Joe Rogan Experience #1207 - Jeff Ross & Dave Attell
Joe Rogan (host), Jeff Ross (guest), Dave Attell (guest), Jeff Ross (guest), Jamie Vernon (guest), Dave Attell (guest), Jamie Vernon (guest), Jeff Ross (guest), Narrator, Michael B. Jordan (promo clip) (guest), Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Jeff Ross, Joe Rogan Experience #1207 - Jeff Ross & Dave Attell explores jeff Ross and Dave Attell Reveal Bumping Mics’ Wild Comedy Chemistry Joe Rogan hosts Jeff Ross and Dave Attell for a long-form hang about standup craft, touring together, and the origins of their Netflix series *Bumping Mics*.
Jeff Ross and Dave Attell Reveal Bumping Mics’ Wild Comedy Chemistry
Joe Rogan hosts Jeff Ross and Dave Attell for a long-form hang about standup craft, touring together, and the origins of their Netflix series *Bumping Mics*.
They explain how their tag‑team act grew organically out of late‑night sets at The Comedy Cellar, sharpening their listening, improvisation, and joke-writing skills.
The conversation ranges from smoking on stage, casino and road gigs, Roast Battle and the rebirth of The Comedy Store, to comedy history, free speech, and how the internet reshaped standup.
Throughout, they swap stories about legends like Carlin, Kinison, Gilbert Gottfried, Roseanne, and Norm Macdonald, while reflecting on work ethic, staying present, and why comedy is a ‘cult’ they still live for.
Key Takeaways
Collaborative acts can make comics faster and sharper.
Ross and Attell found that working together on *Bumping Mics* forced them to really listen, riff, and set each other up, which improved their timing, speed, and crowd work beyond what solo sets typically do.
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On‑stage ‘vices’ are often functional tools, not just habits.
Attell leans on coffee and cigarettes and Rogan on coffee and light weed, describing nicotine and caffeine as focusing agents and pre‑set rituals that sharpen their brains—while acknowledging the downside and fragility of those crutches.
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Roasting is a structured art form, not random meanness.
Ross outlines Roast Battle rules (original material, no physical contact, every battle ends with a hug) and stresses that good roasts depend on tight joke-writing, strategy, and affection for the target, helping audiences build thicker skin.
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The best bits often start messy and need time to evolve.
They describe living with ‘malformed’ jokes for months or years, taping and re‑listening, and constantly rewriting; abandoning bits temporarily and revisiting them is central to moving from a promising premise to a true showstopper.
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Refusing to engage online limits reach, even for great comics.
Rogan argues that Attell’s lack of internet presence and promotion keeps audiences from discovering him, illustrating how today’s standup success is tightly linked to clips, podcasts, and social media—no matter how strong the act is.
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Comedy clubs and formats are being reinvented by the internet era.
They credit Roast Battle, podcasts, and streaming platforms (especially Netflix) with turning The Comedy Store from a ‘haunted house’ into a packed hub and allowing odd formats like a three‑episode *Bumping Mics* docuseries to exist.
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Comedy has always pushed against cultural limits on speech.
By comparing Lenny Bruce, Carlin, Pryor, Kinison and today’s ‘woke’ climate, they argue context and intent matter; offensive jokes and Halloween costumes shouldn’t automatically be treated as moral crimes if the aim is humor, not hate.
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Notable Quotes
“I feel like we're a cult in a weird way. Sometimes I feel like I'm a comedian before I'm even an American.”
— Jeff Ross
“I always thought, ‘If no one's gonna make it in our crew until Dave makes it.’ Dave was always the one everybody came to watch.”
— Jeff Ross
“You're one of the best comics ever, in my opinion… and you have less ego than anyone I've ever met in my life.”
— Joe Rogan to Dave Attell
“When I came back to The Comedy Store… it was like a haunted house. After Roast Battle, you could just see it went through the roof.”
— Dave Attell
“As we became more pussies in the world, roasting became more and more potent and important… the world needs to develop thick skin.”
— Jeff Ross
Questions Answered in This Episode
How does performing as a duo on *Bumping Mics* change the jokes you’re willing to attempt compared to solo sets?
Joe Rogan hosts Jeff Ross and Dave Attell for a long-form hang about standup craft, touring together, and the origins of their Netflix series *Bumping Mics*.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Where is the line between a cathartic roast and hurtful bullying, and who gets to draw that line?
They explain how their tag‑team act grew organically out of late‑night sets at The Comedy Cellar, sharpening their listening, improvisation, and joke-writing skills.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Given Attell’s reluctance to be online, what’s the healthiest balance between promotion and privacy for a modern comedian?
The conversation ranges from smoking on stage, casino and road gigs, Roast Battle and the rebirth of The Comedy Store, to comedy history, free speech, and how the internet reshaped standup.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How much should comedians adapt their material for college or ‘woke’ audiences versus insisting on their usual act?
Throughout, they swap stories about legends like Carlin, Kinison, Gilbert Gottfried, Roseanne, and Norm Macdonald, while reflecting on work ethic, staying present, and why comedy is a ‘cult’ they still live for.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What did working with legends like Gilbert Gottfried and Norm Macdonald teach you about aging while staying sharp and relevant in comedy?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
(laughs)
(laughs)
It's like old school, Russian.
Three, two... There's something I like about the fact that you can smoke in here.
Yeah.
I like that people can be relaxed, you know.
Thank you.
I had to find a comedy club to shoot our special where, th- where Dave could smoke. (laughs)
(laughs)
Where, where, where would you go?
Comedy Cellar.
The Underground, yeah.
The Underground, they let you smoke?
Well, but now- (laughs)
No, but they let him smoke. (laughs)
... I think there's, like, a rule where if you're a performer, you can get away with it-
Right.
... 'cause it's a part of your routine.
(laughs)
The, like a cabaret-
Yeah.
... old, like on the, still on the books?
T- don't take my word for that. I bel- I believe I learned that from Dice while he was on stage.
Yes.
I think you read that in the Dice Chappelle manual.
(laughs)
Yeah. Well, they just can get away with it, right? Yeah, Dave's always smoking on stage.
No, I, I d- I don't smoke anymore, but, uh, I'll tell you one thing that, that year in between, like, where you're not allowed to smoke on stage, that was a tough year 'cause you're used to, like, smoking and the crowd smoking-
Right.
... and, you know, it was, like-
It was-
... kind of a fun thing.
A punchline enhancer too, right?
Mm-hmm.
Dave's, you do smoke on stage.
Not all the time.
(laughs)
Like, towards the end of it, maybe.
Not only that, but when we're, we're on the road and we do, like, an hour and a half, he'll pretend he's getting a phone call or something.
(laughs)
He'll go smoke and leave me on stage by myself.
Really?
Yeah, but it gives you a chance to, like, open up a long form bit.
(laughs)
Oh, nice.
Now you're hearing it, Joe.
You're-
Nice.
Now you're really hearing the whole story behind the bumping mic.
(laughs)
When you w-
Behind the bumping mic.
What do you get out of smoking on stage? It just fulfills the nicotine fix, or does it actually give you something? 'Cause they say it, I've, I've smoked a cig, I smoked one of Tony Hinchcliffe cigarettes a couple of times before I went on stage.
Uh-huh.
And you get, like, a, a pick me up. There's a little something, you get, like, a, an enhancement.
I, it's, yeah, I don't, I, I, I'll say right now, it definitely is a weakness that, like, you know, now I don't drink, don't do anything, but, like, coffee and cigarettes, it's like-
Yeah.
... it's breathing for me. But, uh-
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