Opie and Anthony Show - Again - Daniel Negreanus Blog

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January 29, 2007
Negreanu blogs about being on
the Opie and Anthony show.

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Opie and Anthony... Again

January 29, 2007

I'm home now, just chillin', watching lots of television and being pretty
unproductive overall. I'm totally fine with that, considering the January road
trip that saw me go from the Bahamas to Australia, home for a day, then
Mississippi, Atlantic City, and finally back home to Vegas. With two cashes
adding up to just a little over half a million, I'd say that the trip was well
worth it.

So since I've had a little more free time I've been looking through some
e-mails, forum posts, etc. and found a thread mentioning me and the Opie
and Anthony radio show.

To get you all caught up, I was asked to go on this show while at the WPT
Celebrity event at the Commerce casino two years ago and had no idea what
the show was about. I'd never heard of any of them.

I sat down with them and then recognized one face, Jim Norton, who I'd
previously seen on a show called Last Comic Standing. My wife and I thought
he was one of the best comedians on that show, but he got kicked off
because he was already a professional, or something to that effect.

The others I'd never heard of, but Joe Rogan, was the host of a show that I'd
heard of called Fear Factor. Anyway, so I'm pulled in to be on the show and it
just comes off like a completely disorganized mess. It just seemed like utter
chaos with no coordination whatsoever. I'd done several radio shows before
and had never quite seen anything like this set up.

They weren't prepared at all, didn't know who they were speaking to, knew
nothing at all about poker, and had no idea what to ask me. I tried my best
to make the best of on awkward situation. The one guy who actually knew
something about poker was busy playing in the tournament.

So then this Joe Rogan guy starts going a little batty. Not funny in the least,
and I honestly believe I can be objective here because I don't mind poking
fun at myself at all. He basically just repeatedly cursed and acted like a
juvenile. His material was weak and he masked that by just cursing more. I
watch a lot of stand up and you can tell when a guy has no material when he
overuses fart jokes and thinks that if he just curses louder and louder that
it's somehow funny and that no one will notice that he doesn't actually have
any jokes.

Anyway, fast forwarding a bit, he was saying nasty things about what
became my wife, etc. The guy didn't know me at all, we weren't friends, so it
was all just crossing a line. You just don't meet someone for the first time,
invite them to your show, and then say the things he said.

I didn't have a real problem with anyone else on the show. Jim Norton and I
hardly spoke except for one joke he was trying to tell that I caught on to
quickly. He was basically speaking gibberish with a straight face and was
expecting me to try and answer it intelligently. Of course, his question made
no sense so I was like, "What are you babbling about?" He acknowledged
that he was trying to "get me" but it didn't work out.

When I did the show I was a little shocked at what was coming out of Joe
Rogan's mouth. He blabbed away like Matusow and overshadowed Norton
and the others with nonsense.

So I later wrote in my forum that the show felt like a low rent version of
Howard Stern. Oh man, did that set them off! That caused some fireworks on
the forums as some loyal fans of their show starting posting on the FCP
forums for a while.

It all died down and went away until a recent broadcast where they were
talking about poker and my name came up. I was then surprised to hear Jim
Norton go off on me. I actually wasn't really offended, although several
members of the forum seemed bothered by it. The dude is a comedian and
his job is to try and be funny. In fact, if he truly believed the things he was
saying I'd be surprised.

For example, he actually was crackin' on my hairdo which I found pretty ironic,
since it currently looks EXACTLY like his! It's just a little strange. I was
actually a fan of his work prior to him chewing me out, so should the fact that
he was cracking on me change that? No, I don't think so, unless it became
hateful I have no problem with being made the butt of a joke.

Anyway, I have no beef with the show. It doesn't seem like my kind of humor
at all, but to each his own. Having said that, I think this Joe Rogan guy has
zero comedic talent whatsoever. If he can make it in showbiz, that is
undeniable proof that ANYBODY has a chance.

*************************************************************

As for this week, I'm looking forward to doing a lot of nothing. My mother is
out here with my brother, my wife is here too, so I'll likely spend some time
hanging out with them.

Aside from that, I'll be watching some hockey, getting caught up on the
writing, and then gearing up for the WPT event at the Commerce in late
February. That tournament is going to be huge.

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