#1249 - Donnell Rawlings

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

Oh, shit, fuck that shit.

Joe Rogan (0:03)

The things fall off, those pieces of shit. See, this one, you're too fancy, bro. Yeah, they get too fancy. Yeah, whatever, this one, we got another one. What, we're live already?

Whoops, sorry. Cheers, sir.

Donnell Rawlings (0:19)

Thank you.

Joe Rogan (0:20)

My pleasure, my pleasure.

Donnell, we were talking about the different kinds of comedians that there really are. Like meme comedians, they're comedians. They have a special skill set. It's a different thing.

Donnell Rawlings (0:33)

They have a special skill set. In fact, one of my closest friends, Bearded Humor, he's like, I would say, if he was a stand-up comic, he would probably be in my top five in terms of creativity, in terms of talking about things in the moment and just all-out funny. You know, the skill set for stand-up comedy used to be, I started 25 years ago, used to be the only way you proved yourself as a person with any type of comedic integrity when I was on stage standing flat-footed in front of an audience that you probably don't want you to be funny or have no idea you're going to be funny.

But these mean people in Photoshop, especially because our attention is so quick and so drawn to social media, I don't even know if people are as excited about stand-up as they used to be, and now it's excited about what's going to be the newest thing, what's going to be the hottest photo, the Photoshop and what's going to be the hottest image.

Joe Rogan (1:29)

Well, that's the easiest to get, right? It's easier to get it on your phone. You get those images, the Photoshop and the memes that are funny that hit you immediately. But I think right now, especially when you go to the store, don't you think there's more people interested in stand-up now than ever?

Donnell Rawlings (1:42)

Yeah, but we're in a tricky place now. People are interested in it, but people are more critical of stand-up now more than ever. There used to be a time when you could just say what you wanted, and people would say that person was outspoken, outraged, but they were themselves.

But now you tell one joke, one blogger, one troller, dissects your jokes and prints your jokes. Don't do the setup, don't do the callback, don't do the tag, and next thing you know, you offended somebody.

Joe Rogan (2:16)

Yeah.

Donnell Rawlings (2:17)

But I think with a lot of events that happened today, that are happening now, comedy is going to start taking a shift back to people with honest voices.

Joe Rogan (2:27)

I think so too. I think there's a direct backlash to political correct thinking and the type of policing that you're seeing.

Donnell Rawlings (2:37)

And you're being policed?

I understand policing stuff in the Catholic Church, policing stuff in the regular church, but you go to a comedy club to police, you're in the wrong place. And nine times out of ten, people that go to a comedy show, they'll walk out and protest, their mindset was to protest before they even went there. They're just waiting for the trigger word, just like, well, I never, and they'll leave.

Joe Rogan (3:01)

Well, it's a way to get a lot of attention. You know, being outraged at something, especially if you kind of have a point, like if you could articulate that point, it's a great way to get attention.

Donnell Rawlings (3:10)

With the people, the trollers and the people that...

Joe Rogan (3:12)

Yeah, I mean, there's a giant market for that. Like if you think of like, if you're a comic and you're a famous comic and you're outspoken, you know, and someone could take your bit and take it apart like they've done with Chappelle many times, right?

Donnell Rawlings (3:25)

Chappelle owns it so much. I was just with him, I've never seen a guy that flips our sets over, like he's just writing another five minute bit.

Joe Rogan (3:33)

It's weird, right?

Donnell Rawlings (3:34)

But the thing is now, I've watched some of his new stuff and things he's doing now, he's going to lead the charge for comedians having a voice. I did a show with him at The Store recently, and at the end of it, he said, comedians now more than ever, you need to grab your balls because it's our job to talk about the things that are bad in this world.

And we are the best people for it.

Joe Rogan (3:56)

Well, it's the last line of free speech.

It's the last real line of free speech because you don't have a real boss. Like when you go on stage, no one gives you a single word of direction. That's a very unusual place to be in, in terms of entertainment. And it's something that reaches, especially with someone like Dave, millions and millions and millions of people. Every time he does a Netflix special, every time he does anything that's filmed, it's going to hit millions of people.