Home Joe Rogan Notes
Joe Rogan · 2024-05-07 · 3h 02m

Joe Rogan Experience #2146 - Deric Poston

Comedian Deric Poston and Joe Rogan reminisce about building the Austin comedy scene, the craft of stand-up, and lifelong friendships.

Joe Rogan Experience #2146 - Deric Poston
The guest

Deric Poston — Stand-up comedian and close friend of Joe Rogan who moved to Austin during the pandemic and is part of the Mothership comedy club scene.

The gist

Joe Rogan and comedian Deric Poston have a loose, friendship-driven conversation centered on how the Austin comedy scene emerged when the pandemic shut down Los Angeles and Texas stayed open. They reflect on the unlikely chain of events that let Rogan build the Comedy Mothership and draw top comics to town. Much of the episode is a deep dive into the craft of stand-up: developing bits over time, following 'killers' on stage, watching and listening to your own sets, and the brutal long path to a comedy career. They also riff on phones and data privacy, the Drake vs Kendrick rap beef, 90s hip-hop, and the camaraderie versus jealousy among comedians.

Big reveals

  • Rogan recalls that in LA the pandemic lockdown lasted a year and a half while in Austin it was about six weeks, which convinced comics to relocate.
  • Rogan reflects on his own mortality, saying if he does 50 more years of the club it would be a miracle, and that it makes him feel he will be dead soon.
  • Rogan explains the Mothership runs as a pure meritocracy, rejecting pressure to fill quotas of women or gay or minority comics.
  • Deric tells the story of Dave Chappelle roasting him on stage by saying his credits were terrible, then later offering him a real shot.
  • Rogan reveals nobody ever took him on the road early in his career; Andrew Dice Clay was the one who told him to start headlining the road.
  • Deric admits he sometimes wishes he could have had a normal job with healthcare instead of gambling everything on comedy.
  • Deric describes spending his entire first big paycheck taking all the door guys out for sushi.

Things worth remembering

  • Fritos are so soaked in oil they work as fire starters, which Rogan's group used while camping on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska.
  • Chris Cuomo, who pushed COVID vaccines on TV, later said he suffered a vaccine injury from both his first and second doses.
  • A study found Android phones contacted foreign servers far more often than iPhones, which contacted only one or two a day.
  • Apple is adopting the RCS (Rich Communication Services) protocol, expected on iPhones with iOS 18 by the end of the year.
  • David Goggins ran over 3,100 miles across the US from San Francisco to New York in just over 65 days despite never having run more than 13 miles before.
  • Nas's debut album Illmatic is considered by both speakers to feature some of the best lyricism in hip-hop, with Nas as a top-tier lyricist.
  • Nas's song 'Rewind' tells a complete story told backwards, which the speakers call genius.
  • Per Gladwell's Outliers, the Beatles got tight by playing six or seven nights a week for hours in Hamburg, Germany before returning to fame.
  • Kobe Bryant outworked rivals by doing three workouts (3am, 6am, 9am) before others finished their first.

Recommended in this episode

Books, products and media the guest or host genuinely endorsed here — with the buy link.

Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

RecommendedBook

Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell

“if you read uh Malcolm gladwell's book the outliers... it's good to read it's good to listen to too I've listened to the audio book the audio book is amazing” — Joe Rogan 01:37:21
Find it on Amazon
RecommendedProduct

VersaClimber

VersaClimber (inferred)

“he climbed Mount Everest with his Versa climber do you know what a versa climber is... we have one out there we have in the gym it's an amazing workout that thing” — Joe Rogan 01:24:47
Find it on Amazon
RecommendedMedia

Illmatic

Nas

“I took the subway to show cuz I wanted to feel it I wanted to be in New York put on Illmatic New York State of Mind Joe I I was ready to go bro oh my God” — Deric Poston 01:31:38
Find it on Amazon
RecommendedMedia

Rewind

Nas

“I was listening to rewind the other day while we were playing pool I was like godamn that song is genius genius Joe” — Deric Poston 01:31:38
Find it on Amazon
RecommendedMedia

Penicillin on Wax

Tim Dog

“penicillin on wax that's the name of his uh CD it's good man it's good like he was a really good rapper” — Joe Rogan 01:30:36
Find it on Amazon