#2480 - Arsenio Hall

Arsenio Hall, at 70, looks like he could be 45. He is happy, he says, in a way he wasn't during the peak of his fame. The conversation with Joe Rogan moves through the mechanics of stand-up comedy, the evolution of late-night television, the corrupting influence of money in politics, and the wisdom of simplicity that Hall learned too late from Richard Pryor.

The Craft of Comedy: Freedom, Failure, and the Phone Bag

A central thread of the conversation is the necessity of creative freedom for a stand-up comedian. Hall and Rogan agree that the practice of locking audience phones in Yondr pouches has been transformative for the art form. Rogan explains that the policy, which he implemented at his club the Mothership, allows comedians to "fuck around and experiment" without fear of a half-baked or failed bit ending up on YouTube. Hall notes that this freedom is essential because stand-up is the only art form that must be created in front of a live audience. "You can get ideas and the concepts and the flesh of it alone," Rogan says, "but you have to it comes alive in front of the crowd. You have to be able to fuck around." The conversation also touches on the role of substances in the creative process. Rogan describes how cannabis can enhance body awareness during weightlifting and jiu-jitsu, making him "more sensitive" to the tissues and connections in his body. But both men a