The guest
Fahim Anwar: Stand-up comedian and former Boeing engineer of Afghan descent, known for his alter-ego character Lance and his self-released YouTube special House Money.
What this episode covers
Fahim Anwar and Joe Rogan trade stories about the modern stand-up ecosystem, the Comedy Mothership, and how YouTube and Instagram clips have replaced the old Netflix/Comedy Central blueprint for comedians. Fahim recounts being shadowbanned on Instagram over a joke and bringing his immigrant parents to The Tonight Show to heal a 20-year wound after getting booed at the Apollo. The conversation roams widely across toxoplasmosis, Muhammad Ali's revolutionary 1967 boxing, alien movies, and the history of the UFC. Joe shares behind-the-scenes Fear Factor stories, including talking contestants out of dangerous bull-riding stunts. They close with reflections on fame, hard work, psychedelics, and Oppenheimer.
Recommended on this episode
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Apple Watch Ultra
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“that Apple watch Ultra red that that is the [ __ ]”
“that Apple watch Ultra red that that is the [ __ ] how is it different than like what I got it's just bigger more battery um more features”— Joe Rogan
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Gattaca
Andrew Niccol
“it's one of my favorite movies”
“And gataka you ever watch gataka it's one of my favorite movies”— Fahim Anwar
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“the first John Wick is absolutely my favorite John Wick”
“the first John Wick is absolutely my favorite John Wick”— Joe Rogan
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Oppenheimer
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“oppenheimer's a damn good movie”
“oppenheimer's a damn good movie how crazy is it they went after him for communism”— Joe Rogan
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Alien
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“that movie is [ __ ] incredible that movie is so good”
“the original alien Ridley Scott that movie is [ __ ] incredible that movie is so good”— Joe Rogan
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Arrival
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“arrival is a [ __ ] great movie it's a great movie”
“arrival is a [ __ ] great movie it's a great movie”— Joe Rogan
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The Arrival
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“this one is like underrated... very underrated sci-fi movie”
“this one is like underrated I agree very underrated sci-fi movie the aliens are weird like the leg thing”— Fahim Anwar
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The Last of Us
HBO
“so good I love that show”
“what's that movie uh The Last of Us is based on so good I love that show show great”— Fahim Anwar
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Battlestar Galactica
“battar Galactica is [ __ ] amazing... one of the most underrated series”
“battar Galactica is [ __ ] amazing balar is that is one of the most underrated series”— Fahim Anwar
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The Arrival (Charlie Sheen)
David Twohy
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Close Encounters of the Third Kind
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The guest's own work
MediaBy the guest
Fortnite
Epic Games
“I got paid by fortnite they they used my dancing in a emote... I have a fortnite dance... it's called the vibin emote”— Fahim Anwar
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Samsung
“if you have uh like a Samsung Galaxy s24 Ultra their new phone it uh it has a stylus that's built into the phone and you could use it to sign PDFs”— Fahim Anwar
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Apple Vision Pro
Apple
“have you done that Apple Vision Pro yet I have not I am scared I am scared I am scared of Apple Vision Pro”— Fahim Anwar
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Neuralink
Neuralink
“well initially the first person that they did it on which is fairly recently is a person who's paralyzed and through neuralink he can now move a cursor around”— Joe Rogan
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Jaguar (Jacar) cologne
“when I was a kid I had jakar Noir jar was the big all the guys hey you got to get jakar girls love it”— Joe Rogan
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Cool Water cologne
Davidoff
“was big in the '90s cool water oh yeah oh Tommy was big for me growing up and then Polo sport was was a hot fragrance”— Joe Rogan
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Polo Sport cologne
Ralph Lauren
“Tommy was big for me growing up and then Polo sport was was a hot fragrance”— Fahim Anwar
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Old Spice After Shave
Old Spice
“I used to do the Old Spice ant After Shave where you [ __ ] Splash it in your hands you sting your face it's functional though”— Joe Rogan
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No Man's Land
Peter Werner
“this dude would just steal Porsches it's like 1980s Porsches which were really cool little cars... it's no man's land”— Joe Rogan
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The Wraith
“a sci-fi movie called The Wraith what what is that it's like night rider”— Joe Rogan
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The Italian Job
“remember Italian job where it was just like a Mini commercial”— Joe Rogan
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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino
“a big criticism that people had from uh the Bruce Lee scene in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood but that was obviously comedy”— Joe Rogan
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The Dark Half
Stephen King
“it's like that movie what was it the dark half what was that book The Stephen King book with the writer like uh he's got like an evil writer in his brain”— Joe Rogan
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Mrs. Doubtfire
“you got Mrs Doubtfire but that's a character that he's doing right that's kind of different cuz he's not cuz he's immersed”— Joe Rogan
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To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
“what was the two Wong food jul yeah that was like they were all but that's drag queens”— Joe Rogan
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Platypus Man
Richard Jeni
“he had a TV show called platypus man that was on like one of those burgeoning networks one of those new networks”— Joe Rogan
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Dragon's Lair
“Dragon Lair was a game that everybody used to play in like the 1980s and it was like uh a cartoon”— Joe Rogan
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World of Warcraft
Blizzard Entertainment
“compare that to World of Warcraft or compare that to you know what's the big one that Diablo the new Diablo”— Joe Rogan
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Call of Duty
Activision
“compare that Call of Duty Dy that's just crack that's just straight heroin”— Joe Rogan
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Diablo
Blizzard Entertainment
“compare that to you know what's the big one that Diablo the new Diablo”— Joe Rogan
Big reveals from this episode
- Fahim says he got shadowbanned on Instagram around Thanksgiving over a joke mentioning Hamas, with no nuance applied by the algorithm.
- His shadowban was only lifted after a major talent agency vouched for him, suggesting a regular person would have stayed stuck.
- Fahim reveals he got booed off the Apollo stage by 4,000 people at 18, which his Afghan parents witnessed, cementing their disapproval of comedy.
- After speaking it into existence on a prior JRE appearance, Fahim booked The Tonight Show specifically to give his parents a healing celebration.
- Joe confirms Fear Factor ran six years and 148 episodes, then got revived for six more before being canceled over a contestant drinking-jizz stunt that leaked to TMZ.
- Fahim was paid about five grand by Fortnite, which turned his apartment dance clip into the popular 'Vibin' emote.
- Fahim admits doing engineering at Boeing purely as a means to an end to fund his move to LA and pursue stand-up.
Worth remembering
- Toxoplasmosis rewires a rat's brain to lose fear of cats and become attracted to cat urine so the parasite can reproduce inside the cat.
- Robert Sapolsky's research linked disproportionate toxoplasmosis rates to reckless behavior, including motorcycle accident victims.
- In Living Color debuted to huge audiences, with Joe recalling watching Jim Carrey as Fire Marshal Bill during a Super Bowl halftime.
- Muhammad Ali lost three prime years of boxing for refusing the Vietnam draft, famously saying 'no Viet Cong ever did anything to me.'
- At a press conference, Sonny Liston pulled out a gun loaded with blanks and fired through the ceiling; Ali dodged for the bit.
- In 2004 the Dave Matthews Band tour bus dumped 800 pounds of sewage off a Chicago bridge onto an architectural boat tour, leading to a $200,000 settlement.
- An average cruise ship generates around 21,000 gallons of sewage and 170,000 gallons of gray water, often discharged at sea.
- Fahim and Joe learn there are dozens of COVID variants, with over 50 'de-escalated' and no longer circulating.
- Joe references Mary Lou Henner of Taxi, who has Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, a condition identified in only about 100 people worldwide.
- Oppenheimer's famous line came from the Bhagavad Gita: 'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.'
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