There’s no better combination than alcohol and comedy.

Bud Light’s ‘Real Men of Comedy’ tour, featuring Joe Rogan, Charlie Murphy and John Heffron, will make a stop at the Landmark Theater in Syracuse this Sunday. The Daily Orange spoke to Rogan, host of ‘Fear Factor’ and character Joe Garrelli on ‘News Radio,’ over the phone.

The Daily Orange: You’ve done so many things, what kind of people do you think make up your fan base?

Joe Rogan: Interesting question. I’m in a weird spot where most of the people who know who I am don’t know that I’m a comedian. The people who do know what I do, the people who see my standup, are the people who don’t like to conform to the paths of society.

D.O.: Out of all the things you are known for, stand-up comedian doesn’t rank very high, or at all. Why haven’t you publicized the fact that you are a comedian?

J.R.: I’ve been really busy with all the other s— I’m doing. It’s one of those weird situations where I started out doing standup comedy and then along the way I kept getting all these gigs that were totally unrelated. Like getting on TV, I never took any acting classes-I just got (into it). And then 10 years later I’m like, ‘I have to stop f—ing doing this because no one knows I’m a comedian.’

D.O.: So what do you think your profession is: reality show host, actor or comic?

J.R.: I’m really just a standup comedian. Everything else I’ve done is for money. I think that all my fame or stardom or whatever you call it is pretty much illegitimate.

D.O.: Speaking of illegitimate, your character on ‘News Radio’ was originally named Ted. How did it become Joe?

J.R.: I think I asked them, ‘Why am I Ted? Can I not be a Ted? I don’t know anybody named Ted.’ We were just joking, so I said, ‘Why don’t you make me Joe?’ and they said ‘OK.’

D.O.: Ray Romano actually had that job at the start, didn’t he?

J.R.: Yeah. Ray is a very funny comedian, but at that point he was just kind of learning how to act. There are a lot of comedians who, when they are just (starting), can’t do it. Doing acting and doing standup comedy are two different things. Some funny doesn’t transfer well. So for whatever reason, the producers of the show didn’t think he would be right for the part. So they fired him and they had a whole cattle call casting thing, and they hired me.

D.O.: What’s the grossest thing you saw on ‘Fear Factor?’

J.R.: The fact that it ever got put on TV in the first place (laughs). There was one stunt where they had to eat blended maggots and flies in a shake and it was f—ing disgusting. It was really nasty.

D.O.: You’re also the announcer for Ultimate Fighting Championship. Do you enjoy brutal sports like that?

J.R.: Unfortunately, yes. I don’t like violence as far as people getting beat up, and I don’t like war. But I do love competition. And I think the scariest form of competition is martial arts, where it’s just you and another person, and you’re using your body as your chess piece, as part of game that you’re playing.

D.O.: You’ve had history in martial arts, haven’t you?

J.R.: Yeah. I started out doing Tae Kwon Do, taught it at Boston University. I was four-time (Massachusetts) Tae Kwon Do champion. And that’s what I was doing, but there’s no future in it. I could have been teaching it, but I always had a problem with it. I never wanted to teach anyone who wasn’t as into it as I was, and that’s not many people. So somewhere along the lines, the guys who I worked out with thought I was funny, and here I am.

D.O.: Random question: How are you related to Gerard and Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance?

J.R.: I don’t know. I never met those dudes. They are some distant weird cousin thing. But I don’t know them. I wouldn’t be able to recognize them.

D.O.: What can people expect from your show in Syracuse?

J.R.: My set is the world though my eyes. It’s how I feel about life, death, sex, religions, drugs, space, the universe. It’s how I look at everything and what I think about these things is funny. But if you are easily offended, you will be offended (by my set). Most people are offended by reality, the truth. What offends them are honest emotions, real ideas, real thought. When you talk about offense, very little of what most people (take) offense (to is) actually offensive.

D.O.: You are going to perform with Charlie Murphy. How’s touring with him?

J.R.: It’s been a lot of fun. He’s hilarious. He’s got great stories. He’s one of those dudes who’s sometimes funnier in the locker room than he is on stage. Because he tells stories there that he can’t tell anywhere else.

D.O.: What do you think of today’s comedy scene?

J.R.: This is a very unique time in comedy, for both good and bad comedy. (It’s) getting a lot of attention right now. It’s a very underappreciated art form. It’s hard to do it correctly, but there are a lot of people who are doing it well. It takes a long time to do comedy well. It takes about 15 years to become a good comedian, and there are a few comics who have (been doing it for that long) and they’re just starting to blossom.

D.O.: Can you give me some examples?

J.R.: For good comedians? Chris Rock, Dave Attell, Dave Chappelle, there’s a gang of them. For bad? The worst examples are the guys who steal (material). The chief among them is Carlos Mencia. That guy is the worst comedian out there. He steals people’s ideas. That guy is an unethical comedian. He doesn’t even have his real name. His name is Ned Holness. He’s half German and half Honduran. He’s not Mexican at all. That guy is one of the dumbest motherf—ers I’ve ever seen in my life, and to see him develop a following is one of the oddest things I’ve ever seen.

D.O.: Finally, what’s Joe Rogan’s greatest fear?

J.R.: I think my greatest fear would probably be that this is it. This being life. That when it’s over, there’s nothing. I don’t really think that’s it, though. I have a feeling that what we view of life is just a tiny slice of a giant multidimensional Modula, that this existence is just a tiny phase in an infinite amount of phases. That’s what religion has been grabbing at. It doesn’t seem to necessarily make sense, but it’s much more complicated then we can wrap our minds around.

If You Go

What: ‘Real Men of Comedy’

Where: The Landmark Theatre, 362 S Salina Street

When: Sunday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.

Price: $35 – $39

Published on October 10, 2006 at 12:00 pm