Joe Rogan is an American comedian, actor, podcast host, and color commentator for mixed martial arts (MMA). He is famous for his stand-up comedy sets, and his podcast ‘The Joe Rogan Experience.’
Wiki/Biography
Joseph James Rogan a.k.a. Joe Rogan was born on Friday, August 11, 1967 (age 53 years; as of 2020) in Newark, New Jersey, U.S. His zodiac sign is Leo. Joe was eleven years old when his parents decided to settle in Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts. He attended Newton South High School to complete his schooling. At the age of fourteen, he took up karate and became a four-time full-contact taekwondo state champion. Joe won the U.S. Open Taekwondo Championship when he was 19. Later, he stopped fighting because of constant headaches, and he feared that it would get worse with time. He attended the University of Massachusetts but dropped out early.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Eye Color: Black
Hair Color: Bald
Family & Ethnicity
Joe Rogan’s father had his ancestral roots in Ireland. Joe mentioned that he is 3/4 Italian and 1/4 Irish in a tweet on his Twitter account.
Parents & Siblings
Joe’s father’s name is Joseph, and he is a retired police officer living in New Jersey. His mother was a free-spirited person and she consumed alcohol and cannabis products. They got divorced when he was five years old. Later, his mother got remarried to a hippie guy, and reportedly, used to visit a gay couple next door, and they all would get naked and play bongos and smoke pot.
Wife & Children
Joe Rogan got married to Jessica Ditzel in 2009. She was a former cocktail waitress. The couple has two daughters together. Jessica also has a daughter from her previous marriage, Kayja Rose.
Joe Rogan with his wife, Jessica Ditzel, and daughters
Jessica Rogan with her daughter, Kayja Rose
Signature/Autograph
Joe Rogan’s autograph
Career
Joe Rogan planned on starting his career in kickboxing; however, his friends asked him to try his hand at stand-up comedy as Joe often made fun of people by doing their mimicry. The first performance done by him was on August 27, 1988, at an open-mic night at Stitches Comedy Club, Boston. As he was working on improving his stand-up comedy sets, Joe Rogan also shuffled between several jobs like teaching martial arts, delivering the newspaper, driving a limousine, doing construction work, and working as a driver for a private investigator. Joe decided to move to New York City to become a full-time comedian in 1990.
Joe Rogan performing at a local comedy club in 1990
Television
Joe Rogan made his debut in 1994 with FOX sitcom ‘Hardball.’ In 1995, he was roped in to be a part of the NBC sitcom ‘News Radio’ as Joe Garrelli, an electrician and a handyman who worked at the radio station. According to Rogan, acting was an easy job and helped him make good money but he got tired of playing the same character every week. In 1997, Rogan began working as backstage and post-fight interviewer for the mixed martial arts league, Ultimate Fighting Championship. Two years later, Rogan decided to quit his job as his salary could not cover the expenses of traveling to the events. In 2001, the president of UFC Dana White offered him to become a full-time commentator. Later, in 2011, he was asked to become the host of the stunt game show ‘Fear Factor.’ He worked on the show till 2006, and his presence on the show helped with increasing the number of people who attended his stand-up gigs.
In 2002, Joe was roped in to be a part of the American sitcom ‘Just Shoot Me.’ In 2005, Joe Rogan was hired as the announcer for The Ultimate Fighter. Joe has hosted several events for the UFC franchise while working for his stand-up comedy specials.
Movies & Documentaries
Joe Rogan has worked in several movies like It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas (2002), Zookeeper (2011), Here Comes The Boom (2012), and Bright (2017). Joe Rogan has also hosted and worked in several documentaries like ‘The Union: The Business Behind Getting High’ and ‘American Drug War: The Last White Hope’ in 2007.
Joe Rogan and Kevin James in a still from Zookeeper (2011)
Comedy Specials
Joe Rogan moved to New York City in 1990 to pursue a career in stand-up comedy. He recorded his first stand-up comedy special in December 1999, and it was released with the title ‘I’m Gonna Be Dead Some Day’ in August 2000. In May 2005, he signed a contract with a talent agency, and two months later, he recorded ‘Joe Rogan: Live’ in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2006, Joe began his comedy tour across states with his friends, and he hired two full-time videographers to film the shows and use those tapes for his website.
Poster of Joe Rogan Live
He released his fourth comedy special ‘Shiny Happy Jihad’ in 2007. In 2011, he was asked to become the host for the final season of the stunt show. Later that year, he recorded his sixth comedy special ‘Joe Rogan: Live from the Tabernacle,’ and released it on his website for $5.
Poster of ‘Joe Rogan Live From The Tabernacle’
The Joe Rogan Experience
Joe Rogan introduced a free podcast with his fellow comedian friend Brian Redban. The podcast went live in December 2009, and the duo recorded their first episode on 24 December. The podcast became famous and made a place for itself in the top 100 podcasts on iTunes. Joe invites people from all sorts of backgrounds on his podcast where they talk about current events, conspiracy theories, businesses, comedy, hobbies, and several other topics. The podcast received over 16 million downloads every month in October 2015.
Poster of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast
After successfully running the podcast for so many years; On May 19, 2020, Rogan signed a multi-year licensing deal with the online music streaming platform, Spotify. This is one of the largest licensing agreements in the podcast business with an estimated value of $100 million. The podcast was made exclusive on the platform from January 2021 onwards, and the video version of the podcast will be available on YouTube.
Awards, Honours & Achievements
- MMA Personality of the Year in 2020
- MMA Personality of the Year in 2017
- MMA Personality of the Year in 2016
- MMA Personality of the Year in 2015
- MMA Personality of the Year in 2014
- MMA Personality of the Year in 2012
- MMA Personality of the Year in 2011
- Best Television Announcer in 2010 and 2011
Controversies
- Joe Rogan’s podcast ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ got featured on the audio streaming giant Spotify. Ever since it was made a Spotify exclusive, the streaming company has been reviewing the episodes and some of the episodes were removed from the platform. Around 42 episodes were removed from the platform for various reasons including four episodes recorded with comedian Chris D’Elia who was facing charges of ‘grooming’ underage girls and for soliciting child pornography. [1]Huff Post
- In September 2020, Joe Rogan was name tagged as transphobic by the LGBTQ+ community after he made some comments on one of his podcasts. People of the LGBTQ+ community asked Spotify to review the episode and remove it. Later, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek came forward to defend Joe Rogan and said that the episode was reviewed by a team of experts and they believed that the episode was following the content guidelines of the audio streaming platform. [2]VICE
- The Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, faced backlash from the LGBTQ+ community after he accepted the endorsement offered by Joe Rogan. In one of his podcast episodes, Joe Rogan said that he would vote for Bernie Sanders, and a clip of this podcast was shared by Bernie Sanders on his Twitter account. This move was criticized by the LGBTQ+ community as they had labeled Joe Rogan as transphobic because of certain comments he made in the past. [3]BBC
- In April 2021, comedian Ali Macofsky was invited as a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast where she talked about the American YouTuber Trisha Paytas. She told Joe Rogan that Trisha has an OnlyFans account to which Joe responded by asking his staff to get a picture of Trisha in a bikini. After looking at the picture, he mocked her. In response to this, Trisha posted a video in response to Joe Rogan’s comment.
dear Joe Rogan… https://t.co/ORp5VXhF9v via @YouTube
— Trisha Paytas (@trishapaytas) April 14, 2021
Political Perspective
Joe Rogan has been described as a ‘libertarian-leaning by CNN. Joe Rogan supports same-sex marriage, gay rights, women right’s, and he supports the usage of recreational drugs for medical and psychological purposes. On the other hand, he also supports gun rights and the Second Amendment under which a person can keep arms and ammunition.
Joe Rogan holding a rifle
Thoughts on drugs and spirituality
Joe Rogan is vocal about the legalization of the consumption of cannabis, and he believes that these substances can have several benefits. Over the years, Joe Rogan has done several documentaries regarding the usage of cannabis. Joe Rogan was the host of the Canadian documentary film ‘The Union: The Business Behind Getting High.’ The documentary explored the growth, sale, and trafficking of cannabis by interviewing the growers, police officers, doctors, etc. Joe Rogan has featured in documentaries like ‘Marijuana: A Chronic History’ and ‘The Culture High.’
Joe Rogan also uses isolation tanks for mediation and sensory deprivation. The time spent by him in the isolation tanks has helped him become more aware of his surroundings and capabilities, which has helped him improve his performance in several activities.
Car Collection
- Plymouth Barracuda
Joe Rogan with his Plymouth Barracuda
- Tesla Model S
- BMW M3
- 1965 Custom Corvette Stingray
Joe Rogan with Jay Leno and his custom 1965 Corvette Stingray
- Hennessey Velociraptor 600
Joe Rogan with his Hennessey Velociraptor 600
- Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Joe Rogan with his Porsche GT3 RS
Facts/Trivia
- Joe Rogan received a black belt in 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu on June 26, 2012, in California.
- In conversation with Jamar Neighbors during a podcast episode, Joe Rogan made a statement saying that he won’t get the Covid-19 vaccine. He said-
No . I mean, I would if I felt like I needed it. I just feel like if you maintain your health—and I think for some people it’s important, for some people it’s good.”
- Joe Rogan has a pet golden retriever named Marshall Mae Rogan.
Joe Rogan with his dog, Marshall Mae Rogan
- Joe Rogan’s parents got divorced when he was young and since then he has not seen his father. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Joe Rogan said-
All I remember of my dad,” he says, “are these brief, violent flashes of domestic violence. And when I was five, I had a fight with one of my cousins — punched him in the face over something stupid. My dad pulled me aside and when I told him the truth, he was happy that I punched my cousin. But I don’t want to complain about my childhood. Nothing bad ever really happened to me. He was just a very violent, scary guy.”
- Joe Rogan follows a strict fitness routine and spends a few hours in the gym every day. He also injects himself with testosterone and human growth hormone every week to improve his health. He takes the focus improving drug, Nuvigil to keep himself energetic and focus throughout the day. Joe starts his day with a smoothie that has spinach, kale, celery, garlic, ginger, an apple, and coconut oil in it.
- Joe Rogan is a supporter of recreational drugs and psychedelic drugs and his all-time favorite is dimethyltryptamine a.k.a. DMT.
- Joe Rogan attended a Catholic School in first grade and he was raised a Roman Catholic. However, he does not follow any religion.
- Joe Rogan has several tattoos on both of his arms.
Joe Rogan’s tattoos on his arms
- In September 2020, Joe Rogan spent $14 million for a lakefront estate in Austin, Texas. The estate has eight bedrooms and ten bathrooms. The property was renovated by the previous owner and architect, Benjamin Wood before it was handed over to Joe Rogan.
