Getty Image / Michael S. Schwartz / Contributor
Joe Rogan officially starts his $100 million JRE Podcast contract with Spotify on September 1st. After a few victory-lap episodes at his Los Angeles studio with fellow comedians Tim Dillion, Nikki Glaser, and Whitney Cummings and Annie Lederman, Rogan appears to be all-systems go for launch at the new JRE headquarters in Austin, Texas.
Rogan said he’s heading to Texas because “I just want to go somewhere in the center of the country, somewhere it’s easier to travel to both places, and somewhere where you have a little bit more freedom.” This has lead for all kinds of speculation amongst Rogan fanboys and the comedy scene at large – is the move to avoid California’s hefty state income tax or simply because LA is toast?
A couple weeks ago the podcast host shared a glimpse at the new JRE studio in Texas – a build-out that looks like “the inside of a psychedelic spacecraft meets the cover of a Tool album.”
Clearly this is a podcast for a new era, in case you’re wondering what kind of studio set-up $100 million buys.
With just a couple days to go before JRE starts its Texas era, Rogan shared a quick video look at the new studio, noting that “the new JRE studio is almost complete.” With red lights ablaze, the new studio set-up looks like something straight out Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
If HAL hosted a podcast, this is certainly what it’d look like:
Also of note: Rogan’s new Texas gym. As a mouthpiece for fitness and personal wellness around the world, the UFC announcer’s private gyms are the stuff of legends. His new gym was built out by Bert Sorin of Sorinex. They’re calling it an “Extraterrestrial Strength Training system”, which is appropriate because it looks like the kind of place that’d leave any mere mortal sore for days:
We are eternally thankful to support the great and powerful @joerogan with his very own Extraterrestrial Strength Training system.
The backlighting is an especially nice touch.
Here’s another view of Rogan’s savage new Texas gym:
All we need next is a tour of the sauna and float tank.
Let the Rogan Texas era begin.