Joe Rogan

Before you drive yourself mad trying to work out why you know Joe Rogan, let's put your mind at rest. You know him from Fear Factor, the regular-people-in-mortal-peril-for-money reality show which he hosted, somewhat to his surprise, for six seasons. Or you might know him as the affable electrician Joe in the cult 90s US sitcom NewsRadio. Or, er, from commentating on Mixed Martial Arts bouts. Which is perhaps not what you'd expect from a comedian whose material tends to the pretty sharp and topical end of the spectrum. "Well, there are a lot of intellectuals who are interested in fighting: for the people who are into the Martial Arts feature, it's a pretty cerebral undertaking," he counters. "The way people get obsessed with martial arts, especially xiu xitsu, people get into it the same way they get into chess."

Although more visually interesting, one assumes.

"Well, there's the chaos, and speed and the excitement to it," he explains. "It appeals to the chimp part of our DNA. At the end of the day, it's a battle of technique, of possibilities, of wills, and of the mind, and of focus. There's a lot of interesting shit going on in an NMA bout. I've done martial arts ever since I was a little kid."

Rogan started his commentary work while he was starring in NewsRadio, which boasted one of the greatest ensemble comedy casts in recent history - David "Kids in the Hall" Foley, Stephen "Office Space" Root, Andy Dick, and the late, great Phil Hartman, known to a generation of Simpsons fans as the voice of Troy McClure. There's a genuine wistfulness in his voice when he speaks of the show. "It was a great group, a very fortunate situation. Really funny, talented cast, really funny, talented writers. That's a really rare thing."

It was an unusually sharp sitcom for a network.

"Yeah, but that's also why it was unsuccessful," he laughs. "NewsRadio had a life in DVD sales and in reruns, but to be honest the first-airs did terrible. We were number 88 in the ratings at one point, which is when anyone would say "cancel!" But I think there was someone at NBC who enjoyed it and thought it was worth keeping, because they had more than enough reason to fire us."

And, of course, the natural progression from NewsRadio was a show putting idiots in physical danger.

"It wasn't natural at all, but Fear Factor was a shitload of money. That's how I looked at it. First of all I thought ‘there's no way this show is going to be successful.' It seemed like a goofy show and I just saw it as a job. Then this job became the most successful thing I had done by far. It aired in 16 different countries. We did 148 episodes and it became this giant juggernaut. It really became part of American pop culture."

Clearly, one should never underestimate how much people want to see other people suffer.

"Absolutely. The Coloseum could happen today," he declares. "They could do that right now if they really wanted to." Andrew P Street