It would be hard to imagine the UFC commentator, Joe Rogan being nervous on a microphone. The Austin resident is arguably the most popular podcaster on the planet and is perhaps the face of the UFC commentary team. But there have been times the 56-year-old has felt jitters, like the rest of us, and he revealed one of those instances in a recent episode of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience.’
One of Rogan’s multiple career ventures was stand-up comedy. The BJJ black belt has done well for himself on that avenue and is the owner of a comedy club in Austin, Texas now. Rogan’s club is becoming a milestone for artists to who aspire to make a name in the industry. Interestingly, there was a time when Rogan was in their shoes and felt stage fright when performing at a famous comedy club.
Joe Rogan’s first experience at the Comedy Store
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The Comedy Store came into existence in 1972 at the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood by a famous comedian Sammy Shore and his wife Mitzi, along with writer Rudy DeLuca. It has become the hottest comedy club to stand today, given the vast array of talents that have performed in the esteemed establishment.
Joe Rogan, during his recent podcast episode #2097 with Jeff Dye, talked about how he felt going into the comedy club. He said, “I was nervous when I first did stand up there too. It was my first set there. It was weird. Like, are we really doing this? We’re talking about this for two years. And then all of a sudden we’re doing it like we were all shi**ing our pants, every one of us backstage was like, ‘F***’.”
The 56-year-old revealed that despite doing so much stand-up even before performing at the Comedy Store, he still felt like he was weirded out by the set, along with the audience. Rogan said, “Yeah, it was felt like the audience was like that, too. They felt a little weirded out too. They’re like, wow, this is real. Like they got to be there at the very first show.”
The 56-year-old, just like his careers in hosting podcasts and commentating for the UFC, had a pretty successful stand-up career. Rogan has around 7 stand up specials with 6 of them having 7 or higher IMBD ratings. Now, he is the proud owner of a comedy club himself.
JRE podcast host on owning a comedy club
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Taking ownership of a club is no doubt not an easy task. Especially owning a comedy club that allows even some of the most controversial characters to perform. However, despite the backlash, Rogan, being a believer in free speech, doesn’t hold back on inviting folks as long as their pieces are funny. In podcast episode #403, of “The Past Weekend” hosted by Theo Vonn, the stand-up comic addressed his reason for owning a comedy club.
He said, “I felt compelled to do it. I never wanted to own a comedy club, and I always felt like you just had to be nice to comedy club owners because you never want to be one of those people. But then, when I knew I was moving here, Cap City was already closed. I was like, ‘Maybe I should buy a f*cking club and start a club.”
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Despite the stress of owning a comedy club, Rogan has been quite amazing at keeping the club alive. Would you ever visit the “Comedy Mothership” if you’ve had the chance? If you did, drop down your experience of the club in the comments section below.