Artie Lange Explains The Key to the AA 12 Step Program | Joe Rogan

When you talk about the method thing with Getting Clean, the 12-step program, which a lot of people obviously if you're not in it, you know, it's a legendary, iconic program, AANA. But you don't really know what the 12-step is. The premise is once you get to the 12-step, you, by you helping other people, it helps you. In other words, because that's what you're talking about. It's a productive way to use your time. I'm going to go help this guy. Like someone in NA will say, there's a guy dying and his family needs us. And you don't even know the guy. You go and you try to help him. So by the end of helping him for five hours, you maybe save him, but you're also saving you because you do. So the premise is, I'll give you, this was very poignant. One of the speakers at turning point, this guy in rehab really explained it perfectly. At the beginning, alcoholics anonymous. It's also a great story, great American story. These two, a stockbroker and a doctor couldn't stop drinking and they realized just by talking to each other, they could stop. They helped each other. So they devised these 12-steps. So they will go around to hospitals. This is in the mid thirties and they would say to the people at the hospital, is there anybody in the drunk ward, like a hopeless alcoholic? And they go, yeah. And they go, did they have any family here? And they'd say like, his wife is here. She's desperate. Can we talk to her? So they would go to the wife, the guy's in a hospital bed in alcoholic withdrawals, just a delirium. And they would say to her, listen, we found the cure for alcoholism. We think we found a cure for alcoholism. Can we talk to your husband? And she goes, you know what? That sounds like a total fantasy to me. You could try. We've tried everything. I don't know how you're going to cure him. And they said, no, no, you don't understand. He's going to cure us. Like by talking to him, we're going to get better. Like he's going to cure us. And hopefully along the way he gets it. Wow. You know, so that's that's like a simple premise, but that's a stroke of genius in a way. It's like you're using your time for something insanely productive. And you know, like you're a generous guy. You like helping people. You're a good friend. You know, it's you got to, you get a little bit of a rush. You get a lot out of help. I get a lot out. I tell people I'm more good, selfish, generous person. Well, they think like the 12 step, they say it's true altruism. You know, true altruism is, you know, not the way these big corporations give back, but you get nothing in return. Right. But in a way that's bullshit because it helps you. You get something back. I help people. I get a rush. It helps me. If that that feeling you get, if you give somebody you love a gift, the gift you're trying to give them is, look, we're trying to get you better. And by the time you spend all this time working on them, you've stayed clean. You know, it also does. It radiates. They'll do the same thing. Yeah. They help them and that it helped you to help them. And then they'll do it to someone else and they'll feel it as well. And it also spreads the culture of being generous. Again, you're right on the money. That's very insightful because that's what it is. It's a domino effect. Yeah. The culture of being generous is very important. Yeah. Culture of being friendly. You got to get back. Culture of being supportive. Yeah. The selfish people, they die alone. It's a fucking horrible way to live. Absolutely. There's a lot of wealthy people I've met through this business who are just angry motherfuckers. They're broken and they don't have anyone to call on. No one loves them. No one hugs them when they see them. Absolutely. Nobody gets excited. You need that. Well, this business is a particular thing during the TV era, which I think is kind of gone. I think now we're in the internet. Oh, absolutely. The internet era is what's happened. But the internet era is a much more generous era because it actually helps everybody to have all these shows and no one's competing against each other in a sense because, you know, it used to be like there was one host of the Tonight Show and everybody stabbed everybody to get that fucking job. Yeah. And that was those late night war, the movie with Letterman. The story is about Carson, how ruthless he is with Joan Rivers. If he tried to go. Yes. I mean, that's how everybody was that way. Like I think back then it was a famine mentality because there was such a few there's a few slots and there was hundreds of comics and everybody was just fucking fighting in the trenches with knives. That was the look again. See you though, as a good person with character, that's your attitude, which is great. You live that lifestyle. Like in other words, what were you saying is important. Like this is the biggest podcast going. If you were hosting the Tonight Show and look, I've been on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon a million times. I kill every time. But to have me on the mainstream and I love Jimmy, but to have me on a mainstream show talking like this, there's consequences to that corporate wise. Yes, they can't do it. They would fight you to have me on. Yeah. So you're in a situation where me and you were two guys who've known each other a long time who respect each other's work and his people. And I'm a guy. I mean, let's face it. I'm trying to get back on my feet and you come to New York and you let me do this.