Joe Rogan: Burn the Boats

I've been a fan of Rogan for years, from FF to his UFC commentating, the podcast (less now that there are so many political characters there) and I can remember in the past thinking he was pretty funny. I dunno if I have changed or if it's more than Joe is completely out of touch. This was significantly below par for the level he professes himself to be. Or any comic rather, which is consistently funny. I didn't chuckle more than twice. Literally a squirrel is funnier just living its life. Someone needs to give Joe the same talk he gave Schuab. Stick to what you are good at, and let the pros do this.

Being a listener of his podcast I refused to believe he was still capable of writing and performing comedy. He's a completely and utterly humorless person whose entire concept of comedy is based on screaming, whenever a guest makes a joke in a normal tone of voice it goes over his head and he thinks they're being serious.

He has no understanding of sarcasm, irony, or absurdism except for probably the mental images of men wearing dresses that come from the all-caps Facebook memes he relies on for his source of science, news, and information.

I believed there was no way he was capable of writing and performing anything even remotely funny, therefore other people must have been writing his material for him. Turns out I was half right.

I've enjoyed past Rogan specials, as well as seeing him live at Massey Hall and other venues in Toronto. You expect a certain amount of meathead nonsense and conspiracy talk which may or may not be genuine. But the thing I've always found grating has now become a constant in this show: yelling everything as though he doesn't have a microphone. I know that's how the show is going to start, along with the cheap pandering to San Antonio but it just never lets up and it becomes draining. And the ratio of actual laughs to applause breaks - excluding the times he solicits it by referencing his move to Texas, Fear Factor, the podcast, is not going in the right direction.

I realize that not giving a glowing review if this will result in the usual nonsense of having labels hurled but I'm not even American, so save it.

There are some funny bits but overall, it's just a lot of energy to try and sell the bits as being funnier than they are.

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.