Joe Rogan Experience #2116 - Kevin James

Joe Rogan reconnects with Kevin James, a friend from his early standup days, and they trade stories about the 90s comedy scene, the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, and the bidding-war era of sitcom development. The conversation turns personal as Kevin discusses his lifelong struggle with discipline, his stage anxiety, and his need for a 'hype man,' while Joe shares his philosophy of becoming your own internal coach. They go deep on fitness, fasting, supplements, and diet, with Kevin recounting a 41-day fast he did while praying for his daughter. They also discuss the value of community among comedians, the move to Austin, and detail their approaches to jiu-jitsu, training, and managing injuries.

• Kevin James reveals he once fasted for 41 and a half days on only water and a little salt, losing about 60 pounds.
  01:29:50
• Kevin shares that his oldest daughter, on the spectrum, developed severe self-harming ticks that doctors said were untreatable.
  01:21:57
• Kevin says Dr. Robert Melillo's methods eliminated his daughter's ticks within two weeks with no drugs.
  01:22:59
• Joe reveals he almost got fired from his first starring TV show, Hardball, for fighting with a producer over bad scripts.
  00:38:20
• Joe recounts Dave Chappelle getting a full one-minute standing ovation when surprise-introduced at an Ohio arena show.
  00:13:25
• Kevin tore his bicep deadlifting 450 pounds with a new trainer who kept bumping the weight.
  02:06:08
• Joe reveals he tore his MCL falling on stairs walking up to the stage at Stubb's in Texas and performed his whole set anyway.
  02:09:18

• Billy Joel and Adam Sandler have both endured terrible corporate gigs where audiences ignored them, Joe and Kevin recount.
  00:09:16
• There are more tigers in private captivity in Texas than there are tigers in the wild worldwide.
  01:08:29
• At the Montreal Comedy Festival, one 15-minute set could trigger bidding wars and land a comedian half a million dollars.
  00:05:09
• Joe's daily warmup after a cold plunge is 100 pushups and 100 bodyweight squats.
  02:16:35
• Joe follows a Russian 'Power to the People' principle and never lifts heavier than 70 pounds, never training to failure.
  02:19:42
• Fabricio Werdum tapped Fedor, Cain Velasquez, and Nogueira all from his back using pure jiu-jitsu.
  01:56:51
• Merab Dvalishvili once carried Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo around on his shoulders while sparring.
  01:12:38
• Joe's sauna runs at 195 degrees for 20 minutes and his cold plunge is set at 34 degrees.
  02:20:14

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