Jeff Ross: Stand-up comedian known as the 'Roastmaster General,' famous for Comedy Central and Netflix roasts. Releasing his Netflix special 'Take a Banana for the Ride' the night of this taping.
What this episode covers
Joe Rogan and Jeff Ross open with a long riff on their dogs, rescue stories, and switching pets to fresh/raw food, then drift into comedy-world nostalgia about lost friends like Norm Macdonald, Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget, Patrice O'Neal and Brody Stevens. Ross recounts his Charlie Sheen 'Torpedo of Truth' tour stint and the rise of Netflix roasts, including the record-breaking Tom Brady roast and the upcoming Kevin Hart roast hosted by Shane Gillis. He gets candid about his stage-three colon cancer diagnosis, chemo, and his alopecia, which leads into an extended Rogan monologue on diet, processed food, inflammation, doctors' ignorance of nutrition, and microplastics. The pair close on military USO tours, Joe's acting past on NewsRadio and Fear Factor, and Ross explaining the personal banana story behind his special's title.
Recommended on this episode
The Farmer's Dog
The Farmer's Dog
“I feed my dog farmer's dog. It's uh it comes frozen... the way they attack it versus the way they attack Kibble”— Joe Rogan
Black Rifle Coffee
Black Rifle Coffee Company
“this is French press black rifle coffee. You want some? Get in there, dog. That's good coffee. That's real coffee”— Joe Rogan
The Real Anthony Fauci
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“if you read RFK Jr.'s book, The Real Anthony Fouchy, it'll open your mind. It'll open your eyes.”— Joe Rogan
The guest's own work
Alpha Brain
Onnit (Joe Rogan-affiliated)
“there's alpha brain. That stuff pumps my brain up and fires it up.”— Joe Rogan
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
House of Cards
Netflix
“I put on um House of Cards and it was this daunting kind of scary music”— Jeff Ross
The West Wing
Aaron Sorkin
“It made me miss and rewatch West Wing. That's how good it was.”— Jeff Ross
Platoon
Oliver Stone
“Platoon. He was doing Platoon when he was 20... He was great in that movie.”— Joe Rogan
Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino
“Pulp Fiction came along and boom, he's back... I watch it all the time. it completely revived his career”— Joe Rogan
Dallas Buyers Club
Jean-Marc Vallee
“that's what Dallas Buyers Club was all about... that movie with Matthew McConn... trying to find alternative cures”— Joe Rogan
Reacher
Amazon Prime Video
“the guy who plays Reacher, he beat the [ __ ] out of some guy... You know that show Reacher?”— Joe Rogan
Fear Factor
NBC
“I took Fear Factor because I thought it was going to be cancelled... Like ran forever 148 episodes.”— Joe Rogan
NewsRadio
NBC
“I enjoyed working on news radio... to be able to work with Phil Hartman and Dave Foley and all those people”— Joe Rogan
The Roast of Tom Brady
Netflix
“That roast was the most watched thing in the history of Netflix. And it was because it was so funny.”— Jeff Ross
Big reveals from this episode
- Jeff Ross reveals he was diagnosed with stage-three colon cancer after waiting too long for a routine colonoscopy.
- Ross apologizes to Joe for lying years earlier at Cat's Deli, hiding his alopecia by claiming he shaved his eyebrows for a role.
- Ross describes losing all his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes within weeks from alopecia, then again from chemo.
- Ross recounts being recruited last-minute to save Charlie Sheen's failing 'Torpedo of Truth' tour, ending up doing eight shows.
- Ross says Tom Brady did his roast to 'bring comedy back' and admits it was harsher than even he expected.
- Ross officially announces the Kevin Hart roast for May 10th (Mother's Day) on Netflix, hosted by Shane Gillis.
- Joe strongly recommends RFK Jr.'s book 'The Real Anthony Fauci,' calling it terrifying.
- Ross describes asking Charlie Sheen's team for a podium and a hazmat suit as a roast bit.
Worth remembering
- The Tom Brady roast was the most-watched thing in Netflix history with 1.6 billion viewing minutes.
- In Joe's old HOA, one member allegedly poisoned a neighbor's dogs over a dispute.
- Ross holds a black belt in Taekwondo, earned starting at age six and competing in East Coast tournaments.
- Joe says about 80% of his diet is red meat, which he calls the most nutrient-dense food in the world.
- Joe warns that paper coffee cups are lined with plastic that leaches 'forever chemicals' into hot drinks.
- Joe recounts controversial scientist Peter Duesberg's claim that HIV doesn't cause AIDS.
- A Fear Factor episode where contestants drank donkey semen got the show effectively shut down and never aired in the US.
- Jeff Ross changed his name from Jeff Lifschultz because Ed McMahon kept mispronouncing it on Star Search.
- Ross's first USO troop tour was to Iraq in 2003 with Drew Carey, while Saddam was still alive; he's done about a hundred shows for troops.
- RFK Jr.'s book claims 1980s HIV vaccine testing was done on New York foster children.