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Joe Rogan · 2024-05-07

Joe Rogan Experience #2146 - Deric Poston

Comedian Deric Poston and Joe Rogan reminisce about building the Austin comedy scene, the craft of stand-up, and lifelong friendships.

Joe Rogan Experience #2146 - Deric Poston
The guest

Deric Poston: Stand-up comedian and close friend of Joe Rogan who moved to Austin during the pandemic and is part of the Mothership comedy club scene.

What this episode covers

Joe Rogan and comedian Deric Poston have a loose, friendship-driven conversation centered on how the Austin comedy scene emerged when the pandemic shut down Los Angeles and Texas stayed open. They reflect on the unlikely chain of events that let Rogan build the Comedy Mothership and draw top comics to town. Much of the episode is a deep dive into the craft of stand-up: developing bits over time, following 'killers' on stage, watching and listening to your own sets, and the brutal long path to a comedy career. They also riff on phones and data privacy, the Drake vs Kendrick rap beef, 90s hip-hop, and the camaraderie versus jealousy among comedians.

Recommended on this episode

BookRecommendedISBN verified

Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell

“it's good to read it's good to listen to too... the audio book is amazing”
“if you read uh Malcolm gladwell's book the outliers... it's good to read it's good to listen to too I've listened to the audio book the audio book is amazing”— Joe Rogan
ProductRecommended

VersaClimber

VersaClimber

“it's an amazing workout that thing”
“he climbed Mount Everest with his Versa climber do you know what a versa climber is... we have one out there we have in the gym it's an amazing workout that thing”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended

Illmatic

Nas

“oh my God on the subway listen that that beat oh my God”
“I took the subway to show cuz I wanted to feel it I wanted to be in New York put on Illmatic New York State of Mind Joe I I was ready to go bro oh my God”— Deric Poston
MediaRecommended

Rewind

Nas

“that song is genius genius”
“I was listening to rewind the other day while we were playing pool I was like godamn that song is genius genius Joe”— Deric Poston
MediaRecommended

Penicillin on Wax

Tim Dog

“it's good man it's good like he was a really good rapper”
“penicillin on wax that's the name of his uh CD it's good man it's good like he was a really good rapper”— Joe Rogan

Also referenced (named, not recommended)

MediaReferenced

Hip Hop Is Dead

Nas

“when you hear Hip Hop is Dead if you're anywhere oh let's go let's go oh dude no Nas is he's got some bangers over the years”— Deric Poston
MediaReferenced

The Ether

Nas

“then it was Nas and Jay-Z The Ether yep Jay-Z said his Nas ethered them”— Deric Poston
ProductReferenced

Samsung Galaxy

Samsung

“Samsung phones when you um if you record your sets it transcribes them really yeah with AI and it'll summarize it for you”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced

iPhone

Apple

“why are we still on iPhones because we're trapped also it's a safer operating system that's the thing that I've been really getting into”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced

Signal

Signal

“so we have to go on WhatsApp or signal and on Signal he can send me the whole video and I go okay I got the video now”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced

Tesla

Tesla

“you got money are you broke you got a Tesla oo he's got a Tesla you got a Tesla app there so there's all this data that your phone carries”— Joe Rogan

Big reveals from this episode

  • Rogan recalls that in LA the pandemic lockdown lasted a year and a half while in Austin it was about six weeks, which convinced comics to relocate.
  • Rogan reflects on his own mortality, saying if he does 50 more years of the club it would be a miracle, and that it makes him feel he will be dead soon.
  • Rogan explains the Mothership runs as a pure meritocracy, rejecting pressure to fill quotas of women or gay or minority comics.
  • Deric tells the story of Dave Chappelle roasting him on stage by saying his credits were terrible, then later offering him a real shot.
  • Rogan reveals nobody ever took him on the road early in his career; Andrew Dice Clay was the one who told him to start headlining the road.
  • Deric admits he sometimes wishes he could have had a normal job with healthcare instead of gambling everything on comedy.
  • Deric describes spending his entire first big paycheck taking all the door guys out for sushi.

Worth remembering

  • Fritos are so soaked in oil they work as fire starters, which Rogan's group used while camping on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska.
  • Chris Cuomo, who pushed COVID vaccines on TV, later said he suffered a vaccine injury from both his first and second doses.
  • A study found Android phones contacted foreign servers far more often than iPhones, which contacted only one or two a day.
  • Apple is adopting the RCS (Rich Communication Services) protocol, expected on iPhones with iOS 18 by the end of the year.
  • David Goggins ran over 3,100 miles across the US from San Francisco to New York in just over 65 days despite never having run more than 13 miles before.
  • Nas's debut album Illmatic is considered by both speakers to feature some of the best lyricism in hip-hop, with Nas as a top-tier lyricist.
  • Nas's song 'Rewind' tells a complete story told backwards, which the speakers call genius.
  • Per Gladwell's Outliers, the Beatles got tight by playing six or seven nights a week for hours in Hamburg, Germany before returning to fame.
  • Kobe Bryant outworked rivals by doing three workouts (3am, 6am, 9am) before others finished their first.