It’s been a crazy week in the wonderful world of comedy crime fighting, but I’ve gotta say what I’m getting out of this is really actually giving me hope.

I would really like to thank all of the people that came out to my new LA comedy home, the Improv to show their support this past weekend. The turnout and the support was incredible. I talked to several people that flew in from all over the country for the shows, and I can’t even begin to describe how moved I am by that. The amount of support that I’ve gotten has been really amazing.

With these kinds of public situations, especially between two entertainers, you’ve just gotta expect that there’s going to be a lot of people that love you or hate you for what you’ve said that’s caused so much commotion, but I’ve got to say, in this case the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

I mean, really overwhelmingly positive. I’ve literally gotten thousands of myspace messages and emails over the last few days, and less than 20 of them have been negative.

I’m not even slightly exaggerating, and the ones that have been negative are so retarded that they’re like little comedy rewards from the universe just to let me know that I’m on the right track.

Check out this fucking gem:

“Unfortunately it is extremely clear there is an extreme amount of jealousy and resentment you have towards Carlos. He carries himself with pride and class and doesn’t walk around looking like he needs a free meal and a razor to clean up. I don’t care if he does steal shit from other people because it is obvious that he must tell the shit better than others. I have seen his show and it is always a sell out and it makes people laugh and go home feeling good. You are only out there to be an ass like always because you feel inferior to Carlos and will never be as popular or successful as he is. I don’t care that you did Fear Factor because you sucked in that also. So why don’t you get a life and take a shower and shave up and head to your local mission and get a free meal you loser!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The best part was going to her myspace profile and seeing the pictures:

Nice pants.

These are the followers of The Carlos.™

I’m telling you, man… the universe has a sense of humor. A fucking wicked one, too.

From the bottom of my soul, I would like to thank each and every one of you that went out of your way to send me a message, and I would also like to thank all the people that sent letters of support over the whole situation.

There’s no way I can answer every single email, and there’s no way I would ever hire someone to answer shit for me and pretend it’s me. At the very least I try to read them all. If you do get an email from me, I swear on my word that you’re getting it straight from me. I’m not cutting and pasting anything. Even if it’s only a quick “thank you very much, I really appreciate it” I’m going to type that shit out, word for word every single time, for each individual person.

In no way do I ever take people’s appreciation of something I do lightly. Criticism, appreciation, it’s all necessary, and I personally welcome it all. Even the negative shit.

We’re all one, even the shitty parts of us. The ugly stuff reminds me of how the damaged human mind works, and it gives me something to laugh at.

What has really been amazing about this whole experience is not just how many people were pissed off, but how many people stepped up and did something about it. Not just read my blog, watched the video and thought, “haha, that dude got busted” (which is probably what I would have done if I read about it and I wasn’t a comic) but actually did something.

They called the comedy store, called the Gersh agency, sent in emails…

That really, really means a lot to me.

This is just one of many, many fantastic emails that people sent in to the store, and although I appreciate every single email equally, I think it’s a great representation of how many cool people spoke their mind about this whole thing:

“To Whom It May Concern:

M-”

The first person I talked to about the situation on air was my friend Jim Breuer on his “Breuer Unleashed” show on Sirius satellite radio. There’s an audio file of it below. I wanted to do Jim’s show because we’re buddies from way back, and because Jim has had some problems with comics stealing from him over the years, and also because since his show is on satellite radio there’s no censorship. I’m gonna call Opie and Anthony this week too, because I love those guys, and it’s my favorite show.

I should have already called in, but I’ve been too much of a lazy twat to get up at 5am.

There’s a lot of shit to listen to on the Breuer show, but part 2 is where we really got into how I feel about the whole situation. We also talked a lot about life, technology, and some other cool shit. I think it’s one of the best interviews I’ve ever done.

Jim’s show is always a fucking blast to do, and it always makes me feel like doing my own radio show.

You can download it here:



http://media.joerogan.net/audio/Joe_Rogan_About_Mencia_2.mp3

Here’s another interesting radio interview that’s getting tossed around the internet, it’s The Carlos™ on the Mikey show in San Diego. He’s defending himself saying that he never steals material, and then he tries to be funny, and goes ahead and steals someone’s material. The DJ, Mikey, who’s a cool motherfucker, says Carlos will never be back on his show again.

The sick get sicker.

Hilarious shit.

http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Carlos_Mencia_banned_from…Radio_Show

Click on the story on digg for the mp3, and then cut to the end for the payoff.

I think the most promising aspect of this whole event has been the awakening of the stand up comedy community, and the clear signal that has been sent that it’s a different world we’re living in now.

The internet is powering a new age in information where you no longer need television, radio or print media to get a message out.

The individual is no longer helpless on their own. All you need is a computer and an internet connection and you can make a real impact. Millions and millions of people have seen that video now, and I’m sure that joke thieves all over the world are nervous as fuck.

For years we’ve had to rely on clubs and agents to take care of these problems for us, which is a whole lot like asking pimps to take care of the problem of guys cheating on their wives.

Not any more.

Power to the people.

Thanks again for all your support.

This is starting to get hysterical.
As the fearful little animals scamper to a safe, dry spot on the sinking ship of lies, characters are exposed and karma is radiantly beautiful.

My agent from the Gersh agency, who is the same guy that represents Carlos, spoke to me on the phone today. He told me that he was being “put in the middle of this thing, and forced to make a choice.” He said that Carlos wanted to get on the phone with me and end this once and for all, and get this… wanted an apology.
If I didn’t do this, he wanted the Gersh agency to either drop me, or he would leave them.

I told them that was fucking hilarious, and said that it’s been fun working with them. The fact that they would even consider asking me to do something like that meant I was going to leave them anyway, but the sheer stereotypical “hollywood” nature of conversation actually fucking shocked me.
It was like a scene in a movie. Not even a current movie. More like that Kevin Bacon movie “The Big Picture” that was about the evils of Hollywood from the early 90’s.

I hung up the phone and laughed out loud. A real, hard, pleasure filled laugh.

Now can you IMAGINE if I was a young, struggling comic and all this shit went down? THAT is the really ugly part of it.
Now you know why people don’t speak up about this shit.

Hollywood eats it’s young.
At least the Gersh agency does.

What a fascinating, and intriguing life this is turning out to be.

The aftermath of the video of me clowning Carlos Mencia and exposing him for being a joke thief released its havoc on the internet like a tidal wave of exposure and comic justice.
Unfortunately, it also got me banned from the club.

I got a call from Mitzi Shore the owner of the comedy store yesterday, and she wanted to hear my side of things.
I told her what happened on Saturday night with the whole Carlos thing, and she told me that she would try to work it out.
She called me back today to give me a spot tonight at 10pm, and said that Carlos and I would just have to avoid each other around the store.
She asked me what times I wanted to go on stage this weekend, and I said as long as I got on before Carlos I didn’t care. I said thank you, and hung up.
Then I get a call from Tommy the manager of the club an hour later.
He told me that “they” had decided I needed to “take a break” from the store, and that Carlos was physically threatened by me, and worried about me being around.
That, and they’re upset at me for putting the video up on the internet because they had asked me to stop filming my internet reality show “the JoeShow” at the club.
They also said that Carlos apologized for the weekend, and said that they could advertise that he would be performing there this weekend.

Now, I know this isn’t coming from Mitzi, because I had just talked to her an hour before, so I’m assuming it’s her sons that have made the decision to have Carlos there and keep me out.
Mitzi’s health hasn’t been well over the last years, and slowly her sons have assumed the role of taking over the club.
Whether the decision is financial, because they can sell a ton of tickets with Carlos, or whether it’s personal, because Pauly and I have never really liked each other, either way, it is what it is.

It’s also indicative of this massive problem we have in the comedy community in general.
Here you have a club that basically sells other people’s art. They put the chairs there, sell the drinks and turn the mic on, and the artists do the rest. You have a situation where a comic that’s been known for stealing other people material gets called out onstage, exposed, and then the video is put on the internet for all to see, and their reaction is to ban the guy that exposed him and made the video. To the thief, they sit back quietly and profit from his crime.
It’s truly fucking mind blowing.
There’s not another art form in the world where the creative rights of the artist get as little respect.
If they banned the both of us for this incident, then I would understand that they’re just trying to avoid conflict, but the fact that they have told me to “take a break” but they have him onstage this weekend is just a tremendous slap in the face to me, and to the art of stand up comedy.

The first thing I did when I got the call, is to phone my friend Rita over at the Improv in Hollywood and ask if I could get on there this weekend. She bent over backwards to accommodate me, and gave me spots for Thursday night at 10, Friday at 8:30, and Saturday at 10. To her, and Joel over there, I say thank you very much. I truly appreciate the support.
If anyone wants to see me this weekend, that’s where I’ll be performing.

If you want to come down and show your support and have a good time, the address for and phone number for the improv is:

323 651 5810
Hollywood Improv
8162 Melrose ave. Hollywood, CA

I’ve been working out at the comedy store now for almost 13 years, and I’ve always wondered when it was all going to end.
The comics have always speculated that when Mitzi dies the sons would probably turn the place into a parking lot. We always used to sit around talking after the show was over, wondering where we would perform in LA when the end came.
The place was even one of the reasons why I still lived in LA. I would go on the road to certain places and think about moving there, but I could never find a club that I could work out at that was anything like the store.
There’s really no place like it. At one point and time it was a mob run nightclub owned by Bugsy Segal, and the building radiates this weird energy from the years of performers, criminals, customers and experiences.
It’s an energy vortex, and a magnet for crazies. That was one of the best things about filming my reality show there, it was just guaranteed that you would get nutty people to talk to there. They’re just drawn to the place, like moths to a light bulb.

The problem is, Mitzi was always the one that kept the place together.
She’s the one with the true love of stand up comedy. She created it, she nurtured it, and she supported the art form.
As she fades, so does the essence of the club. For me at least, this decision by whoever is in charge over there now to have me “take a break” is the last sign I needed to see that the end is nigh.
It’s been a great time, but like all great times it must eventually end.
I think the way it ended, with a video seen by millions of people is just about a perfect way to go. It’s almost fitting that I get banned from there, because it makes no sense.
Nothing about the comedy store has ever made sense.
That was always a part of the beauty of the place.

If you feel like calling them and expressing your disapproval, or perhaps thanking them for banning me, the number there is 323 656 6225 info@comedystore.com

Unfortunately, this is probably the last time you’ll see my name on the Marquee there. It’s been great!!