan
That's what I'm saying. I grew up in a family where nobody hugged, nobody kissed. Everyone hated each other, and- and nobody talked about the secrets-
- JRJoe Rogan
Damn.
- BCBilly Corgan
... of life.
- JRJoe Rogan
Damn.
- BCBilly Corgan
You know, good or bad. It was all kind of in the shadows.
- JRJoe Rogan
Damn.
- BCBilly Corgan
You know what I mean? And she grew up in a family where it's like... 'Cause she has five brothers and a- a sister, so they talk about everything, like, to the point where you're just like... At dinner, like, you're talking about all this, like, weird body stuff. I don't wanna be graphic 'cause it turns me off, you know, but they- they seem to think it's funny.
- JRJoe Rogan
When did you learn to hug people and be, like, outwardly nice?
- BCBilly Corgan
Um, it's funny you ask me that. My... I didn't grow up with my mother. Um, my mother went crazy when I was four, and I never lived with her again. And we started to become close again when I was in my 20s. And I d- I remember this one time where I walked through her door, and it was that thing where I wanted to hug her because I never really hugged her my whole life. And I just made this decision at 24, like, I was gonna hug my mother and give her a kiss on the cheek.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- BCBilly Corgan
And it was like that was the opening of this (laughs) other life where people hug and kiss each other. You know what I mean? I mean, obviously, I had fooled around with girls-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- BCBilly Corgan
... but it was only within the context of- of being romantic. I had no physical affection in my life outside of that. Now, my kids are all over me, and, you know, I got a nine- and six-year-old, so it's like I'm used to kids, like, you know, rug rats cr- climbing all over you, but I didn't grow up in that at all. Like, I had no... The idea of affection was- was alien.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- BCBilly Corgan
In fact, when I first started chasing girls at 17, 18, l- you know, girls wanna hold your hand or hug you or, you know, in the car, and I was like... It was so freaky to me.
- JRJoe Rogan
When did you relax with the body? (laughs)
- BCBilly Corgan
(laughs) I'm not sure I ever did.
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, I gave you a hug when I saw you today. It seemed pretty normal.
Episode duration: 2:47:58
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Transcript of episode OFt_pIzTrHU
