Joe Rogan has seldom failed to extract the gags from his audience while performing stand-ups. Even his Netflix specials had the entire world up in splits. But the realm of comedy isn’t an easy world to strive in. But that’s the case if you haven’t been on the Joe Rogan Experience. The podcast has become a medium that propels the stand-up comics to great heights. After all, that’s what Ari Shaffir likes to think.

The JRE host’s new Netflix live event will stream on the 3rd of August, 2024. But before he makes his audience laugh again, let’s see how he became the ‘messiah’ for the stand-up comics. 

How did Joe Rogan save comedy?

On July 11, 2024, Shaffir sat down together with Tucker Carlson and had an elaborate conversation revolving around the beloved UFC color commentator. Therein, Carlson asked his guest about Rogan’s importance to the comedy ecosystem. Shaffir was completely impressed with Rogan. He claimed, “I mean, he is the best. The amount of support he has.” 

Shaffir took the liberty of hyping up his friend as he believed that Rogan would even say no big names like Oliver Stone and invite comics who performed at open mics. It was Rogan who decided whom to feature on his talk show and whom not to. Any sane person with the desire to go higher up would have never taken such a step. But it’s Joe Rogan that we’re talking about. And all he looks for in a guest is whether they are funny or not. Shaffir continued, “He’s just like ‘I’m the name. I’m Joe Rogan. So, I want to put this guy on, or that guy on. And if this guy is funny, I wanna push him to a big platform instead of like what’s gonna help me book my show.’”

Shaffir then revealed how the 56-year-old JRE host has helped many comics to climb up in the game. “It’s like interesting how he’ll be. He just, the casual talking about the outlawness of stand-up has helped all of us. Whether or not you’ve been on his show or not, he has made stand-up more popular, you know. So now, we can all just- I mean, it’s succeeding on a, it’s a crazy level.” 

Carlson, like everyone else, was pretty intrigued by all the information that Shaffir shared. He then fired up another question and asked his guest to talk about the effect of making an appearance on JRE on a comedian’s career. Shaffir admitted that the podcast didn’t have the same effect as it did before. The reason? Well, it’s simply the numbers. The JRE has been going on for thousands of episodes now. To experience the launch through JRE, one needed to be in the studio more than once. 

The competition in the comedy world has been on the rise ever since the age of the internet arrived. This hampered Rogan, as well. And the case was pretty straightforward with Netflix specials.

JRE host reveals problems faced by the comedians with Netflix specials

On episode #2135 of the JRE, Rogan and Neal Brennan conversed about the shortcomings of Netflix specials. In a live event, the comedians are able to build up the gags instead of shortening the jokes and reaching the climax faster. One simply had to format the jokes to the Netflix audience. In a live event, the audience doesn’t wander off. They wanted to be in the room with the comics and laugh out loud. But the same cannot be said about Netflix specials. 

With so much content available to the netizens, the probability of them staying tuned to a comedy special has gone down. Afterall, it’s hard for the comics to compete against the legendary movies and TV series. Rogan voiced, “Everything. All the old stuff, all the new stuff, everything altogether. It’s an insane time for your attention. Like try to captivate people’s attention now. It’s just, it’s an insane proposition. There’s just so much available.” 

The UFC commentator hasn’t stopped contributing to the laughter games. Through his comedy club, ‘The Comedy Mothership’, Rogan provides the stage that many aspiring comedians need to prove how funny they can be. And of course, JRE is yet another platform to do so. Needless to say, Rogan’s contributions to the land of comedy are phenomenal.

Do you agree with Shaffir about Rogan helping the comedians to get a lift-off in their careers? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.