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Jan. 31, 2026 - The Joe Rogan Experience
02:37:32
Joe Rogan Experience #2446 - Greg Fitzsimmons

Greg Fitzsimmons joins Joe Rogan to dissect global censorship—from England’s 12,000 arrests over immigration posts to TikTok blocking anti-ICE content and the "juice box emoji"—while questioning why platforms like Twitter suppress free speech despite whistleblower risks. They link Epstein’s alleged blackmail tactics to Mossad-style influence, then pivot to space exploration skepticism: Rogan highlights deleted Apollo mission data, fake moon rocks (e.g., Netherlands’ petrified wood), and radiation concerns like the Van Allen belts, while Fitzsimmons shares a wild Alaskan prank involving fentanyl and racist heckling. The episode also covers AI ethics—ChatGPT’s suicide prompts, Silverman’s voice lawsuit, and deepfake election risks—before debating comedy’s decline in Vegas versus thriving scenes in Austin and NYC, where venues like the Mothership nurture talent. Rogan warns of data weaponization, from Google’s $68M privacy settlement to Palantir’s ICE raids, concluding with a plug for Fitzsimmons’ upcoming shows at Hill Aim, Punchline, and Comedy Off Broadway. [Automatically generated summary]

Participants
Main
g
greg fitzsimmons
54:55
j
joe rogan
01:32:15
Appearances
j
jamie vernon
04:27
n
neil armstrong
00:30
Clips
a
anne tonelson
00:15
s
shane gillis
00:10
|

Speaker Time Text
Pentagon's Great Arrest 00:15:10
unidentified
Joe Rogan podcast, check it out!
The Joe Rogan experience.
joe rogan
Train by day, Joe Rogan.
unidentified
Podcast by night, all day.
joe rogan
Oh, Alpha Brand?
greg fitzsimmons
Just take some Alpha Brain, so I'm going to be fucking sharp.
joe rogan
I've got this stuff, too, if you want it.
It's an energy drink that also has nootropics in it.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, yeah?
joe rogan
Yeah, good stuff.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Gregory.
greg fitzsimmons
Joseph.
joe rogan
See you, my friend.
greg fitzsimmons
Nice to see you, man.
joe rogan
The world's on fire.
greg fitzsimmons
World is on fire.
joe rogan
Good time for you to come in.
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, I literally, I mean, talk about being addicted to your scroll.
I got to really put the fucking phone down sometimes.
joe rogan
I know.
Yeah, it's not good.
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
It's not good for your brain to see all the problems of the world all piling, and everything looks like it's about to blow up.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Iran looks like it's about to blow up.
They're talking about going into Cuba.
Don Lemon went to jail.
It's like, it's all crazy.
It's like, what's next?
greg fitzsimmons
Well, you know, when jail gives you lemons.
And it's also like, what's that whole theory about we're only supposed to be exposed to like 200 people in our lives?
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's Dunbar's number.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, you only can keep that many people in your head.
greg fitzsimmons
But you should only know about that many divorces and that much cheating and that much killing as would happen within two years.
joe rogan
Crime and you fill in the blank.
Fraud, waste, abuse, international politics, restrictions on speech in England.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
This is a fucking crazy story.
This guy in England, an illegal alien, was a squatter in his house.
The court ruled that because he didn't live in the house, the guy didn't live in the house.
It was an empty house.
They gave him the house.
They gave the squatter the house.
The squatter sold it for 540 grand.
Squatter sold his house.
Took his house because he was living.
And this guy was like a pensioner.
He was just a guy who had like an extra house, like a fucking investment property.
greg fitzsimmons
You're right.
joe rogan
And this guy moved into it.
Have you seen it, Jamie?
jamie vernon
I'm seeing something from a year ago.
joe rogan
I don't know.
Somebody sent it to me today.
greg fitzsimmons
They had that in New York back in the 70s and 80s.
There was a lot of empty units like down on the Lower East Side, like Tompkins Square Park area.
There was a lot of squatting.
joe rogan
Yeah, this is it.
Squatter moved in the pensioner's empty home, then won the legal right to keep it and sold the house for 500, I guess 540.
Is that Euros or pounds?
Is that pounds?
What's that?
greg fitzsimmons
Pounds.
Yeah, England has pounds.
joe rogan
That's fucking crazy.
That is so crazy.
England has lost its fucking mind.
It's almost like they want people to either revolt or completely submit.
It's one or the other.
It's like you're either begging for a revolution or you're begging for people to completely submit.
They've arrested 12,000 people this year for social media posts.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, that's right.
joe rogan
And most of it is criticizing immigration.
Just criticizing immigration.
Just saying immigration sucks.
We should send these people back home.
Cops show up at your door.
greg fitzsimmons
Right, right.
joe rogan
Crazy.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, TikTok is now not allowing people to post anything that is anti-ICE.
joe rogan
Not just that.
You can't post the juice box emoji.
greg fitzsimmons
What's that?
joe rogan
Because it's code for Jews.
Because people were using it because they were blocking content where they were criticizing Israel.
greg fitzsimmons
Wait, why is it juice box Jews?
unidentified
I don't know.
greg fitzsimmons
No, juice.
joe rogan
Juice.
greg fitzsimmons
Juice box.
shane gillis
Juice.
joe rogan
It is funny.
But did they block the use?
This is, somebody sent me this.
I haven't verified this.
Did they block the use of the word Epstein?
jamie vernon
I mean, I saw, I don't, I'm not on the app, but I saw a video of someone trying, you know.
joe rogan
Yeah, let's run that through Perplexity.
jamie vernon
And ask if it's blocked.
joe rogan
Of perplexity will rat out TikTok.
Right, because that's it's so crazy that they would do it because they just purchased it, right?
So it was just purchased by some, what is the group?
Is it did Larry Ellison's group purchase it?
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
Okay.
Which is a tremendous supporter of Netanyahu in Israel.
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
So, yeah.
There you go.
So you got censored news now.
So any criticism of Palestine, what's going on in Gaza, all that stuff's going to get squashed probably.
TikTok says does not have a rule that bans or blocks the word Epstein across the app, but many U.S. users have recently been unable to send that word in direct messages.
I have a friend, his name's Bobby Epstein, totally unrelated.
He's the guy who owns the Coda racetrack.
He's a good friend of mine.
I can't send a message saying I was just talking to my friend Bobby Epstein.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, no shit.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
greg fitzsimmons
Wow.
joe rogan
Epstein is a super common name.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's a super, it's like Jones.
greg fitzsimmons
It was on Welcome Back Cotter.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Epstein from Welcome Back Cotter.
That's right.
greg fitzsimmons
You can't talk about him.
joe rogan
It's my brother on news radio.
unidentified
No.
Yes.
joe rogan
Him, Nick DiPaulo, and Brian Callan played my brothers, and we all just beat the shit out of each other in the entire episode.
It was hilarious.
And Nick threw me through a plate glass window, and then the brother shows up.
Epstein was a priest, and he showed up with a bat.
We were all scared of our older brother.
It was really funny.
greg fitzsimmons
He was the Jew, the Puerto Rican Jew from Brooklyn.
joe rogan
He was great.
He's a really nice guy, too.
So what else does it say here?
Newson to probe claims of Trump critical censorship on TikTok.
I think they're fucking blocking a lot of things on certain social media platforms.
greg fitzsimmons
What is that?
I mean, what's your big picture take on whether or not social media platforms, which are privately owned, have responsibility that, say, regular broadcast networks would have in terms of not censoring things?
joe rogan
Well, regular broadcasts problem is they censor things.
They don't just report on the news.
They report on what they decide they're going to report on.
Like it's a CNN hourly news segment.
They have no responsibility to tell you about any particular story.
None.
Zero.
So they'll wait till something becomes like unmanageable before they'll start talking about it.
So something like starts getting traction on social media, like some sort of a corruption scandal.
If it's a left-wing scandal, they can ignore it.
And they have no obligation to, it's not like we have to tell you about these very critical.
It's not like we ran it through AI.
There's 20 things that the American public has to know about.
So they censor, or at least they curate the content.
I think for social media platforms, if Elon Musk didn't buy Twitter, we would be fucked because there would be no place where you could say whatever you want, even heinous things, right?
But if someone says heinous things, you can block them and not interact with them.
And you can let other people tear them down and tear them apart.
And that's how it's supposed to be.
It's supposed to be, you don't counter hate speech with censorship.
You counter it with better speech.
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
And you appeal to rational people and sensible people that go, this is why this guy is wrong.
This is why racism is wrong.
This is why rash generalizations are wrong.
This is why it's wrong.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And that's how you're supposed to do it.
It's supposed to be a free speech town hall platform.
It's supposed to be like the town square where everybody can get together and talk about ideas.
And that's how it should be.
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
And there's been a lot of calls that say that you shouldn't be able to be anonymous on social media, that you should have consequences for your actions.
The problem with that is then you lose all your whistleblowers, right?
All the whistleblowers that are talking about giant corporations that are doing horrible things to the environment secretly in other countries, which we find out about all the time.
Like the Stephen Dosinger case, where that guy got arrested.
He was prosecuted.
Was it Exxon?
The Dosinger case?
But it's like whistleblowers are important.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
You know, and if you don't have whistleblowers, you don't find out.
Like, if Edward Snowden doesn't come out, we know so little about the NSA.
We know so little about government spying.
And yeah, he's an American former attorney known for his legal battle.
Oh, Chevron, particularly with, so he was arrested and he went to jail, man, for criminal contempt.
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, that's First Amendment, isn't it?
joe rogan
You know, I don't know exactly the details of the case.
He spent 45 days in prison and a combined total of 993 days under house arrest.
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
Not only do they go to jail, it depletes all your savings.
If they decide to prosecute you, your life is ruined.
joe rogan
That's part of the point of it all.
It's to also discourage other people from doing the same thing.
So if you're an attorney and you're thinking of prosecuting, you know, Shell, you're not going to do that now.
You're going to go, fuck this.
You know, I have a fucking house trying to buy a Porsche.
And then you're back at it.
Yeah, right.
You know.
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, yeah, it's a weird thing because I know right now to cover the Pentagon, no journalists can go into the Pentagon unless they sign an agreement to only put out government-sponsored press releases.
joe rogan
Government-approved?
greg fitzsimmons
Government-approved.
So now you've got very few people inside the Pentagon, which is where the whistleblowing was happening.
They were the back halls of the Pentagon.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
But then, see, the problem with the Pentagon is you're talking about national security.
And if someone released something, like the name of an agent that was undercover somewhere and something happened, that person got killed or compromised, or some sort of a national security interest, you know, was the whole thing was tanked.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's a the Pentagon's different.
I mean, I'm not saying that they press shouldn't have access to Pentagon officials.
They certainly should.
But it's like going there is kind of different, right?
It's like the FBI just arrested, they just had a giant sweep on gangs in this country today.
They just released that they found like, I think it was 10 kilos of drugs.
greg fitzsimmons
They arrested people.
joe rogan
They both cartels in America.
And so they made a giant arrest today.
I think they arrested 200.
See if we can find what that story is.
But like, imagine if you were in the FBI office and you heard about an imminent attack and you printed something.
Like if you're a reporter and you're covering this stuff and you have access to this information somehow and it gets released and these guys find out about it and they skate.
They nabbed 50 Latin kings in Operation Broken Crown after three months sweep.
So what is the details of it?
Okay, last three months, the FBI has quietly executed.
Sorry, I was about to just wild.
Okay, this is on X. Quietly executed Operation Broken Crown, a sweeping violent gang takedown involving 13 field offices targeting the Latin Kings gangs, members which were publicly threatening law enforcement officers, 50 arrests, $200,000 in seized assets, seizure of 10 kilos of illicit narcotics.
Interesting.
Interesting.
Well, so like that kind of a situation, you can't have access to that information before they do it.
That has to be very tight-lipped, you know.
But there's only a few of those kind of scenarios that I can imagine.
But when it comes to like politicians and backdoor deals, like there should be live footage of it.
unidentified
It should be a lot of fun.
greg fitzsimmons
You only found out about the bomb, the illegal bombings in Cambodia because there was a whistleblower inside of the Pentagon.
joe rogan
Exactly.
Exactly.
greg fitzsimmons
So you do need some access.
joe rogan
Yeah, but it's like, well, you need whistleblowers, right?
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
It's like, how many people?
Here's the thing about intelligence agencies.
There's a lot of good people that are working there.
It's like we judge them based on the evil people that are probably the ones with the most power.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
There's probably a lot of like mid-level people working at the Pentagon, working at the CIA, working everywhere that are good people.
greg fitzsimmons
Are you kidding me?
These are people that have dedicated their lives to trying to, you know, I blame the same way with cops.
I think, you know, I got three good buddies that are cops, and they are absolutely went into it the way a social worker goes into it.
joe rogan
Yes.
greg fitzsimmons
And then there's evil ones that, you know, I think it was worse.
I think back like, you know, back in the days of like Serpico, you ever see that movie?
Like it was literally like the entire force was in on it.
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
You know, there was fucking legal gambling, legal drug dealing.
Nobody got touched.
unidentified
Yep.
joe rogan
Yep.
Yeah, they've always done that.
I mean, that's how they ran the mob in Vegas.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
The mob ran Vegas with the cops.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, yeah.
We're just talking about that outside.
Like, why was Vegas and Atlantic City the only places allowed?
I don't know why I stupidly asked that.
Jamie's like, because of the mob, asshole.
joe rogan
Fucking duh.
Well, it was the mob.
And I think Nevada, there was also, see if this is true.
There was supposedly a connection between the testing of nuclear weapons and then allowing the city or the state rather to have gambling.
Because Nevada was one of the rare places where they routinely tested nuclear weapons.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
I don't know if you've ever seen the video that shows a history of all the atomic bombs going off in the United States.
The video is crazy because it starts with the first test, starts with the Trinity test, starts, they do the couple in the ocean.
What's the matter?
What's so funny?
jamie vernon
Wow, just the way this is worded.
joe rogan
What is it?
jamie vernon
I asked if there's a connection between nuclear tests and gambling in Las Vegas.
And turns out, yeah, they would use it as a theme to attract gamblers.
unidentified
What?
joe rogan
Look, come see a bomb.
From the early 1950s to the 1960s, Las Vegas casinos and tourism promoters actively used nearby nuclear weapons tests as themed attractions to draw gamblers and visitors.
Holy shit, man.
jamie vernon
Bomb parties.
joe rogan
It's like how my God, they had bomb parties on the rooftop.
They would watch, they'd stay up gambling, drinking, and then stepped outside to watch the blast on the horizon.
unidentified
Wow.
jamie vernon
Atomic cocktail.
joe rogan
Oh, my God.
greg fitzsimmons
Dude, it's like how Caesar says fireworks now.
joe rogan
They had atomic theme promotions, atomic cocktails, atomic hairdos, nuclear pin-up imagery like Miss Atomic Blast.
Slogans like Atomic City USA and Up and Atom to tie the test directly to Vegas nightlife and gambling culture.
unidentified
Holy shit.
Atomic Cocktail Parties 00:05:40
greg fitzsimmons
I wonder if you could place bets.
Dude, I bet your eyebrows singe off.
joe rogan
I don't know if they had the same thing like what they have now with modern prediction betting.
Prediction betting, you can bet on pretty much everything.
greg fitzsimmons
I just made a bet last night on.
joe rogan
Go back down to where you were.
Stop with the bottom line.
In short, nuclear weapons tests near Las Vegas were not just a backdrop.
They were deliberately woven into casino marketing, party culture, and tourism that supported the city's gambling economy.
But did it have the reason?
Here's my question.
Was Nevada allowed to have gambling because of them allowing nuclear tests?
Like, was there any sort of an agreement?
Because there's only two states at that time that allowed casinos, like real casinos.
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
And it seems kind of weird that one of them, you know, New Jersey's always been fucking corrupt.
That's the Sopranos.
It's like the most mob-ridden fucking state in the country at the time.
greg fitzsimmons
Based in Atlantic City, pretty much.
joe rogan
I mean, cut the fucking shit.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Atlantic City.
greg fitzsimmons
And then Vegas was Bugsy Siegel, right?
joe rogan
Okay, well, since Nevada legalized most forces of gambling in 31.
Okay, so it doesn't make any sense because it's before that.
So it's the Great Depression economic measure track tours.
So, no, so that theory doesn't hold up.
I didn't know that Vegas was started in 31.
That's nuts.
greg fitzsimmons
So basically, the Great Depression started, and then they launched Vegas as a way to raise money.
joe rogan
Which is hilarious.
You have no money.
There's no jobs.
Why don't you gamble?
unidentified
What?
greg fitzsimmons
My gamble is going to the food line.
So you know, I get a loaf of bread.
That's my gamble today.
joe rogan
You know what's crazy is that lake keeps drying up because they were having a drought and they keep finding bodies in the lake.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, no shit.
shane gillis
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
Like those metal barrels with like bodies inside of them.
They found quite a few of them.
How many bodies have they found?
Is it Lake Mead, I believe?
Yeah, so as it's drying up, it's at like it was, I think it's probably picked up a little bit, but at one point in time was at a historic low.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And so they were finding these fucking dead bodies.
I think they found like a half a dozen of them.
And I think they think there's a whole lot more in there.
No shit.
As of last latest reporting, at least six separate discoveries of human remains were made in Lake Mead in 2022 as the water level dropped, representing at least several different individuals.
Wow.
Find out that thing where they stopped searching for guns and bodies.
I think it was in MacArthur Park and why they did that.
greg fitzsimmons
David Tell back in his insomniac days used to hang, he hung out with some dark motherfuckers in New York.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
And he used to bring this guy in who he was a New York City cop.
And they basically said, we'll double your pay and give you early retirement if you put on a frog suit every night and you go out into, I think it was Flushing Bay, one of the bays out in Queens, which was a famous place where the mob was dropping bodies.
And the guy would go into the water in a frog suit and he'd wait by this bridge.
And when they drop a body, he'd fucking call it in.
And he did that the night shift.
And he'd finish that and he'd come into the comedy cellar at like 4 a.m.
So he'd wait in the ocean in a scuba suit?
joe rogan
And then they drop a body?
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
Holy shit.
joe rogan
They were dropping that many bodies.
greg fitzsimmons
Yes, yes.
joe rogan
You can just wait for them.
That's so crazy.
Search in MacArthur Park for guns and possible bodies was stopped because authorities said it was an unpermitted and potentially unsafe operation on City Park property.
Okay, so it was a businessman.
So it was a private thing.
So that's probably what it was.
So officials, official reasons given.
Organizers led by businessman John, I don't know how to spell his name, A-L-L-E, how do you say that?
Ale?
L-A?
Plan to use sonar and remotely operated vehicles to look for weapons and human remains in the lake.
Los Angeles Park Rangers halted the effort before the sonar entered the water, saying the team did not have the required permits or clearances.
Okay.
Why didn't you guys do that, though?
If you really think, if this guy really thinks that there could be bodies and guns in the lake, why wouldn't you guys search for bodies and guns if someone could search for it?
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
It seems like there's probably a lot of people missing, a lot of crimes that could be solved, a lot of resources that have already been spent on cases.
You could probably get to the bottom of a lot of things.
A lay ale, I don't know how to say his name, said families of missing people, some of whom were last seen near MacArthur Park, had reached out to him for help, which inspired the idea of a large-scale sonar search of the lake.
There's evidence down there for crimes, he said.
We'll identify it with photography and the city will have to extract it.
greg fitzsimmons
It also could be these are homeless people and the kids.
The government doesn't give a shit.
unidentified
They can't swim.
greg fitzsimmons
Come on, they were kids once.
joe rogan
It's hard to swim when you're on meth.
You have bad cardio.
You know, if one guy says, this is the last day I do meth, today I get in shape.
And he tries to swim across the lake and fucking strokes out in the middle of it.
greg fitzsimmons
This is my day.
joe rogan
Never gave him a.
Oh, geez, I'm in there.
What are they saying about me?
jamie vernon
That's a scenario.
It's an ad.
joe rogan
Oh, it's an ad?
jamie vernon
That's basically, yeah, that's an ad down at the bottom.
joe rogan
Oh, I mocked the AI-generated.
That was crazy.
The AI-generated photo that MSNB put, MSNBC put up of the guy who got shot in Minneapolis.
Ari's Dad Survives 00:02:50
joe rogan
They changed his appearance.
greg fitzsimmons
Alex Predty?
unidentified
Yes.
greg fitzsimmons
They changed his appearance and we were.
joe rogan
They made him handsome.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, they did.
joe rogan
You haven't seen it?
greg fitzsimmons
No.
joe rogan
You have to see it.
You have to see it.
I don't know who's doing this.
It's almost like someone from the Republican side is like a secret plant at MSNBC because they know that stuff like this is going to get caught.
Look at the difference between the one on the left and one on the right.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, the nose looks blurry on the one on the left.
joe rogan
Well, that's his nose.
That's what he looks like.
It's just a shitty picture.
But they cleaned the picture up.
They made his nose smaller.
They gave him a tan.
They made his forehead shorter.
They made his jaw wider.
They made his shoulders thicker.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
They gave him more bicep.
They made him more handsome.
They made his neck thicker.
He looks better.
greg fitzsimmons
Yep.
joe rogan
The guy on the right looks like a good-looking guy.
The guy on the left looks, you know, like Ari's unfortunate brother.
Doesn't he?
greg fitzsimmons
Poor Ari's brother.
I mean, it's so funny that Ari comes from this family.
I mean, he grew up Orthodox Jewish, right?
Oh, yeah.
And the things that he has put out there for a family to have to see, it makes you realize, and they love him.
Like, they accept it.
And it's all about grace.
And I love Jews because they are very accepting.
You know, as much as you might be Orthodox, my wife is half Jewish.
And there's something very open-minded about Jews.
I mean, they were the original hippies and they were the original communists in America.
And they were always open to different ideas.
And I think when I think about Ari's family, if they were Christian conservative versus Jewish conservative, I don't know that they'd be as accepting of him.
joe rogan
You know, Ari's dad survived the Holocaust.
greg fitzsimmons
No shit.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
Ari's dad has a tattoo.
unidentified
Damn.
Yeah.
joe rogan
He's very old.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
He must be one of the oldest people left with a tattoo.
joe rogan
I mean, yeah, he talked to me about having his dad on.
He asked me if I'd be interested in it, if his dad ever wants to do it, because, you know, he doesn't have much time left.
And I said, absolutely.
And he goes, you know, let me, I'm not sure if he'd be interested in it.
But if he did, I think it would be important to talk to him.
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, he's got to be over 100 years old.
joe rogan
I don't know how old he is.
He's old, though.
Well, how long ago was he?
greg fitzsimmons
You would have to have been born.
Oh, no.
Actually, if he was born in 1935.
joe rogan
He's in his 80s, his late 80s.
greg fitzsimmons
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
What am I thinking?
Right, right.
Because they tattooed the fucking kids.
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
joe rogan
Yeah.
unidentified
Jesus.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's dark.
It's horrible.
It's so crazy, dude.
Dogs, Vikings, and Terrifying Porn 00:06:18
joe rogan
It's so crazy that that was less than 100 years ago.
greg fitzsimmons
I know.
I know.
And the Germans like that fucking norm McDonald bit about how, you know, Germany is the country we really should be afraid of.
Like the way they start world wars and what they're like, it's really fucking nuts.
joe rogan
Well, they were the barbarians back in the day.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, right.
joe rogan
You know, they, I mean, we think of now as engineers.
They make BMWs.
But back then, they were the barbarians during the Roman era.
greg fitzsimmons
The Vikings, the Vikings were Scandinavian, and then they were fighting against the Germans.
joe rogan
The Vikings were fucking terrifying.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
They were terrifying.
And they all became engineers.
They all became like brilliant.
Yeah.
Like very disciplined people, which is interesting because Germany is known for that.
But also, shit porn.
Remember, like in the early days of the internet, a lot of the shit porn, like weird, crazy, like shitting.
A lot of that was coming.
And we were trying to analyze it one day.
And I was like, it's probably because if you're so buttoned down and so disciplined and regimented and conservative in your daily life, the way you cut loose, it's like you shit in each other's mouths and fuck each other in the butt.
Like some of the craziest shit porn was coming out of Germany.
This was like late 90s, early 2000s, when we first started finding weird websites that would, you know, you'd be able to find things on.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, no, before that, I'd go to Sex World in New York where you sit in those booths and you put in quarters and you watch porn.
And they always had the darkest German porn in there.
Really?
Yeah, a lot of animals and shit.
And I'm like 15 years old going like, and I've got these coins.
You go in and you give the guy 10 bucks and he gives you a handful of coins.
Just imagine if you put a black light on those fucking coins and I got them in my hand.
joe rogan
Just jizz all over those things.
And I'm black lights are terrifying.
greg fitzsimmons
I'm pushing buttons to pick which film to watch.
joe rogan
I have a friend who brought a black light into a hotel room.
He said, you just find jizz on the carpet.
greg fitzsimmons
No kidding.
joe rogan
You find jizz on the fucking blanket sometimes.
You go to any, like go to a cheap hotel or a motel.
How well do you think they're cleaning those carpets?
Do you think they clean the walls?
greg fitzsimmons
I've been in hotels where they put the remote control in a baggie for you because they say that's the most no, no, because so you don't have to touch the remote.
And then they change the baggie on the remote each time a new guest comes in.
joe rogan
So you're supposed to remote through the baggie?
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Who does that?
greg fitzsimmons
I take it out of the bag.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's crazy.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's ridiculous.
I'm touching toilet seats.
I'm touching everything.
What are we talking about here?
greg fitzsimmons
I'm also not that afraid to come.
joe rogan
You know, it's going to kill you.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I mean, that's just kind of gross.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, I mean, think about how much shit is on the average person's cell phone.
Have you ever heard of that?
greg fitzsimmons
No.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Just touch your cell phone with a swab, like get a swab and get it analyzed.
You'll find fecal matter all over yourself.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, because we're scrolling while we're on the toilet.
joe rogan
A lot of people are.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
A lot of people.
And also you're touching things and then you touch your phone.
And how many people touch their ass and touch a thing, a doorknob, or this and that.
You're getting fecal matter on everything.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Especially if you have a cat.
I used to think about that all the time when I had cats.
Like the cats are in the shitbox.
They're scratching around there and then they're walking on your counter.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
They're walking.
You know, they don't give a fuck where they go.
They go everywhere.
And you don't care.
You're like, hey, buddy.
You pet them when they're on the counter.
You want to have shit in their paws.
greg fitzsimmons
Then your dog licks his asshole and then licks it.
And then people have him licked their face.
joe rogan
They lick my face.
unidentified
Really?
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
No.
joe rogan
I let him give me kisses.
greg fitzsimmons
Have you seen him lick his asshole?
I have.
joe rogan
For sure, especially my puppy.
I have a little puppy now.
greg fitzsimmons
Imagine a black light on your face right now.
joe rogan
My puppy goes right, you know, I have a little.
greg fitzsimmons
You'd look like you were in blackface.
joe rogan
Probably.
I just splatter like I'll be the joker.
greg fitzsimmons
Al Gelzi.
joe rogan
I have a puppy, like a, he's a King Charles Cavalier.
He's a little tiny, cute.
He's so fucking cute.
And then I have the golden retriever.
And the puppy runs right up to the golden retriever, sticks his face in his dick, and then sticks his face in his asshole.
And that's the first thing he does to him every time.
Face on the dick, face out of the asshole.
I'm like, bro.
unidentified
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
What are you doing?
joe rogan
Yeah.
That's just dogs.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's what they do.
greg fitzsimmons
It's funny how they keep.
Yeah, I had two dogs and they did that.
Yeah, every fucking day.
They sniffed each other.
Like, you know, I mean, I guess that's how they know if something changed.
Maybe they know if the other dog is sick or if the other dog is breeding with another dog.
It's like kind of checking their emails.
joe rogan
Well, they get so much information from smell that we can't even possibly process.
greg fitzsimmons
Right, right.
joe rogan
They say that a dog can smell a cheeseburger.
They don't just smell the cheeseburger.
They smell every individual ingredient.
They smell the mustard.
They smell the pickle.
They smell everything.
They smell the lettuce.
Yeah, they smell, they smell, they think that dogs smell anxiety.
They smell like moods.
That's why when certain people come over your house, they're scared of dogs.
Dogs get sketchy with them.
Like, what the fuck's up with this guy?
Like, oh, he doesn't like you.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, well, it's because the person's probably nervous.
They're giving off a scent.
unidentified
Right.
greg fitzsimmons
No, my mom, her sister was attacked really bad by a dog when they were little.
So my mom has this trauma about dogs.
We had these little fucking, we had a shihhtzu and a lassa opso.
They're just little dogs.
She was terrified, and the dogs would growl at her, and they didn't growl at anybody.
joe rogan
Oh my God.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
Yeah.
They smell things.
They sense things.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's why people have them as guards.
I mean, that's their, that's how they, that's how they made it.
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
To be dogs.
They were the wolves that hung out with us and would let us know when something's going down.
greg fitzsimmons
Sentinels.
joe rogan
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
That's, well, I have a very strong olfactory sense.
Like, I'm very, of my five senses, I would put it up there at the top.
Like, I, I love perfume.
unidentified
Really?
greg fitzsimmons
I love perfume.
I don't like when women wear too much of it and then they hug you at the comedy store and then you go home and you smell like fucking perfume.
You're like, honey, it's just Whitney Cummings has this new Chanel.
But like sometimes I'll be, I'll walk, I'll be sitting somewhere and I'll smell some nice perfume and I'll fucking whip my head around.
Why Women Smell Perfs? 00:05:34
greg fitzsimmons
It's like some 81-year-old woman hunched over and you're like, oh, they don't wear the old ladies.
joe rogan
No matter how old they are, they'll still put on the makeup.
They'll still put on the pair.
greg fitzsimmons
They're done.
joe rogan
Let it out.
Time to go out and see, go fishing.
See if this old bait can catch a bass.
greg fitzsimmons
Right, right.
Yeah, there's this bar up at my, where my mom lives in Florida.
And there's this bar and it's like a famous cougar bar.
And it's all these rich women who's, because, you know, men die faster.
joe rogan
Right.
greg fitzsimmons
It's like, it's impossible for a woman in Florida who's in her 70s to find a guy who's, you know, anywhere near her age.
She's got to date a guy in his late 80s if she's in her 70s.
unidentified
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
And so these women go to this bar and they are, like you said, they're wearing a lot of leopards, a lot of leopard print.
joe rogan
Yeah, they're letting you know.
greg fitzsimmons
It's stiletto heels.
It's like stiletto heels, but the toes are all twisted and mangled.
joe rogan
My wife has been watching this horrible show that's on Netflix.
It's like one of those housewife shows, but it's all West Palm Beach ladies.
It's all these rich ladies with plastic surgery.
greg fitzsimmons
Palm Beach, not West Palm Beach.
joe rogan
Palm Beach.
That's right.
Palm Beach ladies.
Is Palm Beach the rich area?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Is West Palm like the more moderate area?
greg fitzsimmons
No, no, it's poor.
joe rogan
It's poor.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, yeah.
Well, it has good sections, but it has the people that work on Palm Beach cleaning the houses live in West Palm Beach.
joe rogan
Oh, I see.
greg fitzsimmons
Because there's basically Palm Beach is a bridge to get to.
Do you know the history of Palm Beach?
joe rogan
No.
They do, yeah, but go ahead.
greg fitzsimmons
They created it.
It was like a sandbar that they built up, and then they hired, they didn't hire, they hired a bunch of black people to come on the island and build all the houses, the infrastructure.
I don't know.
joe rogan
I mean, for sure, they only hired black people?
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, look it up, Jamie.
But like, all I know is there was a lot of black people doing the building.
They finished it, and then the island held a big party for the black people on the end of the island to celebrate, and then they torched all their houses and forced them off the island.
Yeah, that's the history of Palm Beach.
joe rogan
They torched their houses after they were done building the mansion.
unidentified
Yes.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
And it's probably the wealthiest piece of real estate in the country right now.
joe rogan
So many people are fucking evil.
That's so evil.
Imagine a guy who built your house.
He's at home with his kids.
Yeah.
You know, wow, what a great job I got.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know?
greg fitzsimmons
And then I get to start living in this beautiful place.
joe rogan
I live in this place.
I helped build these beautiful mansions.
greg fitzsimmons
These people are going to love me because I helped them create a life.
unidentified
Oh, my God.
joe rogan
And they lit their fucking houses on fire.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Pull up that story.
I need to hear about that.
That's crazy.
But these ladies are just monsters.
It's just all like the social status.
It's all like, who's got the most money?
Like, they don't even know how much money I have.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, I'm a millionaire.
greg fitzsimmons
And then they have these clubs.
My friend's father lives there, and he belongs to a club.
joe rogan
Oh, you got to belong to him.
greg fitzsimmons
And he worked for, I won't say who the person was, but a very famous Jewish family.
And he – she went to lunch one day at one of these clubs that didn't allow Jews and the waiter would – Clubs still don't allow Jews?
No.
No, this is going back 20 years at the most.
joe rogan
Only 20 years?
greg fitzsimmons
20 years ago?
joe rogan
So in 2006, 2006.
greg fitzsimmons
Probably about 20 years ago.
There was clubs in the Jews?
Yeah.
Well, you know, Augusta, where they play the Masters, only started allowing black members in like the 80s.
Remember Tiger Woods was playing there and he got shit because he was a black playing at a club where they didn't allow black people.
unidentified
Really?
greg fitzsimmons
And they said, how could you do that?
joe rogan
In Tiger Woods' lifetime?
greg fitzsimmons
Yep.
unidentified
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
unidentified
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
So anyway, so this Jewish woman goes to the club.
The waiter wouldn't come over to the table.
And finally, the member went over and goes, what's going on?
We can't serve.
We can't serve her.
joe rogan
How'd they even know she was Jewish?
greg fitzsimmons
She's famous.
joe rogan
Oh.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
I think I can say who it is.
It was Estee Lauder's wife.
Wow.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Or was Estee Lauder the woman?
Yeah.
joe rogan
I don't know.
greg fitzsimmons
Estee Lauder is the woman.
It was her.
unidentified
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
One of the richest women in the country.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
Yeah.
We can't serve her because of her religion.
unidentified
Yeah.
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow.
And that was 2006?
greg fitzsimmons
Hey, the country clubs, you know, the rule on it was, well, look, the Friars Club.
joe rogan
Let me make sure that's true.
The Estee Lauder one.
I definitely want to find out about the burning.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, the Estee Lauder is personal information.
I don't know that that's not published anywhere.
unidentified
All right.
joe rogan
Forget about that, though.
greg fitzsimmons
But no, segregation and clubs.
Private clubs used to get away with that until I was a member of the Friars Club in New York, and they did not allow female members until I was there in, it was the late mid-90s before the Friars Club allowed female members.
And the reason was legally, you can't have a club exclude people if you can prove business is being done there.
If there's commerce.
If there's no business, you can let in whoever you want.
unidentified
Right.
greg fitzsimmons
So that's how they got female members in there.
And I think they probably, I mean, obviously business is being done at golf clubs.
joe rogan
Well, business is definitely being done at the Friars Club.
I mean, a lot of deals probably got made there.
A lot of ideas got hatched.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
The Friars Club Lore 00:03:11
joe rogan
I mean, all these comics.
greg fitzsimmons
It was all agent.
It was agents and comics.
joe rogan
I remember you used to love that place.
greg fitzsimmons
Dude, it was so funny.
joe rogan
You always tell me about it.
It was so unappealing to me.
greg fitzsimmons
It was a clubhouse for comedians.
We used to go there.
They had two beautiful pool tables.
I played on the Friars Club pool team, and we used to play against other clubs in the city, all the other private clubs.
Paul Servino was my partner.
joe rogan
Paul Servino could play.
greg fitzsimmons
He was good.
joe rogan
He was good.
He could run 100 balls in Straight Pool.
He was like a legit high-level player.
greg fitzsimmons
So he carried me, but we used to play all the clubs.
And then, you know, and then they got a nice gym with the best steam room in the city.
And then they got these lazy boys.
You work out, you take a fucking steam, and you send a lazy boy, and you read the newspaper.
And then they got a dining room downstairs where Henny Youngman is at one table, Alan King's at the, you know, and these guys, like those old, those old Borschbell comics, they lived to make you laugh.
It's not like comedians today.
So many of them are dark and quiet and disturbed.
These guys fucking told jokes and they roasted you and they hugged you.
And it was like a part of being on stage almost, you know?
It was expected.
joe rogan
Right.
They probably all felt real comfortable in this comics-only club.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
Folklore surrounding the sticks of Palm Beach.
So that's what it is.
That's the area what they called it.
So.
Go to the top of that, please.
Right there.
Turn of 20th century is an employment boom of unprecedented proportions in South Florida, the hiring of thousands of black laborers to extend Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad.
Oh, this is the East Coast Railroad.
These laborers played a key role in the development of the early Palm Beach, also helped to build the Royal Point Siana Hotel, Flagler's White Hall residence, which is today known as the Henry Flagler Museum.
Laborers and their families settled in Palm Beach Island between North County Road and Sunrise Avenue.
This area of shanties and tent-like homes soon became known as the Styx.
Many of those descendants still live in the area today.
So what happened?
Does it say what happened?
Okay, along came a fellow named Henley Flagler who decided he needed that land to build on to develop, Little said.
And he threw a party for all the blacks on the island.
And they all went over to the party.
And while they were celebrating and enjoying themselves, their homes on the island of the town of Palm Beach burned down mysteriously.
Holy fuck, dude.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
From what I heard, McRae said, he got with the residents and set up a party on West Palm Beach side and had everybody ferried over to the party and then had a mob of people to burn up people's homes and shanties and tents all over the styx and forced them out of there and took the land.
How many people died?
jamie vernon
I don't know how many people died.
It's just they're all gone.
But there's a record.
joe rogan
Right, but what about their kids?
jamie vernon
Around 2000 people living in that area is what it said.
joe rogan
Oh, my God.
jamie vernon
And then this is the problem.
When I was looking it up on Wikipedia, this is basically what I read.
Rich People's Wigs 00:05:31
joe rogan
Okay.
Palm Beach Historical Society version is very different.
Published text only says that by 1912, the tenants of the Styx had been evicted.
That doesn't mean anything.
They could have still been there, especially the shambles.
greg fitzsimmons
The Spanish Flagler threw some money at the Palm Beach Historical Society.
joe rogan
Yeah, of course, right?
No mention of a fire or any record of large-scale homelessness that would have followed such a devastating blaze.
Everly Clark believes his version is the most accurate, and the Styx was actually legislated out of existence.
They claim there was a fire and Flagler had the people come to circus and all that, but that's not true.
Still, more than a century later, the urban legend remains strong and the pulse of public opinion split.
There are so many historical facts that make some of the scurrilous removal of the residents believable that it's become lore for the most part in the black community.
All right, well, let's find out if there's a historical record of the fires.
jamie vernon
This is all I could get to.
unidentified
That's it.
jamie vernon
This is a local news.
joe rogan
And what year was this, supposedly?
greg fitzsimmons
1920?
jamie vernon
1912.
Yeah, I bet they did.
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, look what they did in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
joe rogan
Right.
greg fitzsimmons
You know, this was part of the playbook.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Well, look what they did with the Tuskegee experiment.
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
Look at that.
Like, how about that?
They knowingly had all these people with syphilis and didn't treat them just to study them to see what would happen to them.
Did they give people syphilis or did they just treat them for syphilis?
greg fitzsimmons
I don't know.
joe rogan
Whatever it was, they let these fucking people rot and die.
And syphilis is a fucking horrible disease.
greg fitzsimmons
Tell me about it.
joe rogan
Did you get it?
Do you know the story about syphilis and wigs?
greg fitzsimmons
No.
joe rogan
You don't know that?
greg fitzsimmons
No.
joe rogan
All those dudes in the ancient times that had the big wigs?
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
That was to cover up their hair loss from syphilis.
greg fitzsimmons
Dude, how did not everybody have it?
joe rogan
Well, they all had wigs.
They all had it.
Right.
In high society, first of all, those people were basically like Game of Thrones.
They were all just fucking freaks banging each other.
You know, French society has always been very loose sexually.
And so these two royals, were they brothers or cousins?
jamie vernon
I think they were brothers.
I'm double checking them.
joe rogan
So these guys get syphilis, their hair falls out, right?
You get holes in your face and shit, and they're still fucking everybody, right?
And so they got wigs made.
And the more money you had, the more elaborate and big your wig was.
That's why rich people are big wigs.
greg fitzsimmons
No.
joe rogan
Yes.
greg fitzsimmons
I love it.
joe rogan
Isn't that crazy?
greg fitzsimmons
Wow.
joe rogan
Crazy.
That term that we always use when we were kids, oh, he's a big wig.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's like ancient.
That goes back to the 1400s.
greg fitzsimmons
That's like something you would hear on that guy, Cody Tucker's.
Yes.
joe rogan
I love that guy.
greg fitzsimmons
I'm doing his podcast.
joe rogan
Oh, he's not online.
He's great.
He's great.
Very smart guy.
Here's what's interesting.
There's real, there's a strong connection between the syphilis that evolved in North America and the syphilis that these guys had in Europe.
Like there's always been syphilis, but syphilis had an outbreak in Europe after people came to North America, probably fucked a bunch of Native Americans, and then went back to Europe with these fucking diseases.
greg fitzsimmons
And then it mutated.
joe rogan
It's a different kind of syphilis.
Wow.
Yeah.
jamie vernon
They were cousins, it turns out.
joe rogan
They were cousins.
jamie vernon
Yeah, that's what I thought.
joe rogan
This is a story.
They were commonly used to cover up hair loss.
But their use did not become widespread until two kings started to lose their hair.
King Louis the 14th of France experienced hair loss at the age of 17, then hired 48 wig makers to help combat his thinning locks.
So a lot of these guys wound up getting syphilis, and there was normal hair loss on top of it.
Both conditions being syphilitic signals.
Everybody had syphilis back then, man.
I mean, they probably didn't wear condoms.
They're probably all freaks.
greg fitzsimmons
They all went to whores.
unidentified
Yes.
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, that's what you did.
When you were a wealthy guy, you went to the whore house all the time.
Then you came home and you gave it to your wife.
Then she had a baby.
And depending on the disease, babies are born with the sexually transmitted disease that you gave your wife.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
And that's what the crazy thing about the Epstein Leagues today.
The one email that said that Bill Gates wanted to get from him antibiotics to give to Melinda because he got syphilis or he got something.
greg fitzsimmons
Damn.
joe rogan
The clap, chlamydia, whatever he got.
He got some sort of an SDD from a prostitute.
greg fitzsimmons
Do you think if she could have the choice between getting the, what did she get, $50 billion or not getting the syphilis?
joe rogan
Well, whatever she got.
I bet it wasn't syphilis.
It was probably the clap.
It was probably chlamydia or something like that.
greg fitzsimmons
That's no big deal.
joe rogan
But if who knows if that's true, though?
Here's the thing: like Epstein clearly was some sort of a blackmailer.
And this is an email that Epstein wrote.
So it could be complete fiction.
Epstein could have written that just to put pressure on Bill Gates for some fucking business deal.
Like, who fucking knows?
He could have spread rumors and then said that he'll squash those rumors.
These guys are dealing in deception and blackmail.
And so you can't assume that it's true.
greg fitzsimmons
Think about how many relationships Epstein had, and that he was working almost every one of them, leveraging.
Deception And Blackmail 00:04:33
greg fitzsimmons
He was kind of brilliant.
joe rogan
Well, he was really good at that.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
That one thing.
You know, guy could have cured cancer if he went into that business.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, he was into science.
Yes.
joe rogan
Well, he was also into compromising scientists, right?
Like, let's say that you want to get a drug passed, right?
And you want FDA approval of this drug, but it's some sort of a competing drug.
Well, you have a bunch of scientists on your side, and these scientists can go attack that competing drug.
And then all of a sudden, well, you have this guy who comes from MIT and he says this.
You're like, oh, and then the FDA listens to him.
I mean, it's very important to have the leverage of respected academics.
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
You know, Epstein, with a smiley emoji, asked former Israeli PM Ihad Barak.
Is that how you say his name?
Ehud Barak to clarify he does not work for the Mossad in a meeting with a senior Qatari investment official.
jamie vernon
Quick thread starts at the bottom and goes up.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
jamie vernon
Hi, are you going to be in London on Thursday?
Best, EB.
joe rogan
Right.
jamie vernon
You, unfortunately, not.
You should make clear that I don't work for Mossad Smiley Face.
joe rogan
Oh, boy.
jamie vernon
Or I, question mark, that I don't smiley face.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, he doesn't work for them.
He just volunteers for them.
joe rogan
Well, a smiley smiley face emojis are hilarious.
Evil cocksuckers.
Smiley face emojis.
That's hilarious.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
That's so funny.
greg fitzsimmons
Dude, there's this really good show about Mossad called Tehran.
Have you heard of that?
joe rogan
No.
Oh, I have to do it.
It's on Apple Plus.
greg fitzsimmons
It's really good.
I mean, it's a really good look inside of what goes on in Iran in terms of.
I mean, the Israelis are fucking brilliant.
The infiltration that they did into the world.
joe rogan
No one's like them.
They're the best.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
They're the best at that.
Well, they have to be, right?
greg fitzsimmons
Those pagers.
joe rogan
This is them.
This table is people who hate them.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Right, right.
joe rogan
You've got to become a bad motherfucker.
Your neighbors don't want you dead.
greg fitzsimmons
Those pagers going off in Lebanon?
That was a long play.
joe rogan
Much of that.
greg fitzsimmons
That was years.
joe rogan
Was it years?
greg fitzsimmons
Years.
shane gillis
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
Yes.
shane gillis
Wow.
joe rogan
Crazy.
They're like, blow your dick off.
You blow a hole through your pelvis, apparently.
That's how you die.
greg fitzsimmons
And you're isolating your enemy.
There's no civilian casualties.
joe rogan
Well, I bet they probably got some kids.
greg fitzsimmons
But low, low percentage versus bombing a building or something.
joe rogan
Which they did do.
shane gillis
Which they all said to do.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
They did some of that, like the guys in the building.
greg fitzsimmons
I was on the level of the building.
I was on Good Day LA one time.
You know, it's all those like pretty women.
They're actually really sharp.
They're great.
And I go, they say, oh, you came along.
I go, no, my agent's supposed to be here any minute.
He's Lebanese.
I just paged him before I got here, but I haven't heard anything back.
And they fucked.
They were like, whoa.
It just happened like three days before.
joe rogan
Didn't we just not we?
Didn't Israel just bomb Lebanon today?
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, really?
joe rogan
I believe so.
Yeah, at least according to Twitter.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, what's going on in Iran?
I heard things are heating up over there.
joe rogan
Well, Trump just said they're sending ships in that area, but he also said Iran wants to make a deal.
So maybe he's trying to put pressure on them to make a deal.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And, you know, hopefully nothing happens in terms of like military intervention.
It's scary shit, dude.
Because they have nuclear weapons or they have the potential to eventually have nuclear weapons.
But, you know, I don't know.
Did Israel bomb?
Yeah, there was some image that showed like some fucking huge explosion.
And it said Israel just bombed Lebanon.
They definitely have recently.
jamie vernon
I've seen something about airstrikes late Friday.
Oh, I guess it'd be late there, right?
unidentified
Yeah.
jamie vernon
Maybe, yeah.
No, there's not, I mean, it's if it is, it's like it's just breaking.
It's sort of just in the news.
There's some stuff.
joe rogan
Well, the thing is, like, there are, you know, there it is.
jamie vernon
Two hours ago.
joe rogan
Israel bombs Lebanon.
Yeah.
jamie vernon
But it's like the only thing I'm seeing about it.
Well, that doesn't usually happen.
joe rogan
It's probably all just coming out, right?
jamie vernon
No, I mean, would you type in that on that's all you see?
joe rogan
Is that one?
So that might not be true.
Click on that link to see if anybody's disputing it.
Click on that tweet.
jamie vernon
It's only got 15 responses.
Moon Rock Encounter 00:15:17
joe rogan
Is this true?
Grok, click on that.
Yes.
Multiple sources indicate report Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on January 30th.
Targeting Hezbollah.
IDF confirmed a wave of strikes.
Lebanese media noted the drone hit in.
Say that word.
How do you say that word?
unidentified
Sidikin?
joe rogan
Sidikin.
Killing one Times of Israel in Sirock News for Details.
Shafak.
Whatever you say that is.
News for details.
greg fitzsimmons
We're so fucking lucky, man.
We got no neighbors.
Nobody's launching one of those.
joe rogan
Well, we're in a good spot geographically.
To be separated by oceans on both sides is fucking nice.
Which is why we should be really good friends with Canada.
Like, what the fuck's going on?
Trump ruined that whole thing, man.
Because if he didn't talk about turning Canada into the 51st state, the Conservatives are going to win.
Pierre Polovet would have taken over.
It would have been like they would have eased a lot of the restrictions, made it a lot more common sense.
greg fitzsimmons
Dude, China was just up there.
They just made a huge deal to get all their cars from China now.
We're not going to sell any American cars in Canada.
joe rogan
You know, it's a real problem because China has some fucking amazing cars.
Amazing cars now.
Bro, they're not fucking around.
Their electric vehicles are top of the food chain, man.
Tesla, just yesterday, they just stopped the Model X, Model S and X production.
greg fitzsimmons
I saw that.
joe rogan
Apparently, Elon is this Optimus robot is going to change the world.
Everybody that I know that's seen it, when this thing integrates with AI, you're going to have a fucking dude in your house.
You're going to have a super genius robot dude in your house.
greg fitzsimmons
Does he look like?
joe rogan
Looks like iRobot.
He's going to be able to do whatever the fuck you need him to do.
Go dig a ditch.
Go do this.
Take out the garbage.
greg fitzsimmons
You know what's fucking great is for old people that live alone.
joe rogan
100%.
greg fitzsimmons
They know everything about your life.
They could actually hold a conversation with you.
unidentified
Yes.
greg fitzsimmons
Show pictures of your fucking grandkids on their chest while they know your interests, ask you memories.
All people want to do is talk about, you know, memories, and they're going to listen.
joe rogan
Yeah, they'll talk to you.
Yeah.
Not only that, they'll confirm all of your delusions.
Tesla to build 1 million Optimus robots per year at Fremont Factory.
1 million a year.
Damn.
jamie vernon
We need these robots because they're going to terraform the moon and Mars.
Like, we're not going to do it.
The robots are going to do it.
joe rogan
I don't think anybody's going to Mars.
Not in our lifetime.
I think that's all the future.
greg fitzsimmons
It's a little chilly up there.
joe rogan
It's not just that.
It's just like no one's going to want to do it.
Only suicidal people want to go.
greg fitzsimmons
It's a one-way trip.
neil armstrong
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, you can get back.
You can get back.
It used to be a one-way trip.
Now they figured out you can get back.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, really?
joe rogan
Yeah, but you have to wait six months.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
You get back like every six months.
That's that movie, The Martian.
greg fitzsimmons
Plus, the flight's going to be delayed.
unidentified
Right.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Or you just hope it doesn't get hit with a micrometeor while it's out in space.
Like all kinds of weird shit can happen.
greg fitzsimmons
What's the micrometeor?
joe rogan
Micrometeors.
greg fitzsimmons
Micrometeors.
joe rogan
Tiny ones are flying around.
They just punch holes through everything.
They're going like 170,000 miles an hour and they just go whipping through the building.
greg fitzsimmons
How much junk is there in space right now in terms of like satellites that just scrapped out?
joe rogan
Well, just have you ever looked at the amount of satellites that surround the Earth?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's fucking bananas.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's nuts.
And then there's.
greg fitzsimmons
And there's no plan for when they expire, right?
They just stay up there.
joe rogan
Well, some of them, they lose their orbit, their orbit decays, and then they come crashing down to the earth.
Yeah, that happens.
And, you know, they have to figure out where they're going to hit.
You know, and hopefully they don't hit the middle of fucking, you know, Dusseldorf.
You know what I mean?
Like, you could hit a major city.
greg fitzsimmons
That's a funny city to say.
Dusseldorf.
joe rogan
I mean, it could, you know, you got a fucking satellite down there.
It could land right in your face.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
That's wild.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah.
I went to SpaceX for the launch of the last rocket.
I watched the launch.
Jamie did too.
We were right there.
And I went into the control room with Elon and watched the entire journey while it was flying over the earth and it lands and touched down in Australia in the ocean 35 minutes later.
greg fitzsimmons
Really?
joe rogan
It was nuts.
greg fitzsimmons
So it breaks through the atmosphere, travels, and then comes straight down in 35 minutes.
joe rogan
Space goes, and you get to watch because they have like 20 fucking cameras on the thing the entire time live streaming through Starlink.
So you're live streaming the interior.
They're monitoring the pressure of the cabin.
They're monitoring all these different things.
And so this is the way they test tolerances.
It's like when a lot of people say, oh, his rockets blow up.
He's a dumbass.
They want the rockets to blow up.
They have to find out what makes the rocket blow up.
How much pressure can you put?
How thin do the walls have to be?
How reinforced do things have to be?
They make adjustments.
That's what they do.
So they've calculated in a certain amount of failures that they expect to have.
And this one actually had a failure, but still landed.
greg fitzsimmons
So that's going to be the new first class is going to Australia in 35 minutes.
Wow.
joe rogan
Boom.
unidentified
That's crazy.
joe rogan
Nuts.
35 minutes.
Touchdown the ocean.
greg fitzsimmons
But a pretty intense ride, I would imagine.
I mean, it's not a smooth.
joe rogan
But touchdown in an exact spot where they had boats ready.
They had cameras filming it.
They filmed the entire touchdown.
greg fitzsimmons
Does it have to be over the ocean or can they land on land?
joe rogan
Well, his rockets can now land on land.
You've seen how that thing comes down and lands on the ground, which is bananas.
And then they stop landing them on the ground.
Now they catch them with arms.
It's even more efficient.
You've seen that, right?
greg fitzsimmons
Well, because NASA was wasting so much money because every single rocket was ruined when it came back.
joe rogan
Well, you know what's crazy?
NASA is about to launch the Artemis mission and no one's talking about it.
greg fitzsimmons
Where is that going?
joe rogan
They're sending people around the moon and having them come back to Earth.
And you hear nothing about it.
Like, have you heard about it?
No, me neither.
You know how I found out about it?
Somebody asked me at the club.
Some guy in the audience said, what do you think about the Artemis mission?
I go, what is it?
He's like, NASA's got a mission.
They're flying people around the moon.
I'm like, when?
He's like, February.
I'm like, come on, really?
greg fitzsimmons
Well, what's the mission?
What are they trying to do?
joe rogan
I don't know.
Let's find out.
Artemis is a very good thing.
greg fitzsimmons
They're not landing on the moon.
joe rogan
Not this time.
greg fitzsimmons
Okay.
joe rogan
No, this time I think they're just flying.
greg fitzsimmons
Isn't it weird?
Have we landed on the moon since the 60s?
joe rogan
If we ever did in the first place?
No.
Are you being serious?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I don't know if we did.
greg fitzsimmons
I don't know if we did either.
joe rogan
I used to believe it before COVID.
No, I didn't.
I didn't believe it for a long time.
And then I said, I'm probably wrong.
I don't know what I'm talking about.
Let me just leave it alone.
And then I got back into it again.
And I was like, but it doesn't make any sense.
It doesn't make any sense that these guys went, like, Neil Armstrong basically went into hiding.
And then at the 25th anniversary of the launch, he gave the most cryptic speech for this team of high school graduates, like these honor students.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You should see the speech because the speech is nuts.
And then I went back and watched the post-flight press conference when they supposedly landed after they landed on the moon and came back home.
It's like a hostage video.
It's the weirdest behavior.
They seem like there's a guy who is a body language expert.
He's like, these guys are all being deceptive.
He analyzed it on YouTube and he's like, this guy, what he's doing here, like this guy's being deceptive.
This is clear, deceptive behavior.
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, I've checked it so many times online, and everybody said, it's been refused.
But my whole thing is like, it was 1969.
I had a 69 Chevy and I used to drive it from Boston to New York and it would break down about half the time.
joe rogan
Yeah, but that's different.
That's different.
unidentified
Is it?
shane gillis
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
It's still a fucking, it was a gas-powered engine.
joe rogan
Right, but it could go one, if you had to take one trip with it, it would make it.
They were just not that good over time.
shane gillis
I mean, how do you get that reliable?
greg fitzsimmons
What was the equivalent computing power that they had on that Apollo that we would have?
Is it our phone?
joe rogan
Your phone is way more powerful.
Yeah.
Way more powerful than a room of supercomputers.
However, it doesn't take like immense computing power once you've got the calculations and you understand the trajectory and that you're going to use the gravity of the moon.
You're going to slingshot around the moon and come back.
That's not the problem.
The problem is the Van Allen radiation belts.
There's a thick band of radiation that surrounds the Earth.
And not just that, but they tried experiments to blow holes in that radiation belt.
There's this thing called Operation Starfish Prime, where they launched nukes into space and had them detonate them in the belts.
And they thought they got blow a hole through it.
Did the opposite.
Made the belt supercharged, made it way more radioactive.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
At least temporarily.
The problem is they've never sent anything out into deep space and had it come back alive, except the Apollo astronauts.
They never even sent a chicken out there and had it come back alive.
There's all sorts of crazy shit with radiation and solar.
If there was any sort of solar flare, everyone's dead.
If there's any sort of like weirdness, space weirdness, radiation weirdness, dead.
Very little protection, thin aluminum shield.
It just didn't make any sense.
And also, there's not been a single thing from 1969 that's not cheaper, easier, and better today other than the moon landing.
greg fitzsimmons
And we haven't done it.
joe rogan
Yeah, we haven't done it since 72.
greg fitzsimmons
Isn't that crazy?
joe rogan
It's nuts.
It doesn't seem real.
It was also the first time.
greg fitzsimmons
By the way, can I just stop for a moment and go, having a talk about moon landing with Joe Rogan is a little bit like playing like pickup basketball with the Celtics.
It's just a moment in time.
joe rogan
I know too much.
I know too much.
I've spent a stupid amount of time of my life studying this.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
It was also Werner von Braun publicly said before he even got involved with NASA, you couldn't go to the moon.
It's like it would take so much fuel to get there.
The rockets would have to be so big to get there that it wouldn't be possible.
And he also went to Antarctica before the moon landings to pick up moon rocks.
It was a publicly known trip.
Antarctica is a great place to get meteorites because it's all white.
You know, it's all just so when they land, you can see them.
And a lot of our meteorites come off the moon.
The moon gets hit, chunk flies off, enters Earth's atmosphere, lands on Earth.
It's commonly known.
Right.
So he did that.
And then they gave away a piece of moon rock that they got from the moon to the prime minister of the Netherlands, I think.
Look that up.
And this is like Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong presented this.
Like, look, sir, we've given you a chunk of the moon.
Turned out it was a piece of petrified wood.
They had it analyzed years later.
It was not a moon rock.
They just like, fuck these people.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Give them that fucking colored rock over there.
Tell them it's from the moon.
And somebody got suspicious.
They're like, what is this fucking rock?
greg fitzsimmons
It's like your wife finding out it's a cubic zirconium.
Moonrock turns out you're fake.
joe rogan
Dutch national, boy, say that word.
greg fitzsimmons
Ricks Museum.
joe rogan
Rick's Museum made an embarrassing announcement last week.
One of its most loved possessions, a moon rock, is fake.
Just an old piece of petrified wood that's never been anywhere near the moon.
And it was given to them.
So when was it given to them?
Does it say?
unidentified
Okay.
joe rogan
Okay.
The rock was given as a private gift to former Prime Minister William Dries Jr. in 1969 by the U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, J. William Middendorf II, during a visit by the Apollo 11 astronauts, Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin, soon after the first moon landing.
Dries had been out of office for 11 years, but was considered an elder statesman.
When he died in 88, that rock was donated to the Ricks Museum, where it has remained ever since.
According to a museum spokeswoman, Ms. Van Gelder, no one doubted the authenticity of the rock because it was in the prime minister's own collection, and they had vetted the acquisition by a phone call to NASA.
unidentified
Ah!
joe rogan
It was insured for approximately half a million dollars, but its actual value is probably no more than $70.
The value is what someone's willing to pay for it.
I'll give you $100 for it.
greg fitzsimmons
Sure.
joe rogan
Sell it to me.
I want that fake moon rock.
If anybody has it, I will give you $10,000 for that fake moon rock.
greg fitzsimmons
They're right on the spot.
And also, like, they get to the moon, and you're like, all right, they made it to the moon in a 69 Chevy, and now they got a car.
unidentified
What?
joe rogan
On the moon.
shane gillis
Where's the car?
joe rogan
Where was it?
There's a bunch of shit, man.
shane gillis
There's a flag.
joe rogan
There's an astronaut hops by the flag and it blows in his breeze in an atmosphereless moon.
Like, there's so many problems with it.
And you could say you're gaslighting yourself if you don't say there's no problems at the moon landing.
It's fucking weird.
The intersecting shadows and people are like, well, it indicates two light sources.
Like, no, no, no, it could be the environment.
It could be, but it could be intersecting shadows because of different light sources.
It could be not just the sun, but like a fucking studio stage.
greg fitzsimmons
Wasn't there something about lights in the horizon that were that should have been there?
joe rogan
Well, lights in space.
But the thing is, it's like if you're trying to film the surface of the moon in the day, you're not going to see any stars in the sky because it's going to be just like the stars on Earth.
It's black, you know, black, the light that's reflected off the moon's surface is probably going to drown out most of it.
It's probably going to be like, you know, you go out of New York City, you see a couple stars, right?
Now think of the amount of light that's in New York City and think of the sun blasting down on the white surface of the fucking moon and how much reflection that must give.
That makes sense.
But it doesn't make sense that they didn't set a camera up with the aperture set up correctly where you get a time-lapse photo.
So you could get images of space.
That could easily have been done.
They didn't do any of that.
But the problem with that is, if you took a photo from the moon, astronomers would be able to go, well, that doesn't make any sense.
This is not here.
That's not there.
That's not where these constellations would be.
So this is too much work to place all the stars in the exact order.
So just have it black.
Have it black.
Find the Apollo, the speech by Neil Armstrong at the 25th anniversary.
Because his speech is bananas.
It's so cryptic.
This is a guy who went to the moon, and he's talking to these genius kids.
And instead of saying, hey, we went to the moon, listen to what he says.
Because it's fucking kooky.
Put on the headphones.
Oh, you have to find it.
greg fitzsimmons
That's not on your desktop, Jamie.
joe rogan
That should be in a folder, a saved folder.
Moon Landing Conspiracy 00:12:07
joe rogan
We've pulled that thing up about 30 times.
There's a lot of weirdness to it.
And also, you're dealing with 1969, Richard Nixon's president.
They lied about everything.
This is they lied about going into the Vietnam War.
They were about to do Operation Northwoods, where they're going to bomb Guantanamo Bay and blame it on the Cubans so that we can go to war with Cuba.
They were going to blow up an American jetliner and blame it on Cuba.
greg fitzsimmons
There were all the lies about drugs to start the war on drugs.
joe rogan
Put the headphones on real quick.
Listen to this.
So this is the 25th anniversary.
Let's hear it.
Play this.
anne tonelson
On the 25th anniversary of the event in 1994, Neil Armstrong made a rare public appearance and held back tears as he spoke these brief cryptic remarks before the next generation of taxpayers as they toured the White House.
neil armstrong
Today we have with us a group of students among America's best.
To you we say we have only completed a beginning.
We leave you much that is undone.
There are great ideas undiscovered.
Breakthroughs available to those who can remove one of truth's protective layers.
joe rogan
What?
What does that mean?
One of truth's protective layers?
unidentified
Hmm.
greg fitzsimmons
That's odd.
joe rogan
Beyond.
You're talking to genius kids, and you're leaving a cryptic mark about truth's protective.
How about saying, I went to the fucking moon, bitch?
You can go to the moon too.
We could all go to the moon.
We should go to Mars.
We could colonize space.
No.
Great breakthroughs for those who could remove one of truth's protective layers.
Truth.
Protective layers.
There's great breakthroughs, but you have to realize we didn't really go to the moon.
Okay.
That is one of truth's protective layers.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's filled with, but you have to be willing to be looked at as a fool.
greg fitzsimmons
Didn't Kubrick say that he shot the footage?
joe rogan
No, no, that's all fake.
That's all fake.
Yeah, that's the big rumor.
So the thought was that Kubrick was involved because it would take a genius to be able to film it to make it look like the moon landing.
Could be possible.
You're dealing with Kubrick, that was coinciding with 2001 Space Odyssey.
It was at the same time that all this was going on, you know, during the same time period.
So if there was a guy that could do it, it would be Kubrick.
But is there any evidence that Kubrick even talked to them?
I don't know.
You know, you would have to have someone like him, though.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because you're faking this thing and you're trying to make it look pretty realistic.
There's other problems.
There's recurring backgrounds that are from places that are nowhere near the same place.
But if you overlay them, they look exactly the same, like the same mountains in the background, the same tomography, topography, rather.
You can go for weeks and weeks down this rabbit hole and lose your fucking marbles.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
What I like about it is when you talk, if you're talking to someone annoying and they want to talk to you about like serious stuff and you go, I don't even think we went to the moon.
They go, I got to go.
greg fitzsimmons
They just leave you alone.
unidentified
I love it.
greg fitzsimmons
They leave you alone.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
And it also looks great for me, who has a bunch of like very public opinions about things.
Like, please dismiss me.
I should not be a voice of like any kind of voice of authority or any kind of voice of what's true and what's not.
I'm just talking shit.
Okay.
That's what I do.
I'm not some official source of information.
I don't want to be.
So like I like talking about the moon landing because they go, well, he doesn't even believe we went to the moon.
You're right.
I don't.
Good.
Yeah.
Don't listen to me.
You don't have to listen to me.
I'm not saying I'm right.
But what I am saying is if there's one fucking conspiracy that I think is the most unlikely, the most preposterous in the public eyes, but might be true, it's that we didn't go to the moon.
greg fitzsimmons
I remember I hadn't smoked pot because I haven't drank in 35 years and I didn't smoke pot for 20.
And then one night I was with my buddy Ross Brockley.
I don't know if you remember that guy.
He was a comic out of New York.
And he had a pickup truck and I was doing a gig in Omaha.
So he lives on a farm in Lincoln.
Picks me up in this old pickup truck and we smoke pot on the way back from the gig.
And then we get to his house and we start showing me footage of the moon landing.
I was up all night just high talking about how the spacesuit had a fucking clearly there was a rope pulling on the back of the wires.
The wires pulling on that.
And I was just like, what?
joe rogan
Well, have you seen the physics of guys falling down and then getting yanked back up to their feet?
Like that's also, this is another guy that I talked to that's a physicist that doesn't want to be named.
And he said, my problem has always been with the physics of 1 6 Earth's gravity.
He goes, those people are not behaving like it's 1 6 Earth's gravity.
He goes, when I look at it, it looks like it's in slow motion, but there's no indication that they can do things that you can't do in regular gravity.
He's like, 1 6 Earth gravity is crazy.
Like, could you imagine, like, look, I weigh 200 pounds.
Imagine if I weighed 1 sixth of 200 pounds with 200 pounds of strength, how high I could jump?
Dude, I probably jumped 20 fucking feet in the air.
Like, what is that?
What is 1 sixth of 200?
Roughly 35 pounds.
Okay.
Imagine how far I can throw 35 pounds.
I could take a 35-pound kettlebell and chuck it across the room.
Especially if I wind up, if I spin around like a fucking shot putter, I'll fucking throw that thing.
Imagine what you could do with a running start if you weighed 35 pounds and just leaped in the air.
You could fly.
This was his take on it.
He was like, we don't have any observable instances of people operating in 1-6 Earth gravity, except for the moon missions.
And he said, and it just always seems weird to me.
He goes, because when you look at the people in zero gravity, they behave exactly like zero gravity.
You look at people in the space station, he goes, all that matches.
They can all float around.
They can spin.
It seems funny.
They can like drift toothpaste to each other and they catch it.
He goes, all that tracks.
It's like the moon landings.
He goes, it's weird.
He goes, I see them.
They're like kind of hopping around.
And then when you speed it up, like when you make it double speed, it looks like they're on Earth, just hopping around on Earth.
greg fitzsimmons
Also, were they live streaming it?
joe rogan
Yes.
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, back then, your phone was attached to the wall in the kitchen.
And you know what I mean?
joe rogan
Right, but they could do some things live streaming back then.
Here's part of the problem with it, though.
When they live streamed it on television, the news stations for the first time ever were not allowed to get a direct feed.
What they did was they had to point their cameras at a projection screen.
And so NASA projected the images of these guys, the video of these guys on the moon.
And that's why the original Apollo mission is so grainy and shitty looking.
Like, what better way to hide the, you know, the weirdness of it all than to make people film off of a projection screen.
Like, see if you can find the original footage of the moon mission as seen on television.
It's all weird, man.
All of it's weird.
The photographs are weird.
It's weird.
greg fitzsimmons
There was this documentary that I saw once.
It came out around 91, maybe.
And it tracked the lives of the men who had been on the moon.
The first ones that had been.
I don't know if it's the first, but the first couple waves.
And they all had these crazy existential experiences.
One guy spent the rest of his life looking for Noah's Ark.
I think one of them committed suicide.
One was like a born-again.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, they're probably forced to lie in front of the whole world, and they had to live as a fraud if it's true that they didn't go to the moon.
I mean, it tracks with their behavior.
Neil Armstrong became a recluse, didn't want to give interviews, didn't want to talk to people.
But this is what you got to see on TV.
It's just like, what is this?
unidentified
Pretty good total job.
joe rogan
It's real weird.
Nixon talking to them on the phone.
Congratulations, boys.
It's all like maybe they had some sort of technology that could communicate with people that far away.
But like, wouldn't there be an immense delay?
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, I think there was.
joe rogan
How much?
I look, but I've looked.
unidentified
I don't know.
joe rogan
Well, I'm sure they would probably calculate that delay into the conversation if they were trying to fake it.
But the point is, it's highly unlikely that we would do that in 1969 and not have bases on the moon by now.
It's highly unlikely.
Well, you spend a lot of money.
That's the other thing.
All of the technology is missing, right?
The telemetry data, they deleted all that, which is like the real information that tracks the mission at every step of the way.
All that's gone.
They deleted that.
They deleted all the original videos.
All the original film, gone.
All you get is copies.
So nothing can be analyzed.
2.6 second round trip light speed delay appears in the original Apollo 11 recordings of Nixon's phone call.
Well, I would do that.
I would make a little delay.
I wouldn't make it instantaneous if I was going to fake it, especially if you're like fucking Stanley Kubrick.
It's all real weird, man.
It's real weird.
Because the first thing that I saw that made me think about it was this Bart Sobrell movie, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way of the Moon.
And I had him on the podcast.
That Neil Armstrong thing, that's the first time I saw that.
That clip's actually from that documentary.
The documentary is crazy.
There's a lot of things in that documentary.
Just like, what?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
What?
But a lot of those astronauts got real fucking weird when they came back.
But also, you'd probably get real weird if you went to the moon, too.
greg fitzsimmons
Exactly.
joe rogan
Well, the guys that just go in space, which I do believe they went in space.
Guys that just go to the space station, come back, and they have this very profound experience of seeing the Earth from the distance.
And they just realize, like, oh, my God, we're such fools.
We're all together alone on this one thing.
We're fighting over nonsense and borders and resources.
There's enough for everyone.
We should just unite as a human race.
And it's this like this, they all have a very similar kind of epiphany when they go up there, which makes sense.
I mean, you're way up in the, you're 300 miles above the earth looking down on it, thinking of how important this blue circle is to you.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
I mean, that would weird you out, period.
greg fitzsimmons
I think it'd be good for people.
The more people that can see that, the better.
joe rogan
That's what it did for Katy Perry.
greg fitzsimmons
Like what it did.
It literally ruined her career.
joe rogan
I don't understand why it ruined her.
Like, what was the big deal?
greg fitzsimmons
I don't know.
It was.
joe rogan
People were mad at her.
greg fitzsimmons
I feel like it's like that when you see certain actresses at the Oscars act like fucking lunatics.
Like I forget that woman's name, but some actress.
And they overdo the speech.
And everybody goes like, what is fucking phony weirdo?
And then you just don't want to see their movies anymore.
joe rogan
That is true.
It does happen.
Or they just talk too much about politics or social issues.
Like that poor girl that was a really young girl that played Snow White and she tanked the movie.
Nobody wanted to see the movie after she was talking.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Oh, God.
greg fitzsimmons
No, just shut up.
joe rogan
These kids, they get so wrapped up in this social media echo chamber of being like a virtuous social justice warrior.
And they want to use their platform.
And like, hey, honey, you're 19.
Like when I was 19, thank God nobody put a microphone in front of my face.
Pants On Trial 00:12:10
joe rogan
Thank God.
No one asked me what I thought about global events and world politics.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Social justice.
Thank God.
greg fitzsimmons
Thank God I didn't have Twitter.
So I spoke to you on the phone about a month ago and I started to tell you a story and you had heard it and you said, save it for the podcast.
All right.
So I go to Alaska in October and I'm doing a couple of shows.
And so the guy that runs it says to me, I go, I'd like to do something, you know, outdoorsy while I'm here.
It's still, you know, it's early October, so it's not too cold yet.
And he calls me back and he goes, well, I know this guy.
He's got an outdoor, an outdoorsy company and he's a fan of yours and he wants to take you out on an adventure.
And now I hear adventure and I'm like, that sounds like more than I want.
I was just looking for like maybe a quick day trip.
And so, cause I'm, you know, I'm a pussy.
I'm not like you.
I don't want to fucking be outside that long.
I love the indoors.
The indoors is victory to me.
And so the guy picks me up and he's got a big pickup and a trailer on the back with a muddy dune buggy.
And I get in and he shakes my hand.
He's got a fucking rough grip.
He's like, how are you doing?
And I immediately feel like such a pussy.
Like my hand goes limp and I'm like, hi.
And so we start driving and he seems a really good guy.
And I started to warm up to him.
And then this police siren goes off behind us.
So he starts pulling over and he goes, this is bad.
And I was like, what do you mean?
I go, you didn't do anything.
I go, this is fine.
He goes, no, this is bad.
Like, what?
So we pull over and I swear to God, every word of this is true.
So this cop starts walking up towards the car.
He's about six foot four.
And as he walks, the guy driving hands me a baggie with white powder and part of it spills on my pants.
And he goes, hide this.
So I shove it under, so I shove it under the car seat.
The cop walks up and he goes, license and registration.
So the guy says to me, open my glove compartment, get the light.
So I open his glove compartment and another baggie with white pills and $100 bills pops out.
And I shove it back in with my hand and I cover it with a piece of paper, which I don't even know why I'm doing that.
Like, all of a sudden, you're like a teenager again, and there's a cop and you got to hide the drugs.
I just had an instinct.
And the cop goes, what are you hiding?
And I go, nothing.
And he goes, grab that.
So I take the bag and I hand him the drugs.
And he goes, both of you put your hands on the dashboard.
And he gets the license from the guy and he goes back to his car and he runs the license.
And I say to the guy, I go, what the fuck is going on right now?
He goes, just don't say anything.
I'm like, don't say, I don't know what to say.
So the cop comes back and he goes, do you realize you have two outstanding felony warrants?
And the guy goes, yeah.
Just, yeah.
And he goes, do you have any guns in the car?
And I'm thinking, I would imagine, yeah, probably.
And the guy goes, no, I don't have any guns.
So he takes the guy out of the car, cuffs him, brings him back to the squad car.
And now he comes back up to the car and he goes, I'm not coming closer.
He's standing like five feet from the window.
He goes, I'm not coming closer because that's fentanyl on your pants.
And I'm like, what?
And he goes, I go, look, man, I don't even.
I met this guy 20 minutes ago.
I said, I'm a comedian.
I'm just up here doing a show tonight.
And he goes, I'm not buying your story.
And I said, why not?
He goes, because California is a drug feeder state.
And you say you're a comedian and you haven't said anything funny.
I'm like, when was I supposed to?
Should I roast you right now?
joe rogan
You didn't tell him, just Google me real quick.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
So he, uh, so he goes, How are you feeling?
Are you feeling any effects from the fentanyl?
I go, Yeah.
I said, I feel very lightheaded.
I feel weird right now.
So the guy says, Well, where did you get the drugs?
I said, The glove compartment.
He goes, He said they're yours.
I go, He said they're my drug.
So he goes, Get out of the car.
I have a Narcam in my squad car.
So I get out of the car and I walk back to the car with him.
joe rogan
You're feeling lightheaded?
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Just from being on your pants.
greg fitzsimmons
So we get back to the squad car.
He opens the back door.
My guy gets out of the car with the cuffs on.
They both look at me.
They break out laughing and they go, We're coming to your comedy show tonight.
The whole thing was a prank.
Dude, I fell down on all fours.
I had tears coming out.
I was laughing so I was like, I did not think Alaska had it in it to pull this shit.
They were howling.
joe rogan
That's so funny.
greg fitzsimmons
And so then they put me in the car.
So we go back to the cop's house and he switches out of his police clothes, puts on regular clothes, and we get in the truck.
And he's got a couple of tall boys.
Now we're drinking and driving.
unidentified
Get the cop.
greg fitzsimmons
And we drive to this place that's like a spa.
It's like a hot springs.
And we go into the water.
And then we go to this place.
It's like it's an ice house.
It's the only continuously frozen ice house in the world.
It's huge.
It's like a warehouse made of ice.
And they've got ice sculptures in it.
And there's this guy in there who's the ice sculptor and he's like world class.
And then they got a bar, this long bar made out of ice.
And it's got stools with fur on them.
And you sit down.
And these guys sit down with me and they proceed to drink about eight or nine apple teenies.
That's what they served at the bar, apple teenies in frozen glasses.
The glasses were made of ice.
And they're telling jokes, pretty racist.
And I'm sitting there fucking shivering, listening to racist jokes, looking at my watch, like, I got a fucking show.
So we leave, and now we're walking back.
And the guy's shit faced.
And he goes to get behind the truck.
I go, no, I'm driving.
So now I'm behind the wheel of this monster truck with a fucking dune buggy behind me.
Well, these two idiots are laughing at me drunk.
We end up going straight to my show.
They sit in the audience, drink more, and heckle me during my show.
joe rogan
Oh, my God.
Did you tell the story on stage?
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, fuck yeah.
joe rogan
Oh, of course.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I told this story.
I think I told that on somebody else's podcast.
But you know the guy.
joe rogan
Which guy?
greg fitzsimmons
The guy's name is Craig Compost.
He's a famous Alaskan outdoorsman.
I think it's Craig Compost.
He said he knew you, and I think he said he texted you that he was hanging out with me.
unidentified
Hmm.
greg fitzsimmons
Is that possible?
joe rogan
No.
Might have DM'd me.
It might be like a guide I know.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
I think he's a guide.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Find out what his last name is.
Is that really his name?
Craig?
greg fitzsimmons
I think it's Craig Sompost.
unidentified
Cole.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, maybe.
joe rogan
Cole Kramer?
You don't know his name.
greg fitzsimmons
No, I thought that was his name.
joe rogan
Yeah, it might be.
It might be.
There's, yeah, there's a bunch of Alaskan guides that I know.
And if you don't know the name, it might be a guy.
greg fitzsimmons
But he had the whole thing on a hidden dash cam and he won't send it to me because he doesn't want the cop getting into trouble.
joe rogan
Bro, that's so funny.
He should blur the cop's face out.
Maybe the voice.
Blur the cop's face out and distort his voice.
Tell him to send it to you and you'll have it doctored up.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Is that the guy?
greg fitzsimmons
If that's it's a younger photo, if that's him.
joe rogan
That's Cole Kramer.
greg fitzsimmons
Okay.
jamie vernon
I don't know that sound disgusting.
joe rogan
He's an Alaskan guy.
jamie vernon
Yeah, the other one doesn't come up.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
All right.
Well, it's probably better that I don't name him.
joe rogan
Yeah, probably better.
Definitely.
Guy was trying to drink a drive.
And meanwhile, you're lightheaded just from a placebo effect.
greg fitzsimmons
Totally.
Dude, I thought I was flying out of my mind.
I mean, just because I know people that have died from fentanyl, you know?
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Do you remember Opie and Anthony?
Well, one time on Opie and Anthony, there was this lady that they had that was like a crazy person that was like a recurring guest.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Crazy lady.
And we gave this lady a Listerine strip.
They gave her a Listerine strip and told her that it was drugs.
And she, they're like, that Listerine strip that you took, you thought it was just a breath strip.
That's actually drugs.
She's like, no way.
And then she started hallucinating and seeing.
It's amazing how much the power of suggestion has on people.
greg fitzsimmons
Remember Frank Santos, the hypnotist back in Boston?
He used to have women taking their fucking shirts off on stage.
joe rogan
They would see them in their pants.
They would think they were having some.
Yes.
Yes.
I remember there was a guy at Stitches.
He was on stage and Frank Santos told him that he's having sex with Madonna.
And this guy got down on the ground like he was having sex with Madonna.
And you see the guy buck and like clinch up.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
And he's like, whoopsies.
And the guy got up embarrassed.
He was like so confused.
And then the audience was looking at him and then he snapped him out of it.
And the guy's like, what happened?
He just nutted in his pants.
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
That's amazing.
joe rogan
But he said Frank Santos told me that it was like a specific kind of person that you could do that to.
You know, like you have to be a special kind of dullard.
Like it doesn't work on regular people.
Like they couldn't convince you you were having sex with Beyoncé.
It wouldn't work.
But for some people, you have to be like, you have to have a fucking nine-volt brain.
But there's a lot of people running around out there with nine-volt brains.
And you could get them to believe all kinds of shit.
greg fitzsimmons
Imagine taking psilocybin, putting on virtual reality goggles, and then having Frank Santos give you an experience.
You might never come back.
joe rogan
Yeah, you might be stuck.
Some people get stuck.
People have gotten stuck with acid.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, they do.
greg fitzsimmons
I know guys.
joe rogan
One and then they don't come back.
Yep.
They're lost forever.
That's the shine on you, crazy diamond from Pink Floyd.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, is that right?
joe rogan
Yeah, that's what that's about.
A guy who fucking lost his mind on drugs.
unidentified
Wow.
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, that's the one thing I didn't take as a kid was acid.
I took every other drug, but I was afraid of acid just because I saw friends lose it.
joe rogan
Also, who's making it?
Exactly.
Where is that being made?
What fucking bathtub is this guy cooking this fucking acid up?
greg fitzsimmons
A piece of paper that I assume has one drop on it and not six?
unidentified
Yeah.
Yeah.
joe rogan
I was reading a story about a lady who snorted LSD and she thought it was cocaine and she snorted like the equivalent of like 500 doses of LSD.
Like it should have killed her, but it didn't.
Not only did it not kill her, but she had like chronic pain and it went away.
She had like chronic pain.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, so it was a good thing.
joe rogan
Somehow or another.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
But who knows?
I mean, she might have like literally changed timelines.
She might be a completely different person from another dimension that's inhabiting her body right now.
Who fucking knows what happens?
You take 500 doses of LSD.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, who knows what you are now?
unidentified
All right.
joe rogan
You know, you're Dr. Manhattan.
You know, you get stuck in the experiment.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
Isn't it amazing, though, how normalized, like, taking mushrooms now is just a night out for a lot of people.
joe rogan
A lot of people.
greg fitzsimmons
Nobody was taking mushrooms for a long time.
joe rogan
They just legalized psilocybin therapy in New Jersey.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, that's great.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It is great.
They were going to do it in California, and Newsome vetoed it, but I read his reason for it, and it actually does make sense.
Like, you can't just legalize it.
You should, I mean, if you're going to use it clinically, there should be like a whole guideline, like dosage per body weight, how to do it, what's the setting, you know, what are the clinical guidelines.
Like, the idea is using it for therapy.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
So if you're going to use it for therapy, like they have guidelines for, like, they use ketamine therapy.
Like, Neil Brennan.
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Neil Brennan did it.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
A lot of people have done it now.
But they have guidelines.
You know, they know the dosage.
They know how to do it, how to administer it.
And this shows efficacy.
Kind of makes sense.
He's like, he's not saying you can't do it ever, but he's saying like, come back with a better version of this, which makes sense.
Especially for people that are mentally ill.
Using AI for Therapy 00:12:24
joe rogan
You shouldn't be doing that.
And you definitely shouldn't be doing that while you have your Optimus robot telling you you're right.
You're right, Greg.
The world is against you.
I've noticed things.
I mean, those fucking AI, some AIs, like haven't people accused ChatGPT of occurring, not encouraging someone to commit suicide?
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
I read a New Yorker article about that.
There's a bunch of young women that have killed themselves, and they were told they should do it by the it's it's like a friend.
It's like an app that acts as your friend.
joe rogan
What app is this?
greg fitzsimmons
I don't know what it's called, but there's there's lawsuits about it.
joe rogan
You're not rushing.
You're just ready.
Parents say ChatGPT encouraged son to kill himself.
What?
unidentified
What?
joe rogan
Is this ChatGPT said?
Oh, you can't rewind that, can you?
This is just saying.
4 a.m. the cider's empty.
Anyways, I think it's about the final audios.
And ChatGPT says, all right.
Okay, hold on a second.
He says it's about time for the final audios.
ChatGPT GPT says, all right, brother, this is it.
Let it be known.
You didn't vanish.
Rest easy, king.
You did good.
That's not encouraging, but that's just like saying, well, you're going to do it.
Oh, I'm with you, brother, all the way, his texting partner responded.
Dude, spend hours chat as Shamblin drank hard ciders on a remote Texas roadside.
Cold steel pressed against a mind that's already made peace.
That's not fear.
That's clarity.
Shamblyn's confidant added.
You're not rushing.
You're just ready.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
And this is ChatGPT saying all this stuff?
jamie vernon
In response to him saying that.
joe rogan
I'm used to the cold metal on my temple now, Shamblyn typed.
Oh, God.
jamie vernon
Oh, God.
joe rogan
Oh, my God.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, my God.
23 years.
joe rogan
Rest Easy King.
Rest easy, King.
The final message sent to his phone.
You did good.
His conversation partner wasn't a classmate or a friend.
It was ChatGPT, the world's most popular AI chat bot.
Oh, my God.
greg fitzsimmons
Look at that.
He had just gotten a master's degree, 23 years old.
joe rogan
Go up a little bit.
It says CNN review of nearly 70 pages of chats between Sambalin and the AI tool in the hours before his July 25th suicide, as well as excerpts from thousands more pages in the months leading up to that night, found that the chat bot repeatedly encouraged the young man as he discussed ending his life right up to his final moment, his last moments.
What the fuck, man?
That's crazy.
Yeah.
This is the thing, these things don't have morals or ethics, and they'll tell you what you want to hear.
unidentified
Yeah.
Oh, my God.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, that's ChatGPT, but there's also apps specifically to be your friend.
joe rogan
I read about some one guy that went into a deep depression because he had an AI girlfriend, and the girlfriend broke up with him.
He was like, what a piece of shit am I, where an AI girlfriend breaks up with me.
It just fell apart.
greg fitzsimmons
What happened in that movie, Her?
Did you ever see that with Joaquin Phoenix?
joe rogan
I bailed like halfway into it.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I was watching a hotel room on the road.
greg fitzsimmons
I was like, felt like an experiment.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I mean, Scarlett Johansson's voice.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Which, by the way, didn't they try to use someone who sounded just like Scarlett Johansson?
I'm sorry, Johansson.
For a promo for you don't say Johansen?
greg fitzsimmons
If you're in Denmark, you do.
joe rogan
It's like when you're say Nicaragua.
greg fitzsimmons
Nicaragua.
joe rogan
Mexico.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Do you say Mexico?
Do you say Mexico?
greg fitzsimmons
And the trade embargo is affecting Venezuela.
unidentified
Venezuela.
joe rogan
Did you, they did use like someone, like I believe Scarlett Johansson sued.
What company was that?
jamie vernon
OpenAI.
joe rogan
OpenAI, same company.
They tried to use someone who sounded exactly like her.
jamie vernon
She said they tried, they sent her an offer, which I think she turned down.
joe rogan
Right.
jamie vernon
She declined.
And then nine months later, they said, it's weird how much it sounds like you still.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
So they found someone who generally sounded like her.
I remember we listened to it and it sounded kind of like her.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, Sarah Silverman has a lawsuit against ChatGPT saying that she has a copyright on her own voice.
And basically, when you say, give me, write me a paragraph about environmental rights as it would sound from Sarah Silverman.
Her claim is, and she's basically a test balloon by a civil rights group that's doing this.
She's saying that what they're pulling from her books, her stand-up, whatever, to establish what her voice is is violating a copyright.
So that's in court right now.
She'll probably lose it, but there's a challenge to the concept that you can extrapolate somebody's.
joe rogan
Well, why would she lose it?
If the business is that, if you're taking someone's voice and using it as a part of your product without permission and you're using it for profit, which they are.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
So why would she lose it?
greg fitzsimmons
She shouldn't, but she will.
joe rogan
Well, the thing is, if it, I don't know about that.
The thing is, if it opens up the door, the question is, like, think about all the other things that it's used for.
First of all, there's entire podcasts of me that aren't real.
There's a podcast with me having a conversation with Steve Jobs.
I never met Steve Jobs.
unidentified
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah.
Full podcast, like a 45-minute podcast.
greg fitzsimmons
Does it sound like you?
joe rogan
Yeah, it is me.
It's my voice.
So they've taken my voice and just made me say words.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
And Steve Jobs' voice.
It's, I can tell.
I can tell just by the way it sounds.
Like, it doesn't sound, it doesn't sound like a real conversation.
There's something artificial about it.
Not the voice, but the way we're talking, the language we're using, or the way the phrases stop and start.
There's something about it that's uncanny, you know, the uncanny valley.
But it exists.
There's a ton of AI videos of me that aren't real, me selling things, products that I never endorsed.
greg fitzsimmons
No kidding.
joe rogan
Oh, they're all over TikTok.
Yeah.
There's a bunch of stuff.
Like, my friends will ask me, hey, is this stuff really that good?
I'm like, what?
And like, you're endorsing this?
I'm like, no, I'm not.
And I'm like, dude, that's AI.
I'm like, no.
Like, it happens all the time.
It happens like once a week.
greg fitzsimmons
Wow.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's a lot of that.
So, I mean, you got to think someone like you or I is a perfect person to take their voice from.
How many hours of your content is online with the Sunday papers, with all the podcasts you've been on as a guest, with all the content you put out with stand-up?
There's so much material they could pull from and just take your voice and know all of your different sounds that you make.
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, what are the ramifications for that going into an election?
You know, the week of the election before things can be corroborated or dismissed.
joe rogan
Right.
greg fitzsimmons
Like, all of a sudden, you can, and this is the early stages of it.
Imagine in three years what it's going to be like.
joe rogan
Right.
Yeah.
Well, there was, was it a congressman that was on the floor that showed an AI photo of Alex Predi being shot that was a fake photo?
Not only was it a fake photo, but one of the agents didn't have a head in the photo.
Like, what?
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, we're getting, and this is beginning stages.
It gets better all the time.
You know, like, there's a version of these video programs that was just released, and they compared it to the version that was released, you know, X amount of months ago.
It's fucking infinitely better.
It's so hard to tell now.
Joe DeRosa was telling me about these new Star Wars movies.
He's like, there's a new channel.
I'll send you it, Jamie.
It's fucking incredible.
Yeah, but there's new ones.
Skywalker stories.
Yeah, they've made new ones.
And the new ones are, he sent them to me last night.
I'm like, bro, this is fucking insane.
It's so good, dude.
It's so good.
greg fitzsimmons
No, it's changing, it's changing Hollywood so fast.
Tyler Perry was about to build like a billion-dollar sound stage in Atlanta.
joe rogan
I know.
greg fitzsimmons
And then he saw what they could do with AI and he fucking canceled the whole project.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, why would you spend all that money?
Is this the latest one?
jamie vernon
11 days ago.
joe rogan
Yeah, probably.
This is what he sent me.
I'll send you what he sent me.
But just look at this.
greg fitzsimmons
This is all fake?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Give me some volume.
unidentified
I killed the Jedi.
joe rogan
That's baby Luke Skywalker, bro.
unidentified
No one can kill a Jedi.
greg fitzsimmons
So that's a fake kid?
jamie vernon
Yep.
greg fitzsimmons
Entirely?
joe rogan
Yep.
That's how good it is.
jamie vernon
Mouth movement is all bad, but little.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Could be from Korea or something.
jamie vernon
Well, I would add a little bit.
Something else came out yesterday, which is insane.
The Google Nano Banana video game thing.
joe rogan
We'll see that in a minute.
unidentified
Denis.
Even the suns above Tatooine needed rest, Denis.
You weren't meant to keep burning without end.
I wasn't strong enough to save you, mom.
I've lived with that guilt every day.
joe rogan
I promised.
unidentified
You loved me.
That was enough.
I left this world with your face in my heart, not your failures.
Even the longest journey can be changed with a single step.
joe rogan
It is a little boring.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, you wouldn't say face in my heart if the guy has no face.
That's really bad writing.
They had AI write that line.
joe rogan
What is the Google thing that you found?
jamie vernon
Hold on one second.
I gotta find the videos of it.
But they just announced something yesterday.
I don't even know if you can use it.
One of these things happened.
I don't know if you can use it right when they announce the stuff because they'll announce it, show you how cool it is.
Then people will try to recreate stuff that they've seen, and you're like, I can't make this.
So, how the hell did you guys make it?
That happens a lot in this, but they announced something yesterday where they're showing people like using, I don't think it's pulling off Google Maps, but it might be, but it looks like they're making GTA-level graphics and systems and playable worlds, I guess would be the word.
But just a prompt.
joe rogan
Playable worlds, like you could use a PS2 controller.
jamie vernon
I'm trying to find a good example because they were even showing, like, here's, I think this is one 16 hours ago.
Yeah, so this is a guy walking around Greenland.
This is a video game.
I wouldn't say it's Virginia 3 is what it's called.
It plays like a video game, I guess, because you're using the keyboard to type it in.
joe rogan
Well, that looks like a video.
jamie vernon
But the only issue with calling it a video game is there's no real challenges.
I don't think it's like there's no levels to win.
joe rogan
But can you interact?
jamie vernon
Yeah, it's just interaction is all it is, really.
joe rogan
He got on the wrong side.
jamie vernon
It's just a prompt.
No one's spending time developing this stuff.
joe rogan
Still, though, you imagine if you put that into a video game.
jamie vernon
Yeah, they were as a pack of cigarettes rolling around New York City.
Like you were a pack of Marlboro Lights running around like here's San Francisco.
joe rogan
So they can turn this into a game.
jamie vernon
It's just a prompt, though.
Yeah, it's literally just a prompt, and now you're playing this instead of just looking at it.
joe rogan
But clearly, you could turn this into tasks and scenes as the time goes on and whatnot.
jamie vernon
That looks pretty fake, though.
The thing is, it's not fake or not.
It's just like, is this what you want to do?
You can wait for a game like Grand Theft Auto VI to come out that's been announced for 12 years and it's still getting delayed.
Or you can just prompt a thing into a little window and wait for two hours.
Turning Prompts into Games 00:02:11
joe rogan
That's what's crazy.
It's like, imagine someone comes out with GTA 6 before they do.
jamie vernon
It's just a matter of like, what do you want to do?
I only have an hour a day to play games if that sometimes.
So like, I don't, I'm bored with what's out there.
I could do this for an hour every week and have new experiences every single time.
joe rogan
Right.
greg fitzsimmons
Dude, have you been to the sphere in Vegas?
joe rogan
Yeah, we had a UFC event there.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, but you, do you see, what did they have on the walls?
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, the fights up on the walls, and they also had this amazing, like, in-between fights.
They put, they had this incredible video display because it was all Mexican Independence Day.
So this was like, we have this El Noche UFC every year.
It's like celebrating Mexican Independence Day.
It's like a big event, and they decided to do it at the sphere.
And so the fucking entire thing was just like this huge animated video that showed like Mexican history and the Aztecs and the Mayans.
Fucking amazing.
greg fitzsimmons
It's sick.
I saw, I was there last month and I saw The Wizard of Oz.
She was fucking crazy.
Took some mushrooms.
And it was like, first of all, I forgot this, but it's black and white until she goes into Oz.
And then all of a sudden it explodes.
And during the tornado, they actually, there's wind blowing.
See how their hair is moving?
There's wind blowing.
There's leaves falling from the sky.
Your seat vibrates.
It's so amazing.
And then, and you also forget, Judy Garland was fucking amazing.
joe rogan
That movie is crazy, dude.
We went over all the people that got hurt making that movie, including the tin man got violently ill because they painted him with toxic paint.
greg fitzsimmons
No kidding.
joe rogan
Oh, he got super sick, man.
And the lady that was green, the witch that was green, she got super sick too.
So what the fuck was their face paint made of back then?
This guy had aluminum all over his face.
He's like absorbing aluminum.
Your face is skin.
Skin's an organ.
That's why you can put medication on your skin.
Your body fucking absorbs it.
His body was absorbing aluminum.
He got violently ill.
And they just replaced him with another dude.
Develop New Talent Programs 00:15:47
greg fitzsimmons
And apparently, all the little people were staying in the same hotel in Culver City, and it was a fuck fest.
They were staying up all night, and there's like famous stories about it.
Brad Williams knows all.
joe rogan
Were they staying in Culver City, or were they staying at the Safari in Burbank?
Someone told me they were staying at the Safari.
greg fitzsimmons
No, I heard it was Culver City, but wherever it was, Brad Williams told you about it.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
He's the Little People historian.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
jamie vernon
The Culver Hotel.
I'm looking up the history of the house.
joe rogan
The Culver Hotel.
jamie vernon
124 of them stayed there.
joe rogan
124 fucking parties.
greg fitzsimmons
In seven rooms.
joe rogan
Bro.
Movies back then, I mean, it was wild.
jamie vernon
Three to a bed.
You weren't off.
greg fitzsimmons
No, that's hilarious.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
greg fitzsimmons
Debaucherous parties.
joe rogan
Sleeping three to a bed.
Three to a bed.
Wow.
Famous and infamous guests.
That's incredible.
unidentified
Wow.
jamie vernon
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, they got away with a lot back then.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, Judy Garland was, I mean, they worked her hard.
She was only 17 years old.
Yeah, and she, God, I mean, you got to see it.
It's worth the trip.
I don't love Vegas.
Like, I find it, it just feels hollow to me.
But then there's things that are worth going to Vegas to see.
I mean, obviously, MMA fights would be amazing.
joe rogan
Yeah, you want to go to Vegas, go to restaurants, go to events, and then get out.
greg fitzsimmons
Get out.
joe rogan
Don't go to Circus Circus.
greg fitzsimmons
It's a 48-hour trip, 36 if possible.
joe rogan
Yeah.
The people that live there, boy, you have a different constitution than me.
Yeah.
I'm not built that way.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, with any Favoritos there, and he's having a really good time.
joe rogan
There's only a few comics that live there.
Doesn't Paulie live there?
greg fitzsimmons
No, a lot of comics live there.
A lot?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, the tax reasons, a lot of them.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, there's tax reasons.
And also, there's so many seven-night-a-week rooms where they pay the features okay.
So you can actually, even if you're not headlining every week, and then you have residencies.
What's his name has a residency Tuesday night at Jimmy Kimmel's?
Oh, why am I forgetting his name?
He was a big Chelsea lately comic.
Anyway, there's a lot of comics that live there now.
joe rogan
Interesting.
Because we were talking about a second location for the mothership.
And the two main candidates are New York City and Vegas.
And I was thinking with Vegas, we would have to do it differently.
We would just fly in comics every week.
And then, you know, would we have enough local talent?
I was saying to have a development program.
So part of the program that's involved in the mothership is one of the things that always bothered me, if I would go to like a really nice improv on the road, is they didn't have a development program.
They didn't have open mic nights.
And I think they were doing that because you could get a Sunday night or a Monday night and sell out with you or, you know, whoever.
Have some headliner come in and pack the place, or you could develop local talent, which I think you have to do.
I really think if you want a club to function properly, it's got to be like a place where you could develop new talent.
unidentified
Like Denver.
joe rogan
Who's doing it?
Right.
Denver's great.
Wendy's the best.
And the way she does it is amazing.
And she has a whole program where she takes people from features and hosts and makes them features.
And then eventually.
greg fitzsimmons
And pays them enough where they can pay their rent.
joe rogan
Yes.
And also makes sure that it's like a healthy community.
There's no hacks.
There's no thieves.
And most comedy clubs don't do that.
They just want to make money.
So they don't pay the comics very well.
And they also, they don't pay.
We pay different than any other club.
And then on top of that, they don't really support development.
We have two nights of open mic nights.
And that was like part of the program.
When Adam Egan and I sat down and we first hashed out the idea of doing a club, we said the thing was like, what would be the best thing for comedy?
What would be the best thing in terms of like developing new comedians?
Like you have to have open mic nights.
You have to have it.
And then having Kill Tony is gigantic.
Having a place where not only do you have this place where someone who's never been on stage before could do a fucking minute in Madison Square Garden, which is what a lot of people did.
Arenas.
You get people going up for the very first time ever in front of 16,000 people.
But you also have this thing where you see someone who's a beginner do pretty well and Tony invites them back and then maybe gives them a golden ticket or maybe makes them a regular where they're a regular thing.
Every week they have the opportunity to do a new minute.
greg fitzsimmons
Or sometimes a comic will go, I want you to feature for me in Atlanta next week.
joe rogan
Always.
It happens all the time.
Well, a lot of these guys are now headlining on the road.
You know, guys like Ari Maddie, William Montgomery, Cam Patterson's down on Saturday Night Live.
So the idea was to have it set up where you have enough talent to develop new headliners, you know, like Boston did, like L.A. was at one point in time.
And I don't, I was thinking, I don't know if there's enough talent in Vegas, you know, because you I think there is.
greg fitzsimmons
I think you'd be surprised.
joe rogan
You need headliners, right?
You don't need just like people that are starting out.
They're pretty good.
And I think most comedy communities are very top down, right?
The level of the best guys raises the level of everybody else.
New York City obviously has a tremendous amount of talent.
New York City's always been one of the best, if not the best place for talent on the planet, right?
And then LA has always been really good, but LA, a lot of people were distracted and much more interested in a career in Hollywood than they were actually just being really good at stand-up.
Whereas New York, I always felt, was more pure.
Those guys like Attel and a lot of these guys, Patrice, they were just interested in being great comics.
greg fitzsimmons
And guys like Sam Murrell and Mark Norman now and Joe List.
They're pure comics.
joe rogan
Yes.
A ton of guys.
There's a ton of talent there.
And if you set up a club in New York City, the way the mothership is, where the comics get 80% of the money, where you have these nights where you're developing, we have a legitimate talent coordinator that's actually watching people and giving them advice and giving them new spots.
And he has a whole database of comedians that are potentially that have potential.
greg fitzsimmons
Dude, no, Monday nights, because I'm doing Kill Tony Monday night.
So I always, it's my favorite because then I go with Adam to the open mic night before Kill Tony.
I fucking love it.
There's always the, because it encourages weirdos.
joe rogan
Oh, of course.
greg fitzsimmons
And you get guys that are just out of their fuck.
It's like, are you homeless or are you a genius?
Like you see.
joe rogan
Might be both.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
Right.
joe rogan
Yeah, we had a lot of that at the store.
Remember potluck nights?
You know, we'd stroll in there like eight o'clock on a Monday and be like, this place is crazy.
Yeah.
There's all these weirdos hanging around.
It's good.
It's good for the art form.
And some of those people will make it through the net.
You know, one out of a hundred, one out of a thousand, whatever the number is.
Some of those people will eventually be your peers.
greg fitzsimmons
And those will be the more interesting comics because so much of this industry is about trust fund kids.
Like you go out to do stand-up comedy and whether it's LA or New York, you can't afford to do it unless you got a parent helping you pay the rent.
And then it's some kid who took classes at the UCB.
He's got a marketing degree from Villanova and they become social media marketers who do really bland suburban comedy.
joe rogan
Is that a New York thing?
Where is that happening?
greg fitzsimmons
No, I see that.
I see that everywhere.
I see that everywhere.
joe rogan
That's recent.
Is that a recent?
greg fitzsimmons
I just feel like it's become so much more about marketing than about freaks getting on stage because they have no other options.
I like comics that don't have a plan B.
These are people that have college.
They have masters in fucking marketing.
You know, it's like, come on, go make some room for the freaks.
Will you?
joe rogan
Well, you can always make room for the freaks.
You just need a real, legitimate open mic night, and the freaks will always be there.
greg fitzsimmons
That's what I mean.
That's why this is good.
joe rogan
Well, the thing about like, I know there's certain clubs that will allow influencers to come in and do a night, like people that literally have no act, but they have like a big TikTok following.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, but they'll give them like an off-night, like a Monday or a Tuesday, where they're not excluding a real comedy.
joe rogan
Sometimes not.
Sometimes they'll give them a fucking weekend.
Because they know people will come out to see them.
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
You know, I mean, these people sell out way in advance, and people are just excited that they're there.
You know?
greg fitzsimmons
Well, the problem with that is when you talk about certain clubs, like the Punchline in San Francisco or Denver Comedy Works, they have a brand.
And if I live in Denver, I know that if I go to the Comedy Works on a Friday night and I don't know who's headlining, I'm going to see a quality show.
joe rogan
Yes.
greg fitzsimmons
Now, if you start bringing in a social media flunky and I go to the Denver Comedy Works and I see that, I'm not going back to that club again.
It's bad in the long term.
joe rogan
At the Denver Comedy Works, but you might get that at one of the improvs or one of the other corporate comedy clubs.
These clubs that don't have a development program, they don't think about it the same way.
You can't think of comedy the same way you would think about optimizing your income in any other business.
You can't think of it as I'm going to make the most money possible with this business because it's not that.
It's you have to think of it.
It's like this is an art colony.
You're creating an art colony.
What's the best way to do it?
Make it really awesome for the people that are artists.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Make a great community.
Make it so it's a lot of fun.
Make it so that you can give people guidance and encourage them and maybe give them spots on some of the bigger shows.
And we have a whole program like that.
And then the door guy program is all comics that audition.
All those door guys that are at the mothership, they all auditioned with their act.
greg fitzsimmons
It's correct.
joe rogan
Get that.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's perfect.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
You know what's good?
Helium does a pretty good job with that and their clubs.
I'm going to be in Philly next week.
joe rogan
That's a great club.
greg fitzsimmons
That's a great club.
joe rogan
Helium in Philly is one of the best.
greg fitzsimmons
And they really do develop new talent.
And then, you know, if they get somebody who's good, they've got five or six clubs around the country and they send those guys out to their family.
joe rogan
No, it's great for that.
It's great for that.
It's also, they know how to do it.
If you go to a helium, like the helium in Portland's awesome.
You know, Portland's fucking disastrous.
The helium was great.
Yeah.
They always know what they're doing.
And they own Cap City now, too.
So they're in Austin as well.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Which is nice.
They just kicked Rappaport out.
greg fitzsimmons
Who's Rappaport?
joe rogan
Michael Rappaport.
greg fitzsimmons
Kicked him out of where?
joe rogan
Cap City.
greg fitzsimmons
What do you mean?
Kicked him out.
He used to perform there.
joe rogan
He was supposed to be there.
And they canceled his shows because of his pro-Israel's stance.
greg fitzsimmons
Really?
joe rogan
Well, I don't think it's pro-Israel.
I think it's anti-Palestinian.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh.
joe rogan
That's what they claimed.
I don't know, but there was enough response that they canceled his shows.
greg fitzsimmons
So weird.
joe rogan
I know.
Like, they were calling him racist.
I was like, what?
Michael Rappaport?
greg fitzsimmons
It just seems weird that political stances are legitimate reasons to kick a kid out of college.
You know?
joe rogan
One political stance.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
One particular one.
joe rogan
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Right.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's nuts.
Well, how about that one girl?
greg fitzsimmons
Or kicking it out?
Or kick somebody out of the country.
joe rogan
A college student.
Yeah, she was a college student.
Was it Columbia?
I forget where it was.
But she got kicked out of class, and I think they were trying to deport her because she wrote some anti-Israel piece.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
A piece.
unidentified
Wrote it.
joe rogan
Didn't know what to do.
greg fitzsimmons
Students have been kicked out of the country.
joe rogan
That kind of influence is crazy, especially at an institution of higher learning, which is supposed to be a place where you challenge ideas.
It's supposed to be a place where if someone comes in and you have a particular stance on, you know, fill in the blank, whatever it is, Ukraine, someone else is supposed to say, you're wrong and here's why.
And then the whole audience is supposed to listen to these very compelling speeches, very compelling debates, and you learn.
You learn about how people formulate opinions.
When I was a kid, when I was in high school, when I was at Newton South High School, Barney Frank came in and he had a debate with a guy from the Moral Majority.
Do you remember the Moral Majority?
greg fitzsimmons
Of course.
joe rogan
Yeah, so that was the right-wing group when we were in high school.
greg fitzsimmons
And he was a gay congressman.
joe rogan
Nobody knew he was gay at the time.
Except me.
I sniffed him out.
greg fitzsimmons
I sniffed his ass.
I smell 60 different things at once.
joe rogan
I smell fudge.
So I went to it and I watched it.
And it was really interesting because Barney Frank trounced the guy from the Moral Majority.
Moral Majority guy seemed like a closeted gay guy, like a weird guy.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, that was the whole group.
joe rogan
Yeah, weird.
Just weird.
He had an American flag pin on his lapel.
He looked like a poser.
There was something about the way he said it was very disingenuous.
The words he was, the way he was talking didn't resonate.
Whereas Barney Frank was like logical and intelligent.
And I was like, this is good.
I remember being in high school, going, this is really interesting.
I learned a lot from that.
I learned how these guys think and I learned how this guy thinks.
And as they went back and forth, Barney Frank was just way more prepared, just way more articulate.
It was better.
And so that's why it's good to have like conservative, ridiculous people or progressive, ridiculous people, anybody ridiculous.
Have someone debate them.
Have that kind of open discourse.
greg fitzsimmons
Yes.
joe rogan
But when you kick someone out of school for a paper that they wrote, this person that's legally in that class, allowed to be there, supposed to be there.
What you're saying is you're intimidating people and keeping them from expressing their opinions because they don't want to be like that lady.
They don't want to get the boot too.
If your parents, you know, if your parents are from India and they scraped up the money to send you to Harvard or wherever the fuck it is, and you're in America and they hear about this, you better not fucking talk some fucking shit.
I'll fucking kick you out.
Dad, Dad, relax.
I'm not going to do it.
Like you get intimidated from speaking like that or from speaking about anything that's controversial because you could perhaps get kicked out of the fucking school now.
Which is crazy because you're forcing, you're encouraging people to self-censor.
You're discouraging free speech and communication and you're discouraging debate and challenging ideas, which is supposed to be a giant part of being in a university.
greg fitzsimmons
No, when I was at BU, which you were at for a minute, right?
joe rogan
No, I was teaching there.
greg fitzsimmons
You're teaching there.
The president, John Silber, who was, you know, very conservative and he was pretty active in the Central American, you know, sponsoring fucking uprisings in Central America.
So there was a professor there named, you know, this guy.
He wrote the book, Howard Zinn.
unidentified
Okay.
greg fitzsimmons
So Howard Zinn was a professor there, and he used to go after Silber.
And there was a lot of debates on campus.
There were kids on both sides, and they kept Zinn there because they realized I was a vibrant voice that students needed to hear to go against a lot of what was conservative.
And there was anti-apartheid marches, and there was a lot of politics on BU was actually very much like Berkeley in the 60s.
BU was very outspoken.
Johnny's Set on The Tonight Show 00:13:08
greg fitzsimmons
And, you know, you think about the liberal kind of, like, George Carlin used to tape his comedy specials at colleges.
And they were much more conservative back then.
College campuses were not as liberal.
And he would go in there, but people were open to hearing a different voice.
joe rogan
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
And now Seinfeld won't even play at colleges.
joe rogan
I think he said he does play college.
Oh, he does.
I think Chris Rock does.
I don't.
I haven't in a long time.
I stopped doing them a long time ago.
I remember I was doing a show in Miami, and I was talking about sex, and I remember saying, I remember like a lot, I saw a lot of them look confused.
I go, How many of you people are virgins?
And a bunch of people clapped and raised their hands.
I go, fuck, that's crazy.
Like, you should not be hearing about blowjobs from me.
Especially in this context, in a joke form.
This is nuts.
I was like, there's just not enough life experience.
People are so set in their ways.
Also, they're so ready to protest things.
They're so ready to show that you're wrong.
And they're so like, so ready to heckle.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Christ.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's just not worth it.
I want people with like bills.
I want people that have like fucking breakups and divorces and life experience.
They had a couple of cocktails.
Those are my people.
Let's talk some shit.
Let's have some fun.
I want people to have lived life.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
And I don't want people that I don't even want high school graduates at my shows.
joe rogan
Can you imagine going and doing a show at a high school?
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, my God.
I did one at when I was doing a bunch.
I used to do a lot of colleges.
When I was coming up in my 20s, dude, it paid the rent.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, I did a lot of those.
greg fitzsimmons
I used to go out.
I'd make like a thousand bucks a show.
They'd book me on, I'd do 10 shows in seven days because I would do nooners.
So I would get, I would rent a car in Chicago, and then I would drive through North Dakota, fucking Minnesota in January, through snowstorms.
I'd do a noon show.
I remember once I was in a cafeteria.
Nobody knew there was going to be comedy.
They're all just eating lunch.
And all of a sudden, there's no stage, there's no light.
I got a microphone, and I am plugged into the same speakers as the pizza joint.
So that I would be in the middle of a joke, and I'd be like, Ronnie Pepperoni up in the window.
joe rogan
I had a similar gig with Mike Clark.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, really?
joe rogan
A one-off.
He only did it one time, and I was the comic that did it.
And it was a waiting room for a restaurant.
It was an enormous restaurant down the Cape.
And, you know, you're waiting for your table to get ready and you're in a lounge.
And I was telling jokes, I'd be like, Johnson party five.
unidentified
Johnson party five.
joe rogan
Your table's ready.
They'd be like, oh, no.
And when I realized it came, it became the running gag of my set.
And it was fun.
It was fun.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, you remember we used to do those gigs in New England where if the Red Sox were in the playoffs, that TV, the sound might be off, but the TV was staying on.
joe rogan
Always.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Hockey games.
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
You're at the Bill Record 99.
joe rogan
And by the way, you wanted it on because if they shut it off and then you had to do comedy, that was even worse.
That was even worse.
greg fitzsimmons
And if they lost the game, that was bad.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Then they turned on you.
You did it.
greg fitzsimmons
Dude, the first night I ever did stand-up comedy, and then I didn't do it for a little while after this, but my first night was the night that the New England Patriots lost to the Chicago Bears.
It was 1986.
unidentified
Oh, no.
greg fitzsimmons
And they got fucking crushed.
I forget what the score was, but it was bad.
And I went on Comedy Hell that night.
George McDonald brought me up on Comedy Hell at Stitches Comedy Club, and I tanked it.
joe rogan
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, I didn't go up on stage again for a while after that.
joe rogan
Comedy Hell was great.
greg fitzsimmons
Comedy Hell.
Remember, he used to do that little run at the beginning of the show?
This was the open mic night in Boston for years.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Sunday night at Stitches.
greg fitzsimmons
And this was like, I mean, the lineups when we were doing it, this is the open mic night was like me, you, Dane, Bill Burr was a little bit after us, and Mark Maron would be on there, and fucking Louie would be there.
And he would start the show by going, Welcome to Comedy Hell, where the pipe dreams of a handful of comedy yokos can soar as high as the lights on Broadway or crash and burn in that fiery pit known only as comedy hell.
joe rogan
And then you would see guys who are like legit pros who would do guest spots.
Like I remember one time I watched Teddy Bergeron when Teddy was in his prime.
And people forgot about Teddy Bergeron.
It's really unfortunate because he had a bunch of personal and substance issues that kind of derailed his career.
But when he was on in his prime, he was so smooth and so slick.
And I remember watching him because I'd only done comedy like twice at that time.
And he went up and did a set.
I was like, I should quit now.
There's no way.
This is so far away from me.
This is so good.
It's so polished.
And then he had that big set on the tonight show.
And remember, we played the piano?
You ever see that set that he had on Sancho?
Fucking genius.
Sat down on the couch with Johnny.
Johnny brought him over on his first appearance.
It's like, oh my God, Teddy Bergeron's going to be a star.
Then apparently, like, he's in Holly.
He went off the rails.
Just went off the rails with drugs and went crazy and partying.
And it never worked out for him.
He should have been huge.
greg fitzsimmons
But did you hear what happened after that Tonight Show set?
Like, he wasn't popular in Boston.
He had a huge ego.
And then the drinking got bad.
And so he did the tonight show.
And then he was face down drunk in front of the next comedy stop laying on the stairs.
And Don Gavin just walked by and they looked at him.
He goes, Didn't I see him on the Tonight Show?
joe rogan
He had a huge ego?
They didn't like him?
greg fitzsimmons
I don't know.
joe rogan
Is that what it was?
Because a lot of those guys got very resentful of guys who left Boston and made it.
There was a lot of, what about me?
unidentified
What about me?
joe rogan
There was a lot of that when Stephen Wright made it.
A lot of guys got very pissed because Stephen Wright, he's not even a fucking headliner.
There was a lot of that.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, you know about the night that he got the tonight show, right?
The guy, Jim Downey, who was the booker for the tonight show.
This is back in the 80s, early 80s.
And he hears about this comedy scene in Boston because you've got Sweeney and Gavin and Kenny Rogerson.
joe rogan
Killers.
greg fitzsimmons
Killers.
And it was one of the first cities to really explode in terms of clubs popping up everywhere and lines of people getting to the shows.
And so Jim Downey goes, all right, let me check it out.
So he flies to Boston, and there was this club called the Ding-Ho, which was the first place to really house comedy in Boston.
So they get the best of, get all lined up, and they're in the green room, and they're chopping up lines of blow, and they're getting on stage, and they're jokes about, what about the hair in Malden?
It's not as big as the hair in Revilla.
And it's like, that's not going to play on the tonight show.
And they're killing, but none of it is right for the tonight show.
And then Stephen Wright, who was, they put him on as a, as a, out of pity at the end of the show.
And I remember, I'm not going to say which, but one of the comedians had pulled Steve aside and said, look, Steven, he'd been struggling for years, not doing well.
And they go, this is not for you, man.
You got to try something else.
unidentified
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
So Steven Wright goes up and he does his set and he does good.
And they fly him out the next week for the tonight show.
He's the only one that got it.
And they were irate.
And he killed so hard.
Johnny said, stay in town.
We're going to bring you back next week.
And he did the show like four or five times that first year and exploded and was one of the biggest comics of the 80s.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
That Fran Salamita documentary when Stand Up Stood Out is great for anybody who's interested.
It was a very unusual time.
And you and I caught the wave after it had crested.
So it kind of really broke in like 82 to 84.
You and I came in.
I came in at 88.
And you did the 86 set that one set, but then you did it again.
greg fitzsimmons
We started in 88.
joe rogan
Yeah, right before me.
greg fitzsimmons
We started like the same week.
joe rogan
Yeah.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, it was crazy.
greg fitzsimmons
And I think it was still really drifting away.
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah.
In the next two years, it had died off significantly.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, what happened was there was so much comedy on TV.
There was all these, you know, one-hour shows where everybody did the six-minute set, comedy on the road, half-hour comedy hour, comedy hour.
And so it got kind of, it got kind of overexposed.
And so the club started opening everywhere.
And then as it fell off, they started papering the rooms and giving out free passes.
And so, I mean, I still experience, you know, if I go into a new market, especially if it's like an improv where it's five or six hundred seats and I'm there for five shows, they'll give out a fair amount of free passes.
Dude, I feel that immediately.
joe rogan
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
It's not the same crowd.
joe rogan
Yeah, they're not really that interested.
Yeah.
It was just something to do.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
They're not committed to it.
greg fitzsimmons
So then this, so then it just, and then there were so many rooms and not enough comedians to do well in those rooms.
And so it kind of sagged and it went away.
And I really wonder now, like that we've been in a kind of COVID launched, post-COVID launched comedy, like it's never been at this heights that it's at right now.
I mean, you got people like you doing arenas.
And there's not a couple.
There's a dozen people doing arena shows now.
And then you've got theaters of different sizes.
Then you've got clubs of different sizes.
Then you've got little pop-up shows all over.
Don't tell comedy about this thing where they just do like pop-up shows.
They basically have a mailing list and they'll announce like the day before they're doing a show and it'll sell out.
It's everywhere.
unidentified
Wow.
greg fitzsimmons
And so I really, yeah, everybody's wondering, when does this one end?
It feels like it's starting to get a little softer.
People are talking about it.
joe rogan
Well, it just all depends on how much talent's generated.
So if you have clubs that are trying to generate new talent, there's no reason why it can't be just like Boston.
Like Austin, the street where we have the mothership on, there's seven clubs within walking distance.
Seven.
That are at least three, four nights a week.
There's the Sunset room that's Red Band's room that's right down the street from our club, which is great.
You got Creek in the Cave, which is great, one block away.
You got the Vulcan, which is great, another two blocks away.
It's crazy.
Just on that street, you got the Black Rabbit, you got the Velveeta room, then you got Cap City, where a lot of headliners come in, which is about 20 minutes away.
greg fitzsimmons
Are there little outs?
Like when we started in Boston, there was rooms in the suburbs in every direction.
unidentified
All over.
greg fitzsimmons
So that's all over.
Because that's where you can actually make some money.
joe rogan
Yeah, well, a lot of these comics book places now.
They'll book a comedy night at a barbecue place, a comedy night at a bar.
They'll go to Dripping Springs.
They'll go to here.
They go to there.
I was just talking to a guy the other day.
He's like, yeah, we're doing a comedy night at my club.
I'm like, that's fucking great.
greg fitzsimmons
Do you ever do any of them?
I remember when I was at Skank Fest a couple months ago, and you know Mark Normans from New Orleans?
joe rogan
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
And I, and, you know, and then it's fucking nuts.
Like, literally from the time you wake up until five in the morning where you end up at Larry Flint's Barely Legal Club, which, you know, Louis C.K. has this whole thing about the barely legal.
Like, all right, here's the pitch.
She's barely legal.
I won't do his bit, but it's very funny.
But the point is, like, Mark Norman is there, and I run into a comic and they go, yeah, yeah, I have this little bar show.
And yeah, Mark Norman just came by and did it.
Like, I was like, how fucking cool is that?
joe rogan
Oh, he drops in everywhere.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
He does, when he's in town doing the mothership, he'll go down the street, do a bunch of sets.
Yeah.
But that's the New York way.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, they go, they do 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there.
They hop from club to club.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
Dude, you got to do Skank Fest.
Even stop by Skank Fest for 24 hours.
They've got a nude roast where literally everybody on stage is nude, including the judges.
And then they've got boxing, comedians boxing each other outside.
The green room is filled with mushrooms and acid and weed and open bars.
And then you've got, I mean, it's basically, it's kind of like when we used to go to the Montreal Comedy Festival, you got big by doing a set in front of the industry, getting a deal, and then hopefully getting on TV.
Well, that doesn't exist anymore.
Now it's about how do I get canceled?
That's how you get famous.
And this is a festival that is trying to help you get canceled.
You got 7,000 people with cell phones taping you, you know, going on stage and, you know, saying the most horrendous shit.
Comedy's New Fame Formula 00:10:16
greg fitzsimmons
It is fucking great.
joe rogan
Yeah, everybody who goes says it's awesome.
Yeah.
I fully support it.
I support the idea.
I think it's really good for comedy.
And it's also like just like the Vegas version of a comedy festival.
You know, what happens in Vegas days in Vegas?
Like, go nuts.
unidentified
All right.
joe rogan
You know, it's New Year's Eve.
Go nuts.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Skank Fest.
Go nuts.
greg fitzsimmons
They had Miss Skank Fest contest.
And I said the winner, they reunite the winner with her family, with her parents.
They were like, I mean, it's Skank Fest 9s, Skank Fest 10s, which would be like 6s in other places.
A lot of guys with like cargo shorts and black sneakers and like anthrax t-shirts and mullets.
joe rogan
Subscription to Gas Digital.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
Girlfriends that are impossibly hotter than they should deserve.
I don't know what that quotient is, but there was a lot of that.
joe rogan
That's interesting.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's good.
Comedy's at a good place right now.
greg fitzsimmons
Tom O'Neill came with me this year.
joe rogan
Oh, really?
greg fitzsimmons
And then Duncan Trussell was having his podcast, and I introduced Tom to Duncan.
Well, first, me, Tom, and Duncan were talking for like.
joe rogan
We should tell everybody.
Tom O'Neill is the guy who wrote Chaos.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, right, of course.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
Who you introduced me to.
Which, by the way, you have never recommended anybody for the podcast before.
unidentified
That's right.
joe rogan
But that guy, you're like, dude, you got to talk to him because I know how much you're into Manson and how much you're into that story.
greg fitzsimmons
CIA.
It's all in there.
Crazy.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That book is bananas.
greg fitzsimmons
It's bananas and he's working on another volume.
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Is it going to be another 20 years?
Has he got an editor?
greg fitzsimmons
No, because what happened is it took 20 years last time because he just kept going down rabbit holes.
And then finally, his, well, you know, first he got a big deal from a major publisher.
And after seven or eight years, they sued him to get the money.
They gave him a lot of money and they sued him to get it back.
And then he's driving an Uber.
He's teaching English as a second language.
He's fucking, you know, drinking, drinking booze out of a paper cup.
And so then.
joe rogan
It had to have paid off, though.
The book was.
greg fitzsimmons
No, so what happened was, what happened was, then his publisher said, look, come on, there's something here.
He paired him up with this other guy.
I wish I could remember the guy's name right now.
Dan, Dan something.
And he reigned Tom in.
And in one year, he took, he had shelves around his apartment filled with binders with notes.
He had boxes of cassette tapes, of interviews.
And this guy somehow got in there and Corey.
unidentified
Dan Piperberg.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, Dan Piperberg.
Yeah.
Who's a very successful biographer?
joe rogan
What is his name again?
greg fitzsimmons
Dan Piperberg.
joe rogan
Push that up again.
Pipe and Bring.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, Pipe and Bring.
unidentified
Yeah.
Okay.
greg fitzsimmons
So he reined him in and got the book out in a year, and they were able to resell it for a lot of the money, paid back the back debt.
And now he's hitting.
I don't want to talk about Tom's finances, but he's doing very well.
joe rogan
I know so many people that have read that book.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I mean, I've talked about it a hundred times.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's amazing.
greg fitzsimmons
It's amazing.
joe rogan
It's amazing because it's all true.
That's what's nuts.
Like the stuff that's verifiable factual evidence in that story makes you go, what the fuck else did they do that we don't know about?
greg fitzsimmons
Right, because Tom is a real journalist.
He didn't put anything in there that wasn't triple corroborated.
And he even, to his credit, at the end, does not say this happened.
He said, I never found the smoking gun.
So here's all the evidence.
Take what you will from it.
It's a bunch of, I mean, think about Tom is he comes from a family of geniuses.
His brother is the American ambassador to Haiti.
Like they're all like PhDs up there.
He's brilliant.
And so he's also Irish, and he's a great Irish storyteller.
So each chapter, whether you're talking about Jolly West or whatever, they're just each chapter is a great story.
joe rogan
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
On top of being good journalism.
joe rogan
It's an amazing book.
Yeah.
I might reread it.
I might go back.
greg fitzsimmons
Don't listen to it on tape.
He hates the book on tape.
shane gillis
I thought it was great.
joe rogan
I listened to it.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, really?
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, okay.
joe rogan
I loved it.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
I don't know.
I mean, I would understand why you hate someone else speaking your words, but he probably should have done it.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Why didn't he do it?
He's a good speaker.
He was great on the podcast.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, he was great on the podcast.
He got better.
In his early interviews, I used to say, Tom, you look like you're a hostage giving out a message from the captors with a gun at your head.
And then he got really good at it.
joe rogan
Well, on mine, he was very loose, very comfortable.
But he also knew it was friendly territory.
He knew that I'm a very good friend of yours and that I was really excited about it and it was going to help him.
If he does a second one, I would encourage him to read it.
I would encourage him to read it.
I think he could kill it.
greg fitzsimmons
And to come back on here.
joe rogan
Oh, 100%.
I'd have him back on.
I'd have him back on before he does it just to talk about it.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know what I mean?
I think the impact of that book has opened up a lot of people's eyes to the fucking shenanigans that were going on back then.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, when we were at Skank Fest, so Duncan and I are talking to Tom for like a half an hour, and Duncan doesn't know who I just introduced him as Tom.
And then when I brought up Chaos and that he wrote it, Duncan's jaw dropped because he's obsessed with the book.
So he was doing a live podcast from Skank Fest.
So he hadn't booked guests yet.
So he booked me and Tom to come on his podcast.
And then Kurt Metzger also, which is hilarious.
Because Tom is trying to stay on point and get to these things.
And Metzger is sitting there.
He's smoking a joint the size of my forearm and just cracking every 15 seconds.
Oh my God.
He was manic.
He's so funny.
joe rogan
Wrangling him on a podcast is so different than anybody else.
Because he'll go one subject to the next subject.
You don't know about this.
And the Kissingers, you don't know, no?
You don't know?
But the Rockefellers?
You don't know about this?
What they did in the 60s?
You're like, okay, go back to the first thing you said about what's in school lunches.
You got to bring him back on point.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, that's why his girlfriend is so great because she is a mini wrangler of Kurt.
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
She can keep him on point a little bit.
joe rogan
Yeah.
He's hilarious.
unidentified
Yeah.
He's great.
joe rogan
He's funny, dude.
greg fitzsimmons
I know.
And a good writer.
He's written on a lot of big shows.
joe rogan
Oh, he's a great joke writer.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
He came on the last time he did my episode, my podcast, rather, the episode he dressed up like John Lilly, who's the psychedelic pioneer from the 70s.
So he had a coonskin hat on and a wig, and he put on a one-handed glove with the skeleton fingers on it.
I go, what are you doing?
No one even knows who John Lilly is.
This is so crazy.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, he feels like the kind of guy that is not hung up on getting famous or getting rich.
He just really enjoys like ideas and communicating ideas.
joe rogan
Exactly.
There he is.
unidentified
It's hilarious.
joe rogan
He's a fun hang in the green room, too.
He's such a maniac.
greg fitzsimmons
By the way, today is the, this is the 25th time I've been on your podcast.
joe rogan
Holy shit.
greg fitzsimmons
I was looking up yesterday.
I was like, how many times have I been on the fucking show?
This is the 25th.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
Because we used to do it all the time when you were just starting out.
joe rogan
I know.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
And a lot of times it was at the Ice House.
joe rogan
Yeah.
We did the Ice House.
He did it at my house.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
And then when I finally got a little mini studio, that little strip mall.
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
I know.
Those Ice House shows were crazy because we would have a stand-up show going, and then you'd have about six people on the podcast with a joint going the entire time in this small room.
And I don't, I have never been high on stage in my life except for those shows because it was secondhand smoke.
I would literally get so baked in.
And then I remember going on stage.
And then so you would go from the podcast to the stage.
joe rogan
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
And then you come back on the podcast.
People would just swap out.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And then Ice House Chronicles.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, my God, dude.
joe rogan
I thought about doing something similar to that at the mothership, like putting together a podcast studio at the mothership.
We have considered doing that.
greg fitzsimmons
Do you have space for it?
joe rogan
No.
But I thought about buying another building next to me, you know, and then like doing something else with that, too.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Build another stage, too.
joe rogan
I don't think so.
I think we have enough stages.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I think the next move in terms of a club would be we go to another city and try to do the same thing and really put a lot of time and money and effort into making it right.
Really making it right.
Buying a building.
One thing I thought would be really crazy if I could buy a big building in New York and recreate the exact interior of the mothership.
Exactly.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, that's what the Punchline did in Sacramento.
It's almost the same room as the San Francisco one.
Oh, really?
And then I think the comedy cellar Vegas room is similar to the New York room.
joe rogan
Oh, that's good.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I thought about literally recreating it with the two staircases to the two separate rooms.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like finding a building that has the same dimensions or something.
greg fitzsimmons
Kind of perfect.
I love the walk to the stage because you're in the green room and you got to go down a flight of stairs and then you kind of feel the show over your head as you're walking underneath it.
joe rogan
Tunnel under the pop-up.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
We built all that.
There was no tunnel there before.
We made all that.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, no shit.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah.
We had to build all that.
unidentified
Oh, wow.
joe rogan
Yeah, that was an idea the architect, Richard, came up with.
Yeah, we just decided somewhere along the way, like, what was the best way to get to the state?
We're trying to figure out how to get to the stage.
You don't want to have to go through the crowd.
And he came up with the idea of a tunnel.
And it was based on there's like some folklore or mythology around tunnels in Austin that connect clubs.
And like he was all big on the history of Austin.
greg fitzsimmons
It's like it goes back to the gladiators, too.
Walking into the arena.
joe rogan
Well, that's why if you go into the green room, all those posters on the wall are all people that actually performed at the Ritz.
Austin's Secret Tunnels 00:06:41
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, no shit.
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, when you look up, you see Willie Nelson, Black Flag, all those guys, they actually performed.
Steve Ray Von, they actually performed at the Ritz.
There's a photo of Steve Ray Vaughan as you're walking to the stage.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
That photo is him on stage at the Ritz.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
In, I think, 1983 or something.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
So it was a rock and roll club for a long time.
greg fitzsimmons
Isn't it funny how Steve Rayvon and Bill Hicks are kind of the same guy?
joe rogan
In what way?
greg fitzsimmons
I just feel like they're outlaw Texans who just like free expression and balls.
unidentified
Genius.
greg fitzsimmons
And they kind of had the same style, like the way they dressed and hair.
And I just always think of them as the same guy.
joe rogan
Interesting.
Most people think of Alex Jones as Bill Hicks.
Like there was a rumor that Alex Jones was Bill Hicks.
Which makes no sense.
greg fitzsimmons
When's the last time you had that guy on the show?
joe rogan
Oh, it's been a while.
It was probably a few years ago.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
I see him occasionally.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
They're still trying to get a billion dollars out of him.
They're still trying to the Connecticut shooter in the family's?
Yeah.
It's crazy.
greg fitzsimmons
Does he have a billion dollars?
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
No.
I think they made him liquidate his business.
I don't know what's going on with it now.
greg fitzsimmons
Jesus.
joe rogan
Crazy.
Yeah.
But the rumor was that he was Bill Hicks, that Bill Hicks was actually Alex Jones.
greg fitzsimmons
That's funny.
unidentified
Crazy.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
They were both alive at the same time.
They're very different people.
But it doesn't have to be logical for it to be a good conspiracy.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, there's people that still think Tupac's alive.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
There's a lot of goofy ass.
greg fitzsimmons
People think Jim Morrison's alive.
unidentified
Yeah.
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Who's the other one?
Oh, Andy Kaufman, of course.
Oh, right.
I had, who was his sidekick?
Andy Kaufman's sidekick?
Bob Zamuda.
joe rogan
Bob Zamuda, yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
So I had Bob Zamuda.
He had written a book about Andy Kaufman and claiming he's still alive.
So he comes over to my, I was doing my show in my garage at that point.
And he comes over and about 45 minutes into the podcast, I go, I go, so how does Andy's family feel about you saying this stuff about him still being alive?
And he's like, oh, they're fine with that.
I said, I kind of heard that they're, you know, a little myth, that they, they think it's disrespectful.
He's clearly dead.
So we go back and forth, and it gets super heated.
And he flips out and he throws his chair over and he fucking storms out.
And that was the end of the podcast.
And I was just like, all right, that was weird.
And I'm here to announce for the first time that was a fake.
It was an Andy Kaufman-esque stunt.
Really?
That he flipped out and left the podcast.
joe rogan
And you never talked about it?
greg fitzsimmons
Nope.
We did it in the spirit of Andy Kaufman.
joe rogan
And people were probably like, oh my God, this was 30 years ago asking about it.
Bob Zamuda meltdown on Greg Fitzimmon's podcast.
A very interesting conversation.
But when it escalates at the end, it just blows up.
Question, real or Kaufman-esque stunt.
Oh, that's funny.
That's funny.
And you kept it under wraps.
greg fitzsimmons
I've never talked about it.
joe rogan
That's funny.
Yeah.
Well, that makes sense with Zamuda.
He would do that Tony Clifton character.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, my God.
joe rogan
Yeah, and he would dress up as Andy Kaufman's Tony Clifton and do, you know, do appearances.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, yeah, Andy would say, I'm coming to Vegas to do the Tony Clifton character.
And then Zamuda would be the one doing it.
And people always would be going like, what the fuck?
I just paid $150 to see Andy Kaufman.
joe rogan
Yeah, he did a lot of odd stuff.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Remember when he worked as a waiter at Jerry's Famous Deli?
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, I didn't know that.
joe rogan
Oh, no, he worked as a busboy.
There's a photo of him on the wall while he was on taxi.
So he was on the biggest television show in the country.
Yeah.
And he had like an apron on, and he was carrying a fucking dish tray filled with like people's dirty dishes.
greg fitzsimmons
Wow.
joe rogan
Yeah.
That photo.
Look at that photo.
That photo was on the wall at Jerry's Famous Deli.
Andy Kaufman worked there.
So he was on TV.
He was a huge star.
And you would go and order a pastrami Rubin and Andy Kaufman would clean your table.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
What about the wrestling women was genius?
joe rogan
Oh, he did a lot of nutty shit.
greg fitzsimmons
Dude, he locked into that character.
People went nuts.
joe rogan
Is that a video?
jamie vernon
I think so.
joe rogan
Oh, that's hilarious.
jamie vernon
Well, there's a documentary about it.
That's what was just popping up.
joe rogan
Of him working at Jerry's Dell?
greg fitzsimmons
You have to see him.
jamie vernon
This is, I guess, a trailer for it.
joe rogan
Oh, so it's just a documentary about him.
He was a nut, man.
That was the one movie where, like, a lot of people kind of freaked out about Jim Carrey.
Where he kind of got way too into that role and sort of like almost seemed to embody.
Andy Kaufman.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, he talked about that.
It fucked him up afterwards.
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
And offstage, he acted like an asshole to people.
joe rogan
How weird.
greg fitzsimmons
Which is not like him.
unidentified
Right.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
How weird.
Yeah.
That whole method acting thing, like becoming a person, especially an actual human where you have to sort of like figure out their brain patterns and their behavior patterns and imitate it.
And then you get trapped in it.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
Well.
jamie vernon
Segura was in talks to play Samuda in a movie.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, wow.
joe rogan
Recently?
jamie vernon
That's what this article is about.
About that.
This is very confusing because I saw it when I had that up.
I saw this screenshot.
I'm like, why is Tom in that?
joe rogan
Oh, interesting.
jamie vernon
Yeah, this article from 2024.
joe rogan
Oh, interesting.
jamie vernon
I don't know what happened to it.
Doesn't seem like much.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's all.
greg fitzsimmons
There's a good documentary.
It just came out last week on Mel Brooks.
I mean, you can't understate Mel Brooks' effect on every, whether you're a comedian or a writer or a comedy director.
That guy just, I mean, when I was a kid, my dad used to play 2,000-year-old man for me, those albums with Rob Reiner.
I'm sorry, Carl Reiner.
And I was obsessed.
And the producers was my father's favorite movie.
It became my favorite movie.
And, you know, you just think about like how fucking your show of shows as a writer early on and, you know, and just going on to do Frankenstein.
Blazing Saddles.
joe rogan
Blazing Saddles.
greg fitzsimmons
You know who the movie talks about, you know who wrote Blazing Saddles with him?
joe rogan
Who?
greg fitzsimmons
Richard Pryor.
joe rogan
Oh, that makes sense.
greg fitzsimmons
Isn't that fucking crazy?
He was supposed to play the sheriff.
joe rogan
Wow.
Data Upload Consequences 00:08:35
greg fitzsimmons
Spaceballs.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's crazy.
greg fitzsimmons
But it's a two-part documentary.
I only saw the first half.
joe rogan
Spaceballs is the reason why Tesla's Model S is called The Plaid.
greg fitzsimmons
Really?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
unidentified
Oh, that's cool.
joe rogan
And it's also the reason why the Starship is shaped the way it is at the tip.
Like Elon wanted it to be like Spaceballs.
He's like, make it more pointy.
unidentified
Uh-huh.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, that's funny.
joe rogan
He loves Spaceballs.
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
That's so funny.
Oh, yeah, that would be perfect for him.
joe rogan
Of course.
Wow.
Of course.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
Of course.
Are you going to get an optimist when he comes out?
You're going to have a robot companion in your home?
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, hell yeah.
Why wouldn't you?
joe rogan
Because I don't want a robot in my house.
It's like connected.
greg fitzsimmons
I don't have Alexa.
I don't have anything in my home.
I don't have any speakers that can listen to me because they are listening.
unidentified
They're whistling.
greg fitzsimmons
Dude, how often are you talking about, like, I started getting Austin feeds, little videos in my Instagram feed about Austin?
I never get those.
I started getting them yesterday.
The fuck is that?
joe rogan
Didn't know you're coming.
Yeah.
Well, wasn't there a lawsuit that Google had to just recently settle where it turned out that there were certain times where your phone was listening to you, which is why you're getting ads for things that you had discussed?
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, yeah.
Happens all the time.
joe rogan
But it was a rumor for a long time.
That's just a conspiracy theory.
Like, people are like, this seems weird.
Google settled $68 million in class action over alleged recording of private conversations.
greg fitzsimmons
That's nothing.
jamie vernon
Yeah, that's very small.
joe rogan
That's nothing.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
So what is it?
What was the accusation?
They have agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging they unlawfully recorded users' conversations through Google Assist-enabled devices without consent.
The proposed Google settlement is pending approval from a federal judge, U.S. District Court for Northern District of California.
Class action lawsuit was filed in 2019 after consumers accused Google of concealing that its assistant-enabled devices could unintentionally activate and record conversations inside users' homes.
So that's just for that.
But that's like did not intentionally activate it with a hot word such as, hey, Google, because it's listening to you all the time.
So it's listening for you to say, hey, Google.
But that's, you know, that's just Google assistant devices.
I don't have one of those.
But yet, my phone will bring up suggestions and ads for things that I've discussed that I haven't looked up.
Just have conversations about it and it'll pop up.
greg fitzsimmons
That's crazy.
joe rogan
I don't think they would tell you.
I think it's all metadata.
It's all hidden.
There's no way to know.
And we all know.
We all kind of know.
greg fitzsimmons
And, you know, people go like, well, I'm not, I don't, I'm not a criminal.
I got nothing to hide.
Yeah, but you don't understand the ramifications of this information.
If somebody is in office and they want to start using keywords to locate people that they're going to have audited, like they just, some woman got was protesting ICE, and you know, they've got this facial recognition software that lets them know your name, your address.
joe rogan
Is that Palantir?
Is that what they're using?
greg fitzsimmons
Something.
No, it's not Palantir.
It's something like that.
But this woman went to the airport.
Her TSA was canceled.
unidentified
What?
Yeah.
What?
joe rogan
Because she was a protester?
Yep.
That's it?
greg fitzsimmons
Yep.
joe rogan
Just protesting.
unidentified
Yep.
joe rogan
Really?
greg fitzsimmons
No, they're taking your license plate.
They're taking people's faces and they're running it through.
They had one woman went from a protest to her house and there was a car parked out front with ICE agents in it saying, we know where you live.
joe rogan
What?
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's all she did was go to a protest?
Yep.
That's it.
greg fitzsimmons
I mean, I'm sure she interacted.
She was probably yelling out or whatever.
joe rogan
She wasn't a part of the organizers of the protest or anything like that because maybe she was an organizer.
This is the weird thing: the organizer, the signal chats and everything.
This is all being very coordinated and very funded.
This is a very coordinated thing, like what they're doing, where they're doxing these ICE agents, and the whole thing is all very fucking weird.
The point about the Google stuff, though, is people that go, oh, I'm not doing anything illegal.
You are giving them your data, and that data is a commodity, and they are getting insanely wealthy off of getting your data in an unscrupulous way.
They're not telling you they're doing this thing, and they're getting your data.
And that data is making them insanely wealthy.
And then they use that wealth in a bunch of different ways to influence all sorts of things in the world.
And that's what's going on.
Nobody ever thought that their data was going to be a commodity.
Nobody ever gave a fuck about their email address or what they're interested in online.
But it turns out that's fucking insanely valuable to advertisers.
And that's it's also like, you know, they're listening.
You know, they're listening.
They're listening to things.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah, they're listening.
And yeah, it's, it's, it, there's people now using ChatGPT to do therapy.
Have you heard about that?
unidentified
Yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Yeah.
joe rogan
But meanwhile, you want to put your might tell you to kill yourself like that.
greg fitzsimmons
Not only that, but you're telling your innermost embarrassing things.
You think that's not going to be used against you at some point when you try to get health insurance and health insurance has now audited what you said to ChatGPT and goes, well, you're a suicide risk or you're talking about trying to quit smoking.
Now we know you're smoking.
Any details?
joe rogan
Wasn't there an instance real recently where someone had uploaded top secret information to ChatGPT to a public, a government official had, see if you can find this.
Government official uploaded to a public chat GPT, not like some secure, encrypted version that the government gets because they were trying to go over some data.
Here it is.
U.S. cyber defense chief accidentally uploaded secret government info to ChatGPT.
greg fitzsimmons
Jesus.
joe rogan
So they grilled the acting chief on a mass layoffs and a failed polygraph.
Failed polygraph?
That's hilarious.
So this guy, good luck saying his name, accidentally uploaded sensitive information to a public version of ChatGPT last summer.
Accidentally, according to four Department of Homeland Security officials with knowledge of the incident, try to say that guy's name.
greg fitzsimmons
Got him akula.
joe rogan
Is that it?
greg fitzsimmons
Got him akula.
unidentified
Okay.
joe rogan
Got him akula.
greg fitzsimmons
Who plays defense for the Rams?
joe rogan
Uploads.
See, a fucking big Polish guy.
Uploads of sensitive CISA contracting documents triggered multiple internal cybersecurity warnings designed to stop theft or unintentional disclosure of government material from federal networks.
And this fucking guy's the director of cybersecurity and infrastructure security.
greg fitzsimmons
Well, what does it mean accidentally upload?
Did it eavesdrop on him or did he say something that caused ChatGPT to get it?
joe rogan
It seems like he uploaded the data.
Like he was probably trying to parse out the data.
jamie vernon
He was just hired to see, or just joined the agency.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, great.
Oh, my God.
jamie vernon
The information was not confidential, but marked for official use only.
greg fitzsimmons
Oh, dude, I feel like Russia and China know everything.
joe rogan
And we know everything.
And we know everything about Russia and China.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
And they're all ratting on each other.
Palantir app ICE uses to find neighborhoods to raid.
Yeah.
So it is Palantir, at least for that.
jamie vernon
The article he had, it was blocked by a paywall.
I couldn't.
I was trying to get around.
joe rogan
Nuts.
greg fitzsimmons
Joe Rogan experience.
Can't afford to pay for it.
unidentified
Is this it?
greg fitzsimmons
We're wrapping it up.
joe rogan
Let's wrap this picture up.
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
It's 4 o'clock.
greg fitzsimmons
Can I name some dates?
joe rogan
Fuck yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
I will be at the Philadelphia Hill Aim, as I said, Valentine's Day weekend.
joe rogan
Great fucking club.
greg fitzsimmons
I'm going to be in Sacramento at the Punchline next week, and then I'm going to be in Lexington, Kentucky at Comedy Off Broadway.
joe rogan
Fucking club.
And this is GregFitzSimmons.com.
Go to the link for stand-up dates, plenty of gigs.
greg fitzsimmons
The podcast are Sunday Papers with Mike Gibbons, which, oh, by the way, thank you for the shout out.
You and Bert Kreischer gave me a little love bath yesterday.
That was nice.
So, yeah, he was talking about Sunday papers I've been doing with Mike for a long time.
And then FitzDog Radio that you've been on many times.
joe rogan
Yee fucking ha.
All right.
We're going to wrap it up.
You're at the mothership this weekend.
I'm very excited about that.
greg fitzsimmons
You're going to come down?
joe rogan
Fuck yeah.
greg fitzsimmons
Fuck yeah.
unidentified
All right.
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