watching joe rogan's "comedy" special until i actually laugh 😐

If I had to sum up today's entire video in a  single word, it would be inspiring. We're living   in very divisive times right now. There was just  a huge debate about it and it's obvious that, when   it comes to America or even the world, there's  only one question on everybody's mind: are you a   Joe Rogan fan now? Now, I know. I know the Rogan  issue can be quite polarizing. On the one hand,   you have his millions and millions of podcast  followers who listen to his every word. On the   other you have me, I guess. Other people who are  maybe not the biggest fan. There's dozens of us,   but today I would like to posit a different Joe  Rogan question that I believe is underrated:   is Joe Rogan funny? And to find the answer we're  going to take a look at his latest Netflix special   and we'll see if, at the end of the day, he lives  up to the hype or he's just some guy with a mic.  But first, welcome. My name is D'Angelo and  I am your professor of comedic autopsies,   which is a very real degree that I definitely  do have. Or maybe this is just me broadcasting   myself talking in my room, like YouTube used  to be. And in today's lecture we're going to   be watching Burn the Boats, which is Joe Ro's  new Netflix special. And because I can already   hear the Joe Rogan fans saying, "You're biased!  You're biased!" Yes. Now what? I am painfully   aware that comedy gets less funny the more it's  dissected, but that pain is nothing compared to   me just trying to watch this comedy special on my  own. And I really do find it inspiring because,   if Netflix execs watched that whole special and  then still tagged it as comedy, truly any of   us can be anything we want to be. And now, live from San Antonio-  Nope. See, we already have beef. Why did you  do this in my hometown? Get out. Now I know   how people feel when they're like, "Oh, the  Californians are coming to Texas!" Get the Joe   Rogan fans out of here. He doesn't even go here. This is my new home state. I've been living   here for four years. I'm never moving. Did you not hear the part where I said to move?  Texas weed is different because  Texas weed is grown on Texas soil.  I swear to God, I'm going to try to give  this an honest shot. I find the city-specific   pandering that standup comics do to be so  funny. Like, "You guys, you're my favorite   city," and everyone just loses their mind. But  you could say literally anything there. Like,   the dogs are cuter, the coffee tastes better. And I believe the soil has memories because   if you smoke too much Texas weed, you're  like, "We got to give this land back."  I get it. Colonization is probably funnier  when you're not passively thinking about it   all the time already and seeing its effects  literally everywhere. But ha-ha, weed.  I heard that every Buc-ee's is built  on an Indian burial ground. That might   be misinformation. Don't say you heard  it from me because I am known for that.  Actually, I'm kind of glad he brought up the  misinfo thing because the man is just a menace   with a mic in terms of the absolute nonsense he  has given a foothold. So to joke about it here   is like, bro, is it really just a talking point in  a standup comedy special? Is it not something you   feel even a little bit responsible for? Before COVID, I would've told you that   vaccines are the most important invention  in human history. After COVID I'm like,   "I don't think we went to the moon." One of the main sources of misinformation   that he's known for spreading is  COVID conspiracies. How do you have a,   "Rogan has made controversial comments about  COVID-19 vaccines," tag on your Wikipedia. You're   out here with what I think is one of the biggest  podcasts on the internet, talking about how young,   healthy people do not need to be vaccinated. You  were taking Ivermectin to treat yourself when you   got COVID. Inviting people who are promoting  vaccine misinformation. You see why it's   physically impossible for me to sit here and laugh  at this? It doesn't hit. It's mid. And dear God,   maybe I would have more tolerance if the  jokes themselves were actually funny.  So as an example or I guess proof, rather, that  these people will literally laugh at anything,   here is Rogan doing this very extensive bit  about being at an airport while high. And   he's just describing things. He's just saying  what happens when you go through an airport.  "Walk up here." Give me a ticket.  "Sit down. Don't lean back." I won't.  Genuinely, I think this  goes on for a minute or two.  You literally strap yourself into your  chair, and every now and then they come   by with water. You're like, "Ah! Ah!" It's like, yep, that is certainly how   airplanes work. Observational comedy, I suppose.  So I've skipped forward several minutes and we   are still talking about airports. And he's  talking about how sometimes the TSA agents   will randomly pat you down, and they'll  call someone over who's the same gender.  She goes, "Good. Male assist?" And I'm like,  "Male assist? Did you just assume my gender?"  We're doing did you just assume my gender jokes  in 2024? My character development is so funny   because I used to laugh at these jokes and then,  fast-forward a few years and now I am the one   whose gender gets assumed incorrectly sometimes.  Like, "I thought you were a woman. You're always   serving so hard in your video thumbnails." And  I'm like, "No, this is just a screenshot from   the video." And then you get people on the other  side who try to get ahead of it. And they're like,   "You're a man. You'll always be a man."  And I'm like, "Ope, got me there. I am.   Always have been. Don't know what to tell you." If we want to argue technicalities, I'm not a man.   I am the man. I am literally him. I'm just pretty.  That's all there really is to it. And yet you   would never catch me making a, did you just assume  my gender joke. It's just not funny. Not now,   not then when I thought it was funny. Never has  been. And if this is what's passing for comedy   and 2024, I want a Netflix refund. Did you just assume my gender?  And we are applauding it, no less? Bro, I don't  know if I'm going to make it. To be honest,   I actually don't know if I'm going to make it.  Also, I'm skipping all the parts where he talks   about private parts and being anally probed,  touching yourself, being touched, et cetera. And   it's a surprisingly high percentage that I've had  to skip thus far. Make no mistake, you are missing   some really heavy hitting questions like- How do you touch [ __ ] and not be gay?  I'm sorry that I'm not including the  full hour of that. I know you all   just are dying to hear that for an hour. I get why young people want to be woke,   but I can't do it because I come from  a different era and when I was a boy,   you could be Hitler for Halloween. Ooh, that's not... okay. The thing about   wanting to be woke, or I guess this implication  that young people are just so woke, have y'all   ever stopped to consider that that's more of a  you thing than a me thing? The only time I get   called woke is when I am perceived by somebody  who is anti-woke. You have created this label,   put me in this box, and then reacted to  me as if this is what I decided I was.  I actually don't want to be woke or care  about the label. I don't think it means   anything at all. The things that I believe  that have been labeled woke like, let's see,   healthcare is a basic human right. Any adult  should be able to enter a consensual relationship   with any other adult. Everyone has pronouns that  make them comfortable, including cis people,   and so everyone should be afforded the same basic  right to be referred to in a way that validates   them. All of my opinions are stemming from, I just  want everybody to have the same rights. And then   other people twisted into, "You want trans people,  women, and people of color to rule the world."  My opinions are the same regardless of what  anybody else calls them. Nobody is out here   wanting to be woke. I believe most of us  just want to treat people in a way that is   not horrible. But it's like to say that would  be to acknowledge that it's not wrong, and so   that's why people have to call it woke. If I say,  "I believe everyone should have the same rights,   no matter what your gender is," most people in  their right minds are not going to say, "No,   that's wrong." Now, make no mistake, many  people will say that, but not most of them.  However, if instead of saying that's wrong,  someone can just say, "You don't actually   believe that and you're a grifter. Just a liberal  shill." "You're woke," for lack of a better term.   That's how they get away with denigrating  you for believing that everybody should have   the same rights, regardless of their gender, et  cetera. It's the same thing with DEI. I noticed   that one popping up a lot where, if you actually  spell it out and then you say it's bad, you're   going to sound crazy. If you're like, "I think  diversity, equity, and inclusion is bad," society   is at least at a point where you're going to get  a bombastic side eye from most people in a room.  However, rolling it all together in just  the phrase DEI, that can be as bad as you   want it to be because you've stripped it of its  actual meaning. "DEI is bad. They're shoving it   everywhere. DEI this, DEI that. Why'd they put  it in my video game? Why are they putting it in   the water, turning the frogs gay?" Really, when  you think about it, you are complaining about   the fact that people different from you exist.  Complaining about wokeness is complaining about   the fact that people who are disenfranchised now  have more of a platform to speak up about it,   and so that's why I don't even buy into this  whole culture war nonsense that's going on.  I don't care what anybody thinks about my opinion  or the label that they're applying to it. You're   woke? Okay, I guess I'm woke. You've decided  this? Great. DEI? Is that going to result in   a more level playing field for all people? Sign  me up. I'm a DEI fan. The label means literally   nothing to me. It's so funny watching people  like Joe Rogan or, unfortunately, even many   people my age think that they're really owning  the libs by calling them woke and DEI and stuff.  I'm just, at this point, like, "Okay, and? And?  Now what? Where do we go from here? This is all   you, Joe. This problem where you can't dress up  as Hitler and you're mad about it, this is not   something that young people have done to you."  Also, dear God, what an example. Hitler, my guy?  You could show him to your Jewish friend's  house. I'm like, "Oh, look at the little   Fuhrer!" Give a little tussle to your hair. Bro, that is crazy. That is crazy. You didn't   have anybody pull you to the side and say,  "Joe, that right there, I know what you were   going for but the way it sounds, the optics  of that are crazy?" But no, let's be clear,   he's purposely putting out these optics. He wants  to appear this way because he is appealing to that   crowd. Part of the success with people like Joe  Rogan lies in how non-offensive they are to actual   racists. I don't actually think it's super helpful  to spend time trying to figure out whether people   like Joe Rogan are problematic or what their true  beliefs are. When you're out here platforming   people who do have these views and you're creating  a community in which people who have these views   feel way too comfortable congregating, I really  feel like intentions ceases to be a relevant   piece of information and the results of your  actions are what should be criticized regardless.  I don't know if Joe Rogan likes Hitler, but  why foster an environment where people who   do aren't really going to feel called out by the  work that you're putting forward? That is wild.  "We believe that healthcare is a  basic human right." I agree. "We   think that education should be free." Me  too. "And men can get pregnant." [ __ ].  They can. It happens. I will never understand  this visceral reaction. It is so easy to wrap   your head around how a man could get pregnant. You  were born in a specific body but you're a man. If   pregnancy is one of the capabilities of your  body and also something you choose to explore,   a man got pregnant. Where is this crazy  disconnect that they're trying to force so   hard? You want to talk about people forcing  things? Why do people like Joe Rogan try to   force us to pretend like this doesn't make sense? When will people like this just admit it is so   much easier to just be woke, according to their  definition? That's the gag that really sends me.   It takes me out when I think about how much easier  it is to respect someone's pronouns. I don't have   to guess? Oh my. Thank God. You're neither a  man nor a woman and you use they/them pronouns,   the exact same pronouns I use to refer to  people when I don't know whether they're a   man or a woman? You see that person over there  in the water? Are they drowning? I just take   that same convention and apply it to you? So  easy. But also I'm really concerned. I think   that person over there is drowning. Listen, if you're a heterosexual man,   and I know there's a few of us left... Y'all cheered for that? Bro. There has to   be repercussions. Honestly, the people in that  audience need to be fined. You've got the same   people who are raging at black women and claiming  they're ruining TV shows by existing in them.   And many of these very same people are out here  laughing at, "Did you just assume my gender?" And,   "Straight men exist." Who, pray tell, do  you think is actually ruining entertainment?   Burn the Boats is a real stunning and  brave title for a man who has to know   that this comedy special is a trash fire. I'm willing to say, "Men get pregnant."   I'm willing to say, "Pregnant men." I just don't  think it's a good... I think you need extra words.  Why? Actually you are admitting that you  are trying to complicate this. Zoom out for   a second and realize that you are advocating  for the complexity of a concept that is quite   simple while simultaneously complaining  about how complex everything got and how   things used to be simpler when you used to  be able to dress up as Hitler for Halloween.  I believe in trans people because I think  the world is strange and nature is strange,   and I think nature can throw you a curve ball,  and you believe you're in the wrong body. And   I fully support your right as an adult to  do whatever you want that makes you happy.  The funniest thing is that used to be my opinion  word for word. If you stopped me on the street   several years ago and asked me about trans people  I would've said every single talking point he just   did, and I thought that was acceptance. I thought  saying, "Oh, I guess some people can be different.   Good for them or whatever. Do whatever you want."  But then my opinion took a turn over the years and   I went from caring a lot about nature and science  and the mechanics behind being trans. That way I   could justify understanding it. To somewhere over  here where my opinion is like, no one actually   owes me an explanation for who they are. I'm not actually owed science or a reason.   I don't have to study nature to understand why  trans people are. When it comes to something   like someone else's identity, where it is  extremely serious for them and the easiest   thing in the world for me to respect it, I  think the only thing I need to understand is   how to be respectful. So at this point  I'll just look for someone's pronouns.  I go to someone's profile and it says, "He/him."  I don't need to go through the rest of his profile   trying to figure out, well, how? How can this  person be he/him? What's the nature behind it?   What does it mean? Were you born in the wrong  body? Respectfully, I don't care. And then I   can take that same approach and just apply it  to my opinions about gender-affirming care.   If someone is telling you what they need and it  can be provided to them, why am I adding in the   extra steps, the extra words, the complexity? Do whatever you want that makes you happy.   I believe in freedom and I believe in  love, but I also believe in crazy people.  I understand that there can be a room  full of people laughing at this because   they don't understand how unfunny it can be  when somebody takes your entire identity and   just reduces it to crazy but, man, it's  not funny. And I'm going to be honest,   bro. I don't even know if I want to watch the  rest of this. We're only 30% of the way into   it and I'm just like, "Oh man." But who knows?  Maybe it will get funnier and then I will laugh.  Trans women are women. How about most? How about  almost all? You got to leave room for crazy.  I've been trying to practice lately just moving  on when I realize that something is providing no   value whatsoever, so I'm just going to go ahead  and skip, I think, all of Joe Ro's remaining   opinions about trans people. Let's see what other  stunning and brave topics he has for us today.  He was way crazier [fast-forwarding]. Okay, let's see what we've got now.  There's a dude in a dress. Oh my god.  I love it when Trump would say, "China."  The craziest thing is they make our phones.  Bro, I am trying. I was like, "This is going  to be such a good video topic." I was so proud   of myself for sitting down to react to this.  I knew it was going to be entertaining but,   wow, I really forgot how painful this was. We can't make a phone. There's 330 million   Americans, plus Mexicans,  and no one can make a phone?  Okay. I know the phrase losing brain cells  is overused, but I am genuinely running out   of responses to this in real time. Bro,  you are xenophobic, transphobic, racist,   and you're on Netflix doing the hee hee and  the ha ha, complaining about woke people.   I know some people are going to be so mad,  like, "Oh, you're calling Joe Rogan..." shh,   calm down, because the crazy thing is you know  I'm right. I know I'm right and you know I'm   right. You're insecure in your bigotry.  So for example, you're going to call out   Mexicans as not being American, but then he  flips it into a joke where he's like, "Oh,   but if they came across the border, they must  be really hard workers so I'm fine with them."  I'll trade him for everybody  who has blue hair. You, go back.  And it's like you were desperately  trying to eat your cake and have it,   too. Have your cake and eat it, too. You're  desperately trying to be a cake girly but you   will never be a cake girly. You thought you ate,  but the cake wasn't even in the room with us.  Let's make America great again! This  is the silliest show ever. I love it.  It just really must be nice that things  like this can be silly. Things like this   can actually just be not a big deal. I genuinely think most people are good   people. And I think, if you approach them with  good intentions, I think if I lived your life   I would be you, and I think if you lived my  life you would be me. I think we're all one.  But you don't. You don't. He doesn't think that.  You can just hear it dripping in every little   jab towards everybody who is not him. And then  the basis of your comedy is the fact that other   people are different. That really proves how  you are not really there, as you claim to be.   But I'm past the halfway point. I'm watching  on 2X speed. We're going to make it with this   one. There's sirens in the background  right now. I hope you can't hear them,   but they're for Joe Rogan's comedy career. Ope,  they just stopped because it was dead on arrival.  I'm not even remotely homophobic. I'm the  opposite. I wish I was gay. It looks way   easier. You're hanging out with only guys.  No one can get pregnant. No more lies.  Okay, first of all, since when do gay men only  hang out with guys? Do you only hang out with   women because you're attracted to them? I'm  framing it as a rhetorical question because I   already know the answer. Secondly, see how any  pretend support for any one group is rooted in   some sort of putting down of another group?  "But we're all one. We're all one. If I lived   your life, you'd live my life." If I lived  your life, I wouldn't be in your position.   Let's just make that clear. If I lived Joe  Rogan's life, I wouldn't be known as the guy   who spreads all the misinformation. The guy  who can't ever really commit to being a bad   person because he doesn't even have that  much of a backbone. I would never allow   Joe Rogan to happen to me even if I was Joe Rogan. There are people in the world that hate gay men,   but nobody hates gay women, and  that's why you can say [ __ ].  I hate this. I think that's the best way I can say  this. I genuinely hate sitting here and watching   this. This has turned into an official hate watch.  You want to post rage bait on Netflix? Congrats.   But it's like I'm not outraged so much as just  confused. How is this being hyped up in any way,   shape, or form when it is so terminally  unfunny? It's not even just me, either. There   are multiple times in this special where Joe has  to laugh because the audience is not buying it.  Look at that suspension. You're bombing. You're bombing   on Netflix. That is crazy. You genuinely flopped  out in front of a live studio audience. The level   of mediocrity that has enabled Joe Rogan  to exist and persist needs to be studied.  I hate dumb people that are confident. Self-hatred. Rough.  Also wrong. I hate dumb people  that are wrong and confident.  I refuse to believe you can say that with a  straight face and think you're referring to anyone   other than yourself. His audience be like, "Oh,  but he calls himself dumb. He says he's not an   authority. He's not." Listen, you don't get to opt  out of the responsibility of having an audience   just because you wish to continue being dumb. If I  spread misinformation in this video and I'm like,   "Joe Rogan was responsible for the forest fires  in California..." are there forests in California?   But if I was to say so much as, "There are forests  in California," and secretly Cali has no trees,   I don't then get to later say, "Well, I don't  know. I was just talking. It wasn't that serious.   I'm not an expert. What do I look like? An  arborologist?" Arborist. Okay. Wait, that kind of   sounds like a crime. They got your man on charges  for arbory. But no, imagine if that's what I was   doing if I had one of the largest platforms  that the internet has ever known. Cringe.  Mike tricked me into sucking his [ __  ] again. What is going on? Are you gay?   No! Mike is just really tricky. They're going  to say that that's a homophobic joke. And I'm   going to say, "How?" Because the gay guy wins. It's brain cell-phobic. Do you understand?   It's offensive to the part of my brain  that processes information logically.  They want to tell you you can't make jokes about  them. Like, listen, folks, if you want equal love,   you have to have equal jokes because  that's how we find out if you're annoying.  Said the most annoying man to ever live. Chat,  should I book an extra therapy session just   for having watched this? Should I bump up that  weekly frequency? Well, with today's sponsor,   BetterHelp. Nope. Just kidding, just  kidding, just kidding, just kidding.  Listen, I don't hate anybody. I love  everyone, and I love gay men but I think   about gay men the same way I think about  mountain lions. I'm happy they're real   but I don't want to be surrounded by them. Why are you thinking about gay men at all,   though? Is what I wonder with people like this.  People who are obsessed. Gay people, trans people,   the details of which they are having relationships  with each other and what they look like without...   all of it's really weird, weird, weird, weird  stuff to wonder about other people. I really   think people like this just need to work some  things out within themselves. And by the way,   not implying that Joe Rogan is gay or trans or  whatever. I don't actually believe that at all.   I don't think it's really helpful to say, "Every  homophobe is secretly gay," but you need to work   out the part of yourself that doesn't see this  as weird, because that's the part that I think   is really unbalanced and totally out of whack. Why do you have so many opinions about what   other people are doing with each other? That's  bizarre. Something is not being acknowledged,   addressed, or worked out, so do the math, please.  Also, I don't know why I've been holding this USB   to USB-C adapter this whole time, but it's like  my other senses are trying to make up for the   fact that I'm filling my vision and hearing with  absolute nonsense. I need to feel something real.  I have my most [ __ ] up thoughts  when I'm talking to really smart   people. I'm friends with Elon Musk. Elon Musk stans and Joe Rogan fans,   Comic Sans versus papyrus. Pick your poison. I found out I have 1.6% African in my DNA.   I don't know what percentage African you have  to be where you can freely say the N-word-  But I'm sure you think about it a lot.  You want to ask Elon Musk to help you   with those calculations? Because I think  he's arriving at an answer very quickly.  Somebody made a compilation of every time I  ever said that word over the last 15 years.   And they made a YouTube video. I put my cursor  over the video. I'm like, "Four more minutes?"  He's just like me, for real. Me having  this final ending time up is the only   way I've been able to get through this.  Think about it. For every minute that   passes, you're one minute closer to never having  to watch this again until I edit it. Oh, man.  Here's the thing about these words: you can't  say them. But I think that's unfortunate because   I think words are just supposed to be a sound  that you make so I know what you're thinking.  It's unfortunate that you can't say the N word?  It's unfortunate that you can't dress up as Hitler   anymore? Guys, I want to be racist so bad, and  it's getting so much more difficult because now,   when I'm racist, people call me racist. Ah! I think you should have to pay money to use the   most offensive words, and then that money goes  to cancer research. Every time you renew your   car registration, you can buy five [ __ ] tags. Are y'all keeping a list of the offensive things?   He must have made a list beforehand. "You'll say the R word but you won't   say the N word?" Yeah, because I'm more  afraid of black people than I am [ __ ].  It's almost like he came to ChatGPT and he was  like, "Hey, I'm completely washed but I have a   standup special dude tomorrow. Can you give me a  list of every word I should use to just piss off   the maximum amount of people?" And then ChatGPT  is going to be like, "No, that's not really   what our service is for." And then he's like,  "Okay. Can you give me a list of all the words   I should avoid so as not to offend anybody?" And  ChatGPT is like, "Oh, say less. Say the R slur."  Yeah. Don't you know how jokes work, [ __ ]? There, I laughed. I actually laughed not because   what he said was funny. It's just like clockwork.  You could not go an hour without saying slurs.   59 minutes and 17 seconds and your brain was  just like, "It's been too long. I am a man   with a microphone. People are paying  attention to me. I've just got to let   them loose. It's my moral obligation as a  straight man to use the F slur right now,   or I will die." That is funnier than anything Joe  Rogan could've come up with. Joe Rogan's existence   is funnier than anything he can actually come up  with, and I really think that that's the biggest   demon that's beating him up all the time. San Antonio, I love you to death. Thank you   very much. This was a lot of fun. We did it! We did it indeed. Written and performed by Joe   Rogan. It's so funny how, when I was younger,  I used to want to be on Netflix so badly. I was   like, "I like making things that people watch,  and people watch things on Netflix, and Netflix   has validity." It occupied that perfect little  space between traditional media and internet, but   it's so funny realizing the prestige I attached  to traditional media is absolutely meaningless   when you've got bozos like this dropping entire  comedy specials. Call it cope, but I don't think   Netflix has any more validity than YouTube  at this point but, yeah, I laughed one time.  So I think as far, as comedy specials go, that's  bit of a failure, but that's my take on the   situation. Dave's take on the situation is that  even he has sold more funny jokes in his lifetime   than Joe Rogan, and he has never spoken a word. I  think if Dave were to do a comedy special it would   be a bit of a bust. Okay, look, at least I'm not  on Netflix pretending like I'm a comedian. And I'm   excited to hear your take on this situation. This is the part of the video where a layman   would ask you to subscribe, like the video, and  leave a comment. But I will ask you to enroll,   evaluate the video, and submit your feedback  because I am of course running a 100% completely,   totally, all the way, somewhat, slightly, maybe  not really unaccredited university. Probably. Just   ask anybody in the student body and they'll  confirm it for you. We're totally legit. And   as for me, whether you'll see me in 24 hours  or 24 months is honestly anyone's guess but,   until then, thanks for watching. Your homework  for today is to find something funnier than Joe   Rogan and watch that. I suggest paint drying,  grass growing, or maybe literally anything else.