Schiavello talks The Voice vs. Joe Rogan
It’s Saturday afternoon in Sydney and my hotel room is being turned inside out. I remember a film director once…
It’s Saturday afternoon in Sydney and my hotel room is being turned inside out. I remember a film director once telling me that the worst thing you can ever do is to let a camera crew into your house. As I look at the cables strewn across the floor, lighting poles dumped on my bed, and cases of tapes, microphones and other gadgets scattered across the room, I understand what he meant and can’t help but to think I should have booked a suite instead of a regular room.
The cameraman, Alberto, is an old schooler with a modern mind. He tells me he’s been shooting interviews for the best part of thirty years and has been behind the camera for some of Australia’s highest rating television interviews and features, having been a long time cameraman on the Mike Walsh Show, once Australia’s equivalent to Larry King. He’s parked his lens on the faces of models, actors, politicians and singers but today’s subject has him particularly excited. Alberto is a martial artist — he studies Wing Chun, Bruce Lee’s original style — and a huge fan of MMA and therefore of Joe Rogan, the two being synonymous.
My director, Brian, is one of Australia’s most prolific sports directors. I’ve worked with him for several years on Fox Sports and pay-per-view events and he was the only man I considered for the job of capturing this exclusive sit-down.
So what’s he like? asks Brian as he and Albert carefully position the camera. I know he’s a comedian so I guess he’s really funny, right?
He’s hilarious, I answer but there’s so much more to him than just being a funny guy. The thing I like about Joe is that he’s not one of those loud mouth comedians who’s always looking to be funny and just wise-cracking and quipping the whole time. He’s super smart too, like real smart. The kind of guy you can sit there and dissect the universe with at one moment, then talk fighting the next, have a discussion about weed and mind-altering drugs, and then chat about family and friends.