Brendan Schaub has found himself in a heated back and forth with the Rogansphere comedy scene after taking jabs at the Austin, Texas comedy circuit, a move critics say is particularly ironic given his own history with the city.
The controversy started when Schaub appeared on an episode of TFATK alongside Brian Callen, where the two spent time trashing the Rogan-adjacent comedians and the broader Austin comedy scene. Many found the criticism strange considering Schaub himself relocated to Austin specifically to be part of that scene.
According to the breakdown of events, Callen was the one who originally planned the move to Austin after securing a residency at the Comedy Mothership, with Joe Rogan reportedly telling him he could perform there anytime he wanted. Schaub then followed Callen down to Texas, despite now trying to claim otherwise. He was previously heard on his own podcast complaining that Callen moved to Austin without telling anyone, which contradicts his current narrative. Schaub bought a house in Austin but reportedly had to sell it and downsize because he could not afford it, all while still trying to remain part of the Austin comedy world.
On Joe Rogan and the comedy “Mecca” debate, Brendan pushed back on the idea that Austin is becoming the new center of comedy: “Listen, people figured out, oh, the mecca of comedy isn’t here. I think people have finally figured that out. Oh, what, I’m not Tom Segura or Joe Rogan. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They would be fine in freaking Iraq. Like, it’s not Austin. And also, Austin’s never going to be LA or New York. There’s the pool of talent out there and the resource. It’s just not, it’s quit trying to make it happen.”
He then described how Rogan’s wealth insulates him from the usual sacrifices of relocating: “I live on Earth money.” He expanded on this: “So he didn’t, I’m sure he didn’t sell his house in LA, you know, or maybe, but if he wanted to right now he could be like, I think I want to live in Montana. And then he’s in Montana and his life does not change. His life does not change. Nothing changes.”
The criticism of Schaub centers on the idea that he wants to be associated with the Comedy Mothership but is not actually welcome there. Rogan reportedly has a policy that only working comedians are allowed in the green room, and Schaub no longer qualifies because he stepped away from stand up comedy. The reasoning given was not that he stopped to focus on his kids’ sports, but rather that he was unable to sell tickets.
This has apparently created a lasting resentment toward the Rogansphere comedians, with the belief that Schaub feels they threw Callen under the bus and now publicly trash him in return. His recent comments about Austin are being viewed as retaliation that has been building for some time.
On Rogan’s new Spotify deal, Brendan reacted with disbelief: “Can you even like, I can, you imagine negotiating that? If I’m Spotify, I’m like, bro, how much you need? Come on. We already gave you a ton. How, how, I don’t even know.” He compared it to a gambler who can’t stop winning: “You ever hear about somebody that like wins $100,000 in Vegas? Okay, so my thing would be like, I don’t know if I would get there because I would stop at $7,000.” He added, “We’re in a different tax bracket, sir.”
Turning to the Comedy Mothership and the Sebastian Maniscalco situation, Brendan laid out his view on the SiriusXM comedy channel shake-up: “It’s where a lot of comics, especially like not to be mean, but like the B-level comics can make a lot of money. They play their bits on there. So it’s now it’s the Sebastian serious channel. They got rid of all those comics and just left the big names.” He added plainly, “I knew without even seeing a shred of evidence Sebastian had nothing to do with this.”
Critics were quick to point out the contrast between the comments of Schaub and his current circumstances, noting that he runs a show out of a storage unit, with one broadcast reportedly showing visible activity in the background. He has also faced questions about the status of his other project, Gearheads Gone Wild, which was expected to move toward a second season but has instead seen its episodes simply uploaded to YouTube, with no further negotiations publicly confirmed.
The overall sentiment is that Schaub does not have standing to criticize Austin’s comedy scene or the comedians associated with Rogan, given that he willingly moved there and has continued to try to stay connected to that same community despite being shut out of it.
