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Nov. 14, 2017 - The Joe Rogan Experience
01:57:32
Joe Rogan Experience #1039 - Iliza Shlesinger
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iliza shlesinger
01:04:11
j
joe rogan
50:20
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jamie vernon
00:16
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Speaker Time Text
joe rogan
Alright, we're gonna go live.
unidentified
In five, four, three, two, one.
joe rogan
So, tell me about your book.
iliza shlesinger
Well, it's about feminism.
I just want women to feel good.
joe rogan
I got it here.
Girl logic.
What is the difference between, oh, the genius and the absurdity.
What's the difference between girl logic and boy logic?
Or do you know?
Because I don't know.
iliza shlesinger
I can't tell you exactly the way men think.
Because I think if I did that, I'd be like, slow your roll.
This book is about me sort of noticing that women are always called crazy, psycho, psychopath, psycho bitch, you know, like, oh, she's insane.
We always write off women as crazy.
And women are expected to be so many things to so many people at once.
And it's these expectations that sort of...
We have to take into account all of this, and we try to be so many things at once, and we have to take in so much stimuli to process all this.
So our logic is sort of this circumlocutious way of thinking that seems insane.
joe rogan
Whoa, slow that word down.
What was that?
unidentified
Circumlocutious?
iliza shlesinger
Just sort of like going around in circles, right?
joe rogan
How does that work?
Say it again?
iliza shlesinger
Circumlocutious?
joe rogan
Ooh, big word.
iliza shlesinger
Whatever.
joe rogan
I like that.
I've never heard that before.
iliza shlesinger
So it's like...
I'd never heard of the mad cow thing you were telling me earlier.
And I was like, oh my god, are we on...
As you were talking about it, I was like, please don't make me look stupid.
I don't know about elk having crazy brains.
But I just...
The boilerplate example is, you know, you say to a girl, what do you want to eat?
And that's always an argument.
It's like this common trope, like, my wife could never figure it out.
But it has less to do with women wanting to be difficult and more the pressure on just that one decision.
If I say pizza, am I doing a diet?
Do I have to be in a bathing suit later?
Did I go to the gym already?
Am I expected to be thin in this society?
And we take all of this into account for every micro decision.
And it's all about processing how we don't let everyone, including ourselves, down and all the thought that goes into it.
joe rogan
Now, this is you specifically.
Like, obviously, you're not speaking for all women.
iliza shlesinger
I am.
joe rogan
Are you?
iliza shlesinger
I actually am.
joe rogan
You got the title.
iliza shlesinger
I got the rights to it.
I polled ten women.
They were like, it's cool.
It's sort of just honoring the fact that we get painted with these broad brushstrokes and there's so many...
And there's just so much that goes into the littlest things because we have to take into account how other people feel.
So it's easy to say, oh, just be yourself.
But when you're a woman, other people's perceptions of you can have detrimental effects on your future, on your safety, on your health.
She seems slutty, so she deserved it.
She seems like a bitch.
I don't want to give her a chance, you know?
So our perception versus the way that we are, we're constantly wrestling with these two sort of realities.
joe rogan
Mm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I've often wondered, like, if you could, like, I believe that one day they're going to be able to, you know, today we have transgender people, right?
We have people who decide to have operations, decide to take hormones.
But I think one day they're going to be able to literally turn a person into a woman.
iliza shlesinger
With, like, a shot?
joe rogan
Yeah, well, not with some sort of treatment.
I just feel like it sounds crazy to say today, people say, no, you can't change your chromosomes.
Well, today, you can't change your chromosomes, but 200 years ago, the idea of sending a video to someone in Australia would be ridiculous, right?
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
So, like, what we've been able to do just over a short period of time, relatively, is pretty staggering.
And if you look at, like, what they're doing with CRISPR, do you know what CRISPR is?
It's gene editing tools that they keep evolving.
They've gotten them to the point where they're starting to work on human embryos, non-viable human embryos, and they're changing the expressions of certain genes, stopping genes for certain diseases.
You alright?
unidentified
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
I don't like this chair.
I knew it was an expensive fancy chair, but it's weird.
joe rogan
It can drop if you want to.
iliza shlesinger
I like to have my legs close to my heart.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
Interesting.
But the idea is that they're going to be able to make designer people.
iliza shlesinger
Sure.
joe rogan
Right.
iliza shlesinger
So this is less...
You're a woman, obviously, by genetics and your genitalia, but this book is all about the experiences, and this is more societal-based.
This is less about what you're born as.
joe rogan
That's what I was going to say.
I was saying, if you could...
I wondered if that was a possibility, if they could reverse it.
Would I want to be a woman for a week?
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, for a week.
unidentified
Just to see.
joe rogan
Just to see.
iliza shlesinger
Just to play with yourself.
joe rogan
Just to stick stuff up there.
But I think that we don't know about it.
The closest you come to understanding a man or a woman, if you're a man or if you're the opposite sex, I think is living with one.
iliza shlesinger
Sure.
Or having one.
joe rogan
Yeah, having one.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's a big one for me was having daughters and just seeing how they just interact from the time they're one until they're older.
iliza shlesinger
It's Some of it's biology.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
You know, this whole, you know, and you and I have talked about or someone else, but still the sort of women excluding other women.
So this goes back to when we were hunters and gatherers.
If you didn't want someone to live, you'd turn your back on them and you wouldn't share information and then you and your offspring will die.
Right.
So some you see this in little girls like they're mean.
They're mean to each other.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
And as you get older, you know, you're taking in all of this stimuli from society, all the messages.
And we have to process these things.
And then eventually you get old enough, you're like, fuck it, I'm going to do it my own way.
But there's still expectations placed.
And a lot of them are conflicting, like polar opposites.
Like you have to be sexy, but also demure, outgoing, but don't be too pushy.
And too pushy or outgoing, they're relative, depending on who's in your path.
So, and women have to take these things into account because we got to do everything second.
We didn't create professional sports or corporations.
We're late to the game for everything.
So it's a man's world and you do have to take into account those rules and it sucks.
But these are all the things that we have to factor in when we're making decisions.
joe rogan
And there's always going to be a certain amount of resentment if someone tries to do it a woman's way rather than a man's way.
You need a tissue.
iliza shlesinger
It's never going to stop running.
joe rogan
You have allergies?
iliza shlesinger
I don't know.
My nose just always runs a little bit.
joe rogan
Hmm, too coke much?
iliza shlesinger
I hate when people do so much about me.
joe rogan
Your nose is so little, I don't know how you'd get coke up there.
You'd have coke rocks that would get stuck in your nose holes.
iliza shlesinger
They're still stuck up there.
joe rogan
Like, I've wondered, like, I don't work, right?
I don't have a job, a real job.
And I haven't had one in a long, long time.
So the idea of, like, having a boss is alien to me.
And having a female boss is even more alien to me.
iliza shlesinger
Sure.
joe rogan
So I was talking to someone who has a woman boss.
And we were saying that there's an interesting thing that happens where a woman can do the exact same thing and she's a bitch, whereas if a guy does it, he's stern or he's a hard ass.
iliza shlesinger
Or it's all this, as women age, they're gross and men are austere or they're regal or they're sexy.
And those are kind of basic examples.
And I think we're moving away from that.
It's more nuanced things.
I, like you, really can't Identify with workplace issues.
I talked to some friends of mine and they're like, I hate that I have to dumb things down.
And in my domain, I work very hard to be the one in charge.
And men don't speak to me that way because they're opening for me.
joe rogan
Right, right, right.
iliza shlesinger
I don't have that hierarchy.
joe rogan
Or they're the manager of the club.
iliza shlesinger
And you've got to pay me anyway.
But it doesn't mean that I don't have a sort of sympathy for that and that I don't Understand what it feels like to be discounted.
joe rogan
What was the last time you had a job job?
iliza shlesinger
Oh my god, a job job.
A job job was probably 2004. Four, five, six?
joe rogan
So that's relatively recently.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I mean, 12 years, 15 years ago.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, and I wasn't mentally present that much for it, and it was kind of relaxed, you know?
But, and also, it wasn't like, I wasn't trying to get ahead at that job.
joe rogan
So, 2006, so that being 11 years ago, that's like, you're like a base, maybe seven years ago?
Maybe 2007. Okay, so 10 years ago, 11 years, whatever it is.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
You're like a different human, right?
So do you remember it very well?
What was the job?
iliza shlesinger
The last job I had, I was an assistant in the marketing department of a large company that dealt with Blackjack.
It was like a new kind of Blackjack.
joe rogan
Oh, interesting.
iliza shlesinger
But this nice Jewish guy hired me, and I was just there to answer the phone if anyone ever called, make some press kits.
It was monkey work.
joe rogan
And you were obviously doing stand-up.
iliza shlesinger
I was doing stand-up at night and I would like spend the days sort of like soliciting people if I could get a spot on their show making flyers like I just use it as my own office and I didn't have to also the environment like I could wear pajamas to work like no one ever came to our office Right, so it's barely a regular job.
Yeah, there's definitely, I was like, I'm in the workforce now.
joe rogan
I think that regular jobs, there's obviously a huge problem with the dynamic that men and women have in regular jobs, but there's a problem with men and men in regular jobs.
I don't think that it's normal for people to be working on top of each other, doing something they don't want to do for long stretches of time.
I think It's very difficult to be yourself.
You have all these restrictions on your language and the way you're allowed to communicate with each other.
And then you're obviously doing something all day that you would rather not be doing.
iliza shlesinger
So I have two thoughts on that.
One, it's interesting because we have this corporate structure, which is really designed to minimize suing and to minimize issues.
But since humans aren't meant to be put in these boxes, I think it perhaps creates more problems.
We're too confined.
But it's interesting, I open a lot of my snaps on Snapchat, and you'll always get ones that are like, oh, 449, can't wait for this day to be over.
Hate work, don't want to go into work.
It's all about hating your job, which I don't understand because I love my job and I work very hard to have a job that I enjoy.
But I don't know if everybody, I talk in my book about, you know, your passion and finding it and whenever you can find it.
Not everybody's meant for greatness.
Not everybody's meant to be happy.
And some people are dumb.
And this sounds terrible, like I'm designing some master plan, but some people need to just go and do the shitty job.
You're not contributing your shitty job.
Not everybody is meant...
joe rogan
This is like some Hitler eugenics shit you're pushing here.
iliza shlesinger
Make my fucking phone.
unidentified
Be quiet.
Oh, no!
iliza shlesinger
Because if you think about the majority of people you talk to, like, some people are not bright.
And no, you don't have the mental wherewithal to carve out your own happiness.
joe rogan
So do you feel like that's a genetic thing?
iliza shlesinger
I don't know.
joe rogan
Or is that an environmental thing?
I don't know either.
iliza shlesinger
I think it's a religious thing.
No, I don't know.
I don't know.
It just takes all kinds, right?
joe rogan
It does take all kinds.
But I always wonder, like, is it what they've experienced in their life?
Is it the family environment they grew up in?
Is it just their straight raw genetics?
unidentified
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
Some people are just dumb.
unidentified
I know, but what is that?
iliza shlesinger
I don't know if it's nature versus nurture.
joe rogan
Can you fix that?
iliza shlesinger
Well, I will tell you this.
I do think it's more nurture than anything.
Because I go and I read to kids at this elementary school, and they're all Latino.
They all speak Spanish.
There's not a blonde kid in the group.
And I think it's very easy to write off minorities.
Their parents don't speak English, whatever.
And the kids are so fucking smart.
And they're like four years old, and they're reading, and they're guessing things, and they speak two languages.
And you get chills because you're like, I don't know if you're going to have the opportunities I had.
And that kills me because I can see that you're smart.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
And you want to take one, which is illegal, and put them in a good school.
But, I mean, that's just the way of the world, I suppose.
joe rogan
I think it's diet, too.
I think diet plays a huge part in the way a child's mind and body develops.
unidentified
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
I read this article.
I want to say it was in The Atlantic, but it was about sort of the language surrounding and propaganda surrounding clean eating and how that term shames people who are poor because you're suggesting that their food is dirty, which it is to an extent.
But how clean eating is just for rich people.
joe rogan
That's a silly way of describing it.
No, it's not.
That's not what it means.
It means a lack of preservatives.
iliza shlesinger
Right.
joe rogan
And bullshit.
unidentified
Right.
iliza shlesinger
And that's all in...
And Twinkies are affordable and they're filled with garbage.
joe rogan
Yeah, but lettuce is affordable, too.
I mean, it's not expensive to eat clean in terms of...
I mean, it's expensive if you want to go to Whole Foods, but...
iliza shlesinger
Well, you have to define...
I mean, clean to everyone is different.
joe rogan
Right.
It's a weird term.
iliza shlesinger
It is.
And this is just one interesting...
It was just one take on it.
I don't know if I totally agree with it.
But, like, I did the...
I started doing the ketogenic diet.
And my father isn't doing it, but he takes these exoketogens, I guess.
And he's like, my mind is sharp.
I'm focused.
And I think there was a bit of a power of suggestion, but I definitely don't have an energy dip.
And I feel like my body's burning clean fuel.
joe rogan
It's very legit.
I mean, there's a lot of science behind it.
There's a podcast that I did pretty recently with a guy named Dom D'Agostino, who's a scientist and does a lot of clinical research on the ketogenic diet.
And he can give you real raw, hard data.
But there's a big issue with your body burning off carbohydrates, especially in particular refined carbohydrates, and then spikes of insulin, and then the dips.
You just feel terrible, and you need a nap in the middle of the day.
iliza shlesinger
I had been operating that way for so long.
I'm not saying I'm in light now and this will be it forever.
But I was like, yeah, you just take a nap.
President takes a nap.
People, most of Europe takes a nap.
You take a nap.
And I started doing this and I was just on this press tour and I went into it.
And this is sometimes just knowing that a change is possible is almost more important than the outcome.
I went on to this thing in New York, and every time you do press, it's like, you're up at 6am, you're done at 7pm, and it's a gauntlet.
And I always feel disgusting and tired and bloated.
And this time, I was like, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna do the ketogenic diet throughout.
And I never needed a nap.
I didn't feel like I outgrew my clothes.
Like, I felt like a human.
And I felt pretty, which is such a weird thing.
But like, there's nothing worse than being bloated as a girl.
And it's got to be the diet, because you're burning clean fuel.
And there's no dips.
And if you think about every time you reach for a snack, which is so easy, or a piece of candy in a green room, you're doing that to your body, the spikes.
And that's exhausting.
And that's why you're napping at 4 o'clock every day.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's not good for you.
And we're not designed to consume food like that.
We're just not.
All these refined carbohydrates, it's a massive part of the modern diet.
It's really recent.
Last few hundred years, humans have had it.
In the last hundred years, it's changed pretty radically.
iliza shlesinger
I went to this thing called The Summit, which is kind of like a giant TED talk.
joe rogan
Yeah, I know what it is.
iliza shlesinger
I did some stand-up there.
joe rogan
You did stand-up at it?
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, I just went.
joe rogan
How many people did stand-up there?
iliza shlesinger
It was just me.
Ben Glebe invited me.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
iliza shlesinger
And so I went.
joe rogan
What is Ben doing there?
iliza shlesinger
He did some stand-up before.
And so I did it.
And then after, you know, it fosters this environment of sort of open-mindedness and just talking.
You can just talk to people.
And it was the first week of the diet.
So I had the keto flu.
And I had to leave the comedy store one night.
I had a second show.
And I was talking to Steve Simone about cheese.
And I almost threw up.
And I was like, I have to go home.
Because my own diet was making me so nauseous.
Because that's part of it.
You get sick at the beginning.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I never got that.
I just got tired.
I got it to the point where it was fucking with my workouts.
My workouts felt flat.
But exogenous ketones are the way to kill that.
iliza shlesinger
So I was taking those two, but it's also, you're kind of like, you're reading stuff and you're kind of sussing out what works for you and trying to find the right balance.
Anyways, but I was not feeling well, but I was talking to everyone about this diet.
I was like, this could not be more LA. I'm like, hi, I'm on a diet.
Check it out.
joe rogan
Yeah, on the keto diet too.
iliza shlesinger
On the keto diet.
That's big LA. And it's also like an intense thing.
Like you're changing everything.
So when you say you have a diet, people want to tell you what's wrong with it.
And I was like, my favorite part of a diet is people telling me how wrong I am for spending all this money and doing this.
And this one guy came up and he's like, I'm a vegan.
And I was like, okay.
And he starts explaining why he's basically a better person.
And I was like, but your shoes are leather.
So, fuck you.
And I was like, okay.
He's like, you're impacting the world in a negative way.
I'm like, okay, but do you recycle?
I was like, no.
Like, we all do what we can.
And you're not a better person just because you happen to eat only herbs.
Maybe you don't drive a Prius.
Who knows where you're making your shitty carbon footprint?
joe rogan
The real problem is the desire to project that on people.
iliza shlesinger
Absolutely.
I was like this.
I'm not telling anyone to do it.
I was just saying what I'm doing.
joe rogan
I mean, you're not saying you're a better person.
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
But him saying he's a better person for that.
iliza shlesinger
Or he didn't say it, but he was acting like it.
joe rogan
But you know what I'm saying.
It's one of the reasons why people do that.
It's this moral high ground that they take.
iliza shlesinger
That being said.
joe rogan
That being said.
iliza shlesinger
When I see people eating garbage, I do feel superior.
I'm like, I'm not hungry.
joe rogan
Well, you realize they're doing something bad with their body.
It's the way I feel when I see someone smoking cigarettes.
iliza shlesinger
Right.
joe rogan
I'm like, ah, man.
iliza shlesinger
But I'm not going to say something to you.
joe rogan
You should walk up to them and start coughing.
iliza shlesinger
Okay, can I tell you?
joe rogan
Yes.
iliza shlesinger
I was at Starbucks the other day, and I just was running in to grab an espresso shot, because I have one every time I work out.
And I go in, and there's a girl there.
And, like, we're comics, so a big part of our job is sort of scanning people, identifying what they are, making assumptions, because we're usually right.
So this girl in front of me, and she's standing there holding a snack.
joe rogan
Because we're usually right.
iliza shlesinger
We're usually right!
That's why we're successful.
And she's holding her snacks.
And I can see that she's kind of weighing her options.
unidentified
Right.
iliza shlesinger
One's an apple.
unidentified
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
And I see her grab a banana.
joe rogan
Right.
iliza shlesinger
So to me, for the most part, when women do that, it is about a dietary thing.
You're trying to lose weight.
She looked like she was maybe going to the gym.
I don't know.
So just trying to be a good girl to another girl.
Because I thought she was making a sugar-based decision.
I go, you know, bananas are full of sugar.
joe rogan
No!
iliza shlesinger
Because I didn't know that.
I didn't.
Because someone told that to me.
Because you always think a banana is healthy.
You put it in a smoothie.
You put it in a shake.
I didn't know it had so much sugar.
So I just said it just as a, like, hey, girlfriend.
I didn't know this either.
And so she, and, and, oh, God, what did she say?
She looked at me and she said something and she was, and then the, the, the, the barista, like, got a tune.
She goes, fruit has a lot of sugar.
I go, well, blueberries have a low glycemic index and just bananas have more.
I just didn't know.
unidentified
That was it.
iliza shlesinger
I was just trying to be cool.
I leave.
I'm walking through the courtyard and I hear this, excuse me, and it's the girl from inside and she goes, did you know dyeing your hair causes cancer?
Oh, I'm sorry, that was it.
In the place, I go, the banana sugar, she goes, but it has potassium.
And I go, but we don't really know what potassium does, do we?
I mean, we know it's in bananas.
Like, I was just trying to be funny.
unidentified
Right.
iliza shlesinger
And I leave, and she comes across, and she goes, do you know that dye in your hair causes cancer?
I thought she was fucking with me.
And I go, yeah, but there's a lot of potassium in hair dye.
And she goes, you really shouldn't tell people what they should and shouldn't eat.
You don't know what I'm going through.
And I was like, I do now.
Crazy.
joe rogan
Oh, crazy.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, she was.
joe rogan
That is crazy.
So some girls are crazy?
iliza shlesinger
Oh, for sure.
joe rogan
Okay.
iliza shlesinger
Oh, yeah.
Some people are fucking...
If you're gonna, like...
You're going to tackle me in a courtyard and tell me to go fuck myself because I just said bananas have...
She got so offended.
joe rogan
Well, you are slim and maybe she was not.
iliza shlesinger
She was fine.
She was fine looking.
joe rogan
She was fine.
Maybe she has a body image thing.
iliza shlesinger
Who doesn't?
My point is, if you can't suss out that I was just making talk.
joe rogan
Jamie's super comfortable with his body.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, I'm pretty comfortable with mine.
unidentified
Alright.
iliza shlesinger
But the point is, and I asked everyone, I was like, was I wrong in saying the sugar thing?
joe rogan
Well, sometimes you just catch someone, like, I've always described it this way, like, most people all day long, if you're lucky, people are at like a two or a three out of ten on the outrage scale.
But you might run into someone who's at a nine.
iliza shlesinger
For sure.
joe rogan
They might have just got dumped, their car might be getting repossessed, they might have just got fired, they might have just got yelled at by their mom, there might be like a whole series of things, and then you were behind her with the fucking banana Banana sugar!
unidentified
This bitch!
iliza shlesinger
If you're listening, which I doubt it, because you don't seem like the kind of person that wants to be enlightened, but if you're listening, this is not a good apology.
joe rogan
Maybe she knows about cancer and hair dye, and that's what she wanted to tell you.
iliza shlesinger
Well, I'm not going to not be blonde.
I'm not gonna walk around with, like, roots just because it causes cancer, maybe.
I'm sorry if I offended you.
I'm sorry, banana lady.
joe rogan
Banana ladies, you need a hug.
Does hair dye actually cause cancer?
I've never read that.
iliza shlesinger
What doesn't?
Like, what doesn't?
joe rogan
Well, living in a city causes cancer, for sure.
iliza shlesinger
Oh my god.
joe rogan
It's gotta.
iliza shlesinger
Big time.
joe rogan
It's gotta be bad for you.
They say that living near a highway, like, if you live within a certain distance of a highway, can shave ten years off your life.
iliza shlesinger
I believe that, not just from smog, but anxiety.
I believe Twitter is slowly killing us.
I really do.
And I have a foil helmet to prove it.
The amount of anxiety it causes, I think the bad far outweighs the good.
joe rogan
Do you read comments and talk back to people and have conversations?
You and I had a conversation.
At the improv, where you were frantic.
iliza shlesinger
That sounds like me.
joe rogan
Like a year ago, you were getting into it with someone.
God damn it, I wish I could remember what it was about, but you were fucking pissed.
And you were frantic, and you'd been going at it with all these people, and they were pissed at you.
Do you remember?
iliza shlesinger
I wonder if it was the Make America Great Again thing that I went through, which was horrible.
joe rogan
It was something about racism.
iliza shlesinger
Sounds like my run-in with hashtag MAGA. Maybe that's what it was.
joe rogan
But we were in the front of the improv and you were so fucking frantic and angry and frustrated.
And I said, let's just don't read that stuff.
Just don't, don't, don't engage.
Like you wouldn't engage with those people in real life.
iliza shlesinger
No.
joe rogan
And you're like, you're right.
But I have to fucking tell them because they say this.
iliza shlesinger
I can genuinely tell you this.
I gave it up.
I had like my own thing.
I did this interview and some girls got like butthurt over something.
And it was then that I was like, you know what?
I'm done.
I'm done reading all of this.
So I'll skim it once in a while for like a retweet about something or if someone's posting something.
But if you look at my tweets, they're all just sort of self-generating.
There's no responses anymore.
I've just decided, like, you're following me for a reason.
So what I say is what I'm saying and I don't need to backtrack.
And that's just the stance that I've taken because it really is like screaming into a pillow.
Like, that's all it is.
Like, with all...
And by the way...
joe rogan
But don't you find interesting things...
Do you find interesting things and then tweet them out to people?
Like, hey, look at this cool article I just read?
iliza shlesinger
I will retweet people's things if I think someone's brilliant.
There's this girl, Jess Dweck, who I can't stop talking about, who has...
She's, like, single-handedly upending the Trump administration.
Like, her tweets are so brilliant.
joe rogan
What is her name?
iliza shlesinger
Jess Dweck.
joe rogan
How do you spell that?
iliza shlesinger
I think it's D-W-E-C-K. I think I found...
She's just so good, and I just believe in, if something's good, perpetuating it and putting it out there.
So I retweet hers.
If somebody says something funny, I retweet it.
But I don't answer people.
D-E-W-E-C-K. Just get ready for a boost.
Yeah, they're just hot fire.
But she does a good job, so I like to retweet it.
joe rogan
Oh, V-Dweck.
V-Dweck is her name.
iliza shlesinger
She was on a show I did last night.
I did a women-only invite show.
joe rogan
Ooh, women-only?
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
Could I go if I wore drag?
iliza shlesinger
No.
joe rogan
I'm not allowed to?
iliza shlesinger
Nope.
joe rogan
What if I identify as a woman?
iliza shlesinger
People ask that.
I was just like, you can come, but no one did that.
joe rogan
Oh, you can come if you identify as a woman.
iliza shlesinger
If you're a trans woman, I'm not going to be the one to tell you no.
joe rogan
What if you just figured it out like five minutes before the show?
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, then here's why you can't.
unidentified
Because it's about a lifetime as a woman.
iliza shlesinger
So if you were always a man, you probably just aren't going through the same things that a woman who was born a woman is.
But you can come.
I'm not going to be the one to say no.
joe rogan
What's your stance on transracialism?
iliza shlesinger
It's okay.
Oh, sorry.
No, no, I didn't get that.
Yeah, like the Rachel Dolezal person?
Yes.
I don't think it works.
You can't be another race.
joe rogan
Well, how can you be a woman then?
How can a man be a woman?
If a man feels like he's a woman, why is that different than a man feeling like he's...
Like there was one I tweeted yesterday, a guy who believes he's Filipino.
I think he's transgender as well.
He's got both things going on.
You know, I think there's people that just don't like who they are and they feel like a radical shift.
There he is.
iliza shlesinger
Let me say this.
joe rogan
Transracial man, born white, says he feels Filipino.
And by the way, that makes it into USA Today.
iliza shlesinger
Is he a nurse?
He's dressed in scrubs.
Maybe that's why he feels Filipino.
joe rogan
I don't think that's scrubs.
It's like tie-dye.
It looks like scrubs.
This is where he has purple highlights in his hair.
iliza shlesinger
Can I just say that it seems to be the issue is when white wants to be another color.
Everybody has been forced to sort of take on white characteristics.
Black girls flatten their hair.
joe rogan
Right.
iliza shlesinger
Nose jobs.
joe rogan
Do you know about Sammy Sosa?
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, and getting lighter.
joe rogan
Do you know what he looks like now?
iliza shlesinger
Yes, I do.
joe rogan
Dude, he looks like you.
iliza shlesinger
He looks just like me.
Tiny nose.
joe rogan
He doesn't have a tiny nose, but he has, like, literally your color skin.
iliza shlesinger
So my best friend, her wife is Dominican, and she posted a picture of it, and she was like, this is not a joke.
It's so sad that he feels that he has to do this.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Holy shit.
Just look at that.
He's a fat white guy now.
iliza shlesinger
He looks like the Gerber baby.
joe rogan
I mean, I guess he got off the steroids and that's when his body sort of started getting fucked up and doesn't work out anymore.
So he's big now.
iliza shlesinger
Nobody white is outraged when you try to be white.
I think people of color get angry when it goes the other way.
unidentified
Right.
iliza shlesinger
Because they're like, you don't get to just take on our look as a costume.
unidentified
Right.
iliza shlesinger
And I think that's the social issue.
joe rogan
Yeah.
No, for sure.
iliza shlesinger
But that's, I guess that's my only answer.
joe rogan
Right, but what if that's where you really feel like you would be happy?
iliza shlesinger
I think do it privately.
joe rogan
Do it privately?
iliza shlesinger
Wear a Dominican Day Parade costume under your overcoat.
joe rogan
Well, you can get away with some of it, right?
Like affectations.
Like you can get away with like, if you're a rapper, you can sort of talk.
iliza shlesinger
Sure.
joe rogan
MC Search.
iliza shlesinger
I think it's like teetering on that line, who's MC Search?
joe rogan
You don't remember?
iliza shlesinger
Uh-uh.
joe rogan
Third base?
He used to have a TV show, and it was horrible!
It was a talk show, but he was going to keep it real.
iliza shlesinger
Was he white?
joe rogan
Yeah, it was so bad that Opie and Anthony used to play clips from MC Search's show.
iliza shlesinger
Is that him?
joe rogan
Yes, that's him.
iliza shlesinger
Is he Jewish?
Because we do this.
We love hip-hop.
joe rogan
Yes.
Yeah, that's him from back in the day.
I was a big fan of Third Bass.
I love them as a band.
But his show...
Well, you know what?
His show...
Here's the difference between his show and what his show could be.
unidentified
Look at that sweater.
joe rogan
Yeah.
That's awful.
But he...
iliza shlesinger
He's being choked out by his own shirt.
joe rogan
It looked like he was also wearing makeup and he was also being, I'm sure, produced.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
You gotta be yourself.
And you can't be yourself if you're on a fucking network.
You just can't.
They're not gonna let you.
They're gonna force you into some box.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
They're gonna figure out a way to sell you.
Like, this is what you're gonna be.
You're gonna be the this guy.
iliza shlesinger
I did a pilot for...
joe rogan
Look at him.
Hey, search.
iliza shlesinger
I think it was Oxygen, and they were like, we need you to say things like, keep it 100. Ooh, can you say that for me?
Keep it 100!
joe rogan
I like it.
iliza shlesinger
Y'all.
joe rogan
Keep it 100. I was like, this is just...
Nobody says that, you stupid fuck.
iliza shlesinger
It was a while ago.
joe rogan
But this is how dumb they are.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
People write that.
They don't fucking say it.
No one says, keep it 100, you dumb cunt.
unidentified
Who are you?
iliza shlesinger
Who are you?
And that's why I don't have a pilot with them.
But it's always that.
I always watch TV, and the advertising is always one step removed from what's cool now.
joe rogan
Right.
iliza shlesinger
Because by the time they push it through corporate...
joe rogan
It's too late.
iliza shlesinger
It's like, yeah, what's up?
Like, guess what?
No one's saying it anymore.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Remember what's up?
Remember that one guy that had that great video where it was like him calling his friends, what's up?
His friends were like, what's up?
It was hilarious.
That was like the 90s, right?
iliza shlesinger
Here's another one that bothers me when people say, I almost threw up in my mouth.
You didn't invent it.
Stop using it in commercials.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's not good.
unidentified
It's bad.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's a bunch of those that they use and they go, ooh, this will connect with the kids and we'll be able to sell more things.
iliza shlesinger
Well, the worst is when execs go, we want to make a viral video.
I'm like, you can't.
It becomes viral.
It goes viral.
We'll make a viral video and then what was the other one?
When people, oh, it's bingeable.
When I was on Freeform, we want bingeable.
We want everyone to binge.
I'm like, you don't decide that you're going to binge it just because you put all your content out there.
You binge things because you decide.
It's It's bingeable.
It's hot.
It's now.
It's fresh.
joe rogan
Oh, God.
unidentified
Oof.
joe rogan
How can you be in that industry and keep it real?
That's what I want to know.
Can you keep it real?
Can you keep it 100?
Look at that lady.
What is she doing?
Is she doing the dab?
She's dabbing on them.
Are you sure she's dabbing or is she just doing Tai Chi in the park?
unidentified
No, it definitely says it on her shirt.
iliza shlesinger
Definitely says it on a shirt that she doesn't know she's wearing.
joe rogan
I didn't realize that.
She can't read.
That lady's blind.
iliza shlesinger
No.
joe rogan
She's 150,000 years old.
iliza shlesinger
Look at that.
Hashtag keep pounding.
We think it's so funny when old people talk as if they were ever young and fucking.
Like as if they've never had sex.
joe rogan
I know, right?
Like that lady probably at one point in time was a dick connoisseur.
And now she's out there in the park not knowing what the fuck she's wearing.
iliza shlesinger
She could still be a dick connoisseur in the park.
That's probably the best place.
joe rogan
Probably.
iliza shlesinger
To be sampling dick.
joe rogan
It's probably hard to get a good one though.
At that age.
She's probably real tough.
Because it's all about enthusiasm.
iliza shlesinger
I feel like dudes are pretty...
Down?
joe rogan
With old ladies?
iliza shlesinger
Like old dudes.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
Well, that's an issue.
A friend of mine, one of his buddies worked at a old folks home and said that one of the big issues was these old guys would get Viagra.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
And these old ladies, they didn't give a fuck.
And a lot of them are on antidepressants.
So they're like, la la la, who gives a shit?
Like they're on Xanax.
iliza shlesinger
And they're getting STDs.
joe rogan
Well, I don't know if it was that.
iliza shlesinger
That's something that I heard about.
Like, it's rampant because that's happening.
joe rogan
That's probably really bad when you're old, right?
iliza shlesinger
Oh my god.
joe rogan
Like, your body doesn't heal so good.
iliza shlesinger
No, I mean if you...
joe rogan
You catch syphilis when you're fucking 98?
iliza shlesinger
Well, herpes is like an attack on your immune system.
unidentified
There it goes.
joe rogan
The new erotic frontier.
Sex in nursing homes.
Until recently, nursing homes frowned on sex.
Now, increasingly, they smile.
Oh, well that makes sense.
Why shouldn't they have fun?
Look at this.
When Aubrey Davidson, age 85, met a special guy at the Hebrew home in Riverdale in the Bronx, New York, they did more than sit next to each other in the dining room.
He invited her to his room.
They hung a do not disturb sign on the door.
And at breakfast the next morning, they both sported broad smiles.
iliza shlesinger
That's terrible writing.
It's not good writing.
Like that was written like a fourth grade.
But also calling it, what does the top say?
You see the new erotic frontier, you're like, ooh, and it's like sex in nursing homes.
You're like, oh, there goes the boner.
It sounded so hot.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's not exciting for me, but there's a whole category on you porn for that.
Some people do like watching old people fuck.
You know what I watched the other day?
I'm not proud of it, but I will admit it to you.
I watched an old...
iliza shlesinger
Say my special.
unidentified
Porn.
joe rogan
I watched an old porn star still at it.
iliza shlesinger
Stop highlighting.
I don't care about this article.
joe rogan
Sex always provides exercise.
iliza shlesinger
Or this topic.
joe rogan
And at the time of life, when many elderly feel cold, sleeping as a pair provides warmth.
Aw, that's cute.
Oh, look at this, though.
unidentified
They're like otters.
joe rogan
Go back to that.
Relationships make people happier and the happiness reduces stress and irritability and improves mood, appetite, sleep, sociability, and immune function.
iliza shlesinger
So do plants.
Read that first sentence.
joe rogan
Oh, how dare you.
iliza shlesinger
Read the first sentence as the Hebrew home.
That first one at the bottom.
joe rogan
The Hebrew home does more than tolerate resident Nookie.
Who wrote this?
Probably someone who works at the Hebrew home.
It's propaganda.
The faculty holds regular happy hours, dances, and even organized a dating service for residents.
G-date.
G for grandparents.
unidentified
Great.
joe rogan
I like it.
iliza shlesinger
That's great.
Whatever.
No one's getting hurt.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
Who cares?
joe rogan
And they're enjoying themselves.
iliza shlesinger
Because people fought for our country.
joe rogan
Some of them probably did.
iliza shlesinger
Let them fuck.
joe rogan
This is like an age, like, there might have been a few draft dodgers from Vietnam in that mix.
iliza shlesinger
What about Korea?
joe rogan
But, by the way...
iliza shlesinger
The Forgotten War.
joe rogan
Yeah, by the way, neither one of those wars were they really fighting for our country.
iliza shlesinger
But, no.
But they still went.
joe rogan
They still went.
But Vietnam was a draft.
iliza shlesinger
Vietnam was a horrible thing, but they still went.
joe rogan
They still went.
Well...
It's not their fault.
iliza shlesinger
It was a bullshit war.
joe rogan
It was a bullshit war.
iliza shlesinger
For sure, but it's not their fault.
joe rogan
It was the most bullshit war.
iliza shlesinger
The most bullshit war?
joe rogan
Well, it was the most bullshit war because it was literally founded on bullshit.
Do you know about the Gulf of Tonkin?
iliza shlesinger
I know all about the Vietnam War.
joe rogan
The Gulf of Tonkin was a false flag that got us into Vietnam.
It never happened, this Gulf of Tonkin incident.
iliza shlesinger
I'll take it a step further.
I think the threat of communism is something that we like to do to scare Americans.
And the poor Laotians just got caught in the middle of all of this.
I went to Vietnam and they still have...
I'm sorry, I went to Cambodia and they still have active minds.
We dropped, I think, more bombs.
I think it was several million or something.
And it's still an active thing.
People are still losing body parts to this.
And we're just like, whoops-a-daisy, sorry.
And they're not an angry people.
joe rogan
I don't know if the threat of communism was perceived as real, because I think if you look at the rest of the world, we were obviously in conflict with the Soviet Union, they were worried about China, Marxism and Mao and all the various issues that people had overcome.
I think they were worried that communism was going to spread.
I think it's just one of those things where once a witch hunt starts, like the McCarthyism era, That's really fucking scary.
That shit where they were going after people and ruining their lives if they went to a meeting.
iliza shlesinger
Sure.
joe rogan
Like, if you went to a communist meeting.
iliza shlesinger
I mean, we definitely blacklisting people.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
You know, and it's a fine line because it's like, well, you're an American, so you have these rights.
And then, like, who's deciding that line?
I wonder if we're kind of getting into that now.
With what we're able to say online, with the whole sexual predator thing, which, if you want to talk about draining a swamp, it's great what's happening now, but then you're going to get guys who are like, I never did anything, and it's like, well, sorry, now no one wants to work with you.
joe rogan
Well, there's people that are absolutely guilty that are getting caught, and then there's people, for sure, that are going to get accused by people who really just want attention.
You're going to have that, too, but I think you're going to have way less of that.
iliza shlesinger
I think you're going to have less of that, because I think the stakes are so high that For you to do that, for you to be the type of person that accuses someone just for your own personal gain, I feel like it's not going to happen as much just because it's such a serious thing right now.
joe rogan
It is such a serious thing, but there's so much weirdness to it.
Like, George Sakai, a guy who says he grabbed his dick in 1981. Hey, dude.
iliza shlesinger
You let it go.
joe rogan
Walk that off.
iliza shlesinger
Walk it off.
I'm sorry.
It's not as damaging as it is when a man does it to a young woman.
joe rogan
100% thank you for saying that.
iliza shlesinger
It isn't.
joe rogan
That's so true.
I've been saying this on stage, and I have a bit I don't want to reveal it here, but there's a big difference between being threatened for your life.
If you're dealing with a situation like...
Alright, this is not to throw Louis C.K. into the bus, but someone was saying, what's the big deal if someone's masturbating in front of you?
This is what I said.
iliza shlesinger
They've never had it happen.
joe rogan
You're a man, and if a woman was masturbating in front of me, I would not be worried.
iliza shlesinger
You're not threatened for your safety.
joe rogan
Exactly.
I'd be like, okay, you want to do that?
Alright.
But if a man is doing it, and they're blocking the door, and it's a man that...
Look, I was in the green room, not the green room, the...
The bar area, the comedy store.
You know that little narrow pathway?
And this guy walked by.
It was about three months ago.
And he was 6'7", 300 plus pounds.
And when he walked by me, I just looked at him.
He looked at me.
I got physically nervous.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
Physically nervous.
unidentified
Sure.
joe rogan
Like I was thinking, okay, if this guy decided he was going to kill me, he was going to smash me, there's almost nothing I could do about it.
He's so much bigger than me.
That is how almost every woman feels around a large man.
iliza shlesinger
This is the thesis for my last special for Confirmed Kills.
joe rogan
You have a thesis?
iliza shlesinger
I talk about it.
It's at length how it all goes back to the fact, all of the suppression, all of your nervousness as a woman, all of it goes back to the fact that men are physically stronger than women.
joe rogan
Yes.
iliza shlesinger
we wouldn't have waited for the right to vote.
Would have been like, I'm going to the polls, out of the way, Jedediah.
Like it just wouldn't.
So it all goes back to that.
And I think for some guys, it's hard to grasp what that feels like to feel physically inferior because it's not mentally inferior.
It's not someone's funnier.
Your life is threatened when a guy blocks the door, when a guy's in your way, when you're in some guy's home and maybe he doesn't want to hear no.
He can kill you.
Even a guy that's not that much bigger than me is still exponentially stronger than me.
And that's just the way we're designed.
It's not every woman.
It's not every man.
But women live with that fear.
So it's so insane.
They're like, he jerked off in front of them.
And at the time, this is a very valid thing.
At the time, I didn't know it was happening.
Because your brain isn't designed to handle a famous comedian's masturbating in front of me.
I'll file this away.
joe rogan
Well, not only that, how about it comes out of the blue?
How about you and I hanging out?
iliza shlesinger
You're trying to process it.
joe rogan
You and I are friends.
We've been friends for a long time.
If we were in some hotel room somewhere and I said, can I jerk off in front of you?
You'd be like, what?
Yeah.
This is not like a rational request.
Like, hey, do you want to get some food?
Hey, let's go to the bar.
iliza shlesinger
There's no neurological path to this where it's like, yeah, we'll go to the food bar and get food.
joe rogan
You just opened a door and dropped off a cliff.
iliza shlesinger
And you're just, you're grabbing onto anything, so they giggle, they laugh, because that's a natural reaction.
You're like, okay, you can't believe it's happening.
A lot of girls, like Allie Reisman just came out, the gymnast.
The Olympic doctor was molesting her.
joe rogan
And another girl as well.
unidentified
Yes, and the guy's already in prison for child porn.
iliza shlesinger
Which is so insane.
I think at the time, especially when you're younger, I have good friends who are like, I was basically raped or assaulted.
And at the time, you're laughing and going along with it because you don't know.
Like your brain is like almost shutting down.
You're like, I don't know that it's not okay.
joe rogan
Well, especially if you're really young, right?
iliza shlesinger
Sure.
joe rogan
I mean, if you're a young kid and you're not exactly sure, you don't have a context for this action.
iliza shlesinger
Right.
joe rogan
And all of a sudden it's happening.
You don't know.
You just don't understand.
I almost got scooped up by a child molester once when I was really young.
I guess I was like eight or nine.
I was in the library and I was looking at these books.
And this guy came up to me.
I was always into monster books, like monster movies.
And this guy came up to me.
He's like, you like monster books?
And I go, yeah.
And he goes, I've got some monster books in my car.
You want to see them?
I said, okay.
iliza shlesinger
Got a monster in my pants.
joe rogan
I didn't know any better.
I was fucking eight years old or whatever I was.
So I start walking out to his car and the librarian sees him and me and starts screaming.
She said, Joseph, you keep away from that man.
He just got out of jail.
And I was crying and I ran to her and the guy ran away.
But I think to myself, like, I had no idea.
I didn't know what a child molester was.
iliza shlesinger
Sure.
joe rogan
I didn't understand.
iliza shlesinger
You don't know.
And even if he tried to touch you, you're like, this feels weird.
I know I don't like this.
It's just such a gray area.
joe rogan
Especially for a doctor, right?
iliza shlesinger
For a doctor to abuse.
And you think, oh, maybe he's touching me.
He needs to be doing that.
I don't know what went on.
But your sexuality, especially as you're younger, is so vulnerable.
unidentified
Right.
iliza shlesinger
Like, if you want to fuck up a girl's life, all you gotta do is go over and, like, grab her boobs as an adult and, like, that's it.
Just go up and grab some young kid's dick or, like, touch a woman's vagina and you're fucked.
Like, it's such a precious, vulnerable thing.
The fact that any of us get out unscathed is a miracle.
joe rogan
I had another one when I was 14. No, 13. I wasn't in high school yet.
So it was like the year before high school.
I used to go fishing at this lake and there was this old dude that used to come by the lake.
He was jogging all the time.
Me and my buddies would fish there.
And he was a former professor.
And he'd come by and talk to us.
He was always like really smart and articulate and interesting to talk to.
And he would sit with us while we were fishing and talk to us.
It was always super friendly.
And then he'd run off.
And then one day I went over his house.
And I didn't think anything of it because I'd been around this guy all the time.
And he watched me pee in the bathroom.
Didn't think anything of that either.
Like, grown man watching me pee.
He's like, normal.
And then, like, maybe a week later, he showed up at the pond where we would fish, and he was drunk.
And he told me he loved me.
And I remember thinking, like, I don't know, yeah, okay, I like you too.
It's weird because I'm fishing at the time.
I was like, what the fuck is this guy going on about?
And we were in a weird area of the pond.
There was like no one around.
And it was like a lot of trees and bushes and shit.
It was sketchy.
And I remember he said this to me.
He said something along the lines of, you can't have love without sex.
iliza shlesinger
Just out of the blue?
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
That's his opening?
joe rogan
Yeah, he said he loved me.
And he said, you know, there can't be any love without sex.
And I said, what?
And I had a knife.
And I remember I had a knife and I put my hand in my pocket.
I had like a little folding knife and I held on to it in my pocket.
And I told him he had to get away from me and I'm leaving.
And he told me I was overreacting and I reeled in my line and got out of there.
But I was like, this guy wants to do something to me.
I'm 13. I can't do anything.
I'm like, maybe I might be able to stab him.
Probably not, you know?
iliza shlesinger
It's definitely...
unidentified
I think about that because...
iliza shlesinger
Especially as a girl, and I hate to keep saying that, but it really does.
Like, it does affect us the most.
And, you know, you get in these Ubers.
Like, you're like, I'll just get in with this dude.
joe rogan
Right.
iliza shlesinger
I'll just get in this cab and hope that he's not going to snap today, you know?
joe rogan
But it's not even a cab.
It's a guy's actual car, right?
So it's even more intimate.
iliza shlesinger
Or just walking.
Or it's basically you're at, you know, you have to keep, you have to be vigilant about it.
Because like if somebody just decides this is what I'm going to do.
And we're all vulnerable to a degree.
Some guy decides to take out an AK-47 or drive his car into a group.
We're all just sitting ducks, you know.
And all the preparation in the world.
You can't fight a gun with your fist.
You can't outweigh a man with your body mass as a woman.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
Which is a real big girl.
And, you know, I don't know.
I think about those things.
So that's why it's tough when you're walking and you're a girl and some guy's like, smile!
You're like, I'm just trying to fucking survive.
Forget the smile thing.
joe rogan
That's such a bully move.
Because those guys who do that, they're only doing that because they're bigger and stronger than you.
iliza shlesinger
Oh, and by the way...
Smiling causes wrinkles.
Does it?
And then when you have wrinkles, men don't like you.
joe rogan
What if you have Botox, you can't even smile?
iliza shlesinger
I don't know about that.
joe rogan
But if you, like, the reason why a guy will do that is because he can.
Like, a guy's not gonna do that to a bigger man.
unidentified
You know what I'm saying?
joe rogan
Like, a bigger man walks by, hey, smile!
Hey, fuck you!
You know what I'm saying?
iliza shlesinger
Creep.
joe rogan
You're ordering someone to do something.
iliza shlesinger
But moreover, I'm putting on a face just saying I don't want to be bothered because I'm scared.
And I'm trying to get from point A to point B. And you're preying on that vulnerability, thinking that I want that.
If I want to see your dick, I'll tell you.
If I want to talk to you, I'll look at you.
joe rogan
They're not thinking that you want that.
What they're doing is they're realizing that you don't want to have anything to do with them.
And by saying that, they have this power to affect you.
iliza shlesinger
Well, what's scary...
joe rogan
Hey, why don't you smile?
You wouldn't look like such a bitch.
iliza shlesinger
Right.
And what's scary is then, if you don't, I don't know what wrath that's going to incur.
When I say, fuck off, I better hope I'm on the other side of the street.
Right.
And what's funny, and I talk about this in the special, so I'm not trying to do a bit.
This is such a comic conversation.
We have this thing where a guy says something, and you're like, fuck off!
And you get tough, immediately followed by, what if he kills me?
It's always our thought, like, oh my god, please don't follow me.
joe rogan
Of course.
iliza shlesinger
We came out of this show last night, this girls' night in show, and everybody was feeling great.
We walked outside, and this dude walks up and was like, anybody got a lighter?
You're walking into a group of five girls having a lively conversation.
You put yourself in the middle, and I walked away.
I go, ew, I'm not doing that.
And he started chirping at me.
What's your problem?
Who has a lighter?
And my fucking dumb friends are like, I think I do, sir.
And I'm like, this is not the time to demonstrate how compassionate you are.
Don't give him a lighter.
There's no reason to go anywhere else.
You're obviously a crazy person.
joe rogan
But that's another instance where a guy will do that because he's bigger.
Because he can get away with it.
A guy's not going to do that to a group of guys.
That's the reason why he's doing it.
He's doing it because he's a big dog walking into a room.
iliza shlesinger
And sometimes, you know, for shows, like I have security thereafter.
And it's not, you know, I'm not Beyonce.
It's not like people are throwing themselves at me.
But I've found just having a large man, even if it's a friend of mine, standing next to me, deters even the beginnings, even the inklings of, let me step to her and see what's going to happen.
Just having one there.
joe rogan
Well, that's got to be a thing with girls that's different.
People get obsessed with people.
Guys get obsessed with girls.
Girls get obsessed with guys.
There's a lot of people out there that are unstable and they lock on to someone and they get obsessed with them.
unidentified
Sure.
joe rogan
But if a man gets obsessed with you sexually, that becomes a giant issue.
iliza shlesinger
And there is no separation, by the way.
You can't just be obsessed with me because you're like, oh, she's brilliant and I'm totally normal.
joe rogan
No, they want to have a relationship with you.
iliza shlesinger
I had that happen.
I had a stalker.
It was a couple years ago, and I did a show in Michigan.
Was it Michigan?
Nope.
It was University of Delaware, and I was going to Michigan the next day.
And I did a college, obviously, and the woman working there, she comes up to me.
She goes, hey, there's a guy here.
He says he's your cousin.
And I was like, I don't have a cousin in Delaware.
So she leaves.
unidentified
She comes back.
iliza shlesinger
She goes, he says he's a comic?
From L.A. And I'm like, I don't know any comics from Delaware also.
And then she leaves.
She comes back.
She goes, he says, I go, stop.
Stop coming back to me.
This is obviously like several attempts.
And now security has to walk me out to the car.
So we do that.
And so I had it kind of in my mind like somebody did something.
So I go to Michigan.
And I'm in Michigan.
I'm there for a festival the next day.
And I mentioned, I just kind of mentioned, I was like, this happened yesterday.
And the security guard comes over and he was like, yeah, there was a guy waiting in the hallway after we cleared it.
And when I talked to him, he kind of ran away.
And I kind of got his name.
I think he like saw his ID for a second.
The guy was like trying to get in, but he was creepy enough that security like caught it.
So they showed me the surveillance tape.
So you see nothing but a grainy face and like a black leather jacket and what they thought his name was.
So a couple weeks later, I was going to play South by Southwest.
So I told my manager about it.
So she tells security there.
My buddy, I'm not going to say his name because he's very shy, is ex-army ranger and works for the contracts with the government.
And so I told him.
So he called the FBI. And they gave him with just the grainy photo and what we thought his name was.
And they found who he was, just some nut who, of course, has guns and has a record and lives off his family money somewhere in rural whatever.
And I was at South by Southwest and I had given and I felt bad.
And this goes to women feeling bad for taking up space.
There were way more famous people there than me.
But here I am.
I can't pick up my badge.
I had to go talk to the police.
Like, I had to have an escort everywhere.
I'm doing, like, a bar show.
You know, I'm just there to hang out with my friends, and I had to have somebody to all three shows.
And I felt embarrassed because I have this police escort, and, like, huge movie stars are there, and they don't even have that.
And I didn't want anyone to look at me like, who does she think she is?
But I was scared, and he had...
And so it was the last show, and I thought I was in the clear, and I go and I do my set, and one of the cops comes over.
They were like, he showed up, and we caught him.
But had they not been there, and they talked to him, and I guess they put the fear of God in him, because they were like, she doesn't want to talk to you.
And he goes, oh, I don't want to hurt her.
And I'm thinking, yeah, but your version of hurt and mine are very different.
Like, I need my skin.
You probably don't think it hurts to take it off of me.
joe rogan
Well, but how about you don't want to talk to him, period.
Like, I don't want to hurt her, but I need to talk to her.
Like, you never need to talk to somebody.
iliza shlesinger
No, you don't need that.
And it's Texas cops, so, like, they get super hard for doing this.
joe rogan
Oh, they'll bury you in the fucking desert.
iliza shlesinger
And they scared him off, and I've never had to deal with him.
But for months, at the improv, at the store, we had this guy's picture up.
joe rogan
Jesus Christ.
iliza shlesinger
And I did nothing.
You know, it's just you decide.
Like, he goes, she communicates with me through meditation.
And Kabbalah.
I was like, alright, let him in.
joe rogan
That's like Jewish meditation.
unidentified
Do you do that?
iliza shlesinger
No.
joe rogan
I think Madonna was doing that for a while.
iliza shlesinger
Jewish mysticism.
joe rogan
Wasn't Madonna, like, big on the Kabbalah?
iliza shlesinger
Which, all these people that are, like, Kabbalists that have studied it forever, and she's trying to, like, hack it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, she is Madonna.
She gets a velvet rope to the front of the line.
iliza shlesinger
That was Janet Jackson's tour, the velvet rope tour.
joe rogan
I was?
iliza shlesinger
I thought you were making, like, a 90s pop reference.
joe rogan
No, I was saying, like, she gets VIP to the Kabbalah Center.
iliza shlesinger
The red string in the water?
joe rogan
What is Kabbalah?
Like, what, do you know anything about the...
iliza shlesinger
It's the study of Jewish mysticism.
So Judaism is actually a very ancient, sort of mystical, spiritual religion.
And this kind of goes sort of back to its roots.
And it's something that you can't, because I've always been interested in it, you can't just pick up a book.
It's a lot of studying, a lot of deep-seated, dissecting Hebrew numbers.
It's not something you just decide you're going to do.
But I don't know much about it other than that.
joe rogan
Is it from ancient Hebrew?
iliza shlesinger
Ancient, like it's, yeah, it's, yeah.
joe rogan
Ancient Hebrew is such a weird language.
I would love to go, it's like, I love looking at old languages because you're looking at like some weird art form in a way.
It was the first forms of communication.
Like if you look at it, you know, ancient Hebrew or ancient Arabic or Aramaic or something like that, like just the way those things are structured, the way the sentences are written out, I have this, um, It's several hundred years old, but it's a Thai Bible.
And it's on my wall.
It's written on these palm...
They took palm wood and flattened it out and painted it.
So it's this really artistic, weird thing that's framed.
But I just go by it and I look at it and I'm like, this is like...
I have no idea what the fuck it says.
But it's just cool to look at.
Sure.
Weird way of writing and communicating these people had.
iliza shlesinger
It was also fascinating because they had the urge that we do to record everything.
People are going to look at ours in a million years and be like, why are there all these eggplant emojis?
Why is everything an eggplant and spurting water?
Why is everyone yellow?
But they had the same...
I always wonder...
Did they have, I mean, obviously they didn't have the same advancements, but like ancient Greece, like, did they have, like, what were young people doing?
Like, was it, what was your fun besides vomiting in a vomitorium and wrestling?
unidentified
Right.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, I would just love to be a fly on the wall back then.
I mean, when you're talking about people that had very little understanding of how the universe worked or their rudimentary understanding of science, just to hear the wisest of the wise amongst them, try to figure out What makes everything tick?
iliza shlesinger
Talking about how acne is the devil.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
We want to talk about how women were treated then.
That's what's really weird.
It's like women have always been treated like shit.
Always.
It's always been some weird sort of relationship between men and women because we can get away with it.
That's really the bottom line about it all.
It's like what's happening today, I think, is that because of The ability to express now.
It's almost like something could happen to you in a bad way and no one could know about it, right?
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
But now everyone can know about it.
iliza shlesinger
If you express it.
joe rogan
Yeah, if you express it.
Everyone can know about it.
iliza shlesinger
Everyone can know.
Sure.
joe rogan
And now everybody's realizing that.
And there's like a shift.
iliza shlesinger
It's like when Black Lives Matter really came to the forefront, you know, and all these white people are like, oh my god, I didn't realize America was racist.
And black people are like, really?
Because we did.
So all these women now are like, yeah, this shit goes on all the time.
And I even think about in comedy, you know, and I went on this like Twitter rant the other day about it.
This idea, it's an it's art.
Comedy is art and people feel ownership over it.
So you get these like boys clubs, you know, I'm very lucky in that I have clubs, you know, like you get like it's a group of dudes that run the show and they don't like girls, whatever it is, or the way a lot of guys make women feel.
And it's so insane.
I'm like, so because you moved to L.A. a year before me.
And you and your friends wrote the same jerk-off jokes.
You somehow think you own this art form that I've always felt a connection to my whole life.
Just because...
unidentified
You get that?
joe rogan
No.
Not only that.
I don't mean you get it.
Do you understand it?
iliza shlesinger
Does it happen to me?
joe rogan
Does it happen to you?
iliza shlesinger
No.
And the truth is, I was able to avoid it because of what I did in my career early on.
Because winning a show like that makes you...
You get to headline.
So I was never...
joe rogan
So you were respected.
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
It's not even that as much as I just was never in the trenches as much because I got to headline, which is always the goal.
Like, I just had a different path.
joe rogan
How many years were you doing stand-up before you won last comic standing?
Whoa, that's crazy.
iliza shlesinger
Right.
So, for me, I'm even more firmly, I guess, planted in my...
sympathizing or empathizing with women who didn't have the same advantage.
And I want to or anyone being bullied, but I see it, you know, at clubs that we do.
And these are my home clubs and I love it.
Coming up the last 10 years, I've watched.
Oh, no, he's a good guy.
And this guy like systematically like daily harasses women.
And all the guys like, no, he's we're cool.
He's we're friends with him.
You know, it's like...
joe rogan
You've seen that?
iliza shlesinger
I've seen that.
I'm not going to say names, but there are people who go out of their way to be horrific, and I never see the guys around us, and these are all, you know, contemporaries, say anything.
Because it's like, nah, he's a good guy.
He's our friend.
And women will DM me.
Female comics will send me messages.
This is happening to me.
He said this to me.
What do I do?
And I'm like, all you can do is be kind, work on your jokes.
Fuck that guy.
He doesn't mean anything.
But it is a thing.
joe rogan
But it does mean something psychologically if you have to go to the club and then you see that guy.
And if you see him right before you have a set.
iliza shlesinger
Oh my God!
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
Oh my God!
I've had, you know, disagreements.
I was nervous.
This isn't you.
When you and I had the thing about your phone number, I was like, I don't want to run into Joe.
I'm so afraid of Joe.
And that's someone who's a friend of mine, you know?
It's already such a weird thing to go to work.
But the girls who are like, oh yeah, I... He told me I wasn't funny.
He told me I was a slut.
He told me this.
He told me I was too XYZ, too this.
And just as if the guy owns the art form when what breaks my heart is like real comics like you or like Sebastian or like people that I or Marc Maron, like guys that I look up to that I think are so brilliant.
They don't have time to sit there and get in the head of some girl who's just trying to make 15 bucks.
You know, it's not your M.O. It's only losers.
joe rogan
Well, I always feel that we're all in the same boat together and that if you have a vagina and I have a penis, it doesn't...
We're all comics.
I think the really...
God, it sounds like...
Even to be sincere sounds like such horse shit in this weird day and age because you feel like you're trying to cover up and try...
I'm not those guys.
Hey, I'm not that Harvey Weinstein guy.
I'm different.
I'm a sweetie.
iliza shlesinger
You can come with me.
joe rogan
Yeah, I'm a sweetie.
We could sleep on the couch together.
It wouldn't even bother me.
You know what I mean?
But I think it's very important that all of us that work together...
Look, I can learn shit from comedy from you.
I can learn shit from anybody.
I've seen people do stand-up.
They've seen me do stand-up.
They do it different than me.
We talk.
You've got a different method than I do.
There might be something you see.
It's always...
We're all peers.
iliza shlesinger
It's art, and we're peers.
joe rogan
But I feel like that with friends, and I feel like that with peers, and I feel like that with anyone.
You gotta be open.
And if you're not open, you're gonna miss stuff.
iliza shlesinger
You're also very secure.
And I really do believe that insecurity, whether you're a woman hating another woman, whether you're a dude trying to step to another guy, it all comes from insecurity.
So when you're, oh, I run this show with my buddies, or I've been doing it three years, I'm owed the world.
You're told that you're owed more, right?
Oh, Concord show, but I should have more.
It comes from this insecurity of, if she gets something that I deserve, and it comes from this place of you think you deserve something.
And that was a big thing for me after I did the show.
The men that I had to tour with were horrific.
Like mental scars, indelible marks on my brain horrific.
Because there was this entitlement like how dare she take that, you know?
joe rogan
How dare you win the show?
iliza shlesinger
How dare you not roll over and die?
So I see that, and I don't have to deal with it as much, but my heart breaks because I wish that these girls five years later could realize from a bird's eye view when it's happening, I'm like, but that guy's got nothing.
If you really are going to be that mean to a fellow comic, you obviously hate yourself so much.
joe rogan
Yeah, but you don't see that.
I wouldn't see that.
If somebody hated me, even if they were a loser, when someone hates you, it sucks.
iliza shlesinger
No, no, hate yourself.
joe rogan
But if someone hates on you because they hate themselves, it still sucks.
iliza shlesinger
I had a guy, when I started, I was doing these like comedy contests in like Orange County, which were a total racket.
But I don't even know the guy, I think he was another comic, and he was like a middle-aged dad.
And he would, on a weekly basis, write me hate email.
Calling me names that I had never been called in my life.
I was like 23 or something.
You're a fucking bitch.
Like just railing on me.
And I didn't like someone jerking off in front of me.
You don't know how to handle that.
I've never even had a woman be that mean to me.
And so I took it.
I wrote back a couple times like, what's your problem?
And he was just a crazy person firing off at someone.
And a year later he wrote me an email to be like, I'm in rehab now.
I'm so sorry.
I've got a wife.
I've got kids.
So you enter into this art form and into this city with the best of intentions, trying to keep your soul as clean as possible, and you have no control over the crazy that's going to be in your path.
You only have control over how you heal from it, I guess.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And I think every comic is crazy in a certain way.
iliza shlesinger
Sure.
joe rogan
There's just no way around.
If you're funny...
I've never met a single funny one that wasn't fucking crazy.
They're all crazy.
It's just everyone's crazy is a different crazy.
iliza shlesinger
Well, here's the other side of it.
So you get women and my whole thing is like you should be fired from your job for not being funny, not because you didn't like fuck someone.
unidentified
Right.
iliza shlesinger
But I think some people take it a step further.
They're like more for women.
I'm like, no, no, no.
Do the jokes.
Be funny.
You shouldn't get the gig just because you're a girl.
You should get a chance.
And you should have a chance to prove yourself and not have everyone stand in the way.
But this, like, more women in comedy.
Write the jokes.
Be fucking funny.
I will fight for you to get that chance.
But I'm not going to hire you just because you're a woman.
joe rogan
Yeah, the more women in comedy thing is like, I just want humans to be good at it.
iliza shlesinger
I want good, funny people.
joe rogan
Yeah, and I think there are more women in comedy now than ever before.
But I think there's more people in comedy now than ever before.
iliza shlesinger
So saturated.
joe rogan
It's so saturated.
But I think it's a good thing.
There's a lot of competition and there's a lot of support.
Like, one of the things that bothers me the most about any sort of weird shit that goes on with comedians, whether it's boy-girl shit or anything else, is that there's a camaraderie that we share that is very unusual in a fairly competitive art form.
Competitive in that...
I don't think it's as competitive anymore and what I mean by this is that I don't think that the idea of like getting a sitcom or being the host of The Tonight Show or you know these these limited number of gigs that are available I don't think that's where it's at anymore I think there's more people like you that are doing Netflix specials and me and we both do podcasts like that kind of thing I think is way more open to people and It's way easier for us all to be supportive of each other and supportive of each other in the art form of stand-up.
Like, what's important in our world is don't steal, don't be an asshole to your fellow comedian, support each other, and I'm gonna be there for you if you're there for me.
iliza shlesinger
I think there's two things to that.
I agree.
I think it's also easier to be supportive when someone's undeniable.
I think when you're first starting out and when you're kind of in the clubs and you're all kind of fighting to figure out what you have, when someone's genuinely funny, man or woman, I'm the first one to be like, yes, love that.
I visibly fell over Sebastian when I bring him on stage.
And I'm sure he doesn't love it, but I'm like, he's the best.
I'm so excited.
And you are...
I mean, this sounds like I'm stroking your ego, but it's true.
You single-handedly, I think, change the sort of landscape in the way that we consume comedy.
You have this massive podcast.
You guys don't know.
We're in a studio that is at least two million square feet, and there are stuffed animals everywhere.
Once were, not teddy bears.
And there's elk horns, and there's an interactive dinosaur exhibit.
It's huge.
He's like a monster drink fountain.
It's crazy.
But...
You know, having this podcast and then people see what's possible.
So what's funny is you did this and you built this sort of podcast empire.
And there's other big ones, too.
But this is definitely one of the most consumed on the planet.
So then it sort of opens up this new avenue.
So then you get all these other comics on new podcast, too.
And not everybody's equipped to do it.
And there is, I think, a glory in being one of the originals because you kind of pave the way.
joe rogan
Also, I fucked up a lot in the beginning and got better at it.
iliza shlesinger
Sure.
joe rogan
I was having a conversation with a good buddy of mine this morning about it, and he was asking me about conversations.
We were just talking about conversations.
There's like an art form to letting people talk in a way that's easy to consume for the people that are listening.
iliza shlesinger
Well, you're a very good listener.
And I think a lot of...
When I started my podcast, I did it so I could work on my listening skills.
unidentified
I was the first guest.
iliza shlesinger
I know you were.
And that was so nice.
Talk about support.
And you did not have to do that.
And I think...
And I don't do a lot of podcasts.
I beg to do yours.
It was not like you asked me.
And I was like, I'm busy, Joe.
But I don't do a lot of them because not every comic is a good listener or equipped to do this.
joe rogan
Well, we were talking before the show started about some bad interviews you've done.
You know?
And there's always going to be...
It's like...
You gotta wanna talk to people.
I like talking to people.
Like this is one of the reasons why podcasts is a good fit for me is because I'm curious.
iliza shlesinger
You're very curious, ape.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
Very curious.
joe rogan
I like talking to people.
When I was saying, would I be a woman for a day, I want to know how the fuck your brain works.
I know you don't know how mine works.
And I know I don't know how yours works.
I'm fascinated.
And I think that we're trying to figure, men and women try to figure out our interactions with each other through trial and error.
unidentified
Sure.
joe rogan
And when sexual harassment and sexual assault and stuff like this, what's coming out in the news with Harvey Weinstein and others, and even the Kevin Spacey stuff, what we're starting to see, the Kevin Spacey stuff is not very applicable to what I'm talking about because it's men doing it to men, but the Harvey Weinstein thing is, it's like here's someone who's not even trying to think about how women think.
iliza shlesinger
Not only that, he was trying to think, how can I do this the most?
He had like a network of people helping him exact that plan.
This wasn't like, I'm drunk, touch my dick.
This was my assistant's going to escort you in.
I'm going to send spies to try to cover this up later.
Like, it's maniacal.
joe rogan
Did you ever see that article from 1945 with, what was that woman's name?
I'll send it to you again, Jamie.
iliza shlesinger
Oh, yeah, the lady.
joe rogan
Maureen O'Hearn.
iliza shlesinger
Yes, the Irish lady, the actress that was like, if this is Hollywood.
joe rogan
Crazy.
Jamie, I'm gonna send it to you again.
Put this up on the big screen.
I got a better version of it where it's not cut off.
iliza shlesinger
Hollywood is probably like, yeah, goodbye.
joe rogan
Yeah, this is 1945. She was complaining that people were trying to fuck her all the time and she couldn't get any work because they said she was cold.
iliza shlesinger
She was like, in order to get work, I have to, like, leave my husband, get rid of my kids, and be just fuckable.
Here it is.
joe rogan
Irish film star Maureen O'Hara, sorry, today charged Hollywood producers and directors of calling her a cold potato without sex appeal.
iliza shlesinger
That's an Irish slur.
joe rogan
Because she refused.
Cold potato.
unidentified
Cold potato.
joe rogan
Refuses to let them make love to her, says the mere New York correspondent.
iliza shlesinger
Can I read it?
Can I read it in her Irish accent?
unidentified
Sure.
iliza shlesinger
I'm so upset with it that I'm ready to quit Hollywood, Maureen says.
It's gotten so bad I hate to come to work in the morning.
I'm a helpless victim of a Hollywood whispering campaign because I don't let the producer and director kiss me every morning or tell them or let them paw me and have them spread words around town that I'm not a woman, that I'm a cold piece of marble statuary.
Statuary?
I guess Hollywood won't consider me as anything except a cold hunk of marble until I divorce my husband, give me baby away and take my name and photograph on all the newspapers.
If that's Hollywood's idea of being a woman, I'm ready to quit now.
joe rogan
Isn't that crazy?
iliza shlesinger
How good my accent is, yeah.
joe rogan
It's very good.
But it's so real!
But this is what I've always said about Hollywood, and this is one of the real problems with the people that are involved in the business, not just in terms of the way it's set up, but the problems for the person that's doing it, that's trying to be an actor or an actress.
Here's the problem.
You have to get picked.
So because you have to get picked, you have to go into places like, please like me.
And you're already fucking insecure, which is why you're an actress in the first place.
The reason why you're an actor in the first place is because you want an exorbitant amount of attention.
You probably didn't get it when you were younger.
There's something missing.
iliza shlesinger
What about people like Daniel Day-Lewis?
joe rogan
Oh, he's a different cat.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, or like Christian Bale.
joe rogan
There's a few of those freaks out there.
There's a few of those freaks.
Especially Daniel Day-Lewis.
He's been working the last two years as a cobbler.
Yeah, making fucking shoes.
He's my favorite.
I love that guy.
He's such a weirdo.
And then when you watch him in some movies, there will be blood, and you're like, oh, okay.
You're not even really acting.
You just become new people.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
There is that.
He becomes the guy on the set all the time.
He's the guy all day.
iliza shlesinger
I don't want to spend that much time outside of my body.
joe rogan
I don't either.
But the problem that I faced when I first came here was, first of all, I never wanted to act.
I had zero intention to act.
I wanted to be a comic.
But then I started getting these development deals.
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
joe rogan
I went on two auditions in my very first, my early days of being an actor.
I got both shows.
I got this show called Hardball, and then I got News Radio.
Those are the first two auditions that I ever went on.
I just got lucky.
I mean, I got as fucking lucky as a person can get.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
Part of it was because I didn't want to do acting, so I wasn't nervous about it.
iliza shlesinger
That is a thing.
joe rogan
And also, I was coming from fighting, so I was used to really being nervous.
iliza shlesinger
Sure, the stakes were so low for you.
joe rogan
Yeah, so I could go in there like, hey, what's up?
How you guys doing?
I was fine.
iliza shlesinger
Like, is this a kick in the nose?
Nope, then it's fine.
joe rogan
Yeah, I'm not going to get a concussion and bleed out of my ears.
But this environment where you're always wanting to get picked...
That's why everybody out here is fucking left-wing.
It's not even they're really left-wing.
They have to be.
You have to wear a pink pussy hat.
You have to say, you know, all the things you need to say.
You're literally formulating an act.
And you bring that act into auditions.
You bring that act onto the red carpet.
That's why you're seeing these people like Harvey Weinstein who would donate to the Clinton campaign and do all this...
What seemed to be like very left-wing stuff, you know, and he was the darling of left-wing.
He's Miramax, which is like really kind of a progressive studio, people have thought.
unidentified
Meanwhile, it's just a house of sexual assault.
iliza shlesinger
I mean, I think you can be a total pervert and have good politics, bad politics, I don't think.
joe rogan
But that's not a pervert, right?
There's a big difference between what he is and a pervert.
iliza shlesinger
Fine, a total psychopath, predator.
And it's interesting, too, because, look, Donald Trump's a fucking...
He's the worst.
That being said, we're going out and we're attacking people.
There are people like, I don't speak to my parents.
They voted for Trump.
And I'm like, cool.
Well, when they're dead, you can rethink those four years, you know?
And we out actors.
Like, he's a Republican.
Like, what are you doing?
joe rogan
Well, some of them revel in it, right?
Like James Woods.
That guy's hilarious.
He's on Twitter all day long fighting with liberals.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, but he also was not of the best moral ground.
Here's something interesting.
On my book, there is a Weinstein logo.
My book is the last one to be published.
joe rogan
Get the fuck out of here.
iliza shlesinger
It's on the back.
Sorry, it's on the spine.
Oh my goodness.
And what I've been likening it to, and I feel like the people...
Now it's a shit.
They got absorbed.
Weinstein Books was only two women.
It wasn't a huge company.
I'd never met him or anything.
I liken it to when your grandpa comes back from World War II and he brings back a plate with a Nazi insignia on it.
Because they made their own shit.
Nazis had a whole HomeGoods line.
And he brings that one thing back.
That's what that book is like.
unidentified
One of the last ones with the W. Now they don't have them anymore.
joe rogan
Well, look, before this had happened, anybody would have done a Miramax movie.
unidentified
Sure.
joe rogan
I mean, he was the guy.
I mean, the fucking movies that they put together, they put together some of the greatest movies of all time.
iliza shlesinger
I think it's crazy.
I think we're getting to a place now where we're realizing, oh yeah, for every...
Everything, there's an upside down.
There's an upside down world.
joe rogan
Ooh, a stranger thing.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
There's an underbelly to everything.
Every business you can think of, there is a seedy, horrible side of it with horrible people.
And most of us choose to live in the light and think things are good.
Every industry has that.
And we're just at a place now where we're kind of shaking it out and people are coming forward.
But this has always existed and it's rampant.
In every business.
joe rogan
Don't you think there's also, there's like, there's systems, right?
And systems of power where someone gets to a position where they have this massive amount of power, almost like royalty.
Yeah.
What a guy like Harvey Weinstein was essentially like a royal in some ways, right?
Like he had massive power, right?
Massive money.
All these people terrified of him.
This big booming figure.
Almost like a king that would cut your head off, right?
And when you have that kind of power, it's such an unrealistic position to be in that I think it's human nature to exploit those unrealistic positions.
That's why this Maureen O'Hara article is fascinating to me because this has always been the case.
These unrealistic positions where someone has to get chosen.
There's one person who has a billion dollars and makes 100 movies a year and people have to be chosen to be the chosen ones to be in those movies.
So you have a whole ecosystem.
And then you have people that are depending on that ecosystem for their own survival.
iliza shlesinger
And nobody, even if they know something, wants to say anything.
It's like, well, I didn't know.
joe rogan
Well, you can't be the first one and then get fired and then you're fucked, right?
iliza shlesinger
That's what they're thinking Right.
Well, that's the other thing you don't want to be first because Rose McGowan was talking about the stuff forever and they're like, whatever.
She's crazy Nobody wants especially for women.
Nobody wants to listen to that woman and historically, you know, like Monica Lewinsky Her life got wrecked.
Yeah, and she was a young woman with the most powerful man in the world And we love Bill Clinton and she gets called a whore, you know, so there's a paradigm shift where people are now speaking and And in terms of, like, if you're talking about exalting one position and someone getting chosen, that's shifting, too.
People are like, fuck it.
I got a cell phone.
I don't need your movie.
I have eight billion followers on Instagram, you know?
joe rogan
I'll just show my butt.
Right.
iliza shlesinger
I'll just show my butt.
I'll just make a video about me eating pizza.
I'm relatable now.
And so everything is shifting.
Everything's shaking out.
I don't think this is ever going to go away because if you're the kind of guy that does that, that's just something you're going to do.
joe rogan
Oh, I think you're wrong.
I think it's going away.
iliza shlesinger
I don't see how.
joe rogan
I just don't think you can get away with it anymore.
Well, it's for sure going to get watered down.
There's always going to be some amount of influence powerful people have that are in a position where they're choosing people.
iliza shlesinger
But you're implying that if you are that kind of crazy where you're assaulting women, that you're choosing good over evil.
You just do.
If you're a predator, you prey on things.
joe rogan
Right, but he couldn't do that when he was 20 and he didn't have any money.
iliza shlesinger
Nobody might have done it a different way.
joe rogan
You think so?
So I think this is just who he is.
iliza shlesinger
I think sometimes it's who you are.
So this whole, I went to rehab.
I'm apologizing.
I'm going to listen.
I'm so sorry.
It's like, it's who you are.
And you can maybe stop, but I do believe that that's...
We like to think, oh, I'll just go reflect for a little bit.
joe rogan
I love that they have a rehab that they all go to.
Give me a fucking break.
iliza shlesinger
For a week.
joe rogan
Arizona.
iliza shlesinger
Give me a break.
joe rogan
We can fix you.
iliza shlesinger
Is it Canyon Ranch?
joe rogan
I don't know what it's called.
iliza shlesinger
It's not.
joe rogan
I think my parents went there.
Kevin Spacey's there right now.
They go for a week.
iliza shlesinger
But I will say, you know...
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
So Dave Becky gave the whole – wrote a follow-up letter to Louis C.K.'s, which I thought was – it sounded very genuine.
And there is something to – You know, we have these levels that you exist on, you know, and you can't be aware.
I feel like I'm going to put my foot in my mouth, but you can't be aware of everything that's going on all the time.
Some people think he was aware of it.
But when you're dealing with these high-level deals and you're at a certain dollar amount and you're flying high above everyone else, you genuinely might not know what's going on, but you almost have a responsibility when you are that powerful and someone tells you something about your client to, like, maybe take it seriously.
If I go on a Twitter rant, my manager calls, she's like, you're acting like a maniac.
joe rogan
Right, okay, but let's follow that up then.
What does one do?
iliza shlesinger
I don't know.
joe rogan
So if someone is a Dave Becky, and you think that this woman might be telling the truth, and I don't know what Louie said to Dave Becky, but we know that Louie told Marc Maron a lie.
Because Marc Maron talked about it on his podcast.
And he said that he asked him, hey man, are you jerking off for girls?
He said, no, I'm not.
It's just a rumor.
It's bullshit.
He goes, why don't you just talk about this rumor?
And he goes, you can't do that, because then it'll...
iliza shlesinger
Give it credence.
joe rogan
Which I guess I kind of understand if it wasn't true.
iliza shlesinger
I don't think I have an answer.
joe rogan
Yeah, I don't have one either.
iliza shlesinger
I definitely don't.
I don't want to seem like I'm going one side or the other.
It's disgusting and it's horrible.
But there's also when you hear inklings of rumors, you hear like little things.
Everybody always says like when their kid ends up killing a bunch of people, they're like, I didn't know.
And as the public, we're like, how could you not know?
He exhibited X, Y, and Z. You know, he did all this.
He had a gun in his room.
He decapitated rabbits.
How could you not know?
Maybe sometimes when you're too close to something and you don't want it to be true.
joe rogan
Well, what about that Vegas shooter?
iliza shlesinger
Oh my God.
joe rogan
Like that guy had nothing.
He had no criminal background.
No one had any idea.
He gave his girlfriend $100,000.
She thought he was breaking up with her and she thought he was giving her money.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
He was just giving her money to get by while he was gonna murder 50 fucking people or 58 people and kill himself.
iliza shlesinger
Can't apply rationale to an irrational thing.
I don't know.
joe rogan
Well, any sort of situation like that.
School shooters.
iliza shlesinger
Did you see the most armed man in America piece that went out?
joe rogan
No.
iliza shlesinger
Can you pull this up?
joe rogan
There's a guy who's the most armed man.
iliza shlesinger
This guy lives in Colorado.
His last name is Bernstein.
So as a Jew, I was like, why are we profiling the one Jew that's a gun nut?
Great.
He lives...
joe rogan
He's the most armed guy in America.
iliza shlesinger
Most are man.
He has like three million dollars worth of artillery.
You gotta watch this.
He has several shooting ranges.
joe rogan
Holy shit, Bernie.
iliza shlesinger
But wait.
joe rogan
Is that his name, Bernie?
iliza shlesinger
It's Bernie, like, Epstein or something.
It's terrible.
joe rogan
He's got tanks.
iliza shlesinger
He's got tanks.
He's got flamethrowers.
joe rogan
He's got flamethrowers.
iliza shlesinger
I want to party with this dude.
Yeah, until you go in his house.
unidentified
Nope.
3% of Americans own, according to a recent study, over 50% of guns.
You probably fall into that group.
Why do you think so few people have such a large concentration of weapons?
You get addicted to them.
You know, it gets in your blood.
We're driving up my property now, and there's all kinds of warning signs, as you can see.
If anybody comes on your property and threatens you with bodily harm, it's legal to shoot them.
Colorado law.
They should have that.
iliza shlesinger
Sounds like my dad.
unidentified
This is one of the first signs they see when they drive up...
joe rogan
This guy was a registered Democrat, it says.
He's got old cars laid out with dolls.
Mannequins and fake blood.
And bullet holes all over the cars.
iliza shlesinger
Remember, you want to party with him.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
You'll see.
joe rogan
I do want to party with him.
iliza shlesinger
If you're going to listen...
joe rogan
Just not a lot.
Just like one night.
iliza shlesinger
Should I tell you what happens at the end or do you want to watch it?
unidentified
Okay.
joe rogan
What happens?
He dies?
iliza shlesinger
No.
joe rogan
What happens?
iliza shlesinger
He talks about...
They're like, so your wife died...
joe rogan
Oh, Jesus.
He killed his wife?
iliza shlesinger
No.
Look at this!
joe rogan
He's got mannequins.
iliza shlesinger
He's got dolls!
He has mannequins dressed up in women's clothing.
He changes their underwear when it gets cold outside.
joe rogan
Oh, Mel.
iliza shlesinger
And this guy is the most heavily armed man in America, legally.
unidentified
He did.
You know, we talk about machine guns and hot rods and, you know, stuff I like.
I don't really care what she likes because she never says nothing anyway.
I'm real nice to him.
When it gets cold, you know, in the winter, I even put underwear on.
joe rogan
He's got a New York accent.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, he's a Jewish guy from, like, the Bronx or something.
joe rogan
And he lives on a ranch in Colorado that's filled with bullets and guns and mannequins.
And he's got his own firewood.
iliza shlesinger
His wife died in an explosion, but the way he describes it, he's like, we were shooting a show, I think it was for A&E, and the last day, they were walking through smoke, and one of the smoke canisters turned into a rocket.
It just went through her.
He describes it as if I was describing what I had for lunch.
He's like, it went through her, and they canceled the show, threw it all away.
Not a tear, nothing about the wife, just more like, yeah, and the show's over.
It's a crazy clip.
joe rogan
Whoa, that guy's probably waiting for someone to trespass.
Like, please, please, please.
iliza shlesinger
He's, like, putting out, like, chocolate and money, like, on a string.
joe rogan
And he's old, too.
So he's got, like, not much left, you know?
How much time does he have left?
iliza shlesinger
What about his girlfriends?
joe rogan
He's got a girlfriend, the mannequins, you mean?
iliza shlesinger
The mannequins.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Would you want to meet him and interview him?
iliza shlesinger
No.
joe rogan
How about a show on Netflix called Eliza Interviews Psychopaths?
iliza shlesinger
It's just all comics.
joe rogan
Just you.
All comics.
iliza shlesinger
Just me at the store.
Just grabbing whoever walks by.
joe rogan
Just you with this guy.
You with like preppers.
iliza shlesinger
It would just be cut back to me just staring at him with my mouth open.
joe rogan
What is all the soldiers in plastic?
unidentified
Another video on another channel I found.
iliza shlesinger
He just loves mannequins.
joe rogan
Oh, this guy's so creepy.
Maybe he doesn't like people, and this is how he sort of...
unidentified
There's a lot of house tours.
joe rogan
Holy shit!
Look at the size of his fucking house!
iliza shlesinger
He's got rocket launchers.
joe rogan
This guy's...
Where's he getting the money for all this stuff?
iliza shlesinger
I think he sells guns, too.
unidentified
Oh.
iliza shlesinger
To who?
I don't know.
joe rogan
I'm gonna buy one of his guns.
iliza shlesinger
We can't contribute to this.
joe rogan
Uh, it's too late.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, he was like, in the last couple weeks, we've sold more guns than we have the whole year.
joe rogan
Well, here's the thing.
If this guy dies, where's all this fucking weaponry going?
ISIS is gonna swoop in.
iliza shlesinger
In Colorado.
joe rogan
Yeah, Colorado is the wrong place to pull out a gun.
Fucking everybody's armed.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
Everybody's armed and now everyone's high.
So you got two things.
He's got samurai swords.
Jesus Christ!
What are those blow darts and shit?
This fucking guy.
Interesting character.
Yeah, there's a lot of people out there like that in Texas.
Texas is crazy.
iliza shlesinger
I grew up shooting, not all the time, but we would go.
My best friend's parents would do these, um...
Sort of not reenactment shootings, but they would dress up in period costumes, like late 19th century, and we would go out to the country, and they would have these little fake towns set up, and it was timed event shootings.
And they all had names like Boy Named Sue, and they had their cowboy names.
And you'd shoot, and you'd win an antique coin or something, but they would go, and Mr. Hewitt had all the rifles and the guns.
joe rogan
What would you shoot at?
iliza shlesinger
It was like targets.
I remember one was like just the sort of outline of like a fake saloon town kind of thing.
And it's like timed.
You try to get your targets and we would just drink Dr. Pepper and watch.
And shotguns a couple times.
It doesn't do much for me.
It's not my thing.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
But he had a lot of them.
joe rogan
I don't even like hunting with them.
iliza shlesinger
I feel like you are so masculine that you see an elk, you're like, tie me, and you just run alongside it, tackle it by the neck, and you just punch it into submission.
joe rogan
No, you can't even get close to them.
unidentified
No.
iliza shlesinger
You have to shoot them.
joe rogan
They can't even know you're there.
iliza shlesinger
Oh, really, Joe?
You can't tackle an elk?
Okay, cool.
joe rogan
No, you can't.
You might be able to tackle like a calf.
iliza shlesinger
A little cow.
He's brand new.
joe rogan
A little baby cow elk.
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
Do you want to hear something crazy?
joe rogan
Yes.
unidentified
A baby...
joe rogan
Something else crazy you mean.
iliza shlesinger
A pony is not a baby horse.
joe rogan
It's not?
iliza shlesinger
Isn't that crazy?
joe rogan
What's a baby horse?
A colt.
iliza shlesinger
A foal.
joe rogan
A foal?
What's a colt then?
iliza shlesinger
A horse.
joe rogan
Oh, a colt is like a full-grown horse.
So a pony is like a type of horse?
iliza shlesinger
It's its own kind of horse.
Isn't that crazy?
joe rogan
See, I always thought a pony...
That's right.
I should know that.
iliza shlesinger
I love telling people that fact.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I should know that.
iliza shlesinger
Pony is not a baby horse.
joe rogan
It registers.
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
You knew it.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
What's the difference between a mule and a donkey?
They're the same thing.
No, one of them is a hybrid.
One of them is a hybrid between a horse and a mule.
iliza shlesinger
A donkey is a horse and a...
Nope.
A mule...
I think a mule and a donkey are the same thing.
joe rogan
Well, one of them is a hybrid and it's non-viable.
I know that.
iliza shlesinger
What do you mean non-viable?
joe rogan
Meaning hybrids, a lot of hybrids can't breed.
A mule is produced when you breed a male donkey with a female horse.
Okay, that's it.
No, it's a mare.
iliza shlesinger
It's also an ugly type of shoe.
joe rogan
A henny, meanwhile, is a mule's an ugly kind of shoe?
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, for women.
It's like a slip-on.
joe rogan
Put that up.
iliza shlesinger
Looks like a hoof.
joe rogan
What the fuck's a mule shoe?
iliza shlesinger
Google mule shoe.
By the way, so many of your fans who live in rural areas are like, I can't believe these people don't know.
joe rogan
These fucking idiots!
iliza shlesinger
Look at that!
It's just ugly.
Not that one, but...
joe rogan
But if you're really hot, you can pull that off.
Guys don't give a fuck.
iliza shlesinger
But that's a hoof.
joe rogan
That does seem like a satanic sort of a thing.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like you're part goat.
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
It's not even cloven.
joe rogan
The reason why I know this is because we got mule cum for Fear Factor.
It's cheaper to make people drink mule cum because mule cum doesn't really become anything.
It's just, it's not good.
iliza shlesinger
How did you say that on the show?
Mule emissions?
joe rogan
I think we said sperm.
iliza shlesinger
Oh my god.
joe rogan
I think we said sperm.
Yeah.
Yeah, it wasn't my idea.
That's what got the show canceled though.
I'm one of the few people in show business that has a show canceled because we made people drink cum.
I think the only one.
Maybe ever.
iliza shlesinger
I feel like there's a lot more than you think.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's probably some behind the scenes stuff.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, off camera.
joe rogan
There's no way they drank as much.
Guarantee that.
unidentified
Alright.
iliza shlesinger
One minute.
Jerk off this mule.
unidentified
They caught juice on the video on YouTube.
joe rogan
Oh, donkey juice?
unidentified
Mule juice.
joe rogan
Yeah.
unidentified
Mmm.
joe rogan
Juice.
Interesting.
unidentified
Well.
joe rogan
Yeah.
That's it.
iliza shlesinger
That's what girls have to go through.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, that was what's interesting.
They could choose between cum and urine.
You had to drink like a vat of urine and a vat of cum.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
And a lot of the girls chose the cum over the urine.
iliza shlesinger
Because at least it's a similar beast.
joe rogan
You've been there before.
iliza shlesinger
Oh, my God.
unidentified
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
I don't want to watch any of that.
joe rogan
This was back in the day.
Yeah.
Amazing.
iliza shlesinger
I love her running eyeliner.
joe rogan
That's how the show got canceled right there, ladies and gentlemen.
iliza shlesinger
Couldn't that kill you?
joe rogan
Nah, I think we're fine.
Drinking urine?
No, urine is nothing.
unidentified
Really?
joe rogan
Urine is just like water.
iliza shlesinger
You can only drink your own urine, I think, eight times.
I love that she's got a hanging...
joe rogan
It's like doing acid.
Doing it more than eight times, you become insane.
iliza shlesinger
Is that true?
unidentified
No, I don't know.
Oh.
iliza shlesinger
No, it's a fact about drinking.
You can only drink, if you're like stranded, you can only drink your urine a certain amount of times before it becomes toxic.
joe rogan
Did you read about those two women that got stuck at sea for like five months with their dog?
iliza shlesinger
No.
Did they eat the dog?
joe rogan
No, they didn't eat the dog.
They had like a year's supply of food on the boat.
But apparently it's falling apart.
The story's falling apart.
And now people don't even believe they were really stranded as long as they were.
Like apparently people were suspicious right away because they were too well kept.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
So, and then now there's story, what I've been reading, and I shouldn't really comment on it until I see if you can find out how much it's fallen apart.
Because I was reading something about how it continues to fall apart.
The story continues.
Like, they might have just pretended to be at sea for five months.
iliza shlesinger
Because you would eat that dog.
Also, like...
joe rogan
You might not if you have a year's supply of food.
iliza shlesinger
True.
Okay, right.
joe rogan
You could have those, like, Alex Jones supplies, those fucking buckets that Jim Baker pushes.
Have you ever seen that?
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, like the End Times thing.
joe rogan
American Woman Rescued.
Stick with their story.
You would say the same thing I did.
iliza shlesinger
Okay, well, there's an easy way to fact check this.
Like, what port did you leave?
Like, who was the last person you saw?
joe rogan
Right.
I guess they're having some issues.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
There's some people that think it's bullshit.
They claim daily distress calls were unanswered, and at one point tiger sharks bumped against the boat.
Uh, might be real.
iliza shlesinger
Well, you can fact check those distress calls, see if tiger sharks live in that area.
joe rogan
They do.
unidentified
Okay.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's around Hawaii.
That's where they were.
iliza shlesinger
Airtight alibi!
joe rogan
That's one of the real problems with Hawaii, is tiger sharks.
Tiger sharks are one of the most aggressive of sharks, and they get people all the time.
I think second only to bull sharks.
What does it say?
Indicating...
jamie vernon
Since they had like an emergency beacon that if they would have activated it, it would have alerted this Coast Guard and it would have been found really fast.
joe rogan
But they didn't.
unidentified
But they for some reason didn't.
joe rogan
Maybe they didn't know about it.
jamie vernon
NASA said there was no storms recorded on satellite images.
That would have, I guess, supposedly also is what they said caused their disappearance.
joe rogan
Eliza likes to stick up for girls, though.
Notice that?
iliza shlesinger
I have not read the story.
I'm just looking at these.
You know what I was honestly thinking?
unidentified
What?
iliza shlesinger
No, I was just like, of course the two lesbians have, like, a giant dog.
Are they lesbos?
I'm assuming.
joe rogan
One of them's, like, 46, one of them's 25, so I think they're probably lesbians.
iliza shlesinger
Who knows, but, like, that's such a lesbian.
Like, he's a pit mix, but we love him.
joe rogan
Yeah, because the big disparity in age, that's the difference between a guy with a yacht and his hot girlfriend.
iliza shlesinger
Who knows?
Maybe she's her instructor.
joe rogan
You know what I love most about lesbian couples?
unidentified
What?
joe rogan
There's almost always a male and a female.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, sometimes.
joe rogan
Yeah, sometimes.
But a lot of the time.
iliza shlesinger
My best friend and her wife, obviously they're married.
joe rogan
Your best friend's a lesbian.
iliza shlesinger
My best friend's a lesbian.
joe rogan
You are so diversified.
iliza shlesinger
So progressive.
But she, we've noticed that we were three, and so she is...
joe rogan
Did you know she was a lesbian when she was three?
iliza shlesinger
No.
She dated, like, the quarterback in high school.
joe rogan
That's probably what ruined her.
iliza shlesinger
I think she kind of just figured it out.
I mean, he was a psychopath.
But, um, so they're married, and they want to have a baby.
And Michelle, sorry, Michelle.
joe rogan
Oh, shit, you gave her name up.
iliza shlesinger
We're both Jewish.
We're white.
She's half my body weight.
She's the tiniest and kind of sickly.
She has, like, plantar fasciitis.
She's got her own issues, right?
So she wants to carry the baby, and her wife is American but Dominican and, like, strong.
She's like, but I want to carry the baby.
I'm like, no, no, no.
Our people have, like, Tay-Sachs and...
What's a Pesach?
It's like a Jewish thing.
It's like a genetic permutation that only Jewish babies get.
But the point is, Jews have to deal with that.
I'm like, her people are giving birth left and right and going back to work the same day.
Don't carry the baby.
I'm trying to encourage her.
I'm like, let the other one do it.
She's like, no, I just want to go through it because she's the dad.
joe rogan
She's the boy.
iliza shlesinger
But Michelle wants to do it, and I'm like, you're going to get snapped in half.
You're going to shit yourself, and you're going to just be a puddle of Jewish skin and bones.
Let the other one do it.
joe rogan
Are you going to have babies?
iliza shlesinger
I was thinking about that.
I'm getting married in May, and then I was talking to...
joe rogan
Your boyfriend's a very nice guy.
unidentified
Thank you.
joe rogan
Fiance.
iliza shlesinger
He loves you.
He loves coming to the store.
joe rogan
He's a good dude.
iliza shlesinger
He's a good guy.
And I was just like, I guess.
I was like, we'll get married.
We'll go on our honeymoon.
I was like, I guess we have a baby.
joe rogan
I was happy when you got him.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
So I was like, finally.
iliza shlesinger
A good one.
joe rogan
One's going to stick.
This one's going to stick.
iliza shlesinger
I get rid of him.
joe rogan
The Yale story and that one.
iliza shlesinger
That was like three years ago.
joe rogan
That was quite a while ago.
That was a great story, though.
iliza shlesinger
Thank you.
joe rogan
But when you brought him around, I was like, well, I don't want to be too friendly with him.
iliza shlesinger
You don't want to warm up?
joe rogan
It's like war.
The new guy might get shot.
But then after a couple months, I was like, hey, you're still here.
What's up, man?
And then we became more and more friendly.
iliza shlesinger
You're like, I don't want to be cool to this guy.
She might get rid of him.
joe rogan
Now every time I see him, I hug him.
unidentified
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
He loves you.
He loves watching all the comedy.
He's a fan of comedy anyway.
Not in a weird way.
But he listens to your podcast.
I think it's cool for him.
And he's super supportive.
But I was like, I guess we just have a baby.
Well, I guess you do that.
joe rogan
You're viable.
iliza shlesinger
I don't know.
joe rogan
How many more years you got?
iliza shlesinger
I don't know.
unidentified
How many eggs you got left?
iliza shlesinger
I'll have to check my stat card.
joe rogan
Did you get an x-ray?
iliza shlesinger
I don't have...
I only have one...
joe rogan
Don't x-ray your eggs.
You cook them.
iliza shlesinger
I have one big egg.
joe rogan
One giant one like an ostrich egg.
iliza shlesinger
I keep it in the back.
joe rogan
Have yourself a little gladiator baby, like some strongman baby.
iliza shlesinger
I've always wanted that.
joe rogan
Do you think you'll have a boy or a girl?
Do you have a feeling?
iliza shlesinger
Can I say this?
unidentified
Yes.
iliza shlesinger
So I had a nose job when I was 18. And...
Which is why it's so tiny.
joe rogan
That's why your nose is so tiny?
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
joe rogan
What'd your nose used to look like?
iliza shlesinger
I had a little bit of a bump.
There are worse things.
joe rogan
They didn't shrink your nostril holes.
iliza shlesinger
No, I always had small nostril holes.
joe rogan
Yeah, they can't shrink that down.
So you just got rid of the bump.
iliza shlesinger
Rid of the bump.
I talk about it in the book.
It's not like a huge revelation.
I'm Jewish.
We do this.
But he's half Italian, half Jewish, and he's got a big nose.
And I remember looking at it the other day and I was like, our kid had better be fucking brilliant or amazing at sports.
Because if a girl has a combination of our noses, It's over for her.
joe rogan
Interesting.
iliza shlesinger
Fingers crossed that she gets someone else's nose.
joe rogan
Maybe by the time you guys decide to have babies, CRISPR will be totally dialed in.
Get a nice little Christy Brinkley nose out of that.
iliza shlesinger
It'll be an app at that point.
joe rogan
Or if it's a dude, a big nose just gives you character.
iliza shlesinger
Big nose for a dude is fine.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
And I'm praying because he's very tall.
If it's a girl, maybe she's just like a brilliant athlete and then it's like, who cares?
Right.
But it's probably not going to happen.
Probably just be kind of funny and smart.
joe rogan
Who the fuck knows?
Who knows?
That's the interesting thing about having children that I found is that they come out of the box with their own little mind.
Their own little personality.
You just kind of nurture that personality along the way.
But, you know, my two youngest daughters could not be different.
They're so similar to each other.
Well, they're so dissimilar, rather, to each other.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
That happens.
My brother and I are...
He's from the planet Zeputar, and we just...
I don't know.
joe rogan
Same with my sister and I. Yeah.
It's a weird combination of, like we're talking about nurture and nature.
See, the thing is about a woman having a baby is that you, especially as a comic, it would be much more difficult for you to do the road.
iliza shlesinger
I don't know anything about it.
I know that I work out a lot, so obviously the more mobile and healthy you are, it's easier.
There's a couple months where you can't, but there's also a couple months of the year where I don't do the road anyway.
I think I could tailor the schedule around it.
joe rogan
You certainly could because you're successful.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because you make enough money to hire help and hire people to help you when you travel.
iliza shlesinger
Oh my god, absolutely.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
I don't know, but your whole life...
I think about that a lot.
You know, it's at night, it's 10 o'clock, I'm like, let's go grab dinner.
You know, you can't...
joe rogan
Can't do that.
iliza shlesinger
...do that.
So, I don't know.
I guess that's like the next step, but...
joe rogan
You just adjust your life.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, it's fine.
joe rogan
It becomes so much...
It becomes very strange.
Like, hanging out with your own kids, it's...
It's very odd, because the love that you feel for them is so intense and so weird.
It's like this warm, cuddly love, but it's also like while you're doing it, you're cuddling with your kid, talking with them, and while you're talking with them, for me at least, I'm like, I can't even believe you're real.
I can't even believe...
This is a daughter.
Like, I have a daughter.
iliza shlesinger
And you're in charge of her forever.
joe rogan
Yeah, and we're talking.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
And she's like, well, what do you think about that?
I'm like, I don't know.
What do you think about that?
And we're having a little conversation about that.
iliza shlesinger
I think it'd be weird that they're thinking at all.
You're like, you were just a puddle of mush.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
So I don't know, but I'm open to, I think a big problem in our society is that we expect women, like, you've got to have this career, have this body, have this family.
joe rogan
But why do we do that?
iliza shlesinger
We do that because it's always been that way.
joe rogan
But who is we?
This group.
How many people do that?
How many people do expect you to have all these things?
iliza shlesinger
I think it's a projection.
Obviously, when you get down to it, nobody cares what you actually do.
But it's what's put out there as what looks like happiness.
And I even talk about this because I never...
I'm not trying to pretend like what I'm saying is something I'm thinking about right now.
I've thought about it.
I wrote about it.
You do have to do this digging to be like, what does my happiness actually look like?
And it might not be the cookie cutter image that is kind of put on all of us.
Like, I have a very weird job.
But if I couldn't do this job, I would be the saddest person.
Like, stand-up comedy gives me the most joy.
And that is a huge...
I'm, you know, in a relationship with that.
And I have to factor everything sort of around it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
Until I have a kid, and then who knows?
Or don't have one.
joe rogan
It does change.
I mean, I hate to say it.
Louis C.K. gave me great advice once when he came to having a kid, which is very odd.
But he said, let it change you.
And I don't know Louis very well.
I should say this, too.
Somebody's giving me a hard time about not commenting on it.
My thought was like, first of all, I want to gather my thoughts.
iliza shlesinger
Absolutely.
joe rogan
And second of all, I don't know him that well.
I don't even have his phone number.
I've never had a phone call conversation with him.
We've exchanged emails maybe three times ever, and he and I have run into each other at clubs and said hi.
We've never gone out and hung out together.
I'm not good friends with him.
So when all this was going down...
It's not like I had information.
Like, if Joey Diaz did something fucked up and people wanted me to comment, first of all, I would never say anything bad, no matter what Joey Diaz did.
Sorry.
That's just the way it is.
There's just no way around it.
iliza shlesinger
If you knew he raped someone.
This is horrible.
People are going to grab this soundbite.
joe rogan
I'm so sorry that he did that.
But, you know, I mean, I would never...
I would never throw him under the bus.
You know what I'm saying?
iliza shlesinger
I think there's bus throwing and then there's bus throwing.
There's a comment after sort of condemning it.
And then there's...
joe rogan
Of course.
iliza shlesinger
Like there was a guy who was in that movie, Baby Driver.
joe rogan
Kevin Spacey?
iliza shlesinger
No, it was like the eighth lead or something.
And he went on some show and just went off about Kevin.
And so everyone's...
It looked like a way to get attention.
Like, yeah, when I was on set, he didn't seem that cool.
And it was so much in retrospect.
joe rogan
Oh, but isn't that the guy that's from The Walking Dead, the Punisher guy?
unidentified
I don't know.
joe rogan
Isn't that him?
iliza shlesinger
I just saw that.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I think it's that guy who's pretty successful.
He's the new Punisher in that Netflix show.
iliza shlesinger
It just seemed very, like, bandwagon jumping when the Louis C.K. thing happened.
I can speak from a perspective of a woman who's seen this kind of stuff.
I don't know.
I've brought him up twice at the store.
That's my knowledge of him.
But you get these emails from, like, the New York Times or, like, hey, if you have anything you want to say or if you know any other things.
I'm like, I don't.
joe rogan
What do you know?
iliza shlesinger
And I don't want to attach myself.
I don't want to be like...
I didn't want to be part of that story just for the sake of it.
joe rogan
Right, right.
iliza shlesinger
Because then you look like a fame whore.
joe rogan
Well, that's also the problem.
Like, you get caught up in something where you become inexorably connected to this awful event and you didn't do anything.
iliza shlesinger
Sure.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
So Joey didn't do anything.
It was just...
joe rogan
It's like...
Not Joey.
Joey...
Oddly enough, as crazy as Joey is, he's a very gentle person.
iliza shlesinger
He's a giant...
He's Puerto Rican.
He's Cuban, sorry.
Giant Cuban teddy bear.
joe rogan
He is, right?
iliza shlesinger
Because he seems so tough and he loves saying cocksucker, but he is just so kind and he's got these eyes like a whale, like they're just ancient and big, like camel eyelashes.
He's got these lovely eyes and he smiles at you like a toddler.
I love him.
joe rogan
He's the best.
I exchange emails with him maybe once every three or four years.
We've texted each other maybe ten times ever.
Only phone calls.
Calls me every couple days.
What's up, cocksucker?
What are you doing, brother?
What's going on?
unidentified
He calls.
joe rogan
He wants to talk to you.
Yeah, Joey wants to talk to you.
If I ever text him, it's because I have to send an address to him.
He's got to put it in his navigation system.
That's it.
He calls you.
iliza shlesinger
He's lovely.
joe rogan
Yeah, he's a beautiful person.
He and I were talking about this whole Louis C.K. thing.
He goes, you know what's fucking crazy?
He's like, I held somebody at gunpoint.
unidentified
He goes, I went to jail.
joe rogan
He goes, for armed fucking kidnapping.
unidentified
And everybody's like, ah, you were crazy.
joe rogan
But he goes like, this is the kind of thing that sticks.
Because he did it to one of us.
Right?
Like if you, in our world, Like, we are all the same.
We are all the same thing.
I mean, there's going to be some weird pettiness and bullshit, and there's going to be some prejudices, and there's going to be some individuals that are not supportive.
But overall, amongst the good eggs, amongst the ones that you and I associate with, we all consider each other the same thing.
iliza shlesinger
We understand each other's hearts and we know how hard it is and what it's like and we all know that it's us, even though the audience is our friends, it's us versus them.
It's the club versus, you know, you're trying to do a job and we know exactly what this very weird job entails and we know the way the other person thinks.
Like we have fucked up thoughts and it's okay to admit these thoughts to each other and it's a very special bond.
And you can't just be like, I'm a comic, I get it.
Like, you have to kind of earn it.
And there's a respect there.
And so, it's what he did is deplorable.
And it was with other comics.
And I feel bad because...
I feel bad because everybody gets so angry at women, they're like, why now?
And I'm like, because there's safety in numbers, and no one would listen before.
joe rogan
But people knew.
iliza shlesinger
They knew.
joe rogan
Some people knew.
iliza shlesinger
They knew to a degree.
joe rogan
Right, to a degree.
iliza shlesinger
I knew the girls' names, but I didn't know if it was true.
It was a rumor.
joe rogan
Right.
iliza shlesinger
You don't know, and you don't want to be the one that's running out there, like...
With a lit torch and you're wrong.
joe rogan
No, this is gonna sound fucked up, but I'm gonna take a chance with it anyway.
Have you put yourself, like, I put myself in Harvey Weinstein's brain.
Not really.
But I sat down and I tried to think, like, what would this guy, like, how would his brain work?
Is he just, like...
Like, lost in the throes of the addiction of power and sex and this chase of getting all these superstars to suck his dick, which is apparently what a lot of them did.
I mean, I've talked to women that know people in the business, and it was like negotiating tactic.
Like, he would give them roles if they did, and he always followed up.
He always honored his work.
iliza shlesinger
I always wondered about that.
joe rogan
Yeah, he always did.
iliza shlesinger
I was wondering, like, how do you ensure someone gives you the part?
joe rogan
I don't know.
I mean, he had a reputation for doing it.
You know the contract thing that he had?
You know the thing?
His contract with Miramax, with the Weinstein group or whatever it is.
iliza shlesinger
Oh, it was like a sexual harassment, like a clause.
Yeah, like covering up too.
joe rogan
But they had it like in tears.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like one would be worth $250.
iliza shlesinger
Because they knew.
joe rogan
Fucking crazy.
iliza shlesinger
Because they knew.
joe rogan
I mean, that is, if that's not complicit, then what is?
But have you tried to put yourself into Louis C.K.'s brain?
iliza shlesinger
Yes and no, because I definitely have had this thought.
I think when you get to a certain level, and I see...
joe rogan
He wasn't at that level then.
This is the thing.
iliza shlesinger
True, and it was a long time ago.
Fine, forget the level.
I've found with a lot of male comics, there's a certain, like a lot of perverts, whatever.
There's a certain set of blinders.
Like, I can do whatever I want.
There's almost like a lack of accountability.
You show up drunk or high or fucked up, and they're like, oh, he's so creative.
It's a certain allowance we give to men and then people when they get famous.
Like, you can do whatever you want.
I pride myself.
I'm always on time.
I don't show up anywhere drunk.
I just take it a little bit more seriously because I know I have to work a little bit harder.
Whether being a girl helps or not, at times, it just depends on the day.
I do think that there's a lack of awareness about other people, and I do think at a certain level, there is a mindset of like, because I've seen this in lower tiered comics.
She doesn't matter.
What I say to you when I call you a bitch or a piece of shit or I harass you, you don't matter.
joe rogan
Because you're not going to make it.
iliza shlesinger
You're not going to make it.
joe rogan
You're not talented enough.
iliza shlesinger
You don't matter.
And I do...
I've seen this and I'm not going to go into names.
I've heard things that...
Other women will confide in me that men say to them, I remember starting at the store, things that were said to me by men who probably don't remember they said it.
Because there's like a cavalier just, I'll just say it, fucking whatever.
I hurt, I want her to hurt.
Fuck you, you're a bitch, your body's disgusting, you don't matter.
joe rogan
Your body's disgusting.
That's the weird one, right?
Like, I hurt, so I want her to hurt.
iliza shlesinger
There's a comic at the store, all the guys are friends with.
joe rogan
All of them?
Me?
iliza shlesinger
I don't know.
Maybe.
He's not there a ton anymore.
He was definitely like a fixture there in the early years when I was there.
We were at another comic's house for a party.
I was standing there and he walked up to me.
I didn't said a word.
He said something rude to a girlfriend of mine because he was hitting on her and that didn't go well.
And he just looked at me and he went, you better keep working out because your body's not going to look like that forever.
And I was like, hi.
And the only other thing he ever said to me was, like, ten years later, he yelled at me because I brought my dog to the store.
joe rogan
Whose body does look like that forever?
That's such a fucking stupid thing to say.
unidentified
Stupid, and it's meant for me to be like, why did you say that?
iliza shlesinger
We should go fuck.
That will help.
joe rogan
Does that work?
It must work on the most depraved girls.
iliza shlesinger
He just picked the wrong one.
joe rogan
Of course.
But does that work on the girls with the lowest self-esteem?
Does that ever work?
iliza shlesinger
It must.
joe rogan
It must, or they might think it works.
iliza shlesinger
Or you engage, and then it turns out, oh, he's a nice guy.
I don't know.
joe rogan
Maybe it's like one of those, hey, you should smile.
Like, it never works, but so many assholes do it.
iliza shlesinger
I think it's more of like, I don't know how to talk.
So you start with that, and then the girl's like, I was smiling.
unidentified
And he's like, oh, okay.
iliza shlesinger
And it's just like an opening for someone who's not as articulate.
joe rogan
An awkward opening from...
iliza shlesinger
I was...
I'm not going to say the state, so we'll just say it was California, but it wasn't.
I was headlining a club.
This was years and years and years ago because the club is not that great.
And there was a guy who was opening for me.
And it's weird.
My power dynamic is different because I'm the headliner.
I've never told a guy he has to sleep with me to get a gig or something like that.
And I went...
joe rogan
It'd be hilarious if you did.
iliza shlesinger
Oh my...
Just like licking my puss left and right.
joe rogan
Eat my box.
iliza shlesinger
Okay, I did it once.
Okay, so...
He was the opener and he was like, oh, can I show you around?
Which, as the opener, behooves you to be nice to the headliner.
If I like you, I have plenty of friends that I just take with me because they were cool.
So we hung out.
We got coffee.
He showed me around his shitty city.
And then on that Saturday night, I had a friend in town.
It was a guy.
And I left with him.
We all went to a bar.
And I left with the guy that I was friends with.
And this comic lost his shit.
Started sending me texts like, how could you?
I spent all this time with you.
Do you know who I am?
Like, just losing it.
And I'm like, and I left.
I was out of the city.
I was going somewhere else.
And he's harassing me.
And I contacted a friend of ours.
It was a mutual friend.
And I was like, you better check your boy.
Like, what is his problem?
He's like, no, he's a good guy.
He's my friend.
Like, did nothing to defend me.
And this guy's just like spewing this vitriolic garbage at me.
unidentified
Drunk.
iliza shlesinger
I think sober, but you could be right.
I don't know.
And the other day, I was at the improv, and this piece of shit was the host.
And I was, like, closing the show out.
And I hadn't seen him in years.
And I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction or anything.
And I go on, and he bombed.
He died a thousand deaths.
And I was just sitting there watching and I know that he knew that I was there and he knew what he had done.
joe rogan
So he felt like shit?
iliza shlesinger
Felt like shit.
And then he was on stage.
I can't tell the rest of it.
It doesn't matter.
But he left his phone on stage and I made him come back up and get it.
I was like, hey.
He was calling himself.
He had a cool nickname for himself.
I called him back and he had to come get his phone.
And then I fucking wrecked it.
But it was more like, you thought I was nobody.
You thought you could treat me like that.
joe rogan
But why did he think that if he was the opening act?
iliza shlesinger
Because he probably thought I didn't deserve it or he's a crazy person or because I was in his city.
But I'd never seen behavior like that exhibited by someone who was opening for me.
But it was just like...
joe rogan
So that's just male-female shit.
That's like he was courting you.
He thought that you were...
iliza shlesinger
He got mad that I left with someone else.
joe rogan
He thought that you and him were hanging out and that you liked him.
It was eventually going to lead to him banging the chick in one last comic standing.
iliza shlesinger
This might have even been before.
I haven't been after it yet.
No, I haven't been after it.
joe rogan
It had to be if you were headlining, right?
iliza shlesinger
It was after, for sure.
But I'm sure that girls, like, I've heard, you know, male friends of mine are like, yeah, I fuck all my openers.
You know, like, guys do that.
I've never had the luxury.
joe rogan
Seems like a bad practice.
iliza shlesinger
Seems like a super gross practice, but I think a lot of guys do it.
joe rogan
It just doesn't seem smart.
I always tell guys to not, well, I should never say don't fuck other comedians because like Tom Segura and Christina Pazitzky, they're great.
iliza shlesinger
That worked out.
joe rogan
That worked out.
Like Moshe Kasher, Natasha Leggero, that worked out.
iliza shlesinger
I think it either works out splendidly or is a nightmare.
joe rogan
Right.
iliza shlesinger
I don't know.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, one thing would be that the person would understand what you do.
Because very few people do.
iliza shlesinger
I think...
joe rogan
And I would think as a girl, it's got to be hard when you're the funny one.
Like, if you're the funny one, and you're dating a guy, and maybe they...
Well, you're...
See, that's the thing.
Your fiancé is so chill.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like...
unidentified
He's so funny too, but he doesn't need any attention.
iliza shlesinger
That's the dynamic there.
And I don't really seek it out outside of stand-up.
I'm not loud.
joe rogan
You get it out of your system.
iliza shlesinger
And I don't want to be greedy about it.
And sometimes you don't know.
You know, you don't know.
You start dating someone, then you realize, oh, they can't handle this.
Oh, they're jealous.
But it takes a minute.
And with comics, it's interesting.
You rarely see a super successful female comic with, like, a guy that's, like, middling at the chuckle bucket.
joe rogan
Never.
Never.
Can you think of one?
I don't know any of them.
I don't know any, like, headliners that fuck their opening acts.
unidentified
Mm-mm.
joe rogan
That are girls.
iliza shlesinger
No, and I mean...
joe rogan
Maybe they do.
Maybe I just don't know.
iliza shlesinger
It's cool if they do.
joe rogan
Is it cool?
unidentified
You like it?
iliza shlesinger
I mean, that's cool.
joe rogan
I think that's cool.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, let them know.
joe rogan
Yeah, flip the script.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What was it like, just to get back to the business of comedy, what was it like headlining after three years?
Because I did a little bit of that, but I had a...
I had a manager who was like a really good...
I got my manager when I was about three years in, and I headlined a bunch of places where I really did not deserve.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, he got me a bunch of gigs, but I didn't have any pressure on me the way you did, winning Last Comic Standing.
I was just sort of just starting out.
iliza shlesinger
So you go on this tour right after?
joe rogan
A Last Comic Standing tour?
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, and you're, I think...
God, I couldn't have been doing that much time because there was like four of us.
joe rogan
Okay.
iliza shlesinger
So I just close it out.
joe rogan
How much time do you think you're doing?
20?
iliza shlesinger
I want to say 15-20.
joe rogan
Right.
iliza shlesinger
You know, and so you finish that and it's interesting because you win something like that and it's like, okay, figure it out now.
joe rogan
Right.
iliza shlesinger
Sink or swim.
And some people sink, some people swim after winning that show.
joe rogan
Most sank.
iliza shlesinger
Most sank.
And I... That being said, some of these guys already had careers.
Like John Heffron was Alonzo Bowden.
Like, they're good.
And they were fine.
And they do fine.
joe rogan
But they're so solid, those guys.
Both those guys.
iliza shlesinger
I just kind of scrape together what you have.
Even on the tour, I don't know if I was always the best one of the night, but people are still there to see you or their favorite ones.
So you're just coming from this sort of scared, but also you have confidence, but also humble place of like, I hope that I can stretch this.
It's enough.
And so you have about 45 minutes left.
At least I did when you were done, when you're ready to headline.
And I think that's a lot of the energy that I put toward it was like, I'm just going to talk really, really fast.
That way if you don't laugh, it doesn't matter.
You don't know you didn't laugh because I got another joke right here.
And that has sort of become a style for now.
Now it's not about a fear.
It's more of I'm so excited to talk.
Me and some other comics did this Ray Romano charity event a couple weeks ago.
And Mark Maron was on it with me.
And we went downstairs to watch Ray to kind of hear what the crowd sounded like.
And so he was doing well.
And Mark turns to me.
This is the funniest thing ever.
And he goes, they're fine.
I go, yeah, they're good.
He goes, you'll be fine.
I go, yeah.
He goes, just do what you always do.
Steamroll over the crowd.
Don't wait for applause.
Do your voices and get off stage.
And I almost cried from laughing.
Because it was like no one ever breaks my balls like that.
And it's true.
I do that.
And that's from that competitive situation.
Like that sort of energy.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, you have that hard, hard ass exterior.
So I don't think a lot of people take a chance on breaking your balls, you know?
iliza shlesinger
Which is a shame because I think it's like the best way to show that you love someone.
And it's the best way to know that somebody loves you is if they do that, you can tell the intention.
joe rogan
That shield also keeps you from getting harassed by creeps, too.
They don't think they can get away with it.
iliza shlesinger
Maybe, and that's fine.
joe rogan
I think so, for sure, right?
I mean, I'm sure you've been harassed, but I think if you were more vulnerable, you've probably been harassed more.
unidentified
Maybe.
iliza shlesinger
I don't know.
I mean, try not to give people a chance.
You know, you're at a meet-and-greet after.
You're seeing your fans.
joe rogan
Oh, especially after.
I was talking about with other comics, but yeah, after for sure.
iliza shlesinger
Oh, with other comics.
I think with other comics...
I, you know, you win the show three years in, and then you're at like a certain level, kind of a level all by myself.
I didn't have a lot of other women I related to because no one else was out there that I didn't know any other women.
You're kind of lonely out there.
And so I would look up to people like you, and I consider myself a colleague of yours now, but at the time, I was just like, what?
How do I? You're so much higher than me, you know?
And I didn't know you.
I didn't know any of these guys.
So it's just...
I don't know.
I don't think any of the comics would step to me because they were...
You're not around comics a lot.
joe rogan
I don't even remember when we met.
iliza shlesinger
I think I knew...
We knew each other.
Like, it took time.
I was always at the store, but...
I mean, I think it was just...
joe rogan
I think you were around, though, in the days that I wasn't at the store.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
What year did you win last Comic Standing?
2008. Yeah, see, I wasn't there then.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah, you weren't there.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
But obviously everyone knew who you were.
It's weird.
I was talking to, like, Steve Simone about this.
Like, there are people you know your whole career, but you may not start talking to them until recently, and then it's as if you were always friends.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
So now I consider myself like an upperclassman there.
I'm also—I really try to just be kind to the other comics, door guys, younger comics.
I always give—and you're like this, too.
Give someone the time of day.
If you're going to be respectful and nice, I have no problem giving it back.
joe rogan
Yeah, well, a lot of those door guys, like, guys who started out as door guys, Duncan and Ari are two of my best friends.
They're both door guys.
iliza shlesinger
A lot of people started as door guys.
Jessica Wellington is the only girl, and I have her come feature for me.
She did my show last night.
That's the kind of girl that needs a chance, because she is, like, in a boys' club within a boys' club.
joe rogan
How's that work?
What do you mean?
iliza shlesinger
She's a door guy.
She's a girl.
So it's all dudes.
unidentified
Oh, I get it.
iliza shlesinger
And she's at the store.
And I was like, someone needs to be nice to this girl.
That's a fucking shitty job.
That's tough.
joe rogan
Yeah, but you're around comedy all the time.
I mean, you're at the World Series of Comedy.
On a daily basis.
I mean, imagine you're a cover booth person and you get a chance to sit there and watch some of the best shows.
Holy shit, Dave Chappelle just showed up.
Holy fuck.
And you're sitting there from that cover booth watching Dave Chappelle and he brings Mos Def on stage with him or something like that.
I mean, that shit happens there all the time.
Oh my God, he's bringing up Chris Rock.
Your fucking head's ready to explode.
And I mean, there's a reality of working there that doesn't exist anywhere else.
You go over to the Laugh Factory.
You know, you ain't getting that fucking reality.
iliza shlesinger
Cool.
It's UCLA stand-up comic showcase night?
Cool.
That place can burn.
I get very protective.
I told you.
Wait, you know why I say that, right?
You know about this, right?
joe rogan
Well, there's a bunch of shit.
I could tell you things, too.
iliza shlesinger
I'm banned from there.
joe rogan
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
I am banned from the Laugh Factory, a club that I've been a regular at forever.
I've told you the story.
I won't repeat it if I told it to you.
joe rogan
Well, you told it to me, but you don't need to throw the Laugh Factory into the dust.
I started going there under the idea that I should support the club because I don't want it to go under.
iliza shlesinger
Because I don't want it to go under.
That's so sad.
joe rogan
Well, I found out they record all your sets.
unidentified
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
I will say that I get, you know, the store is, I always say that the comedy store, the OR in particular, is like an abusive boyfriend.
Like, you're like, this hurts.
Oh, my God.
And then when you don't go for a while, you're like, I need you.
It's like Stockholm Syndrome.
joe rogan
Weight training.
It's like doing a set with a giant weight vest on.
iliza shlesinger
It's like swinging with two bats.
joe rogan
Yeah.
But sometimes it's great.
If you can compete or hang, rather, in that environment, you can go anywhere else, you'd be killing.
iliza shlesinger
It's so true.
And, you know, you get comics that kind of get the vibe of the store from a couple years ago when it wasn't the friendliest place.
And it has that reputation.
But I take great solace in knowing that, like, my home is an intimidating environment.
And I love...
Whatever space I've carved out there, and I don't take it for granted, and I try to respect the shows and respect the audience, and, you know, I'm so proud to be a store comic.
It's not the kindest of lovers all the time.
It's not always the most supportive, but I'm very proud of that upbringing, because that store made me the comic that I am, that OR, you know?
The main room where it's all Swedish tourists, and you're like, you guys don't want me to talk?
And it just makes you—so you can go anywhere and comic shit on it, and I'm like, you just sound jealous.
Because you can't hang.
joe rogan
Who shits on the store?
iliza shlesinger
All the time.
unidentified
All the time.
joe rogan
I don't like the store.
iliza shlesinger
I didn't say that.
Or regular comics.
You did.
They have to be weak.
joe rogan
It's because they don't like bombing.
iliza shlesinger
But anybody.
You make fun of something that you're afraid of.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, then there's things to make fun of just because they suck.
iliza shlesinger
Bombing there feels so good, though.
It's like pushing into a bruise.
You're like, yes, I need this.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
Interesting.
Well, you've got a good attitude about it.
I still do the improv.
I'm doing the improv tonight.
unidentified
Yeah.
iliza shlesinger
Improv's cool.
The store's got...
There's something about it, though.
There's a grittiness to it, and I'm very proud of it.
And the improv's never been anything but lovely to me.
It was the first club I got passed at.
joe rogan
It's still a great club.
I wish they'd take that fucking stupid piano off the stage.
iliza shlesinger
Oh my god!
And they seat people behind it!
joe rogan
Behind the fucking piano.
iliza shlesinger
I apologize to those people every time.
I'm like, someone send them a drink, because you can only see my feet.
joe rogan
And what if you have to do something physical and you're doing it behind the piano?
iliza shlesinger
Wait, so for the one time Owen Benjamin drops in, we have a whole piano?
unidentified
Exactly.
joe rogan
That's what I told Owen.
I said, you need to bring your own fucking piano.
You and Craig Robinson.
iliza shlesinger
Bring a keyboard, asshole.
joe rogan
Yeah, what the fuck?
It's just like one of those old school things that nobody ever got rid of.
iliza shlesinger
I think...
I mean, there's a lot of things that...
joe rogan
Maybe we can talk them into it.
You think that would change the world?
iliza shlesinger
What are you going to send the email to?
joe rogan
Make the club way better.
I know people.
I got some email addresses I could send you.
iliza shlesinger
We'll have to talk about this offline.
joe rogan
We've got to talk about a bunch of things offline.
I need to remember all the different people that said fucked up things to you that you don't want to say.
iliza shlesinger
I have a name on the tip of my tongue.
I'm going to say it the second we turn it off.
joe rogan
I can't wait.
Let's wrap it up now.
So your book.
We can wrap it up now.
Eliza Slester, Girl Logic, available right now.
Probably the last Harvey Weinstein-approved book ever.
iliza shlesinger
Yeah.
unidentified
Right?
iliza shlesinger
I wrote you something on the book.
joe rogan
Did you?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I won't read it then.
iliza shlesinger
It's very small.
joe rogan
I don't want to be...
I don't want to tear up.
iliza shlesinger
Please buy my book.
joe rogan
Tear up.
Go buy her book, you fucks.
And go see her on tour.
She's very funny.
And where are you at?
Where can people get your tour dates and all that jazz?
iliza shlesinger
I'm on tour nonstop, so go to Eliza.com, and we just announced my fourth Netflix special is going to be on the USS Hornet off the coast of San Francisco in the Bay, February 23rd.
joe rogan
You're going to do a stand-up special on a boat?
iliza shlesinger
On an aircraft carrier.
joe rogan
Holy shit.
iliza shlesinger
We announced it today.
joe rogan
That's badass.
Have you ever done that before?
Have you ever performed on a boat?
iliza shlesinger
I have.
joe rogan
Aircraft carrier?
iliza shlesinger
I did on the SS Stennis in the Persian Gulf on a USO tour.
joe rogan
Holy shit.
iliza shlesinger
I stole the idea.
joe rogan
That's a great idea to do a special there.
unidentified
Whoa.
joe rogan
Are you going to wear a red, white, and blue bikini?
iliza shlesinger
I think I might just wear a white bodysuit or a camo bodysuit.
joe rogan
Camo.
Now I'm talking.
unidentified
Right?
joe rogan
I like that.
All right.
Thank you, Liza.
iliza shlesinger
Thanks, Joe.
joe rogan
We'll see you tomorrow, you fucks.
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