Sam Morrill — New York stand-up comedian and Comedy Cellar regular known for prolific output, with a Netflix special 'Same Time Tomorrow.'
The gist
Sam Morrill joins Joe Rogan for a loose, comic-heavy conversation centered on stand-up: the brutal early road gigs, old-school club owners, and the comics they idolize from David Tell to Bill Hicks to Patrice O'Neal. They take a long detour through classic cinema, praising the Coen Brothers, Billy Wilder, and Tarantino, before turning to heavier ground on opioids, fentanyl, and the wreckage drugs leave behind. Joe shares memories of Anthony Bourdain, his drinking, and his death, while Sam talks launching his Bodega Cat whiskey and new sports podcast. The episode closes on Texas history, the Comanches, narcissism, and why Austin became a comedy haven.
Big reveals
- Sam admits he can't really drive, charmed his way through the license test, and nearly killed himself and Joe List on a casino road run.
- Sam launches Bodega Cat Spirits rye whiskey with Mark Norman, available at bodegacatspirits.com.
- Joe bailed on buying an Austin comedy club over a $1.2M environmental bio-containment requirement, then built the Comedy Mothership instead.
- Joe reveals an 84-85% success rate betting on UFC fights early on, exploiting bad lines on unknown Japanese and Brazilian fighters.
- Sam's self-produced YouTube special, which everyone passed on, hit 11 million views and drove his road ticket sales.
- Joe recounts Bourdain's drinking, pheasant hunting in Montana, and the friend's suicide.
- Sam announces 'Games with Names,' a new sports-recap podcast co-hosted with Patriots' Julian Edelman.
Things worth remembering
- Fentanyl/opioids cause roughly 100,000 deaths a year and are the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-49.
- Florida's 'OxyContin Express' pain-pill mills had no prescription database; Florida doctors prescribed ten times more oxycodone than every other state combined.
- The Comanches dominated the Southwest for about 200 years by mastering horseback archery against musket-carrying settlers.
- Bert Kreischer hid his pot use from the Travel Channel; Anthony Bourdain also clashed with the network over creative control.
- Robert Schimmel didn't start stand-up until he was 36 and became a renowned dirty-joke craftsman.
- Bill Hicks died around 34 of pancreatic cancer and released albums of himself deliberately bombing for Southern crowds.
- Comedian Keith Robinson still performs after a second stroke, slurring and limping but still murdering crowds.
- Joe spent his 1992 NYC days in pool halls surrounded by degenerate gamblers who'd bet on raindrops racing down a window.
Recommended in this episode
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Bodega Cat Spirits Rye Whiskey
“this is me and mark norman we had some of this the other day i love it i'm very happy with it it's on bodegacatspirits.com if you want to get a bottle” — Joe Rogan 00:47:44Find it on Amazon
Empire of the Summer Moon
S.C. Gwynne (inferred)
“if you want to read about it in this state there's a fucking amazing book called empire the summer moon it's all about the comanches” — Joe Rogan 02:50:04Find it on Amazon
Same Time Tomorrow
Sam Morrill
“the special same time tomorrow it's on netflix right now and thank you so much” — Sam Morrill 03:10:49Find it on Amazon
Games with Names
Sam Morrill
“i do this one with julian this is brand new called games with names and we recap the greatest sports games in history” — Sam Morrill 03:07:41Find it on Amazon
We Might Be Drunk
Sam Morrill
“i do one with mark norman we might be drunk uh where we get drunk a lot” — Sam Morrill 03:07:41Find it on Amazon
Jackie Brown
Quentin Tarantino (inferred)
“jackie brown is the most underrated one i always said i think it's such a great movie it's a great movie” — Sam Morrill 00:08:58Find it on Amazon
Double Indemnity
Billy Wilder (inferred)
“double indemnity is like the best film noir ever maybe oh it's brilliant edward g robinson and fred mcmurray” — Sam Morrill 00:15:42Find it on Amazon
The Apartment
Billy Wilder (inferred)
“the apartment one of the greatest movies of all time lemon's awesome on that point billy wilder maybe the best american director” — Sam Morrill 00:15:11Find it on Amazon
Chinatown
Roman Polanski (inferred)
“you think of like the greatest chinatown is one of the greatest movies ever fantastic movie” — Sam Morrill 00:13:06Find it on Amazon
Back to School
Rodney Dangerfield (inferred)
“back to school is probably my favorite phenomenal movie that's the best the whole scene with his wife leaving” — Sam Morrill 01:55:22Find it on Amazon
Fargo
Coen Brothers (inferred)
“the cone brother fargo is like one of the best movies of all time i think it really is that's a masterpiece” — Sam Morrill 02:49:32Find it on Amazon
No Country for Old Men
Coen Brothers (inferred)
“the one no country for old men javier bardem oh my god that guy's a great monster great fucking movie” — Joe Rogan 02:48:30Find it on Amazon
Old Henry
“tim blake nelson is this in the movie old henry have you seen old henry it's incredible it's fucking great” — Joe Rogan 02:49:01Find it on Amazon
Whiplash
Damien Chazelle (inferred)
“but once you get past that the movie fucking rocks and then he's jonah jameson and spider-man” — Sam Morrill 02:06:15Find it on Amazon
The Larry Sanders Show
Garry Shandling (inferred)
“i've been re-watching larry sanders and he's so fucking funny he's great and everything that's a great show” — Sam Morrill 02:40:13Find it on Amazon
The Hangover
Todd Phillips (inferred)
“i watched the hangover recently that's a great movie so probably the last one it's very hard to make a big budget comedy” — Joe Rogan 02:08:48Find it on Amazon
Elephant in the Room
Patrice O'Neal (inferred)
“elephant in the room was to me like one of the iconic comedy specials because it was hard to capture what was so funny about him” — Sam Morrill 02:23:09Find it on Amazon
30 Rock
Tina Fey (inferred)
“i love alec baldwin like great actor 30 rock is one of the best comic performances of all time” — Sam Morrill 00:14:08Find it on Amazon