Comedian Joe Rogan, host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, has just set up his new brick-and-mortar comedy club, Comedy Mothership, in the heart of downtown Austin, Texas. The club, located in the city’s famed Sixth Street entertainment district, has been a passion project of the comedian for years. Alhough there has been no specific policy announced, many believe that the venue will become a mecca for the “anti-woke” comedy Rogan favors. In other words, it would be a “safe space” for comedians to break out their transphobic, homophobic, racist, and otherwise transgressive material without any fear of “cancel culture” interference.
Rogan purchased Sixth Street’s historic Ritx building to house the club. The location has played host to multiple entertainment venues throughout Austin’s history including a movie house, porn theater, punk club, pool hall, and, most recently, the downtown home of Austin’s local Alamo Drafthouse theater chain. The newly opened club features two theaters, named Fat Man and Little Boy after the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan at the close of World War II. Decorated with Art Deco and aliens-inspired design, it features some of Rogan’s own alien memorabilia.
Rogan began considering opening a club of his own shortly after relocating to the Texas capitol in 2020. Speaking on Theo Von’s podcast last year, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Rogan said: “I felt compelled to do it. I never wanted to own a comedy club, and I always felt like you just had to be nice to comedy club owners because you never want to be one of those people. But then, when I knew I was moving here, and [Austin’s Capital City Comedy Club] was already closed. I was like, ‘Maybe I should buy a f**king club, and start a club.’ And that became my focus.”
The opening night featured a coterie of Rogan favorites including David Lucas, Ron White, Tim Dillion, Roseanne Barr, and Tony Hinchcliffe. The $40 tickets sold out almost immediately and were quickly being resold for as much as $500. According to THR, the first gay joke was told only seconds after the first act took the stage, followed quickly by another about trans people. The audience howled with laughter in response.
“I want to thank Joe for building this wonderful Mothership for comedians,” Roseanne Barr said during her set. She then launched into a bit about how Disney is Satanic.