Love him or hate him, every podcast listener knows the name Joe Rogan.
Rogan’s childhood wasn’t easy. His dad left when he was just seven years old, but that wasn’t the worst part.
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Cover Image: Getty Images
As Rogan says, “All I remember of my dad are these brief, violent flashes of domestic violence.” He hasn’t spoken to his father since he left.
Any fan of Rogan’s knows he’s a martial arts fanatic.
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He started martial arts in his early teens because he was “terrified of being a loser.” It gave him the confidence he needed to feel like a winner.
Joe Rogan won the US Open Championship for taekwondo and went on to become an instructor.
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Unfortunately, he had to hang up his belt at 21 because he kept getting headaches.
He never thought about a career as a stand-up comedian until his taekwondo friends convinced him to pursue it.
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He was great a making them laugh by doing jokes and impressions of them. They thought he was so great at it he should get on stage!
Joe Rogan used to be signed to Disney. He acted on the show Hardball, but that only lasted a season.
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After that, he got a job on NewsRadio, a much more successful show. He describes his character on the show as a “very dumbed-down, censored version” of himself.
Before the UFC really took off, Joe Rogan was a huge fan. He worked as an interviewer for a while,...
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but had to quit, as the pay didn’t cover travel costs. He then became friends with Dana White. White hired Rogan to do color commentary in exchange for free, prime event tickets.
This soon became a paying gig.
Joe Rogan almost fought Wesley Snipes!
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Snipes was in trouble with the IRS and desperate for money. He challenged Rogan to a fight.
Rogan trained up hard and was actually excited for the fight. Unfortunately, Snipes backed out and ended up doing three years for tax evasion.
Joe Rogan infamously spoke out against fellow comedian Carlos Mencia for stealing jokes.
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He wrote a blog post making the accusation and later got on stage at The Comedy Store to publicly call out the comedian.
Rogan’s comedy friends stood up for him and thanked him for doing it—but his act of solidarity had dire repercussions.
Rogan’s management dropped him and he was banned from The Comedy Store. Luckily for Rogan, he signed a deal with a new agency five minutes later and has since had his ban lifted.
In a surprising twist, Rogan is cousins with My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way!
Photo: Wikipedia, Pat Loika
Here’s hoping Way makes an appearance on the podcast soon!
Rogan is an outspoken advocate for pot. He believes in legalization and frequently smokes on his show.
He is also an outspoken supporter of psychedelic substances like DMT and psilocybin mushrooms. According to Rogan, pot helps him focus and makes him more creative comedically.