#1378 - Greg Fitzsimmons

Joe Rogan (0:00)

Three, two, one.

Greg Fitzsimmons (0:05)

Joseph!

Joe Rogan (0:06)

Sober October's over.

But we were allowed to smoke cigars during Sober October, for whatever reason. But they do get you high.

Greg Fitzsimmons (0:13)

They do give you a nice little buzz.

Joe Rogan (0:15)

They do. It's weird that that's like thought of as being a sobriety thing.

Greg Fitzsimmons (0:22)

Is it really?

Joe Rogan (0:22)

I mean, if you're smoking, people smoke cigarettes when they're sober.

Greg Fitzsimmons (0:26)

Yeah.

Joe Rogan (0:26)

All those fucking AA guys, right? Those guys were always.

Greg Fitzsimmons (0:30)

Those guys will tell you you can't have a non-alcoholic beer, which I do. I even had a drink. It'll be fucking 30 years next month that I haven't had a drink.

Joe Rogan (0:44)

Didn't you have like one or two when Meany died?

Greg Fitzsimmons (0:47)

When Meany died, I had some scotch.

Joe Rogan (0:50)

That's a weird one, right?

Greg Fitzsimmons (0:52)

I didn't get drunk, but I had like a few shots.

Joe Rogan (0:56)

Did you like feel weird about that? It had been all those years.

Greg Fitzsimmons (1:01)

I think I felt so weird about him being dead that the whole thing felt surreal anyway. And I haven't really, haven't had the desire, I can't say I can't have the desire. It's more of just like, you feel like there's times where you want to just do what everybody else is doing and just chill out. And you see everybody getting more mellow and relaxed and social.

And especially if I'm in a situation where, you know, it's a bunch of people I don't know that well, maybe it's your kids, friends, parent kind of situation.

Joe Rogan (1:35)

Nice glass of wine to take the edge off.

But you did the couple glasses of scotch and then you didn't go right back to it. Like you became a 21 year old drunk Greg again.

Greg Fitzsimmons (1:48)

Right.

Well, a lot of it has to do with my father. And he was an alcoholic. And I saw his depression. I have the same depression as he does. And I felt like when I drank, it wasn't always for fun. It was a lot of times it was like dealing with feelings and bullshit like that. And so I saw him as an unhappy guy who was unfulfilled in a lot of ways. And I saw the alcohol was a big part of why his life wasn't what it could have been. And I just sort of feel like maybe I could drink, but maybe I can't.

Why fuck with it?

Joe Rogan (2:29)

No, why fuck with it? I'll tell you what, man.

I just got done with a whole month of being sober. And then I had my first drinks this weekend. I felt like shit.

Greg Fitzsimmons (2:39)

No kidding.

Joe Rogan (2:40)

I felt like shit.

I had a couple of glasses of wine, went to play pool, and I was having a hard time focusing on the ball. I was looking at the ball, and I was like, three glasses of wine?

Greg Fitzsimmons (2:50)

Yeah.

Joe Rogan (2:50)

That's all it takes? Three glasses of wine? I'm having a hard time seeing?

It took like, because everything's like, oh, just a little off. It took like an hour before my liver processed it enough for I could play pool well again.

Greg Fitzsimmons (3:03)

Do you think you just lost your tolerance?

Joe Rogan (3:08)

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah. I mean, I've never been a big drinker anyway.

But it was interesting doing sets. That's what's always interesting. It's not like a shot before I go on stage. I always like to do a shot of Jack before I go on stage. Just, whoa!

Greg Fitzsimmons (3:22)

That's a standard for you?

Joe Rogan (3:23)

Yeah, a little bit of whiskey.

Greg Fitzsimmons (3:24)

Wow.

Joe Rogan (3:25)

For a big show, just one shot.

Greg Fitzsimmons (3:26)

Bang! Yeah, Brian Regan, one shot of frozen peppermint schnapps before he goes on. Or peach schnapps.

Joe Rogan (3:32)

It gives you like this.

But it's not necessary. You know, it's definitely not. I mean, I did a lot of shows this month. Stone Cold Soba. But it's...

Greg Fitzsimmons (3:45)

Isn't it weird, though, the human condition that we're born with this set of, you know, this brain and these neurological pathways and this relationship to the universe and the people around us, and that we want to, whether it's smoking pot or drinking or taking opiates, we want to change the natural state of our brain.

Isn't that fucking weird?

Because it's all we talk about. All people talk about, dude, what did you do last week? Oh, dude, we got fucked up. I changed my brain. I made myself dumber. All weekend, I made myself dumber.