HOUSE OF BLUES-MANDALAY BAY HOTEL-LAS VEGAS, NEVADA (Dec 28, 2007) -If you are the janitor at the House of Blues in the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino let me apologize in advance. The green globule on the floor of the lower stairwell was my doing. That just happened to be where I was standing when I laughed so hard snot literally flew out of my left nostril onto the floor where I stood photographing Joe Rogan’s stand up act. It is hard to look professional when you are clamoring to maintain your composure after shooting a green oyster out of your nose. For fear of being caught I acted like nothing happened and left it there until mid-show when I swept at it and probably smeared it more than cleaned it. Luckily it was dark, even though it probably wouldn’t have mattered, everyone was either looking at Joe Rogan, or hunched over their own lap laughing.

First off I am not going to lie to you and tell you I am a connoisseur of stand up comedy routines. I don’t even watch T.V, I have seen the odd show here and there but I am a MMA writer and photographer, and if you are a fan of Rogan you already know that he is a commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. That is how I know of him, that is why I was at his show. I don’t watch Fear Factor, and I don’t watch News Radio, so I went in with an open mind and really didn’t know what to expect.

Opening for Rogan was Ari Shaffir, in all honesty I had never heard of him before I saw him live. Now that I have seen him, I will not be forgetting his name anytime soon. Shaffir is a man that doesn’t hold back much - if anything at all - and with a nickname like “The Amazing Racist,” you can imagine where some of his content goes. Despite a nickname that sounds like an insult, his content was absolutely hilarious. He blended sex, race, and a squeeze of self depreciation to serve up a very consistently laugh out loud 30 minute concoction. In fact, having seen him perform - I believe he will be headlining gigs of his own in due time

If an opening act featuring “The Amazing Racist” didn’t tip you off, this show is not for the thin-skinned politically correct. That is partly why I thought it was so entertaining, I have never heard the word “Douche Bag” so many times in my life. When Rogan stepped onto the stage he called the shots as he saw it, whether you liked it or not. That is what makes him so funny. In one portion of the show he talked about UFC fighters complaining about the way he commentated their fights, his response was simple. “Someone’s got to say what the fuck just happened, live in reality bitch don’t get mad at me!”

The butt of his jokes varied, ranging from the UFC, to blowjobs, to homosexuality. His delivery is spot on, and included in the butt of his jokes is sometimes Joe Rogan himself. What makes him funny isn’t just the material, it is his facial expression, his pitch, and his mannerisms, they meld together to form a volcanic delivery. His unbridled enthusiasm is infectious, and his facial expressions parlay an almost ironic credence to his wild delivery. That same enthusiasm can come at the expense of the audience as well. Mid joke a woman in the crowd yelled out “boring,” I soon realized Rogan is not one to ignore such ignorance. There were actually 2 disrupters during the show, surprising he actually addressed them, and gave them a chance to speak. His rebuttals were classic, his skewering of the disrupters almost as funny as his source material.

A couple of instances during the show saw references to MMA, and as a follower of the sport during the ”dark days” I almost expected to be the only one to get the “inside” joke. Listening to Shaffir  give a nod to Eddie Bravo with a joke about “Cock-head Control” and see Rogan crack jokes about Dan Henderson, and Jim Brown I realized it is clearly no longer an “inside” joke. MMA is out there and is now part of stand up routines, if that isn’t proof enough of the popularity of a once fringe sport I don’t know what is.

"Political correctness" is nowhere to be found here. That is why acts like Rogan and Shaffir are such a breath of fresh air, both acts were uncensored and raw, they stepped in, slapped you in the face, and sent you home feeling invigorated. Believe me, every slap is well worth the price of admission, so I will leave you with three pieces of advice if Rogan and/or Ari Shaffir are ever in your area for a show.

3:  Make every effort to see it.

2: Don’t be a “Douche Bag” and interrupt the act. It is disrupting to the other people watching the show and he will deservedly roast you for it. The others in the crowd will laugh at you, if I am there I will laugh at you too.

1: Remember to bring a pack of Kleenex. Be responsible, and pick up what you leave behind. If dog owners have to pick up after their dogs, nose owners should be no different.

The Sushiboy gives this show 5 Sushigrade Tuna out of a full can of 5