[gexla]

Joe Rogan isn't a great person to take any lessons from. At heart he's a comedian, which must be the most unconventional path you can take to anywhere in the US. Comedians live on the road telling jokes. I wonder how much he really had to deal with bills.

[MeinBlutIstBlau]

Let me clear up some ignorance since a lot of HN has most likely not listened to enough early Joe Rogan podcasts.

>Joe Rogan isn't a great person to take any lessons from

If a republican says abortion wrong, should we discount their statement because they're republican? It's one thing to just listen to people and believe everything they say. It's another to comprehend when someone is just bullshitting and when someone is speaking from life experience. Joe in the early podcast was far less on the Ivory tower as he is today.

>At heart he's a comedian

Firstly, every single person who brings up his history prior to his mainstream success was he never did drugs, wired out of his mind to do better, and was very high strung. Universally all his friends on the podcast say this. It wasn't until he became a full on stoner that changed.

Also, he said his big breaks were from News Radio and then Fear Factor. Both of which were his steady income's well before he became a famous comedian. He was active as a comedian but he barely had any significant success at it until around Fear Factor. He even acknowledges that he got lucky. So he's not some moron that thinks he was entitled it. He said his whole life would've been different had he not gotten a job on news radio.

>I wonder how much he really had to deal with bills.

None in the context of my statement. All his money paying for his porsche, place to live, and lifestyle were from News Radio and Fear Factor. That's how he got famous and he has since been able to continue that success. His comedy didn't take off outside of Boston until well in his 30's.

[gexla]

> If a republican says abortion wrong...

Whoa! Let's not get into politics. ;)

You took my comment out of context. I'll take fault for not explaining myself.

Morgan Housel writes for the wide audience of people who might need info about how to handle finances. The target persona is probably someone who has high paying job. Joe Rogan went a path which is probably as far opposite of this you can get. I love the list though. MMA commentator with a company which has only recently been hitting it big. Among the earliest comedian podcasters, which was probably a long grind meant to get more bookings rather than make money directly and then the Fear Factor thing. Just seems like Joe Rogan doesn't really fit as the sort of person you would take something away from while also reading Morgan Housel.

> That's how he got famous

I'm a fan and I love stand-up comedy. The thing that's so cool about stand-up is that even when comics turn mega-stars, they still turn up unannounced at hole-in-the-wall clubs. When I call him a comedian, it's because once a comedian, always a comedian. And I say that with the greatest love.

[MeinBlutIstBlau]

I realize I messed up my statement there actually... I meant to say "A republican says abortion is okay." The situation I stated is actually the norm.

[kortilla]

What an strange sentiment. Being a comedian is a job like any other and early ones are very familiar with struggling to pay bills.

[gexla]

Wait, you're calling my comment "strange" and then you come back with something like "comedian is a job?" Maybe you misunderstood me because you don't know what a comedian is. It's not a job. You tell jokes in front of people for one-off fees. I would take a WAG and say that 90% of comedians don't cover their living expenses from the craft.

If you're serious about comedy today, you're probably going to live on the road. If you aren't on the road, it's because you don't have the means or the bookings (or you're in a pandemic.) People on the road don't have much bills. The people at the top might, but if you're a young comedian, maybe you're living out of your car. Your bills come from the people controlling the pump you're getting your gas from.

Comedian must be the strangest existence. You sort of get into that mindset by not taking anything seriously, certainly not bills. Then at some point he got into Fear Factor and I imagine that bills were just a question of how large he wanted to live, not worrying about his electric getting cut off. Then he landed the Spotify gig and became a member of a super exclusive club of people who have signed a 100+ million dollar contract. When this dude says he doesn't have to worry about paying bills, he's on a way different level than most people posting here.

[kortilla]

> You tell jokes in front of people for one-off fees.

You literally just described a job. A huge portion of the US society makes money from doing things for one-off fees.

A sole proprietor house painter paints houses for one-off fees.

A car driver drives people around for one-off fees.

A motivational speaker talks to a group for one-off fees.

You likely have a stricter definition than the rest of society of what a job is, but you should update it so people know wtf you’re talking about. https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/job

> People on the road don't have much bills. The people at the top might, but if you're a young comedian, maybe you're living out of your car. Your bills come from the people controlling the pump you're getting your gas from.

Your grasp on the expenses living on the road is very tenuous. Credit card bills for food/gas/(shelter|gym shower), monthly bills for phone/car insurance/tax payments/car payment/medical expenses, etc. You still very much have to manage finances like anyone else.

> You sort of get into that mindset by not taking anything seriously, certainly not bills.

No, that’s absolutely not how comedy works. Good comedians aren’t just people who don’t give a fuck. You think it’s just people spitting off the cuff but it requires persistence, preparation, and practice. People good at comedy take their craft very seriously.

You’re just describing a deadbeat, which has nothing to do with comedians.

[gexla]

Sure, "job" covers too much area to be useful in this case. "Bob did a good job cleaning the car" is much different than "Bob quit is job today." I have a business which provides services. That service isn't a job, but my specific role as the sole operator of the business might be a job.

Stand-up comedy is more of a craft than a job anyways. Most comedians never get out of the open-mic stage of the craft, and you don't get paid for those.

> Your grasp on the expenses living on the road is very tenuous. Credit card bills

We're assuming many of these people can even get credit cards. We're not talking about SV developers or people working on Wall Street. We're talking about people who put in a significant effort which they don't get paid for and then taking that act on the road for money which barely pays the gas and food to get them from one place to the next. A small number might be able get headliner gigs, which gets you to the point of viable as a living.

> No, that’s absolutely not how comedy works. Good comedians aren’t just people who don’t give a fuck.

What you quoted of mine was about how you get into the stand-up comedian mindset. I know how it works, you grind out stage time at open mics as you develop and fine-tune an act which you can take on the road. To get started on that path, takes a special sort of person. Doug Stanhope, the "comedian's comedian" said something which resonated with me. I'll see if I can find the exact quote, but he said he and his family took nothing seriously as they were growing up. Everything was a joke.

That doesn't mean that stand-up comedians can't make plans.