Joe Rogan: Burn the Boats

I feel like Joe Rogan doesn't actually do stand up, he just yells at the top of his lungs about all the subjects he discusses on his podcasts and makes funny faces and noises in a "daddish" sort of way to add humor when he's really not doing or saying anything that funny. I'm actually a fan of Joe but his last 3 stand up specials have been very... mediocre to say the least. I feel like he has sooo many fans across so many different platforms that his audiences give him a false sense of what's actually funny by laughing at everything he says because he's Joe Rogan and people want to laugh and have a good time with him, which is ok... just isn't good comedy in my opinion. Still a few chuckles here and there. 5/10.

In a recent interview Joe Rogan was asked the fairly typical and predictable entertainment industry question, what inspired you to make this new special? Joe's response was.anything but typical but to anyone who has listened to Joe's view on his own comedy, it was predictable.

Joe went on to complain about the lack of real comedy in today's PC world, the lack of comics who are brave enough to stand up to Cancel Culture, Joe also lamented that if freedom of speech was to be saved the silent majority needed a voice, a strong voice to stand up against...them. Joe then said that he sees himself as the new Bill Hicks!

Big shoes to fill.

After watching Rogans new special i can honestly and confidently say that Joe is not the "new Bill Hicks". Joe is in fact the opposite of Bill, in every way possible. Without going into a detailed review of Burn The Boats it would serve you well to know, if you enjoy anything about BH, you will not enjoy Burn The Boats or Joe Rogan.

Joe Rogan is not a comic.

I like Joe Rogan's podcast. He often gets very interesting guests, seems genuinely interested in them, asks interesting questions and let's them talk at length. He's perhaps a bit 'conspiracy theory'-heavy for my taste but whatever - I enjoy his podcasts. So, I also wanted to enjoy this show and I'm not here as part of a "review bomb."

In short, Joe Rogan just isn't funny. He doesn't have "funny bones" or natural wit and he can't improvise. If a joke tanks (and many do in this show) he can't pivot to a fallback as even very-average comics learn to do. If he does come out with a smart gag, he will kill it with his delivery. He has weapons-grade confidence, but that won't save any set he does.

He's got a huge following but so did Dane Cook. There's a phenomenon where unfunny people can, by sheer force of will, generate a following. As someone who admires Rogan for his thoughtful, insightful podcasts, he really, really needs to stop doing stand-up.

What seems obvious to me is that Joe doesn't have any real friends left in his circle and is surrounded instead by sycophants who are too afraid to tell him that his jokes just aren't funny. I guess it doesn't help that he's mega rich and has a ton of influence in the scene.

The special was bottom of the barrel material that is dated, out of touch, and repetitive. The constant yelling, the bulging eyes, and other overexaggerated facial expressions certainly didn't help make his jokes any funnier.

Also, if you watch some of the reviews on YouTube, you'll find that he actually stole a couple of jokes and even reused a few from some of his older specials.

I don't think anyone can doubt that he's a great podcaster and MMA announcer, but comedy just isn't his thing. If he didn't constantly go on and on about him 'honing his craft and making his jokes fat-free and tight' or constantly mentioning himself among the greats like Louis, Burr, Chappelle, etc., I'd spare him this 1 star review, but the guy obviously thinks very highly of himself. He is clearly delusional about his comedy.

If you want a good laugh, look up Nick Mullen's free special on YouTube.

The "cope" in the positive reviews is just that, cope, specifically in the form of them pretending only liberals and haters disliked this show. Well, I'm a progressive and still enjoy the seemingly controversial humor of ACTUAL, highly talented comedians like Katt Williams and Dave Chappelle. Katt Williams has done entire political sets before that I've enjoyed and laughed my butt off at because he, like Dave, knows how to properly construct a joke that challenges you. It's no coincidence that they both happen to be black comedians, and that's relevant because they inherently understand the cheapness and ultimate failure of punching down, especially without seasoning your bits with self-deprecation. Katt Williams knows we know that he's been arrested 50-11 times, so he plays that up and makes it funny (like when he said he's been arrested so many times that he doesn't even have to take a photo anymore but can just choose from a book of them-hilarious stuff). He also makes fun of his own height. Dave Chapelle is a great storyteller who can also make you think by posing an alternative perspective (like how when an executive who had a problem with him using the f-word but not the n-word, he pointed out he's no more the n-word than a gay person is the f-word).

I think about a clip I saw of the likes of pillow-faced Brendan Shlob praising Joe for using the n- and r-words with great delight as someone clearly in a position of punching down. It's really weak when the top of the food chain--the apex predators, as it were--pretend to be field mice. No, you can't have it both ways. Neither their comedy, nor this special, are funny because they not only fail to understand humor on a fundamental level but they are so insecure and fake societal injury to the point where they're even cringeworthy to look at. Both PEDs-bloated, insecure lames who pretend to not want to be seen as legit while desperately wanting it. And it keeps bringing me back to Joe's assumption that there are only 250 comics in the world (you'd best believe he thinks they're all Americans) and counting himself among them. The look on Katt Williams' face when he said that spoke VOLUMES. Joe even admits he essentially cheated to get on at The Comedy Store (by having someone else pretend to find him funny), so he's even more of a mediocre charlatan.

Katt and Dave aren't really good people, imo. However, they're two of the legitimately greatest of all time because they're actually, naturally funny AND know how to construct effective narratives. They're constantly saying things lames like Joe (and Jerry Seinfeld) claim you can't say now. It's just cope, that claim.

Beyond that, no one wants to see a bloated, juiced-to-the-gills tiny tot with sexxual orientation issues do bug eyes, scream, and simulate sexxual activity for one minute, let alone one hour. Joe Rogan HIMSELF said he would like to experience being a woman and getting screwed by a man with large genitals, AND he said he wanted to know what it was like to be pregnant, yet he comes after gay and trans people. Thus, this "special" was a lot of projecting and self-hate. He's clearly envious of people who can live their truth. Meanwhile, we have to be subjected to the self-soothing antics of a pretender.

In conclusion, the only good thing about this "comedy" "special" is that it resulted in an epic takedown (IYKYK) that snowflake Joe and friends tried to have taken down. Because free speech and edgy jokes and ridiculing others are just for them. Ironic given how this hypocrite attempts to opine about people being too sensitive nowadays.

Burn the boats? Yeah, you did, Joe, the ones that led to a comedy career.