Joe Rogan Experience #1785 - Earthquake
Earthquake (guest), Joe Rogan (host)
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Earthquake and Joe Rogan, Joe Rogan Experience #1785 - Earthquake explores earthquake’s Long Road: Craft, Hustle, And A Netflix Breakthrough Moment Joe Rogan sits down with veteran standup comic Earthquake to unpack his decades‑long grind, his freeform writing style, and the making of his new Dave Chappelle–produced Netflix special. They contrast the purity of standup with the compromises of TV, and explore why some brilliant comics remain underrated for years. Earthquake details building his own Atlanta club, getting blackballed, learning from Steve Harvey and Katt Williams, and refining an off‑the‑cuff, no‑notebook style onstage. The conversation ends with Rogan urging Earthquake toward more specials and a podcast—and away from restrictive network sitcoms.
Earthquake’s Long Road: Craft, Hustle, And A Netflix Breakthrough Moment
Joe Rogan sits down with veteran standup comic Earthquake to unpack his decades‑long grind, his freeform writing style, and the making of his new Dave Chappelle–produced Netflix special. They contrast the purity of standup with the compromises of TV, and explore why some brilliant comics remain underrated for years. Earthquake details building his own Atlanta club, getting blackballed, learning from Steve Harvey and Katt Williams, and refining an off‑the‑cuff, no‑notebook style onstage. The conversation ends with Rogan urging Earthquake toward more specials and a podcast—and away from restrictive network sitcoms.
Key Takeaways
Relentless stage time creates mastery that hype alone can’t fake.
Earthquake describes years of doing an hour off the top multiple nights a week at his own club; Rogan compares it to The Beatles’ early grind, arguing that polish and fearlessness only come from massive live reps.
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Know and honor your natural creative process instead of forcing convention.
Earthquake never writes physically; he builds bits from a true premise into exaggerated riffs live onstage, and Steve Harvey once tore up his notes, telling him his material ‘comes out already.’
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Don’t equate crowd size or fame with comedic quality.
Earthquake says he never felt inferior doing 2,000‑seat rooms while peers did 15,000; he measures success by making people laugh and recognizes many ‘big names’ are simply the ones who got and capitalized on opportunities.
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Curate hard lineups to stay sharp—avoid cushy openers.
Both comics argue you should bring killers, not weak comics, on the road; following strong acts keeps your timing, material, and instincts sharp and exposes frauds who rely on TV fame instead of skill.
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Gatekeepers and development deals are unpredictable—don’t hang your worth on them.
Earthquake recounts losing a CBS sitcom at the last minute, after rewrites and ‘diversity’ promises, and says he’s learned not to take such passes personally; Rogan stresses that waiting to be ‘chosen’ can make people crazy.
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Streaming platforms better support authentic, uncensored voices than network TV.
Rogan and Earthquake contrast Netflix’s hands‑off approach to specials with network demands for language and structure constraints, arguing that someone as edgy as Earthquake belongs on platforms that let him be fully himself.
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Mentorship and community keep comics grounded and relevant.
Earthquake regularly brings younger comics on the road to stay connected to his ‘constituents’ and perspective; Rogan does the same at local shows, reinforcing how giving spots and advice sustains the scene and sharpens veterans.
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Notable Quotes
““I never equated quantity with quality… When you first get into it, you just wanna make people laugh. And I have achieved that.””
— Earthquake
““It’s not how many followers you got, it’s how many comedians you can follow.””
— Earthquake
““You can’t cheat this right here. The mic will tell the truth.””
— Earthquake
““You have to be you. Just be you. Can’t nobody tell you else how to be you.””
— Earthquake
““As a fan of comedy, I’m hoping you don’t get any sitcom… Your special is that good.””
— Joe Rogan
Questions Answered in This Episode
How might Earthquake’s completely unwritten, in‑the‑moment style evolve once millions more people discover him through Netflix?
Joe Rogan sits down with veteran standup comic Earthquake to unpack his decades‑long grind, his freeform writing style, and the making of his new Dave Chappelle–produced Netflix special. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What would a modern ‘Black Archie Bunker’ sitcom actually look like on a streaming platform without network constraints?
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To what extent do gatekeepers and ‘diversity’ initiatives truly expand opportunity versus just reshuffling the same limited slots?
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How can younger comics balance studying greats like Earthquake or Chappelle without subconsciously imitating them and losing their own voice?
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If Earthquake launches a podcast, how might his decades of stories about the road, Hollywood, and the military reshape how people see his standup?
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Transcript Preview
(drum roll) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.
The Joe Rogan Experience.
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music)
All right. Talk to me, Earthquake. What's happening?
(laughs) Hey. What's up, Joe? How you doing, fam?
Great to see you, man.
Thanks for having me, first of all.
My pleasure. Listen, your special is fucking outstanding. It is one of the best specials I've seen in a long time. It's hard to laugh by yourself out loud on a phone-
(laughs)
... when you're watching someone on a phone. I laughed hard.
Thank you.
It was great. It's you! It's like, uh, y- you know, sometimes someone does a special, and it's like (inhales sharply) it's better seeing them live, but-
Right.
... you captured it.
It was, um, it was a journey. It was the first time I was properly financed.
Mm.
You know what I mean? Um, we wasn't, um, borrowing money or had the right vehicle, properly supported by the distributors and everything. So, it was, it was the opportunity. Then I knew the significance of it by Dave being a part of it, that this was th- the one I needed to elevate me to get off of this level that I'm on right now.
Well, we were talking about this before but, in my mind, your level, in terms of your ability-
Mm-hmm.
... you're already there. You're one of the best comics alive. There's no-
Thank you.
... there's no doubt about it. So this is a great representative of that. It's a great representation of that. 'Cause it's very rare that someone gets as good as you are that's not selling out arenas.
Mm-hmm.
Like, you n- that's how good you are.
Well, thank you.
So, it's ex- it's exciting for me.
Yes. And, um, you know, I hope, but you know it. You're a comic, man. You never know what's gonna do it, what's gonna generate.
Yeah.
I never had a problem with, um... I never equated quantity with quality.
Right.
So when I seen people 15,000, 17,000, 18,000, I never felt inferior or bad that I had 2,000.
Right, right.
You know what I mean? The work of it... And then at the end of the day, to be quite honest with you, as a comic you know it, when you first get into it, you stay with... you just, just wanna make people laugh. And I have achieved that. So I had already felt that I was successful, but sometimes you do sit back like, "Goddamn. When are they ever gonna get to their ease?"
(laughs)
"They keep skipping me. (laughs) How long does it take?" I mean, 'cause you, you know, I said in, um, in my act or the thing, I'm saying, "I've been the bridesmaid for so long and never the bride" and watched all my friends just get TV shows and everything. And like you said, I look at my friends, they o- uh, and I see 'em. Talent-wise, I don't feel it. I just look at 'em and say they ha- they had an opportunity, and they achieved, and they, and they won on it, and they cashed in on it. I have yet to have that opportunity to cash in on it, so that's what I'm looking for.
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