The Podiwan Review 10 – Joe Rogan

This review was posted 5/21/10.  A newer, more up to date review was recently posted on 6/18/11. READ IT

Let me start by saying that in general I like Joe Rogan.  I've seen him do his stand up live and I've watched him on comedy central. I remember him from NewsRadio and his color commentary for UFC MMA fights.  Joe puts on a good show.  He writes good bits and there is an economy to his stand up that bespeaks a guy who has honed his craft to the point where he doesn't make rookie mistakes.  It isn't always laugh out loud funny but it usually comes from a reasonable point of view and there is humor to be had.

That being said, I was really disappointed in the Joe Rogan Podcast.  It wasn't often funny and it was almost never anymore interesting than listening to a couple of guys talk about shit.  Any two guys about any kind of shit.  No real point, no real direction and the only point of view seems to be "The Vast Conspiracy" that Rogan subscribes to that involves just about everybody from the government, to corporations, to individuals, to cabals of every size, type and description.  It was really sad that the only times these conversations became even remotely interesting, Rogan was driving at high speed into tin foil hat territory with a death grip on the wheel and his eyes set to "crazy wide".

Readers of this blog may remember that when discussing Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier's SModcast, I described it as just two guys talking about shit.  The enormously important difference between Rogan's podcast and Smith's SModcast is that Smodcast is funny through and through, interesting front to back, is usually about something.  Also, and pretty damn importantly, SModcast steers clear of "bat shit crazy".  Rogan's show is or does none of those things.  My brain hurt when I got done listening to the last one.  I'm at the point now where I kinda doubt I will ever have interest in listening to Rogan's podcast again.  However, if you are the kind of person who subscribes to every wacko conspiracy out there and you don't require a logical through line on your commentary, you will probably like this show.

Rogan has 21 podcasts posted on iTunes and I listened to 5.  I really wanted to give him a chance.  I really wanted to like it because I like him. But the podcasts were, at best boring and at worst cringe inducing and made me question my opinion of Rogan in general.  It reminds me of the early days of cable access when anybody with a camera and a basement felt like they could make a show even if they didn't have a point of view or anything interesting to say.  A lot of those shows just weren't worth doing.

And this isn't to say that Joe doesn't have a point of view.  On the website for his podcast http://blog.joerogan.net/# he blogs well and often.  Sometimes it's funny (he is after all a comedian) and sometimes it's a full blown rant, but there's always a point of view.  And that adds to my disappointment and confusion about his podcast as the show was just stoners being boring, ill informed or crazy.

On a technical note, Joe has audio/video equipment and computer hardware/software issues.  Some of the difficulty stems from the fact that Mr. Rogan may be smoking just a little too much pot to be fully functional.  Also, it may be that he just doesn't give a shit.  He seems to have all of the microphones, computers, cameras and streaming software he needs and his friend Brian Redban is usually there to help with it all.  But even together, their grasp of the tech isn't really up to snuff when something goes wrong (and something went wrong on nearly every show I listened to.)

My Rating Scale

Did I enjoy it - BIG NO

Would I listen to the next one - Seems unlikely

Would I recommend it to a friend - nope, sorry.