Here's How Joe Rogan Got His Fear Factor Job
Regardless of your personal opinion of Joe Rogan, there's no denying that the guy's doing pretty well for himself. He's gone from casually ruining Carlos Mencia to making an estimated $75,000 per episode of his podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience ... which is actually peanuts, when you consider his estimated net worth of a whopping $50 million. His eclectic career path has taken him from standup stages to The Man Show, NewsRadio, UFC commentating, and peddling pro-pot attitudes with a hefty side order of conspiracy theories.
But hey, didn't that quick rundown of his CV miss something? What about the gig that arguably made his name: His role as Frank Valente in 1994's Hardball? We're kidding, of course. Joe Rogan's TV career and his ringside commentator persona perfectly intertwined in Fear Factor, the legendary dare game show that he hosted from 2001 to 2006, and then again in 2011 and 2012. Have you ever wondered what he did to get the gig where he was actually paid for watching horrified people eat cockroaches and questionable organs? Well, wonder no more! Here's how Joe Rogan got his Fear Factor job.
Joe Rogan did it for the money
In an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience (via Bro Bible), Rogan discussed the subject of how he ended up with his Fear Factor job with his guest, comedian Christina Pazsitzky. It's easy to imagine that Rogan would have been ready to do anything for such a cozy gig, but as it turns out, he couldn't even be bothered to take the show's premise seriously. In fact, he admits that he was high as a kite when he had his meeting with NBC bigwigs. Rogan then proceeded to mock the show's very premise: "This is the most insane idea for a television show that I've ever heard," he said. "this is going to be canceled immediately."
While the show was indeed eventually canceled, Rogan thinks that his joking approach was the very reason he ended up as its host in the first place. "The reason why I got the gig is because I made fun of it," he says.