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Feb. 17, 2026 - The Joe Rogan Experience
02:37:26
Joe Rogan Experience #2455 - Donnell Rawlings

Donnell Rawlings joins Joe Rogan to dissect dietary quirks—Rogan’s meat digestion struggles at 58, nicotine’s cognitive boosts, and menthol marketing controversies—while exposing the sugar industry’s role in health disparities tied to $138M-per-liter soda like Pepsi. They pivot to Jeffrey Epstein’s lottery scams (e.g., $80M jackpot slashed to $30M) and the predatory nature of legalized gambling, framing it as a modern "house always wins" system. Rawlings critiques comedians’ shift toward negativity over craft, citing Kevin Hart’s grind in NYC, Dave Chappelle’s pandemic lockdown shows, and Bernie Mac’s legendary "I ain’t afraid" moment—success, he argues, stems from consistency, not viral stunts or industry lies. Ultimately, the episode underscores how true comedy thrives on authenticity, not attention-grabbing tactics or manufactured outrage. [Automatically generated summary]

Participants
Main
d
donnell rawlings
01:35:38
j
joe rogan
55:24
Appearances
Clips
j
jamie vernon
00:18
t
tony hinchcliffe
00:07
|

Speaker Time Text
Steak and Stomach Struggles 00:06:29
unidentified
Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out!
The Joe Rogan experience.
Train by day, Joe Rogan.
Podcast by night, all day.
joe rogan
Really?
unidentified
Red meat.
donnell rawlings
It's unfortunate.
That's just.
joe rogan
In any form?
donnell rawlings
You know, like, I know it's weird.
If I eat a burger, it's different if I eat a steak.
joe rogan
Steak is a problem?
donnell rawlings
Yeah, I don't know if my digestive system, just like you two older, fucking bust this down.
I'm 58.
joe rogan
I'm 58 too.
I eat mostly meat.
I don't think it's age.
donnell rawlings
What is it then?
joe rogan
Well, what are you eating it with?
donnell rawlings
Tito's.
joe rogan
We're rolling.
donnell rawlings
Tito's.
joe rogan
Tito's vodka?
It can't be that, right?
donnell rawlings
No.
I'm eating a steak and I'm a little bit more.
I eat a steak and I will.
And I wash it down with Tito's and Tonic because it resembles H2O so much.
Sometimes I get thrown off until I do it.
joe rogan
What?
donnell rawlings
Yeah, I think I'm better at it.
joe rogan
Tito's and tonic resembles water.
donnell rawlings
The look of it.
joe rogan
The look of it.
donnell rawlings
It's clear.
joe rogan
That's all that matters to you?
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
I know at some point I need to change.
I need to change my life.
I'm at the age now that it's like I look at certain food and I'm like, oh my God, it looks good, but you know, you can't handle that.
I think this is when I really, really need to be in love because I need to be with somebody that understands when I go places and when I want to pig out, they got to be like, he can't eat that.
joe rogan
He's digging in.
He needs a handler.
donnell rawlings
He's going to be thrown up.
joe rogan
He's a female handler.
donnell rawlings
A female handler.
They call it geriatric.
This is what I hear.
This is what the streets are saying.
Most men get to an age, it's a geriatric shit, when you just smash all the women you want to do and everything.
Now you're going to have to worry about somebody helping you with your pill diet, helping you with your dietary needs and everything.
And they say that's a lot of times when men fall in love, when they need somebody to take them to the Golden Ears.
Or when you're about to be out of here, you need somebody to say, don't do that.
You got to mash this food up.
You got to chop it up.
But I'm having digestive issues sometimes.
joe rogan
With steak, huh?
donnell rawlings
It's red meat, I want to say.
And I'm a fan of it.
joe rogan
So if you eat like a bowl of pasta with the Tito's, no problem?
donnell rawlings
That's not a problem.
joe rogan
Interesting.
donnell rawlings
But it's definitely red meat.
joe rogan
You go to one of those doctors that checks people for allergies.
donnell rawlings
Voodoo doctor?
joe rogan
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
I don't want one of them selling it down.
I had to date an Asian.
I mean, I had to date a Haitian chick.
They intervoodoo really, really busy.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
donnell rawlings
Oh, yeah.
They stab you with pillows and shit.
You might have pain in your neck.
Is there any particular reason, Joe?
And I haven't been here in a while.
Is there any particular reason why I am doing your show during Black History Month?
joe rogan
No, you asked to come on.
But you reached out to me.
donnell rawlings
I reached out to you.
joe rogan
You should have reached out to me in July.
I would have said yes.
You got an open invitation.
You know that.
donnell rawlings
I haven't opened the invitation, but this is when, I don't know, I say, can I come to you?
You said, this is what you told me.
You said, I have a guest.
And then you called back.
I don't know if Jamie said, you know what month this is.
Right.
I don't know if he and you caught me.
joe rogan
I moved somebody.
I moved somebody for you because I knew you were coming here on a Monday.
I had someone booked.
donnell rawlings
Was it a Caucasian person?
unidentified
I don't know.
joe rogan
I don't remember.
donnell rawlings
You know it was a white man or a black man.
joe rogan
No, you know what?
donnell rawlings
Did I get, did I book a bunch of people?
joe rogan
It might have been Michael Jarwhite because he's here tomorrow.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
So it was probably Michael.
I just probably moved him a day.
donnell rawlings
But I appreciate you being accommodating because I felt like it was time for me to come back.
I haven't been here once.
joe rogan
You can come on anytime.
donnell rawlings
I really appreciate it.
I hold that to be true.
joe rogan
Come on.
donnell rawlings
I know that's true.
joe rogan
You know I love you.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
I want some of that gum too, man.
I'm sorry.
joe rogan
The neurogum?
Do we have any, Jerry?
unidentified
I have some, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, that stuff's the shoes.
donnell rawlings
I know.
Whenever you say something, it's the shit is the shit.
But what can I do about my, I can't do anything about my diet.
unidentified
Sorry.
joe rogan
Whoops.
I hit the mic.
Yeah, you can.
You just, you know, you should go to a doctor and find out if there's like, there might be something particularly about you that red meat doesn't agree with you.
But it might just be what you're eating with the red meat more than the red meat itself.
You know, that's what I would imagine.
I would imagine it's not actually red meat.
I would imagine it's what you're eating with it.
donnell rawlings
Might be.
And I'm going to check into it.
Because as they say in the streets, I'm of that big age when you have to be considerate of a whole bunch of things.
unidentified
So you should.
donnell rawlings
That's what I have to do.
I have to do that.
joe rogan
Do you exercise at all?
donnell rawlings
A little bit.
Usually doing sexual intercourse is when I get most of my cardio.
joe rogan
Get your push-ups in?
donnell rawlings
Yeah, and it's not as strong.
Damn, man.
You have to get...
I don't know if this applies to everybody.
You get to an age where you start looking at your history and you're like, damn, 2000, what's my best years?
Like, right now, I'll just give up.
joe rogan
You give up.
donnell rawlings
I don't put no pressure in it.
I give up.
I start asking, like, what's your shoe size is or whatever.
I'd rather go shopping than to really try to pound somebody out for three hours.
I'm at that age now where I have, I call it certain times.
Like, you're going to get a work good job.
joe rogan
I probably shouldn't be giving you that gum.
Gum is going to be a real problem on the microphone.
Is it people are going to get annoyed by you?
unidentified
All right.
donnell rawlings
I don't know what to do.
joe rogan
Just chew it a little and spit it out.
donnell rawlings
Okay.
joe rogan
You'll get the effects of it pretty quickly anyway.
donnell rawlings
I'm at the age where my best work is like holidays.
Holidays.
Like, I'm an animal.
joe rogan
Why don't you hire a trainer?
You got some money.
donnell rawlings
And what are the trainers going to do to?
unidentified
Get you in shape.
donnell rawlings
I think I need a therapist before I get a trainer.
I mean, you got to take one step at a time.
I got to get my mind right before I get my body right.
Wouldn't you agree?
joe rogan
No, getting your body right will help get your mind right.
donnell rawlings
I think that's some truth to that.
I think that you may be right about that.
joe rogan
Oh, 100%.
Getting your body right fixes your mind.
Without a doubt.
donnell rawlings
But I will say I'm at my best.
I'm at my peak when it's a holiday to celebrate.
joe rogan
Because you're rested.
donnell rawlings
I'm rested.
It's more incentive.
Like, if you want me to really smash good time, consider it like Valentine's Day, Christmas, Kwanzaa.
You can get seven good days.
But to expect me to be at my best on just a regular Tuesday or a Wednesday is not going to happen.
I need to do it.
joe rogan
Well, it's also drinking.
You like to drink.
The Menthol Effect 00:06:28
donnell rawlings
Why would you say that?
I know why you would say that.
joe rogan
Come on, I've seen you.
donnell rawlings
All right.
joe rogan
I've been with you.
I drank with you.
donnell rawlings
Okay, then that's a good point.
All right.
joe rogan
There's cigarettes.
donnell rawlings
You was there.
joe rogan
You brought a pack with you.
Right?
There's that.
Those are not good.
There's a.
donnell rawlings
But you used to smoke.
I saw one of your podcasts.
I forget how you explain what made you not want to smoke anymore.
joe rogan
Well, cigarettes are a cognitive enhancer.
They are.
That's a fact.
Nicotine is a cognitive enhancer.
There's no doubt about it.
It's a fact.
And it does things to your mind.
It stimulates your mind in a way that very few other things do.
That's why a lot of intellectuals, a lot of professors use nicotine.
A lot of academics use nicotine.
A lot of people that rely on their brain use it.
A lot of writers use nicotine.
And there's different delivery methods that have different effects.
Unfortunately, smoking has a very potent, instantaneous effect.
And that's why people like it.
But it comes with a cost.
The physical health repercussions of cigarettes are well known.
It's not good.
And also, you're smoking Marlboros.
We had a doctor on the other side that thinks that regular cigarettes are not nearly like American spirits are not nearly as bad for you as cigarettes.
donnell rawlings
I understand that they have some type of American spirits.
I'm not even advocating for what you should and shouldn't smoke.
But they say that's supposed to be the most natural if there's such a thing.
joe rogan
It's just tobacco, I believe.
Is that a fact?
unidentified
Nope.
joe rogan
No?
What's in there besides tobacco?
unidentified
I don't know.
I've been trying to.
jamie vernon
I don't know how this lawsuit ended up, but they got sued for the advertising of saying it's additive-free and all that.
joe rogan
Oh, did they?
Yeah.
What are the additives?
I've got that side item.
Well, let's look at it.
unidentified
I've tried to look.
jamie vernon
I mean, there's a big, here's like the website about the lawsuit.
joe rogan
What's the accusation?
unidentified
That, oh, here you go.
It's on screen.
joe rogan
Oh, here we go.
Lawsuit questions natural claims.
Natural American Spirit cigarettes are made by Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company and parent company Reynolds America.
R.J. Reynolds, they fuck with you.
American Spirits has been sold in the U.S. since 1985.
Under the original name, Original American Spirit.
Organic.
Oh, you got us.
You fucks.
Unadulterated tobacco.
Sue claims such marketing language has endeared American Spirit cigarettes to a core group of smokers who believe that the natural tobacco in the cigarette makes them a healthier alternative.
Despite cigarette sales declining 17% between 2009 and 2014, American Spirit sales have increased 86% over the same period.
Huzzah.
A regulatory filing on the Reynolds American website states American Spirit is the leading super premium cigarette brand that is a top 10 best-selling cigarette brand, priced higher than most other competitive brands and is differentiated from key competitors through its use of all natural, additive-free tobacco, including styles made with organic tobacco.
But words like all natural and additive-free on American Spirits labeling, the suit says belies the fact that Santa Fe Reynolds adds ammonia to their cigarettes to maximize the amount of nicotine a smoker receives with the result that American Spirits contain significantly more free-based nicotine than other major cigarette brands.
donnell rawlings
So you're actually getting high off of cigarettes?
unidentified
100%.
joe rogan
I get high off of them because I don't smoke them all the time.
So I only smoke, if I smoke a couple cigarettes a week, it's a lot.
donnell rawlings
And Newport's probably like 10 times worse than menthol cigarettes, probably 10 times worse for your body.
joe rogan
I was talking to Kat about that.
Yeah, I was asking him, like, why do you like menthols?
And he's like, he was speaking on behalf of the black community.
He said, we like things that are more potent.
donnell rawlings
I believe that that's possible, part of it, but I also believe that back in the day, and this supply, I don't know if I talk about this, it was certain brands that targeted certain communities just for the loyalty of it.
And I think Newport's was targeting, I don't know if it was a situation where Newport came out.
They were spending more ad money with advertising and everything.
I don't know if I shared this story with you, but Pepsi was a company that did that.
They targeted the black community.
So I think, even though I understand we said more potent, but I think it was something that was in our community, whether that was like cheaper prices or whatever.
And I think it's generation and generation, like you need to do this because black people did this because it was cheaper.
I think that that might be the case with Newport.
joe rogan
Probably both.
What is the menthol effect?
What is the difference?
donnell rawlings
And I think it's a small menthol.
I sound like Cat Williams in that case.
That's one of the reasons I had to downgrade.
Some people think that I started smoking marble lights because I started dating white women, which is more appealing.
Unless you date a white woman from the Midwest, then she probably smoking Newports and drinking Pepsis and Coca-Cola just like you.
But I think that's probably.
But I got so many bad habits that I need to change.
joe rogan
Here we go.
Our sponsor, our AI sponsor, Perplexity, says the menthol effect of cigarettes come from the chemical menthol itself, which is added as a flavoring and a sensory agent to the tobacco.
Menthol is naturally found in peppermint and other mint plants.
It can also be made synthetically in a lab.
Menthol activates cold-sensitive nerve receptors in the mouth, throat, and airways, creating a cooling sensation when you inhale smoke.
It's a mild anesthetic, numbing effect that reduces pain and irritation from hot, harsh cigarette smoke, making it feel smoother.
Menthol can suppress the cough reflex and dull early warnings or early warning signs of airway irritation, which make it easier to inhale more deeply and more often.
Menthol reduces the perceived harshness of nicotine and smoke.
The minty taste and smell plus the cooling feel act as a pleasant sensory cues that many smokers come to associate with satisfaction and craving.
Menthol can alter nicotine metabolism and the way nicotine acts on brain receptors, which may increase nicotine's reinforcing addictive effects.
In short, the menthol effect is not from nicotine, but from added menthol, which cools and numbs the airways, masks irritation, and can make cigarettes feel smoother and more addictive without making them any safer.
donnell rawlings
So menthol cigarettes appeal to black people because it's a cool cigarette.
unidentified
It's cool.
donnell rawlings
That's what cooling makes so much sense by the brand cool cigarette because it makes shit.
Cool Cigarettes 00:04:31
donnell rawlings
That makes sense.
joe rogan
That's why they called it cool, I bet.
donnell rawlings
Damn, what white people do to destroy my community, man?
joe rogan
Destroy everybody.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
They don't give a fuck about anybody.
unidentified
Cool ain't cool.
joe rogan
Half ain't wide.
Body ain't soul.
Mild ain't bold.
Cool ain't cool.
Newport is.
Oh, because that was like a take on cools because people used to smoke cools.
Do cools exist anymore?
donnell rawlings
In jail.
joe rogan
Only in jail?
donnell rawlings
I think that, I think, I don't know what the ratios, what cigarette gets you more money in a dice game, but whenever I hear people telling war stories, they like, man, I got a pack, I got a carton of cools for a bag of Doritos or something, but the value of a cool cigarette is higher in prison.
joe rogan
Isn't it crazy that they give you cigarettes in prison?
That's crazy.
It's like the only drug you can get in prison.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, and those.
joe rogan
You can't get alcohol, right?
donnell rawlings
Well, you can get hooch.
Well, you can't get alcohol, but they make their own type of stuff.
joe rogan
It's all under the table.
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
But I think in prison, the things that hold the most value, I think it's tang, right?
It's that artificial flavored drink you do.
I think that it's...
joe rogan
Astronaut shit.
unidentified
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
Yep.
Cigarettes, Doritos.
I heard honey buns hold their value.
And I heard candy bar.
But candy bars, you got to be particular with that.
Because if you offer, this is what I hear.
If you offer a person a certain amount of candy bars, then what I understand is that you're inviting them to have sexual intercourse with you.
joe rogan
Interesting.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
Candy bars.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, like you, I don't think.
joe rogan
You want some candy bars?
And that's like code.
Yeah, it's like Pizzagate with Pizza.
donnell rawlings
Mr. Goodbar for this Good Bar.
Oh, okay.
This is only, not that I've had those experiences, Joe, but this is the times that I frequent the streets, which aren't anymore, not too often.
These are the stories that they tell.
joe rogan
Interesting.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
And these facts, you don't need them for anything but for barbershop talk, but these are the conversations that I have that I've heard people have.
joe rogan
It's interesting how different brands market to different people.
And I mean, how do they figure it out?
Like, what do they work?
Like, that's where it's evil, right?
Like, advertising itself, I don't have a problem with, but I did, there is something weird about deceptive advertising that's legal, you know?
donnell rawlings
Well, they do a history on what people like.
I was watching or reading a story about the people that started Forever 21.
I forget what the brand was.
It was some Koreans from South Korea, not to be confused with Kim Jong-un in those people.
But they were tailors of something.
They started a small boutique.
And what they would do is they would have these clothing pieces of clothes, and they would really pay particular attention to what colors people like, what was selling the most, whatever.
And that's what they buy.
And one of the things that made Forever 21 so popular because they had really inexpensive, the clothes weren't expensive, but they was turning them over so quick.
You know, so people do do case studies and see what people are attracted to.
I know with black people, you put lemon pepper on anything.
It's going to go out the roof.
You could do lemon pepper, chicken wings, lemon pepper, french fries, anything, lemon pepper.
They're going to go, I don't know who started the whole lemon pepper craze, but you lemon pepper, anything, black people are going to buy it.
joe rogan
That's interesting, like how white people are associated with very bland foods.
You know, macaroni, cheese, mashed potatoes, mayonnaise.
donnell rawlings
And you know why you're connected with that blandness?
Because the way you pronounced it.
joe rogan
Macaroni and cheese?
donnell rawlings
You'd never, ever say, if you tell somebody, if you say, and you would be able to be invited to the cookout, Joe, you know, people like you.
If you say, hey, guys, I'm coming to a cookout, right?
And I'm bringing macaroni and cheese, you're going to get uninvited to the cookout.
joe rogan
How should I say that?
donnell rawlings
Mac and cheese.
joe rogan
Mac and cheese.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, you can't say macaroni and cheese.
Nobody ever does that.
They would look at you as a spy.
You would get invited and invited.
joe rogan
I'm a different type of white person because I'm Italian, and we're associated with spicy food.
Very strong flavors.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, but...
joe rogan
It's a different...
Like, Italian people don't like bland food.
unidentified
So you're not going to say spicy, very flavorful food.
Excess Sugar, Not Salt 00:04:04
donnell rawlings
I'm bringing baked Ziti to the barbecue.
You'll be like, I'm bringing Ziti, right?
joe rogan
I would say baked Ziti.
Yeah, because there's different kinds of Ziti.
You know, the Ziti that you bake and then the Ziti that you just boil and put, you know, marinara sauce on.
donnell rawlings
I will say this.
As much as, you know, community make fun of white people and their lack of seasoning, that can save your life.
joe rogan
Lack of seasoning can save your life?
donnell rawlings
Yeah, so when you think about, you look at somebody, one of the most country home-cooked soul food spot, the one ingredient that's in everything that you taste right off the rip is salt.
How do you feel?
joe rogan
Salt's not bad for you at all.
It's all good.
donnell rawlings
Then why do we think salt is all bullshit?
joe rogan
If you're feeling a little off, it's okay.
It's February.
Everybody feels a little off in February.
It's darker.
It's colder.
You probably already gave up on some New Year's resolutions.
But you don't have to wait till spring to get yourself right again.
It all starts with making small changes to your routine.
And one of those is AG1.
It's not some big dramatic reset.
It's one small thing that you can do every morning to keep consistent when everything else is chaos.
One scoop, done.
AG1 can help support your energy, your gut health, and can support you through the darker evenings.
It gives that foundational support from morning to night.
And it all comes down to getting your daily nutrition.
There's more than 75 ingredients, including antioxidants, minerals, probiotics, and functional mushrooms to support your immune health and overall health.
And this is the time of year when it can really help.
If you want to check it out, go to drinkag1.com slash Rogan, and you'll get three AG1 travel packs, vitamin D3 plus K2, and other gifts free in your welcome kit with your first subscription.
That's drinkag1.com slash Rogan.
Salt is an essential mineral.
You need salt to survive.
Salt is not the problem.
They associate salt with high blood pressure, salt with this, salt.
It's not true.
It's bullshit.
donnell rawlings
What type of salt?
Is it a different song?
Is it like...
joe rogan
No, it's not.
Salt's not bad for you.
Well, first of all, there's iodized salt, which is actually good for you because it contains iodine.
They add iodine to it, which is good for you.
But salt is not a bad thing.
I mean, you shouldn't have too much salt.
donnell rawlings
Look, if you eat enough salt, you can't be the person to educate me with this.
unidentified
So all of these years, it's a people getting their toes chopped off.
joe rogan
That's the table.
unidentified
That's not why.
joe rogan
That's not why.
If you're getting diabetes, it's usually from sugar.
donnell rawlings
Okay.
joe rogan
You know, there's been a lot of misinformation that's spread because of actual scientists that were bribed by the sugar industry.
So the sugar industry, they paid a bunch of Harvard scientists.
It was Harvard, right?
I believe it was.
They didn't even give them a lot of money.
Was it the 1950s or 1960s, Jamie?
Do you remember?
So this has all been outed now.
But what they did was they tried to associate saturated fat and foods with saturated fat with being responsible for heart disease.
And they did that to try to get the blame off of sugar.
Because sugar is fucking terrible for you.
It's terrible in basically every way, especially added sugar.
donnell rawlings
So why are all of these diseases that we speak of are more happening in the black community than it's diet.
joe rogan
It's 100%.
It's sugar.
It's processed food.
It's diet.
It's sugar.
It's sugary drinks.
It's the amount of sugar, like if you say, if you drink like a one liter Pepsi, the amount of sugar that is, okay, let's find that out.
How much sugar is in a one-liter Pepsi?
You drink several of these a day.
One of them, I believe, is more sugar than you're ever supposed to have in a day.
donnell rawlings
Pepsi is the one, and that's why it was— Well, it could be Coca-Cola.
joe rogan
It could be Pepsi, Mountain Dew.
unidentified
I don't know.
donnell rawlings
I think it's 100%.
joe rogan
Pick your poison.
donnell rawlings
I think it's 100% Pepsi.
joe rogan
Well, Pepsi is, I don't know, does Pepsi have more sugar than Coca-Cola?
Excess Sugar Debate 00:04:19
joe rogan
I don't know.
You know, Coca-Cola is one of the only things that's still flavored with cocaine leaf.
Sugar content, 115, 123 grams in a one-liter bottle.
That's a crazy amount of sugar.
25 teaspoons, 35 sugar cubes.
donnell rawlings
God damn it.
joe rogan
That's 130%, 138% of the recommended daily value of sugar.
That's where people are getting type 2 diabetes.
They're getting it from excess sugar.
Specifically, excess sugar, like in a liquid form, your body does not know what the fuck to do with that because nowhere in nature do you get sugar in a liquid form like that.
Like even orange juice.
Like people think orange juice is good for you.
It's not.
Like drinking orange juice, yeah, you're going to get some vitamin D, but you're also going to, vitamin C, rather, but you're also going to get a gigantic dose of sugar that has no fiber in it.
donnell rawlings
But it's a different type of blood sugar and fruits and vegetables than what you get off the counter.
joe rogan
You get fructose rather than high fructose corn syrup.
You know, look, sugar from fruit is the best sugar for you because it's attached to fiber.
And that's a slow release sugar.
Like if you eat an apple, and apples aren't bad for you.
It's a natural way that your body consumes sugar.
donnell rawlings
Apples were bad for Adam.
joe rogan
I don't even know if it was an apple.
donnell rawlings
It was appropriate.
joe rogan
It was a fruit.
It was a fruit from the tree of knowledge.
The tree of knowledge.
donnell rawlings
It was an apple.
It was an apple.
joe rogan
But it wasn't an apple tree.
What specifically does the Bible refer to as the fruit?
donnell rawlings
Adam and Eve, Adam.
unidentified
You know the truth?
joe rogan
Eve never talked to God.
Adam talked to God.
Adam told God not to eat the fruit.
There's nowhere in the Bible does it say that Adam went and told Eve.
donnell rawlings
This is why we should start not just shutting women down to listening to them.
It all started all the time.
joe rogan
Genesis does not specifically specify, rather, what kind of fruit Adam ate, only that it calls it fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Yeah, so it's not necessarily an apple.
We call it an apple.
The text never names the species, apple, fig, etc.
The Hebrew word is peri, a general term meaning fruit without a botanical detail.
Where the apple idea came from over time, Jewish and Christian interpreters proposed many candidates, including fig, grape, pomegranate, citron, and others.
Now, common idea is that an apple developed later in European tradition, helped by wordplay in Latin and Old French, where the words evil and apple or fruit sounded or were spelled similarly.
So it's not necessarily an apple.
donnell rawlings
I really don't know what to believe.
I feel like I get so much more information when I come here.
I don't know if people understand that.
joe rogan
Well, the crazy thing is that, I mean, I've found this out recently because I've actually been reading the Bible, that there's no reference whatsoever to Adam telling Eve, you're not supposed to eat the fruit from the plant with the knowledge of good and evil.
donnell rawlings
I never knew that.
joe rogan
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
I just knew it's just Adam.
It was a woman with an apple and his shit got fucked up after that.
joe rogan
What happened was God created Adam.
This is what Genesis says.
God created Adam and then told Adam, go and name all the animals.
And then when he was done with that, Adam made Eve.
But he never said, it never says in the Bible, Adam told Eve, do not eat the apple.
donnell rawlings
Who's given us this misinformation?
joe rogan
Well, the problem with the Bible is, first of all, that it was an oral tradition forever.
So it was an oral tradition for a long time before it was ever written down.
Then it was written down in a bunch of ancient languages.
It was written down in ancient Hebrew.
It was written down in Aramaic, Aramaic.
And then when you translate ancient Hebrew to first, they translated it to Latin, and then they translated it to Greek and all these other, maybe Greek first.
I forget which one was first.
But either way, the translations miss a lot of the language.
It's very complicated.
Ancient Hebrew is a very complicated language.
And numbers double as letters in ancient Hebrew.
So ancient Hebrew doesn't have numbers.
All their words have a numerical value to them.
donnell rawlings
What do you think makes people so connected to the Bible?
Suspicious Lottery Winnings 00:16:09
donnell rawlings
Is it because of wanting to believe in something?
Definitely.
joe rogan
Definitely wanting to believe in something.
And then specifically, if you look at like the teachings of Jesus Christ, if you follow them, I think it'll lead to a better life.
I think it makes you a better person, makes you a better member of the community.
It reinforces community.
It's like a really good way to live your life.
So I think people that live that way, that actually live that way, they're better examples of human beings.
So that makes it reinforced.
But it's also people, there's a lot of other religions that people believe in that don't have those aspects to them.
People want to believe things.
People want to believe in things, even if you like, like Scientology.
People deeply believe in Scientology.
And we know it was written by a science fiction author who was a bad science fiction author.
L. Ron Hubbard wrote some terrible books.
Like that guy would just bang books out.
He never rewrote shit.
Everything was a first draft.
He wrote more fiction than any human being that's ever lived.
And he also wrote Scientology.
donnell rawlings
And people believe in it.
But I do believe people.
I think people, like you say, people want to, if your life is fucked up, whatever, they want to be able to say, okay, this is my Savior.
If I believe in this, it's going to get me on the right track.
joe rogan
100%.
donnell rawlings
And then with that, with these, like Druski just did a skit that went viral, right?
And it was like he was making fun of the mega churches and everything.
But these churches, like, they give these people something to believe in, make them feel better, and they charge people.
Do you think that there should be a separation?
If I inspire you, if my writings or my speeches inspire you to want to do something and change your life and be more financially secure, do you think these people are entitled to like, okay, almost like agencies, if I get you to work or get you there, should you hit me off?
Or the mega churches, is it so wrong for me just to pour all their money into them?
Or are they giving these people something to believe in?
If that's the case, do I supposed to get a piece of that?
joe rogan
I think they're preying on people's need to believe in things.
And I think they're very predatory.
And I think that's why they're flying private jets and driving Rolls-Royces and living in mega mansions on giant ranches.
And they're doing it all off of donations of people that are barely getting by.
That's a lot of it.
You know, I think it's a scam that's legal.
I think if we were a just and righteous society, it wouldn't be legal.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
I mean, you're taking advantage of people when they need something to believe in and you're asking for all their money.
Like, I remember I was watching this guy on TV once, like, televangelists are the worst.
And this guy was saying that if you are broke, you should borrow money to donate it to the church and it will be paid back to you tenfold.
That God will pay you back tenfold.
And then he had all these examples of people that did it and they would call in and say, I was $1,000 in debt and this and that, but I borrowed $100 and I donated it to you.
And now all of a sudden I drive a Rolls-Royce and it's all horseshit.
donnell rawlings
But those are all desperate, desperate people.
joe rogan
Desperate people.
donnell rawlings
Those are the same people that I'm going to spend $30 on a lottery every day for like fucking 50 years and don't know how much that's another scam.
joe rogan
That's another scam.
Not only is that a scam, here's the scam about the lottery.
Not only does, like say if everyone pumps money into the lottery, say you buy $100 worth of tickets and Jamie buys $100 worth of tickets and I buy $100.
So there's $300 in the lottery.
There's not even $300 available to pay.
If you win.
And then if you win, you don't get all the money.
You get the money over a long period of time.
donnell rawlings
It's given options.
unidentified
Right, right, right.
joe rogan
But if you take the second option, it's a significantly like here's a good example of it.
Speaking of the Epstein files.
What do you mean speaking of the company Zorro Trust?
donnell rawlings
I didn't like that transition.
You look me right in my eyes and say, speaking of the Epstein.
joe rogan
Well, Epstein, we were talking about it before the podcast.
No, Epstein came to see you.
donnell rawlings
No, Epstein did not fucking come to see you.
unidentified
They came to see me.
joe rogan
They loved your show.
donnell rawlings
Yo.
joe rogan
He was the number one fan.
donnell rawlings
First of all, I never.
joe rogan
You don't know.
Look, they came to West Palm improv because you're a famous comedian and you were playing in the town where he lived.
donnell rawlings
So what are you saying?
joe rogan
Nothing.
unidentified
But what I'm saying is that what I'm saying is Epstein won the lottery.
joe rogan
His company, Zorro Trust, won an $80 million lottery.
And then they took the payoff.
And the payoff was only $30 million.
donnell rawlings
What do you mean when you say win?
joe rogan
His company bought a ticket for the lottery.
Yes, Zorro Trust, which is his company.
They won the lottery, which is very suspicious.
Not only that, he won the lottery right after he was arrested and went to jail for fucking kids or having sex or whatever he was arrested for.
Sexual hand jobs, whatever it was.
donnell rawlings
So there's nothing wrong with that.
joe rogan
No, but when they're underage girls, probably not.
donnell rawlings
Oh, I didn't know that.
joe rogan
So then when he went and got the lottery money, the company took the payoff.
The payoff out of an $80 million payment, the $80 million jackpot, was only $30 million.
So if you want the money, you take $30.
So not only did they take $50 out of the 80, but then you think about how many people spent money buying lottery tickets is way more than $80 million.
So they make money off of that, and then they make money off of the fact that you want the payoff instead of the, you know, the overall.
donnell rawlings
So they never could, it doesn't matter what the jackpot becomes, they never can lose.
joe rogan
They can't lose.
They're stealing money from people that are desperate.
It's legalized gambling where the house always wins.
Like, let's find that out.
Like, let's say, let's find an average jackpot of mega bucks and find out how much money actually goes into it, how much money people spend versus how much money the payout is.
donnell rawlings
So, when this, all lottos are state-regulated, right?
Right?
joe rogan
I don't know.
I don't know who regulates.
donnell rawlings
Okay, so they get, say, they get $100 million from people trying to win $1 billion.
It's because the state regulates, do they have to pay taxes to the government for the money they know?
joe rogan
That's the state.
The government owns it.
So it's whatever the not only that, you pay taxes on it.
So if the winner pays taxes.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, yeah, of course.
joe rogan
So say if you take that $30 million payout, you don't even get $30 million.
Then you have to pay taxes on that $30 million.
So they get money from that too.
So they can't fucking lose.
donnell rawlings
But for a person that's never barely seen $1,000 anywhere, anything with millionaire, they're going to be excited about and take it before they get it.
joe rogan
Exactly.
Exactly.
And over time, most people are not going to win.
So most people are dumping money into it.
donnell rawlings
There was a story of a young lady.
I don't know exactly what it was.
I think she won some type of lottery where they gave her two options.
She would get, I think it was like a payout of like two or three million right up front, or they give her, I think it was like $20,000 every month for as long as she lived.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's how they do it.
donnell rawlings
And she did this.
Well, people think that it's kind of crazy, but if you consider the fact that she was probably 20, 21, her life expectancy probably, she was white, so she probably lived to 132.
You know what I'm saying?
She looked like, that was a smart thing.
A lot of people would not understand that.
That was a smart thing.
joe rogan
I don't think it's for the rest of your life.
I think it's until it reaches that number.
I don't think they're going to give you money for the rest of your life.
donnell rawlings
Well, maybe I was reading the headline.
joe rogan
It was a different kind of lottery that I'm not aware of.
donnell rawlings
Maybe I think it was something as long as she lives.
joe rogan
That sounds crazy.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
All right, here it is.
Typical mega millions jackpot run.
Total ticket revenue is usually several times the advertised jackpot.
But there's no single fixed average because sales vary enormously with the jackpot size.
Still, you can get a good ballpark.
So around 50% of ticket revenue goes into the overall prize pool.
So the government makes 50% right off the bat.
So if it's $100 million payout, they already made $100 million.
So that's $200 million is what they made.
They throw in $100 million for everybody.
Of that prize pool, roughly two-thirds to three-quarters is allocated to the jackpot with the rest funding lower tier prizes.
So that means even if there's $200 million out of the $100 million, only two-thirds of it goes into the big jackpot.
And that means the jackpot is typically in the order of one-third of total ticket sales that run.
And then out of that one-third, so say if it's $100 million, or with the Epstein case, it was $80 million.
He took the payout, which was $30 million.
So they make $50 on top of that.
And then on top of that, you pay taxes on that 30.
It's a crazy situation.
donnell rawlings
What do they do with the money?
joe rogan
Whatever the fuck they want.
donnell rawlings
I think they probably.
I think in certain neighborhoods, I think they probably pump a certain amount of winning tickets into a neighborhood just to get you addicted to keep going in there and spend your money.
joe rogan
Well, it's supposed to be random.
You know, I don't know how much oversight.
Look, if a guy like Jeffrey Epstein can win, I don't know how much oversight is it.
I know back in Boston when I lived there, Whitey Bolger won.
See if this is true.
I think he won the lotto twice, which is crazy.
donnell rawlings
Whitey Bulger, who was that?
That's something that's not.
joe rogan
Whitey Bulger was a South Boston mob boss in the 1980s when I lived there, the 1980s and 90s.
donnell rawlings
A mob boss?
joe rogan
Yeah, he was a dangerous, dangerous guy.
He was the guy that that movie that Leonardo DiCaprio starred in with Jack Nicholson.
What was that movie, Jamie?
Remember that movie that was based on Whitey Bulger?
The Departed?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Departed, yeah.
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
Okay.
joe rogan
That was based on Whitey Bulger.
donnell rawlings
He was a gangster?
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
Terrifying gangster.
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
What was his demise?
joe rogan
He was actually a fucking FBI informant.
Not only was he a gangster, he was working with the FBI and they were letting him get away with shit because he was throwing other people under the bus.
donnell rawlings
I think there's a different, I mean.
joe rogan
They wound up catching him in Santa Monica.
donnell rawlings
Well, I found that.
joe rogan
Hunting Whitey.
About that Whitey Bulger won the Mass Millions lottery about that time.
Yeah.
Yeah, he won the fucking lottery, man.
So this is what it says here.
What does it say?
jamie vernon
I think it was more of a scheme than they actually won, but it's always taking money.
That's probably a way to launder money.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Oh, 100%.
It's a way to launder money.
So the way it would work was, like, say if you lived in the community and you won the lottery ticket, maybe they would give you money for your lottery ticket and then he would get it.
And that way, it would show that this is where he got his income from.
Like, these guys would all own businesses.
donnell rawlings
Right.
joe rogan
But the reason why they would own businesses is so they could show why they drive a Cadillac, why they have a mansion, why they have this, because they have legitimate businesses.
But really, these businesses were scams.
donnell rawlings
My father convinced my family that he was a real estate agent for years and come to find out he was a heroin kingpin in D.C. for years.
All we needed was an excuse.
He's selling real estate, all right?
joe rogan
That's hilarious.
So he ordered the real winner to sign the ticket over with Whitey and two associates paying $2.3 million in cash for 50% of the winnings.
Bulger himself paid Michael Linsky $700,000.
Although Linsky lost money in the deal, he really had no choice.
It came down to selling the ticket or risking his life.
Yeah, so that's how it usually works.
donnell rawlings
So he was a snitch.
joe rogan
Whitey was a snitch.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
He was a snitch and he got caught in Santa Monica.
donnell rawlings
A snitch or a whistleblower.
There is a difference.
joe rogan
No, he was a snitch.
donnell rawlings
Whistleblowers are people that snitch on people in higher profile positions like corporate America.
But what I'm finding out.
joe rogan
No, he wasn't a whistleblower.
He was an actual snitch because he was turning other people in.
Dude, he was a kingpin.
donnell rawlings
Is this true?
And I don't want to make everything about race.
Is that phrase snitches, get snitches, more prevalent in the white community or the black community or it's across the board?
joe rogan
I think it's across the board, isn't it?
Like the black community is famous for keeping their mouth shut when someone gets shot or when someone does something, like when cops come and question.
donnell rawlings
I don't know that's the truth anymore because what I'm.
joe rogan
Not anymore.
But that was the thing with the mafia, too.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
The mob would never rat out.
Guys would just go to jail.
donnell rawlings
I'm interested now because now I see, like, especially in my community, so many people like, rat, I got the paperwork and everything.
And now it feels like that model of being loyal is dead.
Like people now getting caught with shit.
And the minute they get caught, they snitch on everybody.
joe rogan
Right.
donnell rawlings
And there's no repercussions when they come home.
There's no repercussions.
I don't see that as much.
I see so many people that are like, they're saying whatever the fuck they want to do, whatever.
And they still out here just living their lives normal like nothing fucking happened.
joe rogan
Well, with the mob, it was always like if you ratted on the mob, you were a dead man.
You were a dead man.
Your family was probably dead.
They burned your house down.
And people kept their mouth shut because of that.
And so guys would go to jail all the time and never open their mouth and they would be rewarded when they would get out.
And they'd have a party for him, celebrate.
That's in good fellas.
You kept your mouth shut.
He never said nothing.
That was the whole thing.
donnell rawlings
But the whole thing, I used to live.
joe rogan
That changed, though, like with John Gotti.
Like the government.
donnell rawlings
No, Sammy the Bull.
joe rogan
Sammy the Bull.
And it wasn't just them.
Like, everyone was snitching on everybody.
It's like they got these guys.
And, you know, we had Donnie Brasco in the studio.
donnell rawlings
From that Bronx.
joe rogan
Johnny Depp movie.
It was called Donnie Brasco.
donnell rawlings
Okay.
I'm not confused that with him.
joe rogan
What's his real Donny Brasco's real name?
Joe.
donnell rawlings
I'm not confused.
Bronx Tale.
That's not Bronx.
unidentified
Joe Pistone.
joe rogan
Joe Pistone.
donnell rawlings
That's nothing to do with Bronx Tale, right?
joe rogan
No.
unidentified
Different story.
joe rogan
That's a different story.
Yeah.
So Donnie Brasco was the guy who was an agent and he pretended to be a mob guy.
And he got in with the mob and was with them for like seven years, did all kinds of shit with the mob and then sold everybody out and they all went under.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, I don't know.
I'm just so the culture, everything is, there used to be a phrase snitches get stitches.
Now, I don't know if this just everywhere, but everywhere I go, it's like the most interesting thing now that's selling on any platform, especially social media, is beef.
And I don't understand why people gravitate toward negativity more than anything.
joe rogan
That's normal.
donnell rawlings
Why?
But you know what?
It's interesting.
Your platform is not known for that.
joe rogan
No.
donnell rawlings
Your platform, but I go to these other platforms and I don't know.
I think these guys, people, they just sit back and it's like, okay, what can I say to make people upset, get them riled up, and then I take advantage of the engagement that they do.
joe rogan
They're in a different game than me.
All right.
Their game is trying to get engagement.
My game is talking to people that are.
donnell rawlings
But maybe that doesn't that become, I don't want to be triggered or anything, but doesn't that become destructive after a while?
joe rogan
100%.
donnell rawlings
And do you have you noticed, especially, I'll put it like this, especially with comedians with podcasts.
It used to be a time where, like you say, a person would go on a podcast because it was interesting.
They told funny stories or they was good at their craft or whatever.
But now it feels like all these platforms, and I don't know that's just in my community, when I say that, black people, it's like the only way I can find myself interesting if I talk shit about people.
And motherfuckers are going away from being funny when you get interviewed.
Like every fucking podcast I turn on now, it's somebody, I'm exposed this person.
I'm going to tell this about what you didn't know.
And the one thing they're not doing, especially as a stand-up comedian, motherfuckers don't give a fuck about being funny no more.
Podcasting's New Dynamic 00:05:42
donnell rawlings
Are those days over?
joe rogan
No, no, no, no.
Those people that do that are almost always not very talented.
Almost always.
The only exception is that.
donnell rawlings
So who they're fooling?
joe rogan
The only exception to that is Kat.
And I think what Kat was doing was different because what Kat was doing was exposing what he thought was snakes and liars.
donnell rawlings
Okay.
joe rogan
It's a different thing.
donnell rawlings
Okay, okay.
Okay.
This is my question.
joe rogan
Okay.
Okay.
donnell rawlings
This is my question.
unidentified
Okay.
donnell rawlings
This is my question.
Peter can take it.
joe rogan
Okay.
Okay.
donnell rawlings
I want to say this.
This is what I'm saying, Joe.
joe rogan
What are you saying?
donnell rawlings
Coming from this place, I'm like this.
No disrespect or whatever to Kat, but like who asked you?
joe rogan
Shannon Sharp did.
When he did that podcast.
donnell rawlings
Shannon Sharp might have asked one question.
joe rogan
But Shannon Sharp likes that.
Like that in his relationship.
He likes a lot of that.
His people, they find questions.
He's got a sheet of paper.
donnell rawlings
But Joe, what do you do with those joke?
What do you do with those truths?
What do you do with talking about I watched, this is a horrible impression.
unidentified
I sat there in the parking lot and I watched people go up at the Diddy's house and they came down and they were standing up.
donnell rawlings
I'm trying to figure out what the fuck do you get out of that?
What is the result of that?
You expose these people to say what?
Hollywood is never going to fucking change.
You know what changes?
Like what you do.
I left fucking Hollywood.
Hollywood is not going to change.
And I'm not saying I went to a Diddy party.
First off, I was never invited.
There's a chance I would accept the invitation with rules, you know?
Right.
But what is the purpose of exposing something that you don't think most people are exposing.
joe rogan
What most people are doing with their being negative is they are jealous and they are below the person to talk shit about.
donnell rawlings
Like whenever I see someone that's talking about Kat was jealous about, you don't think you say that and you use Cat Williams as an example.
So when you said they're jealous.
joe rogan
So first of all, when Cat did it, it was very funny.
donnell rawlings
It was very funny.
joe rogan
Kat's a very funny guy.
donnell rawlings
Very funny.
joe rogan
And when he was doing it, I think he was also being very funny while he was doing it, which is different.
donnell rawlings
Well, you have to put an LOL on the end of it because people might not understand his humor.
Because this is a connection people have.
This is what they said.
The connection they have with Kat, it's like, this is what they say.
They ride with him.
They say, where is the lie?
Where is the lie and all this stuff?
But I'm just trying to understand what is the purpose of exposing all this stuff.
What do we do with this information?
What do we do with the information that Diddy liked to have fucking freak parties with baby all this?
What the fuck do we do with all this information?
joe rogan
Well, Diddy's in jail right now, so they did that with the information.
donnell rawlings
Well, Diddy's in jail for doing something that a lot of people— Let me tell you something, Joe.
joe rogan
Tell me something.
donnell rawlings
I was riding with Diddy for once.
I liked the music he did or anything.
I don't know Diddy like that.
But when I first read the definition of sex trafficking, right?
I'm sure you're a first person.
unidentified
You're smart.
donnell rawlings
The definition of sex trafficking, to transport a woman across state lines with the intent to have sexual intercourse with her.
joe rogan
Right.
donnell rawlings
When I heard that.
joe rogan
When you're paying them, it's trafficking as.
donnell rawlings
No, that's not.
Actually, my.
This is my, Jamie, you can pull this up.
unidentified
Wait a minute.
joe rogan
So if you are dating a girl and she lives in Minnesota and you live in California and you fly her to California and I'm thinking about I don't think that's true.
I don't think that's true at all.
I think that's just flying a girl in that you're having a relationship with the streets.
donnell rawlings
They call it fluid out.
Fluid out.
joe rogan
Yeah, but that's normal.
Everybody does that.
donnell rawlings
But that's the definition.
unidentified
Commercial sex act.
joe rogan
Yeah, commercial.
Commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion.
Huh?
Well, coercion's crazy.
Because coercion is like, please, I'll buy you a bag.
That's sex trafficking.
So, like, if a girl, right, if you're, if you.
If there's a girl, she's like, what are you going to do for me?
Like, you know those shoes you want?
I got those shoes for you.
Let's go shopping.
Like, that's kind of sex trafficking if that's coercion for money.
Like, if a girl's thinking about coming out to visit you and then you go, listen, listen, listen.
What are you looking for?
What do you want to buy?
I got money.
Come on, let's go shopping.
That kind of would fall into that category.
But look, we're getting off topic.
Let's go back to the topic originally in hand.
The reason why these curvatures are negative.
donnell rawlings
I need to know.
joe rogan
No, no, no, no.
You're not going to get in trouble for sex trafficking.
Listen, that's all horseshit.
But the reason why these comedians are doing it is because they're never bigger than the comedians they're shitting on.
Never.
donnell rawlings
1,000%.
joe rogan
1,000%.
donnell rawlings
Because you know what it is, Joe?
joe rogan
And they're never good.
donnell rawlings
You know what it is too, Joe?
Is that deep down inside, they want to be that person?
joe rogan
100%.
Or they want to be in the position that person's in is a better way of putting it.
donnell rawlings
I'll use this.
I'll tell you this story.
I realize that, not to say names, but it's so many people that could be guilty of it.
And this is the thing that I hear that understands me, that disturbs me, is that, you know, a lot of these people that bitch the most, they, at some point in their career, they were favored by Hollywood.
joe rogan
Yes.
donnell rawlings
At some point in their career, they had these opportunities.
At some point in their career, guess what?
They had the agencies.
They had the agents.
And something happened in their career where they fell out of favor for whatever you want to call that it.
Whatever you want to call that.
For whatever, maybe something they did.
Favored But Now Criticizing 00:04:24
donnell rawlings
Agency didn't like them too much.
And now everything that they wrote on, everything they wanted to do, now it's all that's fucked up.
And the only way you get this opportunity because it had to be sexual favors and all that type of shit.
And where did the fuck you draw the line?
joe rogan
But it's not even sexual.
I think they criticize the work of the other person.
That person ate shit.
donnell rawlings
That person scared.
Yo, there's.
Here's the thing.
There was.
joe rogan
Come on.
You get this all the time because you ride with Dave and Dave's number one.
Right.
So this is what I get.
You always get this label, even though you're a great comic, you get this label being a coattail rider.
donnell rawlings
Right.
And guess what?
Everybody don't.
This is what I try to explain to people, Joe.
Everybody does not have to be Batman.
I don't have a problem with being Robin.
You know why?
Because Robin got the same amount of screen time as Batman.
And the reason why I say, this is what I get, and I'm telling you this, Joe.
I don't know if this gum is kicking in.
This is what fucks me up, Joe.
This is what fucks me up.
And I'll tell you an example.
I'm going to give you an example.
joe rogan
Don't give me an example.
donnell rawlings
No, I'm going to tell you.
joe rogan
Oh, you're pulling out your phone.
donnell rawlings
I'm going to tell you why.
Because your fucking shirt is fucking triggering me, right?
Kill Tony?
joe rogan
I mean, the greatest comedy show of all time in the history of the known universe.
donnell rawlings
I know that, but there's a lot of lies involved.
unidentified
Okay.
donnell rawlings
Listen.
This is what they say.
This is what they say.
unidentified
Don't pay attention to me.
Listen.
Why are you doing that?
donnell rawlings
Yo, you told me.
joe rogan
What are you playing?
donnell rawlings
What things did the Kill Tony audience say about me?
unidentified
Chappelle's butt plug is actually.
Oh, my God.
donnell rawlings
Yo, I got to deal with this shit.
What is so hard?
No.
joe rogan
Well, you got to stop paying attention to it.
donnell rawlings
It's so hard.
joe rogan
Do you know what would happen to me if I paid attention to all the haters that I have?
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
I would go crazy.
donnell rawlings
You would.
Do you think that you paid attention to those haters?
Now you're in a position where now you have so many reasons to say, fuck them.
Do you feel like you had that same belief when you was first starting this?
Did you engage them then?
joe rogan
Well, I engaged online with a lot of people in the early days because I didn't understand what you're doing is you're engaging with people that don't have happy lives.
donnell rawlings
Right.
joe rogan
And they're negative.
And there's some criticisms that are good for you because some criticisms make you evaluate what you're doing and say, okay, well, what I need to do is be undeniable so these critics mean nothing to me because you can't, I'm killing.
The audience loves me.
I'm selling out everywhere.
I'm doing great on stage.
You can't pay attention.
donnell rawlings
You know what?
I will say this.
I hear you, Joe.
I tried that with them motherfuckers on your shirt.
joe rogan
You had that show.
You had one bad show.
donnell rawlings
I never had.
joe rogan
You had a bad show.
You had a bad show.
donnell rawlings
Please don't do this to me.
unidentified
You did.
joe rogan
You had that one bad show where you went back before.
You fucking have a fucking shit.
Did you walk off the show?
Get it, man.
unidentified
Get the fuck down.
donnell rawlings
That's it.
joe rogan
I shit the fuck down.
donnell rawlings
I can walk off the show.
joe rogan
You want me to play it back?
donnell rawlings
Please don't do this.
joe rogan
You're a little drunk.
donnell rawlings
Please don't do it.
joe rogan
Who's the comic?
Who's the comic?
donnell rawlings
I don't know his name.
We don't need to bring him.
joe rogan
Whoever that dude is.
unidentified
Yo, see, now you're doing this.
donnell rawlings
You know what you're doing.
You're being a provocatory on me.
unidentified
You're provoking me because we broke this shit down.
donnell rawlings
And I don't want to keep going.
joe rogan
I wasn't thinking this when I was wearing this shirt.
I'll change the shirt.
donnell rawlings
No, it's okay.
Put something in the drawing shirt.
unidentified
I'll wear a Benny the Jet shirt.
donnell rawlings
Let's break it down, Joe.
joe rogan
Oh, we don't have to.
donnell rawlings
If we have to, you started this shit.
All right.
Thank you.
joe rogan
I'm going to change my shirt right now.
donnell rawlings
It's like I didn't have a bad show.
joe rogan
You definitely didn't have a great show, right?
When you walk off, it's not good.
unidentified
Jesus Christ, God talked.
donnell rawlings
I feel like Carrie.
They're all going to laugh at me.
They're going to laugh at me.
It wasn't this for the last fucking time, Joe.
For the last fucking time.
And this is what's so fucking evil about this situation that some people call it a bad show.
I never wanted to do the show.
joe rogan
But you came back on, you had a good show, right?
donnell rawlings
I want to go back.
Let's rewind.
All right?
And this is, you were part of it.
joe rogan
Hey, look, I changed my shirt.
donnell rawlings
No more triggers.
joe rogan
Shout out to Benny the Jet.
donnell rawlings
Okay, I feel a lot better now.
Last Time I Want To Talk About It 00:03:18
donnell rawlings
Oh, boy.
I need another piece of gum.
I'm going to say this.
Say what it's worth.
First off, I did not want the first time I did it here in Austin.
unidentified
Right?
donnell rawlings
I didn't want to do the show.
unidentified
Okay.
donnell rawlings
And the reason why I didn't want to do the show, Joe, now you're not even paying attention to this.
joe rogan
Do you want a cigar?
donnell rawlings
Yeah, I'll take a cigar.
I didn't want to do the show, and I'll tell you why.
Because the streets say I'm sensitive.
joe rogan
You are a little sensitive.
donnell rawlings
Can I not have your opinion and just listen to me, please?
They know I'm sensitive.
It was during the pandemic, Joe.
You remember, people would still come to do your podcast because they know the benefits of it and you had your thing doing.
They would come to your podcast and then they would fucking leave because they didn't want to catch COVID and then they would leave Tony stranded and he had no good guests.
I was here, right?
This one, when I'm talking about the time when Tony had a black band.
joe rogan
He still has a black band.
donnell rawlings
All black.
There's a couple black people on there now.
Me into it.
joe rogan
I think it's mostly black.
Right?
donnell rawlings
Okay.
I want to tell a story.
This is the last time I want to talk about it.
unidentified
Deep madness.
joe rogan
I mean, this is the last time, Joe.
donnell rawlings
I want to tell a story.
unidentified
Drummer guitar player or not.
joe rogan
What's that?
Mike.
I mean, it's like Horms.
A lot of them are black.
Definitely.
Doesn't matter.
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donnell rawlings
Look at the old, when it was all not high production and all that type of shit.
Tony is like, it's hard for me to get a guess.
Would you stay?
And this is when you fucked me up the last time you wasn't playing fair.
Yes, you did.
joe rogan
I wasn't playing fair?
donnell rawlings
No, I'm telling you when you weren't playing fair.
joe rogan
When was I not playing fair?
donnell rawlings
Can I talk?
joe rogan
Please.
donnell rawlings
All I want to do.
I don't know if I got to raise my hand.
I just want to be able to speak.
It is my month.
It's my fucking month.
So Tony said, would you stay?
unidentified
Come on.
donnell rawlings
I was like, you know.
And I stayed, right?
joe rogan
Okay.
donnell rawlings
And I stayed, and I stayed.
I was on his show for two and a half hours.
Redman's Comeback Challenge 00:04:15
donnell rawlings
I told him, this is where it gets all crazy.
I told him I had something I was supposed to do later.
There was another black comic that was on his show.
He started roasting me.
I had no problem with that.
I had no problem with him roasting me, but I felt fucked up because it was only me, him.
And I was trying to give this guy some sound advice.
But the only way he thought he was going to get off, by fuck with me.
So I was like, yo, why you fuck with me?
We on this fucking same team.
What they did was, look at the fucking video.
joe rogan
Okay.
donnell rawlings
You see, I want you to slow it down.
joe rogan
Slow it down.
donnell rawlings
Slow the video down.
joe rogan
It's like a Zapruder film.
donnell rawlings
It's a background.
You got to left.
You're going to let me get my thought, Joe.
joe rogan
Sorry.
donnell rawlings
It's so easy for me to get distracted.
Just hang on.
So if you look at this video, you see him saying something to me.
And then when I leave, it's two different fucking comics on the fucking stage.
It's a dude that I was roasting.
And then they showed me the exit.
And then these kill Tony bitch ass motherfuckers.
And I'm telling you, I'll get past it.
They may, oh, Donnell walked off.
I didn't walk off.
I had some other shit to do.
And then the last episode, you and your boy, Tony, he caught here, and Tony doubled down on it.
And he said, no, that's not what happened.
Of course, them comic motherfuckers, the ones that be putting cringe on it, they rolled with it.
unidentified
Okay.
donnell rawlings
Then I came back.
joe rogan
Came back.
He had an amazing show.
Tony said it was one of the best shows he's ever seen.
donnell rawlings
You know why it was amazing?
joe rogan
Because you were ready.
donnell rawlings
I'm amazing.
joe rogan
You are amazing, but also you wanted to get it back.
unidentified
Right.
donnell rawlings
I didn't have, you know what?
This is what Redman said to me.
Red Band, Red Man.
Whatever the fuck his name is.
He changed too.
I'm going to tell you about him.
joe rogan
He was in the Wu-Tang.
donnell rawlings
And let me tell you.
I'm going to tell you the difference between him, and I'm going to tell you the similarities between him and Jamie a little later on, right?
unidentified
Okay.
donnell rawlings
How they're divas now.
And I know you said.
unidentified
Jamie?
My Jamie's a diva?
Yes, he has a false memory of someone already.
Just let him go.
donnell rawlings
Jamie was Jamie.
joe rogan
That's the last thing from a fucking hair joke.
I will defend Jamie to the bitter end.
donnell rawlings
Yo, maybe you don't know him.
unidentified
I don't know Jamie.
Jamie?
Yo, let me tell you, this is Jamie.
joe rogan
I know Jamie better than his mom.
donnell rawlings
I know.
But this is the Jamie I saw.
Killed Tony after.
unidentified
Sit down.
joe rogan
You're not on camera.
Okay, so it's also Saturday night.
donnell rawlings
Okay.
He had a leather jacket on.
unidentified
Don't have a leather jacket.
Jamie had a leather jacket.
joe rogan
He didn't call it a leather jacket.
donnell rawlings
Whatever it was.
unidentified
You own a leather jacket?
No, he didn't.
donnell rawlings
Wait, wait, wait.
Wait.
The collar was.
joe rogan
He's having a false memory.
donnell rawlings
Joe's collar was slipped up.
unidentified
Like dice.
And then he had the shirt.
You might have had Timmy no brakes because he was.
donnell rawlings
He had to no brakes in the middle.
He had the shirt open to this button right here.
joe rogan
Oh, right.
Gold chains.
donnell rawlings
And he was sitting there.
I don't know what type of moose he was.
joe rogan
Jamie had gold chains, boots on his hair.
donnell rawlings
Ponytail was popping.
He had some type of moose or something, right?
And then he was just looking.
And I was like, what's up, Jamie?
He was like, he had his hands in his pocket.
It was giving, as they say, it was giving Fonzie attitude.
I knew.
I knew that it changed.
But this is what Redman, Red Man, whatever the man he was.
joe rogan
Red Band.
donnell rawlings
Red Man.
He said, after the show, he said, that must have been the most epic comeback and kill Tony history.
joe rogan
I was like, well, the second episode was.
unidentified
You came back, fools.
donnell rawlings
You know what you're doing?
I don't know.
unidentified
It was great.
donnell rawlings
I'm trying to use the term.
I don't think this past wrestler, but you fucking with my mentor.
joe rogan
No, I'm telling you, you're a great comic and you're funny as fuck and it was amazing.
donnell rawlings
That's what you said.
joe rogan
The second episode was great.
donnell rawlings
This is the point I'm making of what you're doing.
joe rogan
Right.
donnell rawlings
The first episode was great.
unidentified
It was Dr. It was Dr. Williams.
donnell rawlings
He was doctor.
But then, here's the thing.
They said, Red Man, Red Band, he said, he said, that was the greatest comeback.
I was like, it wasn't a comeback.
You're editing what it was.
And this is what I did.
joe rogan
You're editing.
donnell rawlings
This is what I did.
And I'm not saying I think about the Kill Tony audience like that, but I thought about him.
This is what I said.
I was like, this is what I want.
Like you say, I'm a great comment.
I know what I do.
I say, you know what?
I don't want to give these motherfuckers an opportunity to be able to fuck with me.
Keep Kill Performer 00:05:05
donnell rawlings
So I did, before I went that last, I said, okay, what did you do last time that you're going to do different for they want to say that?
I was like, the last one, you had some drinks.
Well, I wasn't able to do anything about that because I had some more drinks.
But I was like, I tried to address what their concerns were, right?
Which with them, it's not going to make a difference because I know that last episode, this is what I didn't understand about Kill Tony.
I didn't understand the formula.
I don't watch it like that.
First time I ever did it, I was interrupting the one minute part.
You know what I mean?
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
donnell rawlings
And Tony told me, the first time I did it, he said, D, only one rule.
He said, let them talk for a minute.
I said, Tony, why you have this me on this show?
You know I'm going to break the rules.
He knew that, right?
But then after I, I was like, I understood how important it was to let those comics get that minute.
unidentified
Right.
donnell rawlings
So when I did it a second time with Rob Schneider, I didn't interrupt.
Sometimes my criticism could have been too hard.
I was trying to be more supportive than anything.
If you watched the last one I did, I had nothing bad to say about people in a harsh way.
Certain people I knew was up there just because it was gimmick.
And there were certain people I was like, oh man, they've really got talent.
Like this one lady, she was an older woman.
I think she's a regular there, right?
I don't know what she knows what she was.
But I told her, I said, you know, it's so awesome.
I said, when I watch you perform, I see passion.
I see somebody that's going into a different career later in life, which is the hardest thing to do.
I made those points.
And I wasn't trying to be an asshole.
And even I got caught up in one and they ran with this shit.
And it's a song that there was one of the acts by the name of Juanita.
Juanita is a gender.
What is it when you...
joe rogan
Transgender?
donnell rawlings
Yeah, you have a dick, but you're a girl still.
joe rogan
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, transgender, right?
So she came up with this song and she did the song, We Will Praise You, Praise You.
And I had a couple drinks, right?
And I said, and I was thinking like...
joe rogan
Shit, you don't have to have bums on.
unidentified
What?
joe rogan
What, Jamie?
unidentified
I just started playing.
I'm sorry.
What's up?
donnell rawlings
Oh, you gearing up for that shit, huh?
You put your headphones on.
No, listen.
joe rogan
Put your headphones on.
donnell rawlings
Oh, God.
unidentified
Okay, ho, ho. Go, ho, ho. Ho, ho, ho. Go.
Go ahead.
donnell rawlings
Wait a minute.
That's Juanita's version?
That's the rig.
Okay.
unidentified
Okay.
donnell rawlings
Do you got Juanita's version?
Oh, I can find it.
So this is what happened, Joe.
So I had a couple two, two, three, four, five Tito's in.
And I'm only looking at the artist with my peripheral.
I'm not staring nobody down and like looking at them through the pupils or whatever.
So the performer, I'm going to say that because I don't want to get anybody upset.
The performer was like, here we go.
unidentified
All of them talked to solo.
Okay.
donnell rawlings
Now look how I'm not paying attention.
unidentified
Right?
joe rogan
You're looking right at her.
unidentified
Shut the fuck up.
donnell rawlings
Okay.
Listen.
All right, we'll see.
unidentified
So it was very strange when in 2008.
joe rogan
Okay.
jamie vernon
Oh, they had to cut it out too, I think.
joe rogan
Probably the song.
unidentified
That's the gayest thing I've ever done.
And I do anal.
Believe it or not.
Juanita.
Welcome back to the show.
donnell rawlings
Do y'all do a remix of that song for any black guy watching her right now?
Yeah.
unidentified
We will, we will.
Fuck you.
joe rogan
Probably true.
tony hinchcliffe
Until you find out she has a dick, Donnell.
joe rogan
That is a true.
Keep it going.
unidentified
Don't keep it going.
joe rogan
This is amazing.
unidentified
That's how it happens, ladies and gentlemen.
They can't tell.
No, no, no.
Come back.
No.
The brothers.
The brothers can't tell.
Brothers can't, they will fuck you They never, the last place I was trying to be nice Donnell, the last fucking.
donnell rawlings
Keep it going.
joe rogan
Keep it going because it's hilarious.
unidentified
Whereas white guys, no.
That's the first place the white guys look.
Charlemagne's going to find that clip.
We will, we will.
Fuck you.
joe rogan
You are fucked, Donnell.
unidentified
Get word from the streets.
Get word from the street.
I'm sure this happened.
donnell rawlings
I don't want to get banned like Dave Sappelle, nigga.
Donnell, I'm sure this happened before in Korea.
unidentified
I'm sure in Korea as an 18-year-old boy, this is a memory coming back to you.
Kid Rock's Dope Video 00:15:51
joe rogan
Oh, my God.
unidentified
That's usually how black guys react.
It's pretty.
joe rogan
Juanita, have you been with a black man before?
unidentified
Keep it going.
joe rogan
Keep it going.
Getting your fire.
unidentified
Okay.
tony hinchcliffe
Are you just saying that so that he doesn't find you and kill you?
unidentified
No, it's raised right.
I'm just kidding.
I mean, what's the job?
Oh, shit.
donnell rawlings
Now I'm offended.
unidentified
No, I've been with one.
He was half.
Okay.
joe rogan
He was half.
unidentified
Half a black.
Okay.
donnell rawlings
My career's over, nigga!
joe rogan
Come on, that was funny.
donnell rawlings
No, wait a minute.
It was funny.
And I didn't take, the funny thing about it was, I did have a couple of drinks, right?
People like, how did you not know?
Like, I live in the Midwest.
And what I really thought, I know of women that look just like Juanita.
unidentified
Sure.
donnell rawlings
That in the face, it's kind of like sketchy, like a dollar general one-to-two.
And I wasn't offended, but it just, it just caught me off guard.
But going back to what I was saying about the Kill Tony thing, and this is another thing.
People said, well, Donnell, you got upset because Rob Schneider was roasting or whatever.
First off, there was the first time Rob Schneider was on the show, right?
He didn't really know too much about the Kill Tony platform.
I knew a little more than he did.
And at the beginning, he was kind of cold, if you want to say.
Not cold, like not funny, but he just wasn't warmed up to the flow.
And then I started saying things.
I was alley-ooping him, right?
Basically, people say what they want.
I helped get him comfortable in the show, and then he started crushing, right?
He started crushing.
And then we did, anybody tell you that episode was amazing, right?
joe rogan
It was amazing.
donnell rawlings
But this is the thing, this is what that play, that platform is not a place for you to tell how you really feel about somebody, right?
And I owe Tony an apology, and I'll tell you why.
When Tony did the RN Republic National Convention, whatever, remember when he did the roasting?
joe rogan
Yes.
donnell rawlings
For that, it was a very, very testy time.
You know, politics, everybody says you shouldn't do this and everything.
joe rogan
I told him not to do it.
donnell rawlings
You told him not to do the show the Republican Party thing.
Here's the thing.
This is what, just for the people that's listening, this is what happened at the end of that Kill Tony with me and Rob Schneider.
All I wanted to do, I had the question on, where do you draw the line?
Do you draw a line of what people think, how you're supposed to respond to something, or do you loyal?
Are you loyal to somebody on how they treat you and how they are as a friend to you?
And Tony wanted me to do that show.
And anytime I've called Tony, he's pick up the phone.
Vice versa.
We've been in for each other.
My publicist, I don't know if this is a good idea right now, too, because what you think is a nice gesture you want to do the show, people are going to act like it's a political stand.
I didn't want that, right?
So I had to.
joe rogan
You can't listen to publicists.
donnell rawlings
This is what I learned now, Joe.
You know what I'm saying?
That was my inexperience, whatever.
And something I kept calling him.
I was like, what if I do this?
Because I wanted to be reconnected with him, whatever.
And I told Tony, he was hot in a good way, in a positive way.
I felt so bad.
I caught him.
I said, man, I really want to do the show, but I think people are going to take it the wrong way now, right?
And this with me, I felt bad about it.
I stood up at your condo.
I was on the balcony, bruh.
And I watched motherfuckers going to the show.
I felt bad about it.
I didn't do it.
And the only thing I wanted to do at the end of that Kill Tony episode was to apologize to him and say, you know, as a friend, I probably wasn't there.
And he understood, even though I was like, he's never going to let me do the show again.
He said, I'd love to have you there.
The only issue I had with Rob Schneider, in that moment, he didn't have the sense of me trying to say something serious, right?
And he was getting a laugh off this one joke, and it was at my expense.
You know, when I had this moment, I was talking about friendship and everything.
Rob kept on with this fucking corny joke, and I didn't want to flip out.
And then people took that as like, oh, yeah, Rob roasted him.
The fuck out of here.
I was trying to talk about, and I had this issue.
You might have the same issue.
Some people know people a certain way, you know them differently.
And I use an example, and I'm going to get shitted on for saying this or whatever.
Like, oh, how could you say that?
I, um, you got to stop worrying about what other people think.
I can't do it.
I can't do it.
joe rogan
You got to stop worrying about what other people think.
This is the conflict.
You know how you feel.
Just be yourself.
donnell rawlings
I'll just say this: Kid Rock.
Kid Rock, right?
You say that name for some people in certain places, oh, fuck him or whatever, right?
I met Kid Rock some years ago when we were doing the Cornfield shows in Yellow Springs.
And I tell people something, and we talked about this earlier.
Some people are provocateurs.
I really believe Kid Rock doesn't believe half the shit he says, but I think that he knows it's going to move the Dow is what's going to make him be in the headlines with people like, oh, shit.
He's going to stick to that.
joe rogan
Well, we did that show in Nashville.
Remember, we hung out with him, went to his house?
donnell rawlings
Yeah, exactly.
And with that, even when he came to Cornfield at that time, this was the point where he said some crazy shit out of his mouth.
Nobody wanted to be around him or anything, right?
They was like, oh, ba-ba-ba-ba.
unidentified
Right.
donnell rawlings
Right.
You know, when I do, I do this thing called, I do river runs in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
And for some reason, I take people down the river and it's like a peace thing.
Like, you and nature.
unidentified
Got a photo.
joe rogan
You're right outside the door.
donnell rawlings
I know.
I asked for that photo here, too.
joe rogan
You're right outside the river.
donnell rawlings
I love that.
So now, if you look at that photo, you'll see the energy.
That's the vibe I was on.
And nobody wanted to get close to Kid Rock or anything, right?
And I remember as a kid how the black community accepted him in school.
I'm thinking about that shit.
We're riding down the river.
Kid is over on one kayak.
I'm on the other side.
We're smoking and joint.
And he looked at me, and I know he was sincere when he said it.
He said, Man, it feels like I just had 13 hours of anger management, right?
And I was like, okay, I'm not trying to be a therapist or anything, but that felt good.
Then at the end, we stopped.
He's flipping burgers and shit.
We got to know each other.
Kept in touch with each other.
And he was doing a comedy festival in Nashville, right?
He appreciated me as a comedian.
He said, yo, D, I'm doing this.
I was like one of the first people he called, right?
He said, you want to do it?
I was like, why not?
Then I thought about it.
I was like, again, what you're saying, I was like, what people are going to think?
Seven comedians on the show.
I'm the only black guy.
I knew what I was walking into.
I knew it was going to be all MAGAs.
It was going to be a gay person.
It wasn't going to be a midget.
It wasn't going to be a lesbian.
It wasn't going to be anything but bona fide.
The real, real red, white, and blue flag motherfuckers.
But I said, Donnell, can you separate?
Can you go up here?
Can you perform and be entertaining?
Not shucking and jiving or none of that type of shit.
I went up there, last person, got a standing ovation, right?
At the end of the show, this is what people might not understand, and I'm not trying to defend him or anything.
At the end of the show, me and Kid Rock, in this case, I want to say Kid Rock wasn't backstage.
Bobby was, right?
And he said, man, he looked at me.
He said, man, I think we just brought this country back together.
Right?
And I said, well, don't separate it, motherfucker.
He said, okay, two weeks later, he do some other stupid shit.
When Trump got elected, I know people went to his page to see what his response was going to be.
Was he going to gloat?
We're like, fuck y'all, this is America.
He did this video, which I thought was so dope because it showed two sides of him.
It showed Kid Rock and it showed Bobby, right?
And then how they both responded to Donald Trump being elected.
The Kid Rock was the crotch-grabbing motherfucker.
Fuck you, right?
Then he came out.
You find this.
He came out as Bobby with shorts, just no American flags, baseball cap, fucking reading glasses, whatever.
And I thought it was dope.
The dialogue that he had with it, he played the victory.
He said, you know, you know, we did what he said, but this is not a time to gloat.
It's so much stuff that we need to do.
He said, all sides want to get to a certain place, but we have different ideas on how we're going to get there.
I thought that, for whatever people want to think, I thought that was showing another side.
And also, I told him, because I would talk to him off and on, I said, you know what song you should do?
You should do Nina Simone's song, Misunderstood.
Right?
Just sing that shit.
But I know he wouldn't never do that because the bass that really likes to support him might be like, oh, he's soft now.
The point I'm making, even though with Tony, with the situation, I consider Tony a good friend of mine for different reasons, right?
That's why I wanted to have that moment to say that.
But Rob Schneider, as much as they say I took away from moments on that show, he took away from that moment.
I wasn't trying to be a bitch.
I wasn't trying to be soft.
I wanted to say, I apologize because sometimes friendships got to be stronger than that.
And that's where I was with that.
And as much as I don't need the Kill Tony show, and this is what I always say about that show.
I said, there's not, that reminds me, Kill Tony reminds me of the Def Jam era, right?
And when I say that, there was a platform for undiscovered talent, people that you've never seen.
It's such a spectacle.
Like Def Jam, it was people that didn't have the skill set to fucking go headline, but they was being seen.
Same thing with Kill Tony.
You look at what's going on.
joe rogan
Is your phone on?
Is your phone on ding?
donnell rawlings
Shut up.
Shut up.
This is what I appreciate about this show.
For whoever likes it or whatever, it's a platform to get on.
I travel around the country.
It used to be, you remember back in the day, it was like, oh, I need to be on Letterman.
I need to be on Carson or whatever.
That is the, I got to get on Kill Tony.
100%.
And in some cases, it's some good and bad to that.
There's some people that was ready for it.
There's some people like, you know what?
You had two or three minutes worth of jokes.
You know what I'm saying?
You're not ready.
But it gave people some hope.
When I was standing at the hotel the other day, three people traveled across the country like with the hopes of that.
So I know how important that show is.
Is it the fan base?
I want them to be like, oh, I can't wait to see them.
But for me, I always, my whole career, Joe, I always wanted to be around the people, the places that they say the best comedians perform.
When I started, when I was in New York, I wanted to get past at the comedy cellar, not because I wanted to be a cellar dweller.
I didn't want to be the guy in the back fucking just every weekend, just sit back there telling War story.
I was like, if this is where the best comics perform, I want to be a part of that.
I want to be past that.
Because when I got past in the comedy cellar, it wasn't a lot of black comedians working in the cellar.
It was Greer Barnes.
It was Keith Robinson.
R.I.P., it was William Stevenson.
joe rogan
Patrice.
donnell rawlings
Patrice Dave Chappelle.
In fact, Barry Katz had a room, Boston Comedy Club, and it was Black Knight on Sundays, right?
Black comedians looked at me like they said, where are you going?
I was like, I got a spot at the cellar.
They're like, how the fuck did you get in the cellar?
The way I got into it was put the work in, I hung out, got a couple of recommendations, and when it's time for me to showcase, I did my thing.
But the minute I got past in the cellar, I didn't really care about working there all the time.
I just wanted to be validated as like, this is the spot.
Same thing.
unidentified
I get it.
donnell rawlings
You know, same thing with the comedy store.
Same thing with what you're doing here.
It was that part of it.
joe rogan
I get it.
Greg Barnes, probably one of the most underappreciated talents in the country.
donnell rawlings
But you know what?
joe rogan
I've known that dude for 30 years.
He's a funny motherfucker, and he's been funny forever.
donnell rawlings
You know, it's so funny that you said underappreciated because, you know, when you know comedians that put the work in or whatever, it's a phrase that people use underrated, but you got to ask who rated it.
You didn't use those words.
You said underappreciated.
But he is.
I don't know.
Sometimes you got to ask yourself.
joe rogan
He's not underrated by comics.
He's underappreciated by audience members for whatever reason.
I think it's a social media thing.
I just think he doesn't have a big presence on social media for whatever reason.
He's a solid, solid fucking comic, though.
Always has been.
donnell rawlings
And a solid guy.
joe rogan
And a good dude.
donnell rawlings
But that's another thing.
This is the area that we're in right now.
And it's like, and you notice it's even more so now.
The most talented people aren't getting the shots if you don't know how to evolve.
joe rogan
Well, it's not even just that because like look at Dave Chappelle, not Dave Chappelle, excuse me, David Tell.
David Tell, I think, is one of the funniest dudes who's ever lived.
Ever.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Ever.
One of the best comics ever in the history of comedy.
And mostly does clubs and does like theaters and stuff like that.
He should be sold out arenas all across the country, but he does not promote himself.
He's not into social media.
But I don't even think a tale is other than specials.
donnell rawlings
I think a tale would be petrified.
Not that he couldn't do it.
Remember with the show he had, what was that?
The late night show.
That was before anybody was doing it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
The late night show, he go to bars and stuff like that.
joe rogan
Uh-huh.
Insomniac.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, Insomniac.
This is before everybody was doing it.
I don't think that some people, they like, I think he's always going to make millions of dollars touring or whatever.
But I think his comfort zone is like he's not a club act, but he's a club comic.
I think the best thing for him he ever wants to be is in front of 250 to 500 people.
joe rogan
Well, he's awesome than that, but he does, like, when Burt does arenas, he does arenas and he murders in arenas.
I think the real thing with him is that he's just focused on his craft only.
And the props that he gets from other comedians on podcasts and things along those lines is what really fuels his popularity.
And then when people go to see him, just word of mouth.
donnell rawlings
Do you think some people might be afraid of a certain level of fame that they don't want to have?
joe rogan
There is that.
Because I don't think he's that.
I just don't think he thinks about it.
I mean, he doesn't even have a phone.
Like, he carries a flip phone with him all the time.
He has an iPhone that he like stores away and sometimes he uses it.
But when you text him, he texts you on like, doot, Or you got to press forward.
donnell rawlings
You know what I'm saying?
You know what it is, right?
joe rogan
Well, he doesn't want to be distracted.
donnell rawlings
He's in the Epstein files.
joe rogan
Yo, he doesn't got to have him distracted.
donnell rawlings
You need to burn a phone.
If you're heavily in the Epstein files, no, I think.
joe rogan
He's only in the Epstein files because he was on a lineup that Epstein was going to go see at the cellar.
donnell rawlings
I think David Tale.
joe rogan
Louis J. Jones is on that too.
donnell rawlings
I like, I think David Tell is like, I think Dave Tell's ultimate happiness is being on stage.
joe rogan
Shut your fucking phone off, man.
Put that shit on silent.
Just put it on silent.
Do you know how to do that?
You don't know how to do that.
donnell rawlings
Disrespect me like that.
joe rogan
Put it on, do not disturb.
unidentified
You know how to do it?
donnell rawlings
It's okay.
It's off.
It's off.
joe rogan
Okay, it keeps digging in your popular motherfucker.
donnell rawlings
I think some people, I think, my opinion, David Taylor, his comfort zone is fucking just being as incognito as he tries to be.
It's just like, oh, I came up with this.
I don't know anybody that turns over material.
It's certain comics.
You look at Joe and you're like, God damn, this motherfucker's constantly trying.
joe rogan
Yeah, always.
donnell rawlings
Like, when I work with Dave, he forced me to do that.
Deion Cole is another guy.
When I watch, Deion Cole does like at the Hollywood Improv, I think maybe three times a week.
He just has a Monday night and he just uses it as a workout, right?
Me, when I go into a spot, I'm trying to beat the fuck.
I'm trying to beat it up.
So sometimes I get distracted on what I'm really there for.
That's work out new material.
There's a different level where you just like, you know what?
I could deal with the silence.
I could deal with something not working.
And when I watch people like him, it's another comedian in L.A. by the name of Malik S that doesn't have all that notoriety like that.
But when I see him, I'm like, damn, every time I see this motherfucker, he's working on some new shit and has the same passion.
Kevin Hart's Grind 00:12:18
donnell rawlings
Everybody doesn't have that.
That's why David Taylor will always give other comics something to like try to achieve because he's like, you ain't going to see him doing the same shit.
It's always a flip.
And that's what makes him who he is.
And that's why he gets so respected by so many people.
joe rogan
Well, he's only focused on his craft.
Whereas some people are really focused on social media and promotions.
And they have a guy that films him doing a bunch of wild things and edits with music.
donnell rawlings
I've never seen so many comedians have full-out production crews with them.
joe rogan
Right.
donnell rawlings
On an intro.
joe rogan
I know.
donnell rawlings
On stage.
joe rogan
They think that that's what they need.
You know, they think that's what they need to separate them.
And it does get them attention.
But what it takes away, it does draw some focus away from what you're trying to do, which is work on your shit and come up with new stuff.
Where Atel doesn't have any of that.
donnell rawlings
But with that said, it takes away, but then it also lets you know who the special people are.
Right now, fucking my goddamn guy that services my pool and shit say he's got a special coming out.
I don't know who doesn't have a special coming out.
And the thing about it is like, now, Joe, you know it.
Specials aren't, if you really look at it, specials aren't special anymore.
It's special.
joe rogan
It's a weird word, right?
Specials are a weird word.
I got a new special.
Like, no other art form calls it a special.
Like, if someone, like Taylor Swift, puts out a concert video, it's a video of her performance.
You know, a musician puts out a video.
It's that.
It's like for a comic, we got a weird word, special.
donnell rawlings
You know what special is now?
When you get excited about special, if you, people still do that, it's who's putting it out.
It's special people that do it.
It's special people that like Sebastian, he's doing it special.
You know what I'm saying?
Fucking Tom does a special.
It's special people where you know it's special.
And a lot of them now is just people that's doing 45 minutes worth of comedy.
No beginning, no middle, no end, no point of view.
You don't know anything about them.
It's just like the same way they do photo dumps.
It's just like joke dumps.
joe rogan
Right.
donnell rawlings
But I'll just say, and I'm not, you pay people to say Dave Chappelle's a butt player.
But one thing I could say, however, you look at Dave Chappelle's a what?
No, I'm Dave Chappelle's butt plug.
I'm going back to, that's what people, you know, they understand.
joe rogan
You got to stop listening to what other people say.
donnell rawlings
Joe, I'm segueing into a story.
joe rogan
Is it about Jamie wearing a Fonzie jacket?
unidentified
Hey!
donnell rawlings
He's got him in all colors.
It's got him in all colors.
joe rogan
He's got a red, white, and blue one.
donnell rawlings
You know, and like people.
joe rogan
He took it off before the show.
donnell rawlings
People get so critical, but at a certain point, people evolve.
People that you know them a certain way, but then you're talking about a person who has a 35, 40-year career.
Like, people are like, well, this last special so-and-so did.
It wasn't that funny.
But how often, how long are you going to just be like rip roaring funny?
Some people have a position where when they talk, people listen.
And I look at, I use Dave as an example.
If you look at all his specials, 20 years from now, right?
You have a Netflix and Chill Day or whatever.
If you play all the special that Dave ever did, you would know exactly what was going on in the world at that time.
You know what I mean?
You know what's going on.
Some people put out singles.
They got one or two jokes.
Some people put out albums.
He's one of those people.
Sebastian is another one.
And you look at like, you see how his comedy evolved.
People get older.
They have different perspective on life.
And that's what you have to fucking accept him for.
But we don't do that.
And another thing, I don't know if this is prevalent in your community.
And when I say that, you community is a lot of people, but my community, man, it's just so much dumb beef.
And I've, it's only one white beef I've ever known about, and that's yours.
Mine?
Yes.
joe rogan
What do you mean?
donnell rawlings
The beef that you had with it.
I don't even know.
joe rogan
With Ben Sina?
donnell rawlings
Yeah, years ago.
joe rogan
Well, that was the same thing with Kat.
Like, some shit just has to be exposed.
That was a real problem, man.
You weren't around the store back then, but it was a real problem where he had that special or that show, rather, on Comedy Central after Dave left, which was basically doing his version of Dave's sketches.
And he was.
donnell rawlings
Do you think it was his version of Dave's sketches?
joe rogan
It was a lot of shit was.
Like the one when he dressed like the white guy and had white paint on his face and wore the white wig.
It was basically the same character that Dave was doing.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, but if you look at the history of sketch comedy, I don't think Dave was the first person to ever dressed himself up to look like right afterwards.
joe rogan
Right after the same slot.
donnell rawlings
Anything that came after Chappelle show, they would have compared.
joe rogan
Dave was saying it.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
Dave never talked shit about nobody.
It was like, this motherfucker's doing my show.
Dave was saying it.
Dave doesn't talk shit about nobody.
donnell rawlings
Right.
joe rogan
It was, but that was only one of the problems.
The real problem was he would sit in the back room and watch open mic nights and take their shit.
Like they would flash the light when he was in the room so comics wouldn't do material.
They would start doing crowd work.
donnell rawlings
So why didn't he get exposed before that?
Why did it just come up?
joe rogan
Because nobody had the balls to do it.
donnell rawlings
And then he had to be.
joe rogan
Because he was famous at the time.
And he was doing.
And look, it cost me.
I got banned from the store.
I lost my agent.
And I was famous.
I was on Fear Factor.
I was rich.
I had a lot going for me where I could stick my neck out.
donnell rawlings
But you came back stronger.
I give another example, like the same situation with Dave in Comedy Central and shit.
As much as he went through that, he took a 12-year hiatus or whatever you wanted to do.
joe rogan
What Dave showed in that is that he's a real artist.
Dave just said, fuck it, I'm going to disappear for a while like a legend.
He just disappeared.
I remember when I was hearing stories about Dave doing shows where he would set up a speaker in Seattle in the park and just start doing stand-up.
And people are like, what the fuck?
And for no money, people would just show up and he would just do street performances.
donnell rawlings
But you know what was kind of where he got that from?
You've heard of a comedy.
I'm pretty sure of it.
Charlie Barnett.
joe rogan
100%.
Yeah, we played Charlie Barnett on the show.
I knew Charlie.
donnell rawlings
Charlie was like, if you ever thought you were funny or whatever, go.
This is what the art of only people I've ever known that got certain level of success with that, Charlie Barnett, Michael Collier, when he used to be in his beach.
joe rogan
Right.
donnell rawlings
But people don't understand how Charlie Barnett would like to go to a park, go to the center of Washington Square Park.
joe rogan
And get to gather around a bunch of people.
unidentified
And you got it.
donnell rawlings
It's a certain technique.
Not only that, you got to hold their attention for one joke.
Right.
You got to get them involved, blah, blah, blah, blah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
And you build this audience up, and then it's really for one joke.
joe rogan
A lot of people don't know that Charlie got Saturday Night Live, but he couldn't read.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, he couldn't.
And that's what opened up the door.
But he was so gangster, like when they wouldn't give him spots because, you know, he was probably a bit to deal with.
He would go to the Boston Comic Club and yell in there, Don't go in there.
I'm doing my show in five minutes.
The whole fucking club would come out.
That's how much power he had.
But then sometimes that we become victims of our own vices and everything and destroy us more than anything.
That's why when people talk shit about, like, they, oh, Kevin, Kevin Hart didn't get out the mud.
It's you got funny, but you know, funny isn't everything.
Okay, you're funny.
That's not, oh, so good that you got talent.
But more importantly, it's your work ethics.
And how do you take your guy-given talent and your passion and turn it into money?
You know, you're into music and everything.
You probably could name a million saxophonists or whatever that didn't get to do that you could be like, well, listen to this shit.
But for some reason, they didn't have the business part and all that together.
And I'm going back, I'm probably talking to Circle now, but this is what upsets me the most about my folks or whatever, these people that go on these platforms and talk shit about people.
There was a comedian that was talking shit about Martin Lawrence, right?
Well, I saw Martin Lawrence, and Martin Lawrence in the casino, he's really, it's not that funny.
I'm like this, motherfucker, he's Martin Lawrence.
joe rogan
Well, they didn't know him in the 90s.
unidentified
No, no, this person, no, this person particularly, no.
donnell rawlings
If you just know Martin Lawrence, period, that's enough.
Richard Pride, before he passed away, when he was in the wheelchair, damn near rolled him out of the stage, sold out audiences.
joe rogan
I followed him for six weeks.
I followed him for six weeks at the comedy store when he was like that.
donnell rawlings
Certain people, Joe, I look at this business, are made people.
How dare you talk shit about this motherfucker?
joe rogan
That's a good way to put it.
He's a made man.
donnell rawlings
Another thing, Joe.
joe rogan
A legend.
donnell rawlings
You know, in this business, you can have a career, right?
But you have certain times where you just ruled.
You had three years.
Martin Lawrence, film star, movie star, comedy star.
He had one period of time for five or seven years when it was just Martin everywhere.
How dare you, as a person gets older, and whether he has a good, bad night or a bad night, how are you to judge?
And you ain't doing shit.
How are you to judge a motherfucker that when I was coming up, Joe, every fucking black comic in the business wanted an audition.
Everybody wanted to be hustle man.
Everybody wanted to just get two or three minutes on Martin's show because they knew that dude, that would do their career.
So you judge a motherfucker years down the road, right?
Where they basically, when Martin goes out, guess what?
Martin not doing no tours, saying I'm doing 45 minutes, whatever.
He's like, y'all want to see me?
Guess what?
Y'all going to see this young talent.
You're going to see this person.
I'm putting people on.
How dare you even have come out your fucking mouth and talk shit about this motherfucker?
How dare you talk shit about motherfuckers that talk shit about Kevin Hart?
How dare you talk shit about a motherfucker that was rocking with a dude, Nate Smith, R.I.P. passed away?
I remember when Kevin Hart was the one of the motherfuckers doing those comment cards.
All right, all right, I'm doing email lists.
One person, I remember when fucking Kevin Hart had fucking 20,000 people on Instagram.
No, on Twitter.
And at a radio, he was like, yo, radio says, yo, D, this is the problem.
I seen the hard work.
I see him not just come to fucking New York and do the black rooms.
I'm doing the black rooms.
I'm doing the white rooms.
I'm doing all of this shit.
How dare you?
I'll just say this, and I'll answer this.
It ain't no B for nothing.
Cat Williams said, this is what Cat Williams said about Kevin Hart.
unidentified
I find it very strange that you just come from New York and then you have a TV show and a movie show.
donnell rawlings
And how does that happen?
You were in New York.
I'll tell you how it happens.
You're on the biggest showcase in comedy.
And you know what that is?
JFL.
Just for laughs.
Kevin Hart was a product of that.
Monique was a product of that.
Dave Chappelle was a product of that.
No, Kevin Hart wasn't pounding the streets in LA, but he happened to be on a showcase.
Back in the day, you do with JFL.
It was motherfuckers leaving there that probably had $500 in the bank, leaving with a quarter million dollar development deal just to do nothing.
That's the error it was.
So just because you weren't in LA doesn't mean you wasn't beating the pavement.
And I don't care.
In LA, you got LA and New York.
Nobody as a stand-up comic grinds as hard as a comic come from New York opposed to LA.
And the reason why, L.A. don't have that many stages.
LA don't have that many stages.
They used to tell you all the time, as a stand-up comic, if you're trying to be an actor, whatever, go to L.A. If you want to be a great stand-up comic, bang it out in New York.
And this was the rule back in the day, Joe.
Let Hollywood call you.
You just don't go to LA to sleep on somebody's couch.
Some people had that story, but it was like you grind.
And back then.
joe rogan
Everybody's got their own path, Darn.
You can do whatever the fuck you want.
That's just work on your act.
donnell rawlings
That's the point that I'm making.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's just everybody's got their own path.
The real problem in this conversation is what I said earlier.
It's worrying about what other people think.
The more you spend time worrying about what other people think, the less you're worrying about what you're doing.
Less you're thinking about what you're actually trying to achieve.
Worrying About Perception 00:15:16
donnell rawlings
And I listen to what you're saying, and I don't listen to what you're saying.
And the reason why I say that, every time I go into this rabbit hole or whatever, it's the echo.
It's like a Rogan angel right here and is whispering, don't read the comments.
joe rogan
Yeah, but I'm right.
donnell rawlings
I still read them.
joe rogan
I know, you should.
donnell rawlings
But I'm stopping.
But this is another thing I didn't.
What I didn't know is that white comedians actually have beef with each other.
I did not know, or at least it's not, you don't hear about it.
joe rogan
It's rare.
It's more rare.
And the ones who have beef are usually failures.
They're usually people that aren't doing well.
I've got an example.
donnell rawlings
I'm exposing the industry right now.
I have an example.
It's so funny.
And this was interesting.
I was at the comedy store.
joe rogan
Oh, you told me this.
donnell rawlings
It's so fucking funny to me, son.
About two months ago, right?
I'm good friends with Bill Burr.
You know, we did, we had, I'm Rich Bitch Tour with Charlie Murphy, me, Bill Burr years ago.
And I know Mark Maron, right?
I don't know.
What I found out is I didn't know Mark Maron the way white people know Mark Marin, right?
So I know Mark Maron.
Like when I see Mark Maron, I was like, oh, that's the guy that had one of the greatest podcasts out.
That guy that was one of the alternative comedy favorites, Mark Maron's special.
So when I see Mark Maron, I have a certain level of respect.
Like, oh, that's the guy who did it, whatever.
So I was doing Annie Letterman's show for Annie Wood or whatever, right?
And I love that girl.
And I'm in the green room and I'm smoking and joining.
I forget who sponsored this weed, but it was incredible, right?
So I'm in there and I'm cracking jokes.
Bill is right there.
And then Mark is over by the side of the door.
And I'm cracking jokes with Bill and everything.
And I felt something did nobody was really laughing at my jokes, right?
That all of a sudden, a whole fucking argument popped off.
And it was like, it was white argument because it was so nice.
They were so gentleman to each other.
It was a whole bunch of, oh, yeah, but you'll never do my podcast.
It was like podcast beats.
I'm right in the middle.
I don't even know.
I didn't even know that they had beef like this, but they were so gentle about it.
But I tell you the difference between white beef and black beef.
I never felt that I was going to get shot.
Y'all, I felt so safe.
Y'all, if anything, I thought it'd be like lawsuits the next morning, defamation of character, slander, but I never knew that it was fucking Caucasian and on Caucasian beef like this.
And it was entertaining.
joe rogan
This is an example.
Mark Maron was doing really well at one point in time in his career, and now he's not.
So Mark Maron had the number one podcast, and after a while, his podcast wasn't even the top 200.
It dropped off.
Bill Burr, his career took off.
He's doing arenas.
He's killing it.
Mark's not.
And Mark finds reasons to criticize other people that are doing much better than him.
And he focuses on that because he thinks he should be getting more than he deserves.
donnell rawlings
But do you think that's going back to being a provocateur?
He knows if he talked his shit.
joe rogan
No, no, no.
I think it's going back to being bitter and jealous and thinking about other people instead of thinking about himself and why people don't want to go see him anymore.
He was upset when we left the comedy store because we took the crowds away.
And it's like, hey, you were on the fucking marquee too, man.
donnell rawlings
Right.
joe rogan
They're not coming to see you.
And the reason why they're not coming to see you is because you're not doing well.
And your podcast was in the top.
It was number one.
And when it was at number one, by the way, this is what I always say about Mark Maron.
He was great.
Mark Maron was fun to hang out with when he was killing it.
donnell rawlings
Right.
joe rogan
Because he was happy.
Because he was getting validation.
Because he had the number one podcast.
We were friends.
Like, I did his podcast.
He did mine.
We had a good time.
I'd hug him when I see him.
Like, we had gone back and forth many times and having beef with each other.
His problem, let me finish.
His problem was when everybody else started doing really good and he started dropping off.
donnell rawlings
Right.
joe rogan
That's what happened.
donnell rawlings
This is what I don't understand.
Why can't people understand that you have a moment?
Like I was talking about.
joe rogan
Because he's a fucking narcissist and he wants the moment to always be around him.
He wants it to always be about him.
And when other people are doing better than him, he wants to talk shit about them.
And that's where Bill had a problem with it.
donnell rawlings
You think being a narcissist in this field is a bad thing?
For some reason, I think that kind of fuels you to be the person that you are, to be determined to do and not give a fuck about what nobody thinks.
joe rogan
Well, having self-respect and having an ego where you care about what you put out, yes, that's a good thing.
But making it all about you and not being able to appreciate other people's work is crazy because other people doing well can be fuel for you to be inspired and do better yourself.
And that's a positive thing.
And if these people are your friends and you love them and you care about them, you should be happy that they're killing it.
And if you're not killing it anymore, you should try to figure out why.
Because it's not like the door's not open.
It's not like you're not getting on stage.
It's not like you're not putting out specials.
You should probably figure out why your podcast dropped from number one to not even in the top 200 anymore without anything happening.
You didn't get arrested.
There was no scandal.
There was nothing crazy.
You should try to figure that out.
And he doesn't do that because he's instead bitter.
Bitter and jealous.
He's always been like that.
There's a story about Jon Stewart.
And Andrew Schultz came on the podcast and told a story about Jon Stewart and Maron where Maron confronted Jon Stewart with Jon Stewart, got some television show.
He called him a fucking sellout.
He yelled at him all this different shit.
Jon Stewart left the show and they hired Maron to do the same show.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
The same show that he was calling Jon Stewart for being a sellout.
donnell rawlings
So how did you go from that to, okay, for you to have one of the biggest podcasts, at some point in your career, you had to be likable or you think people just wanted to do this show?
joe rogan
There wasn't very many podcasts back then.
The thing that killed Marin's podcast, my personal opinion, no hate, is that he has this rant at the beginning of his podcast that's not entertaining.
I don't think it's good.
And the rant was long, and he would just ramble about himself, was very self-obsessed, and I just don't think it was good.
And I think that was part of the problem.
It's also the problem was how he interviewed people.
He had a very confrontational interview style, specifically with some comedians that he felt like were below him or that he could pick on.
donnell rawlings
You would think that that style would work in this day and age.
joe rogan
No, People don't want always to be uncomfortable.
They want to like you, man.
They want you to be a good person.
donnell rawlings
People want train wrecks.
joe rogan
They want train wrecks for 15-second or 30-minute, 30-second Instagram clips.
They don't want train wrecks to be their primary thing that they're listening to when they're in traffic on the way to work.
donnell rawlings
But the people that host these podcasts now, like I think people go on these podcasts now and like this, this is going to be clickbait.
We're going to go viral.
joe rogan
Yeah, but they're not that talented.
That's why they're doing it is because that's their only method of getting attention.
If they were entertaining and interesting and fascinating, then their podcast would be about that.
donnell rawlings
You know what?
joe rogan
It's all in what you're trying to focus on.
What I try to focus on on my podcast is who do I want to talk to?
I never have someone on and go, oh, this would be great.
It'd be very controversial.
People will fucking hate them.
It'll be crazy.
They'll say wild shit.
I never do that.
My podcast is only about who do I want to talk to.
That's why I have a lot of people on that aren't even remotely famous because they're interesting.
I find them interesting.
I find with the book they wrote interesting, the documentary they made interesting.
I want to know something about them.
It stimulates my curiosity.
donnell rawlings
Do you think that there's going to be a shift?
Do you think that these salacious interviews, these interviews with Professor, you don't have to do that?
joe rogan
Don't think about it.
That's my key.
donnell rawlings
You know what's so funny?
I will say this.
You know what's funny about what you said?
That I was with Dave a while ago and he echoed the exact same thing.
And I was having this conversation with him.
He said, D, I don't even think about that shit.
joe rogan
Yeah, don't think about it.
There's other things to think about.
I've said this too many times.
If people have heard this before, I'm sorry.
Think of your focus and your attention like a number.
Think of you have like a hundred points in a day to spend on things.
If you spend 30 of those points thinking about haters or 30% of those thinking about bitter people, 30% thinking about other people that are doing better than you, that's 30% that you robbed from the 100% that you have to focus on your life.
I have things to do, man.
I have a family.
I have friends.
I have loved ones.
I have interests.
I have hobbies.
I have comedy and podcasts and the UFC and all these different things that I like to do.
And I think about those things.
I don't think about negative, stupid things with people that have bitter, angry minds that are concentrating on other people's success and trying to tear them down all the time because they're trying to tear them down all the time because they compare themselves to them and they don't like how they stack up.
They don't like the fact that that person's doing better.
They don't like the fact that that person's more successful.
So they try to take things either out of context or they try to misrepresent who that person is.
They try to change public perception of that person to try to drag that person down.
And it's transparent.
The reason why it doesn't work is because people inherently know what you're trying to do.
It might get people, oh, there's beef.
Oh, there's beef.
Those are simple-minded people that you're always going to attract, but you're not going to change people's opinions of things.
It's a trick.
It's a trap that you're playing on yourself.
It's a waste of your precious resources.
You only have so much time in the day.
My time I spend on things that I think are interesting or beneficial or things that excite my curiosity.
And I think that is the way I like to live my life.
Now, if you like to live your life, constantly engaged in beefs and being filled with anxiety and stress and you want to do that, okay.
But those are bitter fucking people.
I don't want to be a better person.
donnell rawlings
In another life, could you have been a therapist?
joe rogan
Well, I majored in psychology for the brief amount of time that I was in college.
That was what I was interested in.
But I was doing that because I was fighting at the time, and I was trying to figure out how to manage my mind.
So I was trying to figure out the inner workings of the human psyche.
donnell rawlings
Do you think, I know this is, I'm not, do you think your success made you a more calm person to not give a fuck?
joe rogan
Well, it certainly helps, right?
You don't have to give a fuck if you have enough money that you could just like disappear off into the sunset and never have to worry about money.
Because a lot of people are always worried about money.
And so you're always constantly in this state of anxiety trying to get more.
That helps.
But it's also, it's like, there's other things in life.
I concentrate on my loved ones.
I concentrate on my friends.
I concentrate on things I enjoy doing, on fun.
This life is short, man.
You and I are 58 years old.
We're more than halfway dead.
Why would you spend time concentrating on people you don't like?
Like, it's one thing if someone's wronging you.
It's one thing if you find out you have a business partner that's been stealing money or you have someone who's lying about.
donnell rawlings
Dane Cook.
No, I'm just saying.
I know.
joe rogan
His own brother still.
donnell rawlings
No doubt is like this yet.
What the fuck?
Yeah, it's very, very interesting.
And I'm at a place right now.
I was with John Hamm, right?
San Francisco.
And I had just did a show with Dave.
And it was interesting.
He said something to me.
He's in the back and he's with his wife and me kicking it.
He used to come out to summer camp and everything and hang out with us.
I don't want to say we like super friends, but we have mutual respect for each other.
And it was interesting because we're in the green room.
And this is after I just slayed this audience or whatever, right?
And I'm feeling good.
And he said, Don't, he said, what is it that you really want to do?
He said, what is it that you want?
I said, what kind of question?
He said, no, I mean, what is it?
Is it TV?
Is it TV show?
Is it movies?
I was like, John, I'm doing exactly what I want to do.
For me to be able to wake up, not have to work for anybody, call my own shots, make a fair wage, take care of my families, enjoy my friends and everything.
And it's me connecting with a God-given talent.
Anything else is a bonus.
I don't look at it like I need the private jet and everything.
Certain things you're like, you know, that would be nice.
But I just look at what this life has given me.
And I'm appreciative of that.
I know so many people that of my class, whatever, that aren't doing nearly as well as I am.
Or even the ones that are, that don't mean that they're happy.
You know what I'm saying?
So when he asked my question, I didn't think anything bad of it.
I was like, this, I don't get caught up on looking at somebody.
They got this, they got that.
I like this.
Am I happy?
Am I comfortable?
Do I get to do what I want?
So whether I tell people all this all the time, whether I get another film opportunity, whether I get another TV show or whatever, or any of that, I'm living what some people's dreams are.
unidentified
Yes.
donnell rawlings
And it's not my dream.
It's my reality.
joe rogan
Yes.
donnell rawlings
And I also had to realize, this is so easy for us to do.
You can be so connected with somebody.
And even with my situation, with my connection with Dave and everything, I'm a huge fan of Dave.
He's given me great opportunities and everything.
But at some point in my life, I had to say, you can't be caught up in somebody else's dreams so much that you forget your realities.
And my reality is whether I'm alongside of him or what I'm doing, I got to continue to be Don Air Rollins.
I got to continue to support my family.
I got to continue to do things that I do.
And it's so easy.
It's so easy for me to get caught up like, I'm rolling with Dave.
We on the jets.
We doing this type of shit.
But then I'll lose focus on who I am.
And I realize for me, and my career continues to go when I know how to make that separation.
joe rogan
I do have a yeah, but the thing is, even when you're caught up with Dave, you still love him and you don't hate him at all.
You're not jealous of him.
donnell rawlings
Not at all.
joe rogan
You might get caught up in the wave because you're hanging out with one of the greatest comics that's ever lived, but it doesn't mean that it's a negative.
donnell rawlings
And you know another thing, let me add to that.
And I'm not blowing my own horn or whatever.
Like you said, one of the greatest comedians ever lived, right?
If a person had a conversation with Dave Chappelle, people could say whatever I'm worrying about, people think.
If you ask Dave who is in his top five comedians, my name's going to come up.
So as much as people, they always talk about, they always try to pin me like blah, blah, this and everything.
I respect the fact that he respects me.
I respect him.
When we work together, we push each other.
We make each other, whatever people want to say, we make each other better.
And what other people understand is that, like, he's like truly my friend.
You know what I mean?
It's not like I just work on a show, he's my friend.
And even when some of my fondest memories, especially when I come here, is when we was doing those fucking shows.
Yeah.
When we was doing shit nobody was doing.
joe rogan
When we were doing those lockdown shows, that was fun.
Yo, it was wild times.
donnell rawlings
It was, it was, it's all, it was already, we already have a community.
We all have mutual respect for each other.
But the thing that made that so special wasn't nobody doing this shit.
unidentified
Right.
donnell rawlings
That's what made it even, and it really, one thing about the pandemic, it made you appreciate life a lot more than before the pandemic.
joe rogan
Yeah, it made you appreciate freedom.
donnell rawlings
Freedom.
joe rogan
Ability to do shows.
Remember, we did those shows outside and everybody was wearing a mask.
Pre-COVID Lockdown Shows 00:05:59
donnell rawlings
It was so stupid.
joe rogan
And they all got tested too.
donnell rawlings
We got, they was, I was, I had so much fun during the pandemic.
I was almost embarrassed to show the pictures I wanted to show, like faceless shit.
Yo, we were taking pictures and people was like, this, look at him.
He could kill my grandmother.
I'm like, all right, first of all, you did it.
Dave did.
I was like, people were like this.
Oh, it must be nice to have rich friends that have testing machines.
I was like, you're absolutely right.
It is.
It's beautiful.
It is the most amazing shit ever.
Dave Chappelle raped my nose for two summers in a row when we were doing the shows in the cornfields and shit.
But this is what people don't understand.
He took the opportunity.
That village of Yellow Springs, he made it as safe as it could be.
Like any place we would go, hotel staff.
Everybody had an opportunity to get, everybody had an opportunity to get tested.
And I remember, this was very interesting.
When the bubble we did one, this was Bob Sagart, R.I.P., we were doing these shows.
And I think that before Bob passed away, when he came out to Yellow Springs and was hanging out with Dave and us and everything, it gave him some incentive to want to go back on the road to do it.
He just got really excited about doing it again.
We did like 55 shows.
The summer was over.
The run was clear.
We had no positives or anything.
Dave extended the show another week.
And that week was when the bubble popped, right?
And now everybody is like freaking out.
Like, oh my God, these same women that was, people was coming out there when they was getting flown out in jets.
They weren't getting traffic, but Dave created his environment.
He wanted his friends around.
We was going to restaurants.
We would have the whole spot.
We was just doing all this stuff.
Nobody was thinking about the possible consequences of that.
And I remember this one girl was like, oh my God, I don't even know why I'm here.
Then I looked at Dave.
I was like, yo, man, damn, we almost made it, man, through.
He was like, Donnell, it's going to be okay.
He said, you got to realize this is the reason why we test.
When we first got our first positive, had we not been testing, it could have been crazy.
joe rogan
And we got a first positive because dudes went to do somebody else's podcast and they didn't test.
Remember that?
donnell rawlings
I remember that.
I remember that because I remember that scene.
It was so funny.
Yeah, that was here.
joe rogan
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
And it was like, something was different because we had one positive.
And you remember that backstage used to be blacked out, right?
It started getting lower and lower.
It was basically like me, Syphe Sounds.
Somebody else was in the green room, right?
And then Big J came.
That's one of my friends, good friends, Big J came back.
He had this look on his face like it's over, right?
He came in there and I looked, I said, boss man, got it.
He's like, yep.
Right.
And another thing Dave could have did, this is where I respect his character.
He could have been, at that time, he could have just been in the mask, went on stage, went back out.
He canceled the show.
But the funniest shit, it's a whole at stubbs.
Room is sold out, right?
And then Cena comes back and Cena was like, I need you to go out there and tell people that the show is canceled, right?
I said, you don't need me to do that shit, nigga.
Because the minute, it's one thing, if I go out there, people can be like, show starting, right?
And as a comedian, I'm not going to not tell jokes.
And then I'm like, oh, yeah, Dave's not going to show up.
But that was the crazy thing about that, everybody.
At the Line Hotel, they was making jokes, Joe.
They call it Corona, COVID Row.
Because we had the whole floor locked down, right?
And everybody in our team got it.
But it felt like an old school chicken pock party.
You know what I'm saying?
We got it.
We got it.
When I tell you, man, what we did, everything was like, okay, make sure you had your voluminous on that type of shit.
But the beauty of it was, we was like, you know, people was testing out like eight or nine days, right?
So we thought we were going to leave.
After a while, we was like, I was like, wait a minute, the next run was going to be in 10 days.
And for some reason, everybody went back to being negative.
We closed and did more shows and we got the fuck up out of here.
But it was a beautiful time, man.
joe rogan
It was a beautiful time.
It was a fun time.
donnell rawlings
It was fun to be alive.
Yep.
joe rogan
It was a fun time.
But it was crazy.
donnell rawlings
And then we did that.
What that fucking joint we did?
It was in Tacoma.
joe rogan
The Superdome.
That was wild.
donnell rawlings
27,000.
25,000.
joe rogan
Whatever it was.
We broke the Tacoma Dome record.
donnell rawlings
I never been in a place where the laughter was so hard.
It felt like helicopters was on the show.
It was crazy.
This is what I respect about what you guys did.
You got people saying they're doing arenas and shit, but normally.
joe rogan
But that was pre-COVID, brother.
donnell rawlings
It was pre-COVID?
joe rogan
Yeah, that was pre-COVID.
But before everything popped off.
donnell rawlings
What I will say about a real arena show, you got the arena show where a quarter of the venue is being used for stage and everything, right?
So it ain't the true capacity.
joe rogan
Right.
donnell rawlings
But the shows you motherfuckers was doing, it was in the round.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Well, the wildest thing was walking through the crowd to get to the stage.
Man, crazy.
donnell rawlings
You've experienced this shit of that walk from the UFC shit.
Man, I'm so grateful for you guys' friendship and everything.
And for me, it was so special for me because I didn't sell a ticket.
Nobody else, no open to sell.
You and Dave sold those tickets, right?
But the best feeling for me, Joe, was when I go out and DJ Trauma be like, you seen him on HBO's The Wire.
You seen him on BMF, whatever.
But simple line.
But you fell in love with Ashley Chappelle's show, and them people fucking go crazy.
I don't give a fuck if you've ever been in the fist fight in your life when you come through them tunnels.
You doing this shit right here.
You feel like Tyson, like, just give me a robe.
Just give me a towel.
I'm about to go beat these motherfuckers up.
And every show we had, there was no room for being okay.
You had to be on your game every time.
joe rogan
Yeah.
unidentified
It was good times.
joe rogan
It was a good time.
Zoom Into Clubhouse 00:16:08
joe rogan
Well, that was when all that COVID shit went down with me, when CNN turned my face green.
That was because of a Nashville show that we were doing that we had to cancel.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, I didn't know.
joe rogan
That's what that was.
Yeah, we were supposed to do a show that weekend, and I got COVID the previous weekend.
And I was doing an arena with Tony in Florida.
And I got COVID in Florida, and then I made that video on like a Tuesday or a Wednesday.
It was like the third day after I got COVID and where I got over it.
And I was like, you know, I feel fine, but we have to cancel the shows this weekend.
And that's when all the shit went down because I took Iver Mac then.
That was those reasons.
donnell rawlings
I remember that.
Oh, he has the answer, everything.
Yo, if he don't have the answer, at least he's fucking trying to find it.
It's so interesting.
joe rogan
Whether or not I had the answer, the crazy thing is I was better.
I was already better.
And they turned my face green on CNN.
We got to see how crazy the media really is.
Like, they didn't want to hear nothing, but you have to take this vaccine.
donnell rawlings
And you have to do that.
joe rogan
And if you didn't take this vaccine, you're a part of the problem.
donnell rawlings
It's so that I just don't, as devastating as that time was, I'm just, how is it just like fucking over now?
Is it hurt immunity?
How is it just like it almost?
joe rogan
It's hurt immunity.
It's, yeah, it's also, you know, everybody who got it got it.
You got immunity because of it.
And then also whatever variants are still left, they're significantly diminished.
That's how viruses generally are.
donnell rawlings
It's like a cold strand now, right?
joe rogan
Yes.
Well, that's how viruses generally go.
They become more transmissible but less potent over time.
Yeah, and that's what happened.
donnell rawlings
I'm going to tell you, there was a time, though, man.
I even said, man, maybe it was just something about how people got along with each other.
I was like, we should do like once a year, just have a week of just lockdown.
Yo, just so you can get it.
joe rogan
Man, it makes you appreciate freedom.
That's for sure.
donnell rawlings
It made me appreciate nature, bro.
I bought a fucking house in Yellow Spring because I was like, you know what?
Trees, woods.
I don't know if the streets can handle this, but I became a bird watcher, bro.
I watch bird.
I watched birds.
You know what that does to my street credit?
unidentified
What?
donnell rawlings
To know the difference between a cardinal and a blue jay?
joe rogan
Is that bad?
donnell rawlings
It's not the most.
unidentified
Listen, that's a Blue Jay call.
donnell rawlings
It's like, I can't be in the street talking about.
It was good shit.
joe rogan
If you can't appreciate nature, that's whatever.
That's a bullshit narrative.
That's ridiculous.
donnell rawlings
Here's the thing.
I didn't crash out today.
Didn't crash out.
I know people think I'm a crash out king.
It's not that.
Sometimes I just need to.
joe rogan
You mean on this show today?
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
What did I?
No.
joe rogan
No, you didn't.
You definitely accused Jamie of wearing a leather jacket.
donnell rawlings
Jamie did have a leather jacket.
He had a leather jacket on, man.
And I think he brushed his eyebrows, too.
It was everything.
I was like, I'd never seen this sexy side of Jamie.
He had like a British accent.
He was like, I think he wants a book.
I was like, who is his eyebrows?
I was like, who the fuck is this person, man?
It was something different.
joe rogan
We definitely went through something that most people would never experience in their life.
donnell rawlings
Nope.
joe rogan
And most previous generations never experienced it.
Having a nationwide, worldwide pandemic that everybody freaked out and we didn't.
Not only did we didn't freak out, we did shows.
We had a good time.
We hung out together.
Those after parties when we go to the line, you had a DJ, we would laugh and laugh.
We would laugh till two, three o'clock in the morning.
donnell rawlings
You know, the girl I was dating.
joe rogan
It was so much fun.
donnell rawlings
Girl I was dating the time.
She couldn't believe that she was like, I would be like this.
So what do you do?
I was like, well, I was at the line kicking with Dave and Joe.
What are y'all doing?
Just talking and laughing to 3:30 in the morning.
They were like, get the fuck out of here.
You was fucking.
No, I wasn't.
We was just on some brotherhood shit.
It was just so much.
joe rogan
And we also realized how special it was that we could do this while the whole world was locked down.
unidentified
Yep.
donnell rawlings
I'm telling you, I was embarrassed to show pictures.
My mother called me, you better be careful out there.
Like man, I'm getting tested.
We got tested more than probably anybody in the country and that's.
joe rogan
I got tested every day because I was doing podcasts.
donnell rawlings
Through the whole thing, I did your show doing that one time yeah, and then we didn't.
I sat down and before I got the results the last time I was here, you was like, did he get the test?
I'm like I'm like this, please don't come in here like, get this motherfucker out of here.
joe rogan
Well, we definitely had a couple people that tested positive.
We had to get them out and I tested positive once.
donnell rawlings
But the thing about it making those, taking those precautions, you could isolate it.
You knew where it came and you shut it down.
That's one thing.
If you're not doing that, it's all over the place.
Just think about it.
If if, imagine if, Jamie would have got covered, then we would have never seen his sexy side now.
joe rogan
Jamie got covet.
He got covet before anybody.
He got covered really early on, when there was no vaccine, no treatment no, nothing.
He had to take a whole week off.
donnell rawlings
Um, maybe that's why he has the attitude that he has.
Yo y'all getting all this podcast.
joe rogan
You, you had covet that week, right?
Yeah yeah, he missed the Kanye Podcast.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, but I i'm sorry Jamie, if you thought I said anything that was kind of disrespectful to your character.
joe rogan
Well, it was just totally false.
donnell rawlings
No, it wasn't.
I'm telling you that ponytail I don't know what the fuck he did about it like a Steven Sagal ponytail yeah, and not only that, but he put his hair back like this, almost like the, like a ditty party.
That's how they start ditty parties, oiled up.
Yeah, I don't know.
Say that because I was never mind.
I never went to a ditty party.
I have a photo, but I never went to a ditty party.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's like I think people are going to be wiser if something like that happens again.
100 yeah, 100.
There's a lot of people that think they engineered that whole thing.
They wanted it to happen because it's the largest transfer of upward transfer of wealth in human history.
So many small companies went down.
Look at big businesses got made more money.
donnell rawlings
Look what it did to ZOOM yep, ZOOM.
I remember ZOOM because um, I was, I.
I had a show in Naples, Whatever.
I met this doctor that he wanted me to be on his podcast and I was like, how are we gonna do?
He said we can do it by zoom.
This is when it was only like for like, business people.
It was really like the nerdy thing.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's what it used to be.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, it used to be, but the pandemic it blew it up.
It was like, now, zoom is like that's the best way.
You don't want to talk to somebody on the phone.
They call you oh, i'm on a zoom right now.
It is so like in everybody's household and that just blew up.
So many businesses did the same thing.
joe rogan
Is anybody using that anymore?
donnell rawlings
Zoom yeah, they use it for an excuse not to talk to somebody.
joe rogan
Yeah, do they do zoom podcasts anymore?
Do people do zoom podcasts?
I never hear that term.
It used to be things like, oh, we're going to do it on zoom.
I don't hear that anymore.
unidentified
A few other platforms exist.
jamie vernon
Now I don't even think people discuss it, but yeah, they had one.
donnell rawlings
One was at Clubhouse, Whatever all of these things.
joe rogan
Oh yeah, Clubhouse was popular.
Clubhouse is a big one.
That was a big one where people were essentially doing podcasts like anybody could just like just talk, chime in and talk.
unidentified
Shit was getting like a million followers in three days and shit like yeah, oh yeah, there was a lot of that and a lot of people thought that that was going to keep going, like clubhouse is going to be the new thing.
I'm like this is just bad podcasting And it's what.
donnell rawlings
There was.
Only so many things.
That battle, the diversus battles that they do now.
And when they have like, it's mostly, it's been hip-hop and R ⁇ B.
I think it was, who was it?
It was Swiss Beats and Timblin, I think.
They started this thing during the pandemic.
It was versus, right?
Where you have an artist versus another artist in like a competitive type of situation.
They didn't win anything, but it was just entertaining for everybody.
And that went from like, it was so low level.
Like people was in front of their computers.
It was freezing up and everything, but it was what everybody was doing.
Now that's like one of the biggest things now.
They did one at Madison Square Gardens.
Like it's a big thing now.
It's just like a competition.
Like you got, I think it had cash money and no limit records, but it's very, I don't see no white versus, but it's a popular thing.
And it started because of the pandemic.
joe rogan
Well, so many businesses started during the pandemic because a lot of people got laid off.
So they started their own business.
A lot of online businesses started.
A lot of people quit their jobs because they realized, look, they could just take this shit away from me at any minute.
Why am I doing something that I hate when I thought there was security in it?
There's no security in it.
I'm going to start my own business.
donnell rawlings
Also, even like you, you're an example of what happens when you finally realize that you don't need Hollywood the way it used to be.
joe rogan
No.
Well, we figured that out a long time ago.
We figured that out when the podcast started kicking off in like the early 2010s.
I realized that.
I was like, this is, I don't need TV shows anymore.
We figured that out in like 2013, 2014.
donnell rawlings
And Hollywood is not like, it used to be.
I'm a very old school guy, but I remember when I first started, you couldn't make it in this business.
You had to be in New York or L.A. Yep.
There was no producers going to, they wasn't going to Toledo, Ohio.
There was no way.
This was big.
joe rogan
Well, there's no comedy communities outside of New York and L.A.
donnell rawlings
No, not at all.
joe rogan
Not a real community.
There might have been like a good club that had some, like Denver always had like good opening acts, good comedy.
But it wasn't like a real hub like Austin is now.
And that wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for the pandemic.
People wouldn't have moved.
donnell rawlings
They wouldn't have moved.
joe rogan
No.
donnell rawlings
And you brought a whole community here.
As much as this place was always big for music or whatever, but I mean, there's no way anybody cannot agree with what you did and what you made it appealing to a lot of people is that you could go somewhere else, get a better quality of life.
joe rogan
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
And everything.
joe rogan
Lower cost of living, better quality of life, no traffic, nicer people, and no Hollywood bullshit.
The problem with the LA is always going to be poisoned by the idea of going there to become famous.
That whole idea was permeated in the culture of LA and that fame was like the number one commodity.
donnell rawlings
But back then it was, that was the case.
It was the case.
joe rogan
But the problem is that's bad for art.
It's bad for your ability to produce shit.
I mean, you got great comics that came out of LA, but that was in spite of what L.A. had to offer.
It wasn't because of.
Whereas Austin, like the main reason people come here, first of all, is Kill Tony.
Because like you said, Kill Tony is one of the rare places where you can be a comic that's been doing comedy three, four years.
Even just start now, but you got some talent.
You can have a fucking career.
Like a real career and it'll launch.
Look, you got Cam Patterson who's on SNL right now.
You got all these people like William Montgomery, David Lucas.
They're killing it on the road, selling out everywhere they go.
Ari Maddie, this guy, I mean, they have a real career in the world.
donnell rawlings
But you know, another thing that they don't understand is like, this is what I say, and I use you as an example.
Whenever you hear about somebody saying that they want to do a podcast, the first thing is certain names like, I want to be Joe Rogan.
And I said this before.
Nobody wanted to be Joe Rogan fucking 25 years ago.
They didn't want to put the work in.
They want to see the accolades, the fortune you've built.
They see that part, but nobody sees the hard work.
Even with Kill Tony, the fact that during the pandemic, when he could have let the whole platform just fall apart, like we don't know when we're going to do it, he dug deeper and figured out a way, I'm just going to continue to do it.
Nobody ever respects the journey.
joe rogan
Right.
donnell rawlings
And if you think about it, Joe, and you probably the same way.
Most successful people, and I know some very, very wealthy people, right?
And when they talk about their career, whatever, they hardly ever talk about the yacht.
They ever talk about the fucking mansion they got in Paris.
You know, they talk about it was just me and my wife and we drove a Toyota, you know, a Toyota Corolla.
And we was like, we was down to our last 10 bucks and she did this.
That's the most interesting part of the story for most successful people.
And people don't understand that.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
They only think about where you got to.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
I want to get to there too.
donnell rawlings
They want to skip everything.
I hear people right now.
I want to be like, stand up.
I'm like, all right.
Well, no, when I was doing HBO's The Wire, right?
This guy I knew, I grew up with, he was like, this motherfucker said, yo, D, what's the number to the wire?
I want to call him.
I want to be on the wire.
Like, there's a wire.
Hey, is this David Simon?
Yeah.
I could be Omar.
And guess what?
If I knew the number to the wire, I wouldn't give it to you.
joe rogan
I'm going to give it to you.
unidentified
I'm not giving it to you.
donnell rawlings
I want you to get that busy signal.
That's what it's.
Nobody ever wants to respect the grind.
And they all, everybody wants the rewards of the grind.
joe rogan
Plus.
Everybody.
It's just people that are missing it.
They're not getting what it's all about.
What it's all about.
Like, Kill Tony's a great example of that.
I was there in the early days of Kill Tony.
When Tony started out in 2013, there was no one in the crowd.
There was no one there.
It was a small show.
You'd have a few comedians.
I was doing it back before I was back at the comedy store, but I was still banned.
So I was doing it from the ice house.
And he didn't do it thinking it was going to be the number one show in the world and he was going to be on Netflix.
And he did it because it was fun to do.
donnell rawlings
And he loved it.
joe rogan
And he wanted to do a great job.
And he wanted to make it better every week.
And he kept doing it and kept getting better at it.
It's the same thing with this podcast.
This podcast didn't make money for years.
Didn't make any money for years.
It cost money.
donnell rawlings
But the most successful people are the ones, like even with when I first started doing comedy, right?
I never, you have some comedians that go out there like, I want to do comedy.
I want to get the money.
I want to get pussy off of it, right?
When I first started, I never, the only thing I wanted to do, Joe, I wanted to be good.
I was like this, if I'm good, all those other things that are rewards of that, that would happen.
But I had to be good first.
And here's the thing that I think, especially when you have these like social media comedians or whatever, the thing that the interesting thing about it, it's kind of hard to tell somebody to work on their craft when they're getting all the perks of what the craft can present them at an early, early stage.
It's hard to tell somebody that's only been doing it for two years, that's making $50,000 or $100,000 a month off of monetizing something.
They're like, this, you need to get better.
unidentified
Hello?
joe rogan
They don't have to.
Like, do whatever the fuck you want to do.
If you just want to do that, do that.
And also, some of them are going to figure it out anyway.
Some of them are going to figure out, I'm not getting better.
I'll get better.
I'm going to work harder at it.
There's going to be people that don't figure things out no matter what you do in this life.
There's going to be a bunch of people that have a distorted perception of what success is all about and what you really want.
It's always going to be that.
donnell rawlings
What do you, what do you, what is, this is an interesting question.
What is your definition of success?
joe rogan
Happiness.
Happiness and doing something that you enjoy doing.
It's something that's challenging.
donnell rawlings
So, what is the definition of happiness?
joe rogan
Friendship, love, doing something I enjoy doing, doing it well, doing it better all the time, getting better at it.
You know, I mean, and struggle.
You're always going to have some kind of a struggle.
And that struggle, hopefully, is you trying to be better at the thing that you're doing.
donnell rawlings
You?
What gives you this? Is an interesting question.
What gives you the incentive to always continue to want to perform?
What gives you an incentive to always want to do Joe Rogan and Friends when you could just sit back and fucking just.
joe rogan
Because it's fun.
It's fun.
Jeff's Dark Circuit 00:10:57
joe rogan
It's first of all, the green room on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the mothership.
It's one of the funniest times I've ever had in my fucking life.
It's so fun.
We have so much fun there.
There's Ron White there and Shane Gillis and Tony.
And it's fun.
It's, I mean, it's community.
donnell rawlings
Sounds like you're trying to give me the chance to.
joe rogan
We enjoy our times.
Would you want to come on?
donnell rawlings
I got to come to a Tuesday.
joe rogan
What are you doing tomorrow?
unidentified
Come on, Daniel.
joe rogan
What do you got going on tomorrow?
Where are you headed back to Ohio?
donnell rawlings
No, I'm going to LA.
joe rogan
Do you have a show?
donnell rawlings
I got a son.
unidentified
Okay.
joe rogan
Well, that's different.
That's more important.
donnell rawlings
But I can just give him some Roblox money.
I'll give you some Roblox money.
He'll be cool.
Let me see.
I might, because, cam, I didn't, I wish I would have even thought about it before.
But I might, I might, because I haven't had that experience.
joe rogan
Oh, come down then if you can.
If your son's cool with it, do it.
If not, there's always another look at another.
donnell rawlings
And this is another thing about me being an older dad.
Like, my son is really the age.
He could be my grandson.
I don't have time to do all those instill vials and morals and shit.
I'm like, this, will candy shut this motherfucker up?
Yo, I'm like, yo, let's go to McDonald's or whatever.
But yeah, I'm going to see.
I would definitely consider that.
joe rogan
Consider it.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
But that's what I like.
I mean, I'm just enjoying my life and I like to do things that I find that are interesting and challenging.
And I like to have conversations with interesting people.
And I like the fact that people enjoy it still.
donnell rawlings
You know, when I first met you, you know, and I already knew that you had the ultimate platform, right?
And I never, this is me.
And I don't know if this is what happened, but I was like, I never want to be like, hey, Joe Rogan, I'm Donnell Robinson, so-and-so.
And the only respect I ever wanted to get from my peers and people that were doing it was like from the stage.
You know, I always like, I was like, if we ever make the connection, I wanted to be off of, yo, this motherfucker is funny first, not just like, hey, you know, I rock with Dave and everything.
I think that that was what happened.
I used to spend time in it, and I never, never did, even to this day.
I don't, you know, I just look at like the resp, I just want people, you can respect me as a man and respect my character, whatever.
But at the end of the day, what I love to do the most is stand up.
I want you to be like, yo, this motherfucker puts the work in, and then we can build everything off of that.
That's what respect I wanted.
I want the respect from what I put in, the work I put in.
And people can acknowledge that, and that's what builds my relationship with you.
It's built my relationships with all of these, all these guys.
All of these people that I fuck with now, it ain't because other than anything other than like, yo, he's a dope comic, and then you can find out that I'm a good dude.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's that.
And then after that, it's got to be like, are you cool?
donnell rawlings
Right.
joe rogan
Is he fun to hang out with?
donnell rawlings
Right.
joe rogan
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
Barry Ketch said that one time.
He said that in one of his podcasts.
It's one of the things that separate like who goes on the road or so-and-so is if you're a good hang.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And I'm like, oh my God, that's everything.
donnell rawlings
I don't know how many people quote Barry Ketch, but I want to share this story.
joe rogan
You might be the only one.
donnell rawlings
You said, probably the only one.
But you said something earlier about undeniable, right?
unidentified
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
I remember when I first moved from DC and I moved up to New York, I was doing the Chitlin Circuit, the Black Circuit.
I was popular in the black community, whatever.
I was like, I don't think this is going to be enough.
I want to do the mainstream stuff.
I want to do these other things, right?
And Barry Katz, Dave used to host this comedy night at this place called El Flamingos in DC, in New York.
And Barry Katz saw me there one day.
He was like, I don't think I've ever seen a comedian that go in front of an audience that was ready to rip someone's head off, and you could hear silence.
You know, that's the control I had with the audience.
So we built sort of a respect for each other.
And I remember one time I was at the comedy cellar and he was there.
And I knew that he was back then, whatever you want to say about him, nobody had a roster bigger than Barry Katz.
Back then, in like 97 or whatever, he had everybody.
The list goes on and on.
So I knew he was a fan of mine.
And I said, Barry, man, I'm trying to work these clubs, these mainstream clubs, but I'm having a hard time getting in past these clubs.
I was like, could you make a phone call or whatever for me?
And he looked at me.
He said, Donnell, he said, this is what you do.
I'll probably do the worst.
Everybody does it better, better Barry Katz.
joe rogan
You got to do Barry like this.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
Okay, I'll try to get it.
joe rogan
He was like, that's just what you do.
donnell rawlings
And slowing down.
He said, Donnell, just rip.
Right?
joe rogan
He said, Yeah, be undeniable.
donnell rawlings
That's what he said.
He said, just be, he said, I'm not talking.
And I tell, this is advice I give people.
They say, well, I need social.
I was like, I'm not talking about have one good set and you have four bad sets.
I'm talking about the consistency where every time somebody sees you going that stage, you blowing the roof off.
And once you do that, managers are going to come to you.
They're going to hear about it.
That's one of the things that a lot of people try to skip.
They're like, oh, how was your set?
It was okay, but I can't talk to you.
Unless you just straight destroying shit everywhere, then you got other shit to work on.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And there's also a lot of people that are very delusional about how well they're doing because they want so much.
They want it all to be about them.
So they think they should have already had this.
They should have already had that.
Why don't I have a sitcom?
Why don't I have a this?
Why don't I have a that?
donnell rawlings
And I always said this is another thing, even with these lineups, you do these shows, whatever.
Always say that you have time to have a defining moment.
If you're in the room, right, and for some reason, the room is on fire, the club is on fire, everybody is ripping.
You probably won't stand out as much as that night when everybody was bombing.
You've seen rooms where everybody comes back and say that crowd was weird, but then you got one motherfucker back there like this.
I don't give a fuck what y'all doing.
unidentified
Right.
donnell rawlings
I'm going to elevate this.
Those are the times when you got to fucking stand up.
joe rogan
Yeah, well, we used to see that all the time at the store, like late night at the store in particular, where like, you know, because the way the store works, the show starts at 8 p.m. and it goes on till 2 a.m.
And there's a lot of people that get there at 8 p.m. that are like, you know, tourists that are in town.
And they sit there for the whole fucking show.
They came to see the comedy store.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
So by the time 12:30 rolls around, fuck, they've seen everything.
And so you get this lull period.
And then someone will go up and just tear that fucking place apart with 50 people.
donnell rawlings
When I used to, I was so naive when I first started that we used to have open mics, right?
And the open mic list would be like 25 people, right?
And they fucking, the guy that was running, they hated me so much because I used to talk shit in the audience and everything.
And they would keep bumping me down, right?
And my dumb ass never got mad, right?
I was like, this, yeah, they want me to headline.
25 comedians.
I took that.
I was like, I didn't think about audience fatigue or anything.
Oh, boy.
I just was like, yeah.
And it would be, but I'm telling you, I think that was one of the things that made me strong because I was like, I'm going to do what the next person.
There's one story.
This is one of, if you ask Dave Chappelle one of the dopest sets he's ever seen.
I just happened to be a part of that.
It was at the Hollywood Bowl years ago, about three years ago, right?
You know, Jeff.
joe rogan
Is that when he got attacked?
donnell rawlings
No, no, that wasn't that.
It was like the year before.
You know, Jeff Wills Live Nation, right?
Sure.
So we're doing.
joe rogan
Shout out to Jeff.
donnell rawlings
Shout out to Jeff.
We're doing a show.
You know, Hollywood Bowls, 18,000 people, right?
So show starts at 7 o'clock, right?
Jeff comes up to me.
He was like, Donnie, I got some good news and bad news.
He said, what?
He said, we're going to start on time.
It's only, but, 700 people out there, right?
Now, you imagine what 700 people look like in front of 18,000 place, right?
He said, there's only 700 people out there.
He said, well, I can let you start now or we can wait 10 minutes.
I was like, Jeff, it's not like 17,000 people are going to show up in 10 minutes.
I said, give me the mic now.
Big ass stage.
I jump off the stage, right?
Dave and all these people in the green room.
I jump off the stage.
I go into the audience.
I'm literally going to each person in the theater.
And I'll get you a picture.
You can answer this.
I'm going to each person.
joe rogan
Why didn't they wait for the people to show up and sit down?
donnell rawlings
That's what I wanted to say, but they were just like, the show has to continue.
joe rogan
I don't allow that.
I never allow that.
donnell rawlings
I'll tell you nothing.
joe rogan
You've tried to do that before with me.
And they say, we're going to have to pay more money if the show goes over.
I go, then the show goes over and we pay more money.
Get the fuck out of here.
donnell rawlings
But for me, it was a moment because any other comedian, not any other, most people are like this.
Oh, it wasn't nobody out there.
So many excuses.
I jumped off stage.
I was like, no, I can't be up here.
Look like I'm about to be auctioned off.
I go in the audience.
I'm going to each joint, right?
And I'm fucking killing 700 people in front of 18,000 people.
joe rogan
That's a great way to start a show.
donnell rawlings
But listen, and I'm like this.
And here's the fucked up thing about this.
Nobody's going to know about it because your fucking phones are locked up, right?
Yo, it was a moment.
Dave, Dave, everybody for the green room came out, right?
And Dave told me to this day, he said, if I was doing a class on stand-up comedy, he said, I would use this as an example of like owning up to it.
And it was so crazy, man.
It was like, and it was just, it was crazy.
I remember another time I was working with, I think I was working with you.
It was me, you, and Dave.
And I think it was a time we was doing an outdoor theater.
And it was supposed to be a break.
It was supposed to be me.
It was supposed to be, I think, you, Tony, or whatever, or something.
Then it was a break.
And then it was going to be me and Dave.
But it was still daytime, right?
unidentified
Where was this?
donnell rawlings
I can't remember the place.
It was still, Jeff, he came up to me.
He was like, I was like, I already know.
I'm going to have to go on there.
And I literally had to perform until it started getting dark.
joe rogan
Oh, I remember this.
donnell rawlings
And I was saying to myself, I was like, ain't no way.
I was like, this, ain't no way they give a Rogan.
And it wasn't a shitty audience.
People just hadn't come yet.
I was like, I knew I was going to even suggest.
I was like, nah, we had these two halves, right?
And it was, and that was another example of, okay, you got to do what you got to do.
And I had to go up there.
It wasn't the spot that I expected or whatever, but I was like, this, you know, for the sake of the show.
And I'm always like, what do we need to do to support this?
And we had to bring it down.
We had to buy some more time.
And then by the time you got on stage, everybody was seated.
joe rogan
It was dark.
It was dark.
That was outside of San Francisco.
Voss's Late Night Performance 00:16:04
donnell rawlings
I can't remember exactly.
That was California.
joe rogan
That was California.
That shit was fun.
donnell rawlings
But I tell people all the time, and I do slight mentor.
I was like, man, it's certain times where you got to do what the next person is not going to do.
You can't bitch about shit.
And at the end of the day, you got to be a fucker.
I know when I used to do these shows with Dave, I used to fucking get the shittiest time.
Like, oh, we're at 30% capacity.
I'm like, man, half of these motherfuckers are not even going to see me.
But I looked at it like this.
Well, the people that's going to see me, they're going to remember it, you know?
And you just got to keep on going.
joe rogan
That's a good attitude.
donnell rawlings
Yep.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's healthy.
donnell rawlings
See, I feel like this.
joe rogan
Very productive.
donnell rawlings
This conversation is going to bode well with my mental health.
joe rogan
Yeah, I think so too.
Everything except the lies you told about Jamie.
donnell rawlings
You know what I'm going to do?
I'm going to start taking fucking videos.
I wish I would have had it.
joe rogan
Yeah, I wish he did too.
donnell rawlings
And the thing about it.
joe rogan
You would see, like, oh man, he didn't even have a leather jacket on.
donnell rawlings
And he wasn't even talking to me.
He was talking to me like, what is it?
I walked up.
unidentified
He didn't even know who I was at first.
Guess why?
donnell rawlings
Why didn't I know?
I never know that.
I was like, who is this fake ass Jamie ass motherfucker?
It's like, it was almost like, remember when Family Battles, Urkel and then Stefan?
It was two characters.
They had the geeky Urkel and then his alter ego, whatever.
He was just this cool ass.
He was the same person.
joe rogan
What is happening to that dude?
Urkel.
unidentified
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
Oh, he's been around.
joe rogan
What's that?
unidentified
Some weed.
Is he?
donnell rawlings
He was.
And his weed is really good.
joe rogan
He's got a weed, Urkel Purple.
donnell rawlings
It's the best.
He got this joint hero, and it's like some type of Italian noodle, the spiral noodle.
He used that as a filter.
But also, I spent a lot of time with him because he would come out to the cornfields, whatever.
So I've been seeing him.
He's got a talk show.
joe rogan
Didn't he get jacked?
Isn't he like, is that him?
Julie White?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I don't know.
I heard Urkel got in great shape.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, but he's a good guy, man.
But he's another one of those celebrities I know that want to do comedy but don't have the heart to do it.
Always, I was like, he said, no, no, no, don't do that.
But he's a great guy.
joe rogan
It's hard to start out already famous.
That's one of the things that I really respected about Charlie.
Charlie was already famous when he was starting.
donnell rawlings
Do you know who started Charlie?
joe rogan
Who?
donnell rawlings
Me.
joe rogan
Did you?
donnell rawlings
And this is how it happened.
When we were doing the Chappelle show, it's safe to say, like, nobody was really making money.
You know, in the contract, when you, in your contract, if your show just blows up, you got to stick to whatever you was getting for the contract.
So we weren't making a lot of money doing the show.
But I was like, we're too popular right now.
And at that time, it was me and Charlie.
It was Dave, me, and Charlie, like the biggest names on the show.
So this was Mike Berkowitz, who's head of Willem and Morris right now, right?
He was a young agent at the time, right?
He was coming up.
And I was like, I told Jason, my manager at the time, Jason Steinberg, I said, man, we got to do a tour or something.
I was like, yo, everybody's talking about I'm rich, bitch.
I was like, let's do I'm rich, bitch, tour, right?
He was like, it's a good idea.
I said, me and Charlie can do it.
At the time, that was only a two-man show.
Charlie didn't have no time or anything.
And I was like, you know what?
I want to do it.
Because it was my idea.
I said, I want to do me, Charlie.
I said, we need another comedian.
At the time, Bill Burr was not making a lot of money doing stand-up.
And I'm not disrespecting him, but everybody knew he was going to blow.
But that was early on in the career.
And all Bill had to do was have a situation like he had in Philly.
Everybody knew he was going to blow.
So I said, why don't we do a tour?
Me, Charlie, and Bill Bird.
That shit would be hot.
Charlie had never did stand-up.
And he used to always crack jokes and shit.
I was like, yeah, you talk a lot of shit.
But once that microphone, your ass, you a bitch-ass motherfucker.
So Charlie was a guy like, don't threaten him with anything, right?
So this is when they had the Laugh Factory in New York, a Times Square, right?
One of my friends was doing the show there.
I was like, Charlie, yo, if we're going to do this tour, you got to at least have 10 minutes.
He could have, at that time, Charlie was so hot.
People would have just yelled out, Charlie Bervey, for five minutes.
He was the MC.
We just needed his face to be there.
And this was, it would be Charlie, Charlie, Bill Burr, and myself.
And Charlie had no jokes, right?
And like you said, I was like, maybe, I don't know if you guys understand how it is to be selling out as an open micer.
Crazy.
And he had to get his voice.
And I know, and I was like, why did he never do this?
Part of it was because he probably never wanted to be compared to his brother.
unidentified
Right.
donnell rawlings
He never wanted to be able to, that's his brother.
And he had his own style or whatever.
So we did this fucking tour for like a year.
And then I saw him start to grow.
Sometimes he took some hits, but he became Charlie Murphy.
He became like, I'm not my brother.
I'm a storyteller.
He stuck to that shit.
And one of the things that I would say that I really appreciate about what the Chappelle show gave to Charlie Murphy, when Charlie Murphy passed away, Joe, nobody said Eddie Murphy's brother died.
They said Charlie Murphy passed away.
So that show didn't do it.
And when I tell you, one of the most stand-up, original guys, all of those stories, like, was it true?
It was, he told, that was just part of the story.
Me, Dave, me, Charlie, and Bill built a relationship.
We did something that was spectacular then.
But Bill Bird used to fuck with us.
And I'm going to tell you one of the things he would do.
We would be on the road, and all we used to do was argue and fight and just fuck with each other one time.
And Bill Bird, he did some fucking.
I don't want to call this racist or whatever.
But whatever.
It was very Bostonian.
Okay.
But what he did, I didn't know two years later.
Bill Bird, when we meet up, he would buy a fucking like 12-piece of Popeye's chicken, right?
And he knew me and Charlie would devour that chicken and we would be in a sleep coma, right?
The next 15 minutes.
And it was almost like he gave us sleeping pills and shit.
He would get his chicken, we'd be knocked out, and then he'd just go and just laugh at us and shit.
But that time, that was such a great time because you saw people's careers being bored.
Like Bill was already on a trajectory to be great.
You know what I'm saying?
But at that time, and this is when I say the stories that you remember, I'm pretty sure Bill still remembers.
Like, this was the first time that he was making like regular good money every week.
You know how it is for be a fucking headliner that's doing $800 a weekend.
Or they give you a deal $2,000 and then you get a $500 bonus when you sell or give away 300 tickets.
joe rogan
And you're not working every weekend.
donnell rawlings
And you're not working every weekend.
And then you got club owners like your bonus is supposed to be at 300.
And they'd be like, couldn't give you that bonus.
You were at 298.
You know, I'd be like, motherfucker, I couldn't do it.
joe rogan
And they lied too.
donnell rawlings
They lied to it.
joe rogan
They lie about how many tickets you sold.
donnell rawlings
They lied to it.
And then they wondered why when guys become big and everything, they don't want to come back.
Because I remember that.
joe rogan
Oh, I remember that.
There's a couple club owners that they can go eat shit.
donnell rawlings
And I tell people all the time, when everybody talks about this, I was like, yo, try this.
Try doing a fucking tour for a year and a half.
And every night you had to come behind Bill Burr.
I had no days off.
And I knew when I had a day off, I wasn't hitting on all cylinders.
Because that's when they used to have comment cards, right?
The comment cards, like, I don't know why the white boy didn't go last.
But that always, that's that always kept me in shape.
You know what I'm saying?
It's like this, you don't got no time to play around because Bill, and because Bill was one of those comics, Bill was like, Bill would come, Bill did the mainstream shit, and he was one of the only white dudes who would do the fucking most grimiest spots ever.
And I'm pretty sure he's always going to be a great comic, but I think that that helped build his character.
I think that was probably what made him be in a position where he goes to Philly, like, yo, fuck y'all.
I just did Dondell's fucking hood club in Brooklyn.
If I can handle that, I can handle it.
joe rogan
Well, that rant in Philly was because he was doing the Opie and Anthony tour.
So when Opie and Anthony, their crowd were brutal.
Their crowds were fucking brutal.
donnell rawlings
They was killed Tony's before T.L. Tony's.
unidentified
Way worse.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
Way worse.
That they had sort of fed into that crowd.
They fostered that crowd.
They called them the pests.
donnell rawlings
But then, even going back to what I was saying, in this career, sometimes you have situations that have a defining moment.
And that was one of those things.
I'm pretty sure everybody went on before Bill was throwing a towel and he was like, fuck that.
joe rogan
But what happened was Dom Area went on.
And, you know, Domerrera is a legend.
donnell rawlings
How's he doing, man?
joe rogan
He's hurting.
Yeah, he's hurting.
He's got whatever that neurological condition is.
It's not good.
I mean, I want to speak out of turn about his health, but it's not good.
But Dom, they booed Dom.
They were just rough.
They wanted you to fail.
And Bill went up and go, fuck you.
You know, and he just went into this crazy shit.
donnell rawlings
You know who else had a moment like that?
joe rogan
Who?
donnell rawlings
Bernie Mac.
joe rogan
Did he?
Oh, on Def Jam.
donnell rawlings
Yeah.
joe rogan
I ain't afraid of you, motherfuckers.
donnell rawlings
You know how that was born?
Why?
First off, Martin Lawrence was the host.
And that night, everybody was taking licks, right?
And there was another, it was a comic from D.C. named Butch Burns, right?
He was very popular in D.C. Butch Burns went on stage and bombed so bad.
Motherfuckers throwing shit.
There was nothing that Martin could do.
You know how sometimes you try and you're like, just you're on your own.
It's like, whoop-de-doo, right?
So Butch Burns had bombed.
The room was going crazy.
Martin could do anything.
Next on deck was fucking Bernie Mac.
Bernie Mac saw Butch Burns on the way out and he told him, he was like, listen, man, hold your head up, man.
He said, the sun might not shine on your day, but you'll have another opportunity to shine.
And the reason, he didn't plan on, I ain't scared of you, motherfuckers.
And then Bernie had a situation to go through because Bernie was on Def Jam before.
He dressed in a suit and everything.
He was looking like a Chicago player, but he didn't think that he connected with a young audience like that.
So you even watched the way he was dressed from the previous show to the next one.
unidentified
Yeah.
donnell rawlings
The next one, he had more of a hip outfit, had graffiti on the jeans.
He was dressed up for that part of it.
No idea.
I ain't scared of you, motherfuckers.
He did have the energy that he was going to do, the connection he was going to have with the DJ, right?
But what made it so explosive is that he said, fuck y'all.
He said he did his joke.
That's why you hear like, why was he saying I ain't scared of you, motherfuckers?
joe rogan
Right.
donnell rawlings
It was because of the other shit.
He said, I ain't scared of you, motherfuckers.
Get it.
Boom, boom, boom.
But he said, what did he say?
And it was such the most simple stock jokes.
unidentified
But the rhythm.
joe rogan
He was so powerful.
donnell rawlings
So powerful.
joe rogan
So powerful.
donnell rawlings
The rhythm that he had and the fact that you knew that something was special would happen.
That's why that fucking audience looked, was so fucking charged up because he said, fuck y'all.
joe rogan
I saw Bernie live once at the comedy connection in Fannie Hall in Boston.
donnell rawlings
I remember that club.
joe rogan
He was on fire.
donnell rawlings
I saw him.
So powerful.
First time I saw him at Comedy Connection at Greenbelt, I used to do this club and it was a couple of people that came through and I was like, these motherfuckers are the next level.
It was him.
Another person that was like that was George Wallace.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
donnell rawlings
You know another person that was like that?
Rich Voss.
Oh, yeah.
Yo, George Wallace, first off, I knew George Wallace was on the next level.
I've never seen nobody go to the comedy club and the deal he had was 100% of the door.
Everything.
You just get your drinks, your chicken wings, 100% door.
They had to give it to him.
Wow.
And George Wallace, he was old.
George Wallace always been an older dude, right?
Somebody said, you know, his thing is your mama jokes, right?
Somebody had did a mama joke and motherfucker George Wallace ripped off about 30 mama jokes.
I felt so bad for him.
And then Rich Voss fucking, Rich Voss fucked me up because I'd never seen a white comedian perform at this club.
It was a black club.
Rich Voss came in here.
He had a ponytail similar to Jamie's, right?
joe rogan
He had Jerry Curls.
donnell rawlings
No, Rich Voss had a ponytail.
It's the same one that Jamie was wearing when I, right?
It was Rich Voss's, right?
And I saw Rich Voss go up there and destroy this crowd.
I was like, this white dude don't know what's going on.
And he fucking killed that shit.
You know, we talk about joke stealing, right?
I've never, I stole one joke in my life, and I apologize to Rich Voss.
I was doing the show, and none of my jokes worked.
I tried, yo, I tried everything.
I tried everything.
And I said to myself, what joke have you heard?
I didn't mean to steal, right?
I borrowed it, okay?
I said, what one joke you know that fucking will kill this audience?
And Rich Voss used to have this joke.
He said, you know what they say?
Once you go black, you never go back.
He said, yeah, because your father won't let you back in the house, right?
I stole that joke.
I got him laughing.
I got him back on track.
And then I had to call Voss.
I said, man, I'm so sorry.
I said, it's going to get back to you, but I stole the joke.
He was like, no, no problem with it.
joe rogan
Well, at least you admitted it.
donnell rawlings
Yeah, I did.
joe rogan
All right.
I think we accomplished a lot.
donnell rawlings
This was therapy for me.
joe rogan
I think it was good for you.
Stay out of the comments.
donnell rawlings
I'm going to stay out of the comments.
joe rogan
Remember that podcast we did with Rizza?
donnell rawlings
No, don't do that.
They still talk shit to me.
joe rogan
Yo, I grabbed you at the end of the podcast.
I said, that was great.
Don't read the comments.
donnell rawlings
Exactly.
joe rogan
That was a long time ago.
I've been giving you that advice for a long time.
donnell rawlings
You did tell me, don't.
But the part of that story people don't know is that I did my podcast early.
I hadn't seen my son in like two and a half weeks.
I was on the road.
And I came straight there, straight to the podcast to do it, right?
And then I was like, you was like, yo, you want to hang out?
This is what people don't know.
This is the side you don't tell them.
You invited me.
You invited me.
joe rogan
I did invite you.
donnell rawlings
You did invite you.
joe rogan
I thought it would be fun.
donnell rawlings
You said the Rizza's going to come, right?
joe rogan
Well, we were having a good time.
We did a podcast together.
We were hanging out.
And I said, are you going anywhere?
I'm doing a podcast with Rizza next.
You want to hop on?
I thought it would be fun.
donnell rawlings
I thought it would be fun.
joe rogan
It was.
It was fun.
donnell rawlings
I would like to tell my side of the story.
joe rogan
We already did.
We've talked this.
We've done this many times.
Okay, every other podcast we do.
You tell your side of the story.
donnell rawlings
I'm never going to say this again, Joe.
I was going to leave.
And I was like, I was like, man, fuck Wu-Tang, man.
I'm going to see my son.
Right?
And I'm leaving out.
And as soon as I get ready to get my car, DeRizza comes out, and this motherfucker said, what's up, Ashy Larry?
And I said, fuck my son.
I'm fucking with the Wu-Tang, right?
And I didn't, but it was a good time.
joe rogan
It was fun.
donnell rawlings
But what people don't understand is, before we did that, Rizza said, yo, yo, bun, bun, bung, I got this idea, right?
I said, well, he said, I'm going to do these jokes.
They're going to be, he was trying to pitch jokes like he was on the jokes.
And I was like, please don't do that.
I was like, please don't do that.
And we sat down and of course it went, I had a good time.
But people was like, you just ruined it.
You ruined it.
You just ruined it.
But shout out to you.
joe rogan
It was fun.
donnell rawlings
It was a good time.
joe rogan
It was fun.
donnell rawlings
And thanks for, whenever I call you, let me, I can't even tell people anything other than, yes, I'm on tour.
Go to DonAirRollins.com, get tour dates.
unidentified
All right.
donnell rawlings
And here's my shit.
A joke could be too soon, but it never could be too soon for a funny observation.
And that's what you're going to get when you come to my show.
unidentified
All right.
donnell rawlings
Thank you, sir.
joe rogan
Appreciate you, brother.
donnell rawlings
I'm taking this gun with me.
Jaden, stay sexy, son.
unidentified
Stay sexy.
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