Joe Rogan

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This article is about the comedian and actor. For the baseball pitcher known as "Bullet Joe", see Bullet Rogan.

Joe Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American comedian and actor best known for his role as host on the TV game/reality program Fear Factor.

Rogan is also a martial arts expert, proficient in Taekwondo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and is a color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Contents 1 Early career 2 Television career 3 Comedy Recordings 4 Additional information 5 External links

[edit] Early career

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Rogan was raised in Revere, Massachusetts.

After only two years, Rogan earned a black belt at age 15, and achieved a degree of fame as a four-time state Taekwondo champion. In 1987, he won the American Open Tae Kwon Do Championship according to certain records, although there is no evidence of this on the All American Open Tae Kwon Do website, who lists Tony Blanchard as the 1987 champion (lawsuit pending), and later, as a lightweight champion, went on to beat the middleweight and heavyweight title-holders to obtain the Grand Championship.

Rogan has been training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for many years and was recently awarded his brown belt by Eddie Bravo.

[edit] Television career

In 1995, Joe Rogan was cast as the office handyman on the sitcom Newsradio. He stayed on the show until it was cancelled in 1999. Rogan's character ("Joe Garelli") was partly modelled on Rogan's own personality and characteristics.

Since 2001, Rogan has been the host of NBC's Fear Factor, a reality show that pits six contestants against one another in various stunts. One memorable episode, in which the contestants were reality show stars, depicted Rogan in a scuffle with Jonathan Baker. Seeming to act in self-defence, Rogan placed Baker in a Thai clinch, which is usually combined with upward kneeing to the face — Rogan did not follow through with this.

Rogan has been a post-fight interviewer with the Ultimate Fighting Championship since 1997, and has been a color commentator since 2002.

In 2003, after the departure of hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla from Comedy Central's The Man Show, Joe Rogan along with comic Doug Stanhope attempted to take the show in a darker direction. However, this change didn't sit well with the viewers, and the ratings sharply declined resulting in the show's demise.

He will also be touring with John Heffron and Charlie Murphy in Maxim and Bud Light's Real Men of Comedy tour.

[edit] Comedy Recordings

• DVDs: Live from the Belly of the Beast
• CDs: I'm Gonna Be Dead Someday.

[edit] Additional information

• Rogan is a regular at the Comedy Store in West Hollywood, California
• Rogan had a 1970 'Cuda, dubbed "Sick Fish", customized by Rad Rides by Troy. An episode of "Rides" followed the customization.
• According to cast commentary on the NewsRadio seasons 1 and 2 DVD set, Rogan suffers from the skin disease Vitiligo.
• Rogan is a user and enthusiast of psychedelic drugs. Rogan once took the drug Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and, while under the influence, claims he had profound experiences of communicating with alien beings. [1]
• Rogan is notorious as an outspoken opponent of joke thieves in the stand-up comedy business. He has often feuded with comedian Carlos Mencia, claiming that Mencia steals jokes and lies about his ethnic background (Carlos is German/Honduran, not Mexican, and his real name is Ned, not Carlos). Mikey (of the San Diego based The Mikey Show), tried to mediate this conflict between Rogan and Mencia, but Rogan refused to appear on the show with Mencia (as reported by Rogan on his Loveline appearance, June 6, 2006). [2] Rogan has also repeatedly accused Dane Cook of stealing from him, as well as from Louis CK.
• Rogan and movie actor Wesley Snipes (a fellow martial arts enthusiast) were in negotiations in late 2005 to fight a mixed martial arts match in the UFC, however, no deal has been made. [3]
• Rogan appeared in an episode of Chappelle's Show in which Tyrone Biggums was a successful contestant on Fear Factor.
• On September 4, 2006 after the death of Steve Irwin ("The Crocodile Hunter"), Rogan stated on the forums of his official website "The world loses a nutty animal guy, my act gains 10 minutes. I really don't see a loss here". He later removed the remark explaining that it was "a dumb throw away comment" [4]. On September 5, 2006 he posted a more in-depth piece about Irwin on the main page of his site. [5]
• He is second cousins with Gerard and Mikey Way from the band My Chemical Romance.
• Rogan is a frequent contributor to the forums at MMA.tv.
• He is also half brothers with Bryan Callen on his father's side.
• Has said that he finds Chris Rock to be the most talented comedian presently.

[edit] External links

• JoeRogan.net — Official Site
• Fear Factor — Official Site