Brian Redban, the longtime producer and co-founder of Tony Hinchcliffe’s show opened up about his complicated working relationships with both Tony Hinchcliffe and Joe Rogan during a recent appearance on Mat Edgar’s podcast.
During the conversation, Redban was asked who was easier to work with between Rogan and Hinchcliffe. He immediately picked Rogan, although he acknowledged that working with him came with its own challenges.
“Oh, Rogan a million times. Yeah, and he was kind of hard to work with, you know,” Redban said.
Redban explained that working with Rogan meant being available whenever a podcast needed to be recorded, often with little notice. He compared the experience to being a doctor on call, saying it made planning his personal life difficult.
“You kind of had to be a doctor with him. Like Jamie, love him but he has my pretty much what I used to do. And I don’t miss that at all because your schedule is like a doctor. You can never do anything cuz out of nowhere he’s like we’re doing a podcast tonight at 4:00 you know, and you’re just like, ‘Darn it, I’m on a boat right now.'”
The commitment also meant that Redban rarely had an opportunity to take time off. He revealed that he went approximately 15 years without a proper vacation, usually waiting for Rogan to leave town before making his own plans.
“I didn’t go on vacation for 15 years. Like I would have to wait for him to go, ‘Oh, I’m going out of town for a week’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, I get a vacation and I’m like, where can I go?'”
Redban also recalled a recent technical issue that turned into one of his more stressful experiences producing with Tony. Despite having worked on approximately 800 episodes, he accidentally uploaded the wrong video for only the second time.
He caught the mistake just as the episode was about to premiere and rushed back to his studio, expecting to replace the video within minutes. However, YouTube’s server issues turned what should have been a quick fix into a four-hour ordeal.
“I caught it right when that it was premiering. Like [ ],” Redban recalled.
He was particularly surprised by how long the replacement upload was taking.
Redban stated, “I got there, I’m rushing and I’m like, four hours? Why? So then I went to stopped it, tried a different browser, 4 hours. Tried a different computer, used a PC, four hours. Transferred the video to my phone, tried to use the iPhone or the YouTube app, four hours. Then I was like using different internet was like using T-Mobile.”
With showtime approaching, Hinchcliffe began messaging him to find out what was happening. Redban said he was struggling to resolve the issue while trying different devices, browsers, and internet connections.
“Tony’s like texting me like where are you? We need to start the show and I’m like I don’t know what to do.”
He eventually found himself racing around Austin on Bird scooters, trying to get the upload working while navigating traffic.
Redban also admitted that he made matters worse by mentioning the YouTube problem during the live show. He recalled telling the audience that something was wrong with YouTube and that the video was still uploading, prompting an angry reaction from Hinchcliffe.
“This is where I messed up and go ‘Darn, something’s wrong with YouTube. It’s still uploading.’ He goes ‘What the [ ] did you say?’ And then during the show [he went off].”
The experience was overwhelming enough that Redban left halfway through the episode. The incident also contributed to Redban’s decision to stop handling the show’s editing. After spending 13 years managing the responsibility alongside his other production duties, he decided he no longer wanted the additional stress.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be edited out or what because I’m not editing anymore. I’m like I’m done. I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t get paid extra to edit so I’m like, someone else can have this stress.”
Redban explained that editing had taken up a significant portion of his weekends for more than a decade. Sundays were particularly difficult, as he would often spend the entire day working on episodes, sometimes starting on Friday or Saturday.
“It’s my Saturday and Sundays. All day Sunday I edit, half a Saturday I edit or Friday. And so for 13 years, I could never do anything on Sundays usually.”
Now that someone else will handle those duties, Redban is looking forward to having more control over his schedule.
“Now I’m like, wait I can just go on vacation, come back Sunday every week… It’s such a relief now. Like that was a lot of unnecessary stress.”
