The guest
Adam Ray: Stand-up comedian, actor, and impressionist known for his viral Tony Hinchcliffe impression on Kill Tony and his Dr. Phil parody live tour. He played a villain in the film The Heat and Vince McMahon in NBC's wrestling biopic series.
What this episode covers
Joe Rogan and Adam Ray open by unpacking Adam's hyper-accurate Tony Hinchcliffe and Dr. Phil impressions before spiraling into a long takedown of the lottery as a legalized government scam. They cover performance-enhancing drugs across sports (baseball steroids, Tour de France EPO, the Russian Olympic doping exposed in Icarus), bodybuilders dyeing their skin, and high-speed trains. The back half dives into VR gaming and omnidirectional treadmills, reality TV (Mil Manor, The Golden Bachelor), the Murdaugh murders, religion and proselytizing, and the role of luck and delusion in building a comedy career. The tone is loose and comedic throughout, heavy on bits and tangents rather than deep argument.
Recommended on this episode
MediaRecommended
Icarus
Bryan Fogel
“a documentary that you have to watch”
“you ever see that documentary Icorus? Oh my god, dude. You want to talk about a documentary that you have to watch? Award-winning. It's incredible.”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Spellbound
Jeffrey Blitz
“It's a brilliant documentary”
“There was a documentary about the lottery from the same guy who did I think it was Spellbound... It's a brilliant documentary”— Adam Ray
MediaRecommended
Weird Science
John Hughes
“Great movie”
“You know what our equivalent is? Weird Science... Great movie. Dude, who made that? John Hughes. Come on.”— Joe Rogan
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
ProductReferenced
Pure Encapsulations
Pure Encapsulations
“there's a lot of fake um supplements that are sold on Amazon. So, if you buy from a a major company like Pure Encapsulations”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Omni One
Virtuix
“I love my Omni1. It has been a total game changer. In just four months of thrilling action-packed gaming, it has shattered my weight loss plateau”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Tesla
Tesla
“Meanwhile, I drove my Tesla here today. It drives itself. If I wanted to, I could put in a dress, go and it just goes there.”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Pumping Iron
George Butler
“people have always been fascinated by extreme bodies. That's why Pumping Iron was such a big film.”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Soul Man
Steve Miner
“What year was Soulman? Soulman. I haven't seen Soulman. See Thomas how pretends to be black so he go to a different school.”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
The Heat
Paul Feig
“after Bridesmaids, Paul fig did this movie called The Heat with Sander Bulock, Melissa McCarthy. and I played one of the bad guys.”— Adam Ray
MediaReferenced
Twilight
Catherine Hardwicke
“They're not terrible, but they're odd. And I don't necessarily think they're made for boys. I think it's a weird lady fantasy.”— Adam Ray
MediaReferenced
Fifty Shades of Grey
E. L. James
“You remember the Fifty Shades of Gray stuff? all of a sudden ladies wanted to get spit on and choked. Like what's happening?”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Mil Manor
TLC
“Mil Island. And then it turns out to be the sons of the other ladies on the show and they start hooking up.”— Adam Ray
MediaReferenced
The Golden Bachelor
ABC
“I saw an ad the other day for the Golden Bachelor. They're letting old people get after it.”— Adam Ray
MediaReferenced
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives
Hulu
“And now they have their own show, The Secret Wives of Mormon. It's like incredibly popular.”— Joe Rogan
Big reveals from this episode
- Joe argues winning the lottery would be bad for him personally because he needs a goal to work toward, and that most winners go broke.
- Adam reveals he worked as a private investigator's driver at 22, running insurance-fraud sting operations with a mentor named Dave Dolan.
- Adam admits a trainer suggested 'crazy' shortcuts (steroids) to bulk up for his Vince McMahon role, but he declined.
- Joe recounts the full Icarus documentary saga and Russia's state-run Olympic doping cover-up using swapped urine samples.
- Adam shares his only time taking Adderall (2006), saying it felt 'unbelievable' and that's exactly why it scared him off.
- Adam tells the story of getting fired from a clean holiday comedy weekend for saying a slur in a bit, and how Adam Eget stayed friends anyway.
- They react in real time to discovering Mil Manor (sons dating other contestants' moms) and its even-more-disturbing second season adding the fathers.
Worth remembering
- The largest Powerball jackpot in US history was $2.04 billion on November 7, 2022, with over 100 million tickets sold for a single drawing.
- A group in Texas reportedly found a loophole to buy enough lottery tickets fast enough to win profitably, spending around $25 million.
- The UFC has roughly 600 fighters under contract versus about 2,000 NFL roster players, illustrating how few spots MMA offers elite athletes.
- Randy Johnson famously pulverized a bird mid-pitch and was sued by PETA over the freak accident.
- Tanning pills using canthaxanthin are illegal to ingest in the US; the FDA warns they accumulate in organs and can turn skin orange.
- A 15-year-old Russian figure skater tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine and was banned for four years.
- California's high-speed rail received about $4 billion in federal funding but has effectively built nothing usable.
- Japan's planned maglev line is reported to hit around 375 mph, with 80% of its 177-mile route running underground.
- An estimated 1 to 4% of the general population are sociopaths, and they are disproportionately represented in prison populations.
- Joe explains that pre-internet, a comic's only big breaks were Letterman, the Tonight Show under Carson, Evening at the Improv, or MTV's Half Hour Comedy Hour.
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