Joe Rogan Tells Phil Hartman Stories

Did you see the Phil Hartman documentary? No. That was interesting. I didn't know a lot of it. They really, uh, really, you're in it a little bit. Uh, I didn't know a lot of things. One thing I didn't know is how they gave you a part in the show where it was supposed to be Phil's character writing you or something like that, like a will or something. And they gave it to each person in the cast and they didn't let you read it beforehand so that when you were reading it in the show, it was actually your first time reading, like, this letter that was supposed to be from Phil. Yeah. And I didn't know that. That was amazing. Yeah. That was, that was one of the weirdest moments of my life, you know, getting phone calls that he was dead. The phone just kept ringing. People just kept calling and friends and loved ones and family members. It was just, it didn't seem real. Like, who would kill that guy? He was the nicest guy. I wish you had met him. I know, too. He was so cool. Like, fucking everybody liked that guy. And he used to like to get high and go to strip clubs. Yeah. He used to like to get high and go to strip clubs, get high and ride around in his boat. I went to a strip club with him. Do you remember which one? I think it was Bob's Classy Lady. I think that's what it was called. I don't think it's around anymore. But he had an appreciation for these young ladies that was like, it was almost childlike. But it wasn't creepy. He was like, God, you're beautiful. He looked at me because he was high. He was like, you look amazing. This is incredible. Like, he was having a good time. He was a really, really unique character. I remember there was a guy who was, some guy was blackmailing him. And some guy had filmed him at a strip club with his wife. And his wife was getting a lap dance. And he was getting a lap dance, too. And the guy was like, he wrote some really creepy letter saying that this is going to violate the policies. Because Phil had had endorsements and commercial deals. And he was doing movies and stuff like that. He was just blowing up. Got a Ferrari. He was blowing up. And this guy had went to his house and nailed this VHS tape in an envelope to his garage door. And I was with him on a phone call. So Phil's like, I'm going to talk to him right now. I'm going to come in my room. So I went in his dressing room. And the guy calls me. Hey, what's going on, buddy? He was talking to the guy like the guy was his friend. And they were setting the guy up. And Phil was going to give him like, I forget what the money was, tens of thousands of dollars. Meet me at this place. And I'll meet you there. And he had these, for lack of a better term, he had someone who's a dangerous person meet this guy and let him know in no uncertain terms that his life was going to take a terrible turn for the worst if he continued down this path. But it was weird to see someone trying to exploit him. And the guy was so dumb he actually met with Phil. Phil knew who the guy was. Like he saw his face. He was there with the guy. And the guy was like, look, I just need some money. And Phil's like, I get it. It's no big deal. It's weird when you see someone trying to pray on it. They think that's their way out. This is my way out. I'm just going to get this guy to give me some money. Then I'm going to put it all together. You get it, Phil. I mean, I just need some money. He's like, I get it, buddy. No big deal. He was just playing this guy along until the dangerous men came and talked to him. Wow. They also really focused a lot on the wife, which I didn't really know much about how she wanted to be an actress also. And she was trying to get Phil to put her into shows and stuff like that. She was very resentful of him. She would insult him. She would consult him publicly. It was just really gross. It was sad. But he didn't think he should get divorced because he felt like it was bad for his image. He was really concerned about his image because he was like this squeaky clean family guy who was, I mean, it was really starting to take off for him. See, Phil didn't really make it until he was older in life. I don't think he got on Saturday Live until he was in his late 30s. Might have been older than that. And when he was on news radio, I think he was like 46. Yeah. So he had worked as a graphic artist. Did you see that album cover that's out there pinned to the wall? That's him. He drew that. Yeah, he's drawn a few amazing things. I was very surprised about that. He's a super versatile guy. He could do a lot of different things. And his work ethic was amazing. He would have a binder. And his scenes, he would have different color tabs for each scene. And he would go over his notes and go over his lines. I'd never seen anybody do it before. None of us did. None of the rest of us did. The only one who's like him, Stephen Root was even more different than him because Stephen Root was a character. He played Jimmy James. And he, in real life, is the sweetest, most normal guy. But when he was playing that character, he would become this Jimmy James guy. He'd be like, whoa. He was spooky. You've seen him in a million, like off, what is the movie? Staple? Stapler? Yeah. What is that movie? Office Space. Office Space. I'm gonna blow the piece down. He was great in that new Western too. What is it? The Ballad of Scruggs, Buster Scruggs? What is it called? It's a Coen Brothers thing, right, isn't it? It's really weird. Have you seen that? No, I haven't seen it. It's very weird. It's very weird. It's really good. But it's like, whoa, all right. Just weird, you know? But Steven Rood is in it. It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah.