Joe Rogan Experience #1310 - Sober October 2019 Preview
Joe Rogan (host), Bert Kreischer (guest), Tom Segura (guest), Ari Shaffir (guest), Bert Kreischer (guest), Tom Segura (guest), Ari Shaffir (guest), Ari Shaffir (guest), Tom Segura (guest), Ari Shaffir (guest), Tom Segura (guest), Joe Rogan (host), Tom Segura (guest), Ari Shaffir (guest), Bert Kreischer (guest), Joe Rogan (host), Bert Kreischer (guest), Tom Segura (guest)
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Bert Kreischer, Joe Rogan Experience #1310 - Sober October 2019 Preview explores joe Rogan, Kreischer, Segura, Ari Debate Brutal Sober October Rematch Joe Rogan, Bert Kreischer, Tom Segura, and Ari Shaffir reunite to debrief the insanity of past Sober October challenges and brainstorm what the 2019 version should be. They relive Kreischer’s overtraining and dehydration, Ari’s late surge to second place, and how the competition strained marriages, health, and friendships. The group cycles through ideas like running mileage, hip‑hop dance choreography, social‑media detoxes, and even harsh punishments for whoever finishes last, while constantly roasting each other’s delusions and weaknesses. Around this, they wander into long, loose conversations about touring, morning TV, podcast history, Howard Stern, travel‑channel burnout, drugs, bombing on stage, and bizarre travel stories.
Joe Rogan, Kreischer, Segura, Ari Debate Brutal Sober October Rematch
Joe Rogan, Bert Kreischer, Tom Segura, and Ari Shaffir reunite to debrief the insanity of past Sober October challenges and brainstorm what the 2019 version should be. They relive Kreischer’s overtraining and dehydration, Ari’s late surge to second place, and how the competition strained marriages, health, and friendships. The group cycles through ideas like running mileage, hip‑hop dance choreography, social‑media detoxes, and even harsh punishments for whoever finishes last, while constantly roasting each other’s delusions and weaknesses. Around this, they wander into long, loose conversations about touring, morning TV, podcast history, Howard Stern, travel‑channel burnout, drugs, bombing on stage, and bizarre travel stories.
Key Takeaways
Past Sober Octobers pushed them to unhealthy extremes.
Kreischer describes severe dehydration, near‑rhabdo, setting off a gym fire alarm with sweat, and PTSD‑like anxiety from the 2018 fitness tracker contest, while Rogan notes they were working out six to seven hours a day just to beat each other.
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Competition format dramatically changes behavior.
The fitness‑point system led to obsessive late‑night workouts, sandbagging, and strategic posting of scores; they now debate how to keep competition objective (miles run) versus subjective (dance judged by experts or fans).
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Marriages and family life are collateral damage of obsessive challenges.
They joke but also acknowledge that Sober October upsets spouses, hijacks schedules, and creates stress at home, with several of them admitting their wives were fed up with the intensity and time commitment.
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Social media addiction is a real mental‑health concern for them.
Ari pushes hard for a month‑long phone/social‑media break, spotlighting their screen‑time stats (multiple hours per day) and arguing that stepping away would make them happier, even as others worry it would kill fan engagement.
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Career pivots often come from blunt advice and seeing peers succeed.
Kreischer credits Dice, Rogan, and Bill Burr for telling him to leave TV travel shows and commit to standup, and seeing Segura jump to theaters while he was falling off waterfalls made him fear missing his moment completely.
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Morning TV and local media are mostly useless for standup promotion.
They agree local morning shows rarely reach their audience; Segura’s DJ Dad Mouth and Mark Normand’s chaotic appearances are framed as the only way to make those hits worthwhile—by treating them as pranks instead of serious promotion.
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The best specials favor intimate venues over giant arenas.
Rogan argues a special should feel like a tight, live club experience for the viewer at home—like his Wilbur Theatre taping—because the true electricity of 10–13k‑seat arenas doesn’t translate cleanly to the couch.
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Notable Quotes
“I still have PTSD from last year’s Sober October.”
— Bert Kreischer
“You came in last and had no consequences. That’s not right.”
— Ari Shaffir
“It shouldn’t be fun. This should be terrifying.”
— Joe Rogan
“When you first started going on the road with me, you’re way further ahead now than I was back then.”
— Bert Kreischer to Tom Segura
“I believe in my own abilities. I genuinely believe in myself in this moment.”
— Bert Kreischer
Questions Answered in This Episode
Should a public challenge like Sober October prioritize entertainment for fans or genuine health and balance for the participants?
Joe Rogan, Bert Kreischer, Tom Segura, and Ari Shaffir reunite to debrief the insanity of past Sober October challenges and brainstorm what the 2019 version should be. ...
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Would a month‑long social‑media and smartphone detox be more transformative for them than another physical contest, and could they realistically maintain it?
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Is it ethical or smart for comedians to push themselves into extreme physical regimes just to fuel content and competition?
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How much has the rise of podcasts and online media reduced comedians’ dependence on traditional PR like morning TV and radio?
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What does this conversation reveal about how comedians manage ego, insecurity, and friendship when competition is introduced?
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Transcript Preview
... and that's probably the way to do it. We're cutting in right now. Pow! Ch- pow, pow, pow, pow! (imitates gun firing)
So what, what did it have?
Tell me about the tour bus.
This tour... Okay.
Are you the tour bus champ?
No.
No, no, no, he's not.
(laughs)
(laughs)
Let's, let's, let's hold off on labels till we hear the story.
'Cause I've only won one victory in this whole thing. (laughs)
(laughs)
Who's the tour bus... He came so close to the weight loss.
He did come close.
Yeah, he did come really close.
And then, then we had one year where it was like socialist. It was like, uh, Marxist. No one could lose.
Yeah.
Even if you lost, it didn't matter.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, I like that. That was comradery.
We had one year. Yeah, it was a good f- good year.
This, this year's gotta be a good one.
What am I doing?
Listen, last year I almost killed myself.
Yeah, we gotta do it differently than that.
You were pink, fucking purple.
Wasn't purple, but it wasn't the right color. (laughs)
What color was it?
I was worried I had rhabdo.
Like brown?
I was worried, uh, but it wasn't. It was just dehydration, severe dehydration. There was days where I would drink literally g- like, fucking gallons of water. You don't want ice?
I'm gonna try it without first.
No, you're crazy. Um, I was drinking so much... I was drinking water and I was adding salt to it. I was adding Himalayan salt to the water.
Wow.
Just 'cause I know I was dehydrating myself so much. I would have puddles on the ground.
And you still... That still wasn't sufficient? Like, that-
Dude, I set up, I set off an alarm.
I remember that, yeah.
I set off a fire alarm in the gym from my sweat.
(laughs)
(laughs)
(laughs)
Is that how crazy that is?
Dude, I, I have never heard of that, of course.
Yeah, I'll bet you could do that.
Yeah.
(laughs)
I have... I still have PTSD from last year's Sober October.
Dude-
Like, I get texts from you guys and panic sets in my heart, and I go, "Wait, what does this say?"
I, my wife gets it. She thinks I'm crazy.
For sure.
I moved and I just-
It upsets wives.
Yeah, yeah.
You're the only one who it hadn't like ruined the home life.
Yeah, you got lucky.
Yeah, if I had come to New York, it would've been... I mean, LA would've been terrible-
Mm-hmm.
... being here for an extra month. But like, uh, I saw that fucking stupid device when I was moving. I opened up a drawer and it was like-
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