Kevin James: Comedian and actor (King of Queens, Here Comes the Boom); longtime standup who came up alongside Rogan in the 90s East Coast comedy scene
What this episode covers
Joe Rogan reconnects with Kevin James, a friend from his early standup days, and they trade stories about the 90s comedy scene, the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, and the bidding-war era of sitcom development. The conversation turns personal as Kevin discusses his lifelong struggle with discipline, his stage anxiety, and his need for a 'hype man,' while Joe shares his philosophy of becoming your own internal coach. They go deep on fitness, fasting, supplements, and diet, with Kevin recounting a 41-day fast he did while praying for his daughter. They also discuss the value of community among comedians, the move to Austin, and detail their approaches to jiu-jitsu, training, and managing injuries.
Recommended on this episode
Alpha Brain Black Label
Onnit
“that's alpha brain that's the Black Label Alpha Brain that is the the top of the food chain Alpha Brain the strongest one”— Joe Rogan
Creatine
“creatine's very safe creatine's one of the one of the safest supplements... if you're training lifting weights creatine is one of the very best things you could take”— Joe Rogan
Disconnected Kids
Dr. Robert Melillo
“my wife read this book... she found this book disconnected kids and it was by Dr Robert Malo so I got involved with him I called him”— Kevin James
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Beta alanine
“creatine I would say beta alanine that's another one”— Joe Rogan
INF 650
Chris Weidman
“650 herbal supplement the same ingredients healthy skeletal muscular response... if it's on his website that's it INF 650”— Joe Rogan
Microsoft Word
Microsoft
“I just use Microsoft Word and I go into uh there's um focus mode have you seen Focus mode”— Kevin James
Reacher
Amazon Prime Video
“Alan richen from the guy for the reacher that guy huge that guy's huge... he's the perfect guy for that show”— Kevin James
Big reveals from this episode
- Kevin James reveals he once fasted for 41 and a half days on only water and a little salt, losing about 60 pounds.
- Kevin shares that his oldest daughter, on the spectrum, developed severe self-harming ticks that doctors said were untreatable.
- Kevin says Dr. Robert Melillo's methods eliminated his daughter's ticks within two weeks with no drugs.
- Joe reveals he almost got fired from his first starring TV show, Hardball, for fighting with a producer over bad scripts.
- Joe recounts Dave Chappelle getting a full one-minute standing ovation when surprise-introduced at an Ohio arena show.
- Kevin tore his bicep deadlifting 450 pounds with a new trainer who kept bumping the weight.
- Joe reveals he tore his MCL falling on stairs walking up to the stage at Stubb's in Texas and performed his whole set anyway.
Worth remembering
- Billy Joel and Adam Sandler have both endured terrible corporate gigs where audiences ignored them, Joe and Kevin recount.
- There are more tigers in private captivity in Texas than there are tigers in the wild worldwide.
- At the Montreal Comedy Festival, one 15-minute set could trigger bidding wars and land a comedian half a million dollars.
- Joe's daily warmup after a cold plunge is 100 pushups and 100 bodyweight squats.
- Joe follows a Russian 'Power to the People' principle and never lifts heavier than 70 pounds, never training to failure.
- Fabricio Werdum tapped Fedor, Cain Velasquez, and Nogueira all from his back using pure jiu-jitsu.
- Merab Dvalishvili once carried Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo around on his shoulders while sparring.
- Joe's sauna runs at 195 degrees for 20 minutes and his cold plunge is set at 34 degrees.