The guest
Mike Vecchione: Stand-up comedian and former special-education teacher who came up through the Philadelphia and New York City club scenes; released the special 'Michael on the Attractives.'
What this episode covers
Comedian Mike Vecchione joins Joe Rogan for a wide-ranging conversation rooted in the craft of stand-up comedy. Vecchione traces his path from special-education teacher to New York City club comic, and the two dissect what separates great comics like Dave Attell, Shane Gillis, and Colin Quinn from the rest. Long stretches dig into boxing and MMA, breaking down Fury vs. Wilder, Lomachenko, Canelo, and Benavidez, plus the discipline of wrestling and elite conditioning. They also explore cold plunges, diet, the dopamine trap of social media, AI's threat to comedy writing, and building a career one 'layer of paint' at a time. Vecchione closes by plugging his special 'Michael on the Attractives.'
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The War of Art
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“that's like the Stephen pressfield the guy wrote The War of art he talks about that like summoning The Muse”— Joe Rogan
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“I don't think the guy who wrote Game of Thrones is uh you know that guy's from Staten Island”— Joe Rogan
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NutriBullet
NutriBullet
“green juice in the morning that's another big thing Nutribullet oh yeah okay uh celery um cucumber”— Mike Vecchione
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iPhone
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“thinking back how many iPhones I bought they come directly from China they're shipped from China”— Mike Vecchione
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“we're going to live in virtual reality and that was The Matrix that was like all these different things”— Joe Rogan
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“abs like when he was on Save By the Bell like I remember he was like a wrestler on Saved by the Bell”— Joe Rogan
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Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
Colin Quinn
“I did tough crowd and when I did tough crowd Colin would do stand up in front of the audience”— Mike Vecchione
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Live at Gotham
“in 2008 I did live at Gotham you know me and Nate did it the same year live at Gotham”— Mike Vecchione
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Red State Blue State
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“he does this one man shows like red state blue State brilliant prolific super prolific always working”— Mike Vecchione
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“watching things like Mystery Science Theater yeah like that kind of thing watching and mocking”— Joe Rogan
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Elvis
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“did you see the movie I didn't see it it's good I didn't see it but it's good it's like television”— Mike Vecchione
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24/7 (HBO)
HBO
“Showtime has all access now um HBO used to have 24 7 the documentary series”— Mike Vecchione
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All Access (Showtime)
Showtime
“Showtime has all access now um HBO used to have 24 7 the documentary series”— Mike Vecchione
Big reveals from this episode
- Vecchione has a master's in special education and spent about eight years teaching kids with behavioral problems before going full-time in comedy.
- A breakup and heartbreak pushed him into open mics; not caring whether he failed is what let him keep going.
- Joe and Mike break down the Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder knockdown where Fury rose from looking knocked out cold and won the rest of the round.
- Joe describes Elvis Presley doing 'fake karate' while high on pills, trained under legit instructor Ed Parker.
- Mike recounts getting his Instagram hacked through a phishing scam and a scammer texting 'we got you' demanding $5,000 ransom.
- Ron White had nearly resigned himself to retirement until a 2020 Austin set reignited him: 'whatever we have to do to keep doing that we're gonna do it.'
- Vecchione plugs his special 'Michael on the Attractives,' produced by friend Nate Bargatzi and filmed at Zanies in Nashville.
Worth remembering
- Vecchione wrestled in Ohio and Florida and says the sport taught him to focus on the process rather than the win.
- In old-school wrestling, athletes weighed in the day of the match with no science, just 'eat pasta' and 'eat less.'
- BJ Penn trained with Marv Marinovich on a system that prioritized ruthless plyometrics and cardio over skill work.
- Joe admits to scrolling social media on the toilet for 20 minutes and lying to himself about how long it takes.
- Joe does a daily three-minute cold plunge and a 189-degree sauna, citing Huberman and Soberg on dopamine benefits.
- Instagram has about 2.35 billion active users, ranking fourth globally behind Facebook (~2.9B) and YouTube (~2.0B).
- Mario Lopez is a good blue belt in Jiu Jitsu who competes in tournaments and was a wrestler on 'Saved by the Bell.'
- Joe calls Dave Attell a 'national treasure' who could sell out arenas but prefers doing late club sets.
- Mike had to surrender wooden 'brass knuckles' (a gift from a club owner) at Fort Lauderdale airport security.
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