Joe Rogan Experience Review podcast - 525 The Return of the JRE Companion and ED

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to the Joe Rogan Experience Review. What a bizarre thing we've created. Now with your hosts, Adam Thorns. This might either be the worst podcast. We're the best one at the time. One go. Enjoy the show. Hey, guys.

Starting point is 00:00:15 I want to take a few minutes to talk about somebody who has become a real part of the Jerry ecosystem. And also somebody who has become a genuine friend of mine over the years. And that's Ed from the Jerry companion Instagram page. I'm sure you've seen it. So I've been running the Joe Rogan Experience Review podcast since 2018. And we were one of the first podcast dedicated entirely to breaking down Rogan's episodes, reviewing the guests, the conversations, the themes, the cultural impact, all of it. And it was back in 2021 that our show exploded.

Starting point is 00:00:55 We became one of the biggest podcasts in the world, which is not since we just review another podcast. We hit number six on the Apple podcast charts in the United States, which was honestly surreal, considering the whole thing started from me just genuinely loving the JRE and wanting to talk about it. And over the years, there are certain people inside the Rogan ecosystem you begin to notice. People who consistently add value. People who elevate the experience for fans. People who genuinely care about the community around the show. Well, Ed is one of those people.

Starting point is 00:01:40 I've known Ed since about early January of 2023. I actually wish I had the exact follow account from that day because it would be amazing to compare where the page was then versus where it is now. I think if I remember it was like maybe in the 20s of thousands, maybe later, I'd have to check with Ed, but publicly the page now is sitting around about 374 or 5,000 followers, which is immense. It's just incredible for a fan run account. But honestly, the growth makes complete sense. Because what Ed built with Jerry, is not just another fan page.

Starting point is 00:02:28 There are thousands of clip pages online now. Everybody reposts Rogan clips, it seems like. Everybody grabs moments from episodes and throws captions over them. But the Dairy Companion became something completely different. The page actually enhances the experience of listening to a Rogan episode. Joe and his guests are constantly pulling things up during episodes. videos, animal clips, historical footage, scientific studies, UFC moments, weird internet rabbit holes, photos, articles, ancient civilizations, big foot stuff, whatever insane thing the

Starting point is 00:03:09 conversation lands on that day. And Ed had the vision to build a companion experience around that. He basically created a visual extension to the podcast itself. That sounds sense. Simple when you say quickly, but anybody who creates content knows how much work that actually is. Episode after episode year after year, Ed has been tracking references, clipping visuals, organizing information, finding exact moments, building posts, and essentially helping millions of Rogan listeners experience the show on another level. And he's done it consistently. That consistency is what separates people online. That's why his page stands out so clearly above almost every other Rogan fan page.

Starting point is 00:04:05 In my opinion, there's honestly no other comparison. Nobody has done it better. The page doesn't feel lazy. It doesn't feel spammy. It doesn't feel like somebody chasing clicks. It feels like someone who genuinely loves the show and respects the audience enough to put real effort into what they make. And clearly Rogan recognizes that too.

Starting point is 00:04:28 Joe reposts Ed stuff all the time. He's mentioned him directly on the podcast. He clearly knows who he is and appreciates the work. And when you think about how massive Rogan's audience is, for a fan page to break through the noise like that, says a lot. It says what works matters. But behind all the clips and all the clips, and all the posts and all the growth is a real human being.

Starting point is 00:04:55 And recently, Ed has been going through a serious health battle. I'm not going to overstep into his private life or tell his story for him beyond what's publicly known, but I will say this. The fight he's had to put in has been incredibly difficult. I've done my best to stay in contact with him throughout all of this, as best I can, checking in, talking when possible, just trying to support a friend going through something heavy. And anybody who's dealt with the major health problems understands this. Recovery becomes your full-time job.

Starting point is 00:05:35 People see updates online and maybe think, oh good, he seems better. But they don't see the exhaustion, the stress, the uncertainty, the financial pressure, the emotional toll, the endless grind of trying to get you. your life and health back. And the reality is, fights like this are expensive. Ed, like everybody else, is a made of money. And what makes this especially important to me is the fact that Ed never built the JRE companion as a giant monetizing machine. He doesn't ask people for money to run the page. He's not constantly trying to squeeze the audience for profit. He's simply shown up consistently for years because he genuinely cares about the Rogan community.

Starting point is 00:06:24 And honestly, I respect the hell out of that. I've personally been very fortunate. Reviewing Rogan changed my life in many ways. I've been lucky enough to actually make money from the podcast and from covering the Jerry world. Not every fan creator gets that opportunity. A lot of these people are contributing because they simply love the culture around the show.

Starting point is 00:06:48 Ed is one of those people. So if you've been a listener of my podcast over the years and you feel like supporting what we do here, what I would genuinely ask is that you do it by supporting Ed. So the ask is, go visit the Jerry Companion page and contribute to his GoFumme. Even $5 genuinely goes a long way. Seriously.

Starting point is 00:07:13 People underestimate what collective support can do. $5 from enough people becomes real help. And beyond the money, it sends a message. It tells us somebody, hey, what you built matter to us, we appreciate you, and we're rooting for you. And right now, that support matters. The good news is Ed is on the mend. He started posting again recently, which is awesome to see. And honestly, it's been a huge morale boost.

Starting point is 00:07:48 not just for him, but for everybody around him. It's great seeing him active again. Great seeing him slowly getting back into his rhythm. But the road back to full health is still going to be long. And I think this whole thing lines up perfectly with something Rogan himself talks about constantly, which is helping your friends, supporting your community, and showing up for people when they're going through difficult times. not just talking about values to actually living them. So let's show them some support. Go follow the Jerry companion if somehow you don't already.

Starting point is 00:08:29 Share the GoFundMe. Throw in a few bucks if you can. Even a small amount helps. And Ed, if you're listening, brother, I love you man. I'm proud of you for continuing to fight through all this. I'll continue to support you and stay in contact as best I can. and we are all looking forward to finally having you on the show so you can speak directly to the fans yourself

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Starting point is 00:11:35 It was about three hours long. Rizzer was on promoting his new film One Spoon of Chocolate, which premiered May 1st. Riz are obviously founding member of the Wu-Tang clan, rapper, producer, composer, well, I guess filmmaker. And now part of Wu-Tang's 26th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction year, about time they get in. You know, this was not a chaotic episode. This was not one of those Rogan episodes where Joe was just trying to wrestle with conversations into politics, media criticism or COVID or whatever the current online firestorm is. This felt more relaxed. It felt like two guys who've known each other for a while just checking in,

Starting point is 00:12:18 talking about life, discipline, fame, aging, and then somehow ending up in a conversation about diamonds and whether women would be okay with lab-grown diamonds if it was chemically the same. Big topics. Classic Rogan. The interesting thing about Rizzo on Rogan is that it brings a very different kind of energy

Starting point is 00:12:40 that a lot of guess. He's calm, reflective, and clearly quite a spiritual guy, but not in the fake kind of Instagram way. There's depth there. He's a guy who's lived through real chaos, real success, real pressure, and real creative intensity. Wu Tang didn't come out of marketing departments. It came out of poverty, Staten Island, martial arts films, street life, hunger, and, let's be fair, And Riza has always been the architect of that world. That's what makes him interesting.

Starting point is 00:13:20 He isn't just a rapper. He's a builder. Wu-Tang was not just a group. It was a universe. It had sound, language, altered egos, kung fu samples, comic book energy. It's always been cool as hell. And this strange spiritual grit to it. Rizzo didn't just produce beats.

Starting point is 00:13:41 He built a mythology that people care a lot about over the decades. I've been a huge fan of Wu-Tang forever. And you feel a lot of that in this episode. It starts out with Rizzer asking Rogan if he still does all the practices that makes him Joe Rogan, basically going over float tanks and his workouts, hyperbaric chambers, martial arts. You know, I think he was really just trying to like key in. in on like the disciplines that makes Rogan Rogan. And, you know, it's interesting.

Starting point is 00:14:19 I haven't heard Rogan bring up the float tank all that much in a while. And it just reminds him in my days when I lived in Venice. And I got to go to the, what was it called Venice Float Lab? That was it. And that place is run by this guy called Crash, who Rogan invested in, actually. and this guy makes like the dopest float tank you can imagine you can actually buy they're like 50 grand and rogan has one at his studio so it's cool that riz are kind of honed in on that joe admits that actually buying one of those and also having a hyperbaric chamber of course he has

Starting point is 00:15:02 the coolest shit you can imagine i wonder what one of those hyperbaric chambers runs it seems like an extreme thing to have at your house. I don't know. Joe kind of circles back to like why he does those things and like obviously both these guys are very busy, very famous and you can kind of get caught up in that lifestyle to where the momentum of it all just kind of keeps you going. And, you know, obviously people are dragging you into projects left and right. I can't imagine how many projects people want Rogan and Rizza to be doing all the time. So when Rogan reflects on taking a step back and just saying, why do I even do any of this anyway? And how he gets in that space is by using things like the float tank and probably his workouts too, just kind of grounding himself in

Starting point is 00:16:02 his true purpose, you know, instead of like letting the success just create all this drift and, you know, wear your routines with this appeal, you just get caught up and everything that's been going on. Obviously, Rogan has been on this level of fame for many decades, so he has good balance in that direction. But, you know, not a lot of other very famous people do. I think they get very carried away by it. And that's something that when guests come on or people talk about Rogan, they often will ask him about, like, how he stays the way that he does. And I think it's something that a lot of them admire.

Starting point is 00:16:49 It seems to have been pretty natural to him. He also really draws that back to all his years doing martial arts. It seems like that and his physical training. It's like that is the grounding principle that keeps him focused in that direction. Rizard discussed as some of his Shaolin philosophy, which is pretty cool to hear. And yeah, I didn't know that he was a vegan too. Been a vegan for like a very long time. It's quite funny that Rogam was trying to persuade him to eat eggs and giving a case

Starting point is 00:17:27 for why eggs are, how did he put it, like guilt-free food? I honestly think there's probably a pretty good argument that vegans could eat eggs. I don't know. He said he eats a little bit of butter every now and again. He doesn't mind that. But, you know, when no animals are dying, isn't that okay? Unless you feel like it's stealing from chickens. And that's a problem.

Starting point is 00:17:52 Who knows? also one of my favorite parts of this episode is that Rizzo would stop every probably 15 minutes and run his own ad for his movie promo and honestly it was great I thought it was hilarious Rogan was loving it yeah his movie sounds interesting ex-military convict trying to rebuild his life small town violence like different clips from different eras and times and you can't really tell where it's jumping around. I mean, you can imagine that anything that Quentin Tarantino has, you know, is involved in is going to be super interesting. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to checking that out. I've got to find a theater around here that plays it. I'm sure one does. I mean, I just moved down to Dallas. There's plenty here. And it was really cool to hear like how seriously Rizzo takes filmmaking and writing.

Starting point is 00:18:53 and how many movies he's done. It's cool to have like these very creative people jump genres almost, you know, go from music, which let's be honest, he's mastered, over to film and kind of bring all of his interests and passions in that direction. It's very, very cool. And, you know, the fact that Quentin Tarantino wants to get involved with him says, you know, this isn't just a hobby for him. Like he's very good at it for somebody of that caliber to take him as seriously is Quentin Wood to work on a movie with him.

Starting point is 00:19:32 They jump around kind of all over the place talking about lab-grown diamonds versus real diamonds, what the value of objects really means, does it make a difference? They even talk about, and this is something I haven't thought about for a while, but like replica watches and how they can make basically any watch. a replica version for like $1,500 that would be, you know, like Joe's $10,000 $1,000 amegas. And while I was listening to that, I was thinking, I guarantee that the replica market is about to sell out on these watches.

Starting point is 00:20:12 There's no doubt. It's like if Brogan just brings up some of those restaurants that he was talking about, I guess Rizzer has an office that used to be near Joe's old studio. and they talked about some Mexican joint over there and some other places. I mean, they're about to sell out for months. It's probably good and bad for those restaurants. They probably love it. But then all of a sudden, like, holy shit, there is way too many people here for sure.

Starting point is 00:20:39 The online reception for this episode was solid. I mean, people love Riza. They felt like it was just chill. It was fun. You know, it kind of had a bit of the vibe of when Snoop Dog came on. Not as silly, but just like laid back and fun. But there were a little bit of unlike criticism. People wanted more Wu-Tang history, kind of more early day stories of, you know, how the band was created and what went on there.

Starting point is 00:21:11 And really just kind of more music talk, I think, is what I'm reading. I honestly felt like the conversation was smooth. They covered what they needed to. it was a solid Jerry all around. I gave this episode of 8 out of 10. You know, it was a strong guest, relaxed atmosphere, thoughtful conversation. It wasn't legendary, you know, like it probably did lack a little bit of deeper Wutang exploration, but it was a solid listen.

Starting point is 00:21:38 And really, the takeaway is if you're a fan of Riza, definitely get out and see his movie in the theater. That's where he wants you to see it. It's only going to encourage him to make more. movies and I've got a feeling this one's going to be a banger, especially because he put so many promo ads in the least we could do is that. If not, wait till it's on streaming, which won't be too long. If I can't find in the theatre, I'm going to have no choice but to go stream it, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to and get some popcorn. Get out there, get some popcorn. Enjoy the movie in the old style way that we all used to go do before, I guess, COVID kind of just

Starting point is 00:22:19 destroyed all that. Let's bring it back. I mean, times of the movies are great memories for everybody. It's just iconic to get in front of the screen and sit there, eat your candy, your popcorn, your giant drink, it's all massively overpriced, or maybe you smuggled in some candy, which I suggest. But anyway, we appreciate you listening to this solo episode of me rambling on. My co-host will be back later in the week, and we'll review a couple of others, but thanks for listening. Also, go check out. Ed's GoFundMe. And for that, we thank you. Later.

Joe Rogan Experience Review podcast - 525 The Return of the JRE Companion and ED

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