'Moving to Texas is over': Podcasters who followed Joe Rogan to Austin rail against state

29 July

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In 2020, podcaster Joe Rogan announced he was moving from Los Angeles to Austin with loud fanfare, according to Chron. His big appeal at a time of mandatory masks was Austin’s lax mask requirement, along with lower taxes.

Plenty of Rogan’s comedian friends announced they were following in his footsteps, seeking relief from “anti-cancel culture” and California’s significant homeless population.

Now Chron says they hate the place, according to recent interviews.

"Texas f—————— blows," said comedian Shane Gillis, one of Rogan’s “canceled” friends who moved from New York to Austin after getting fired from Saturday Night Live for using an anti-Asian slur. “It's hot as f————. The second we ran out of power [after a storm], the house was 90 degrees and bugs came in immediately."

Chron reports Gillis also criticized Austin's homeless population, which he calls "screaming runners," and complained about Texas’ high number of emergency alerts.

"I just wanted to move to a place where you can do standup during the week," Gillis told Theon Von in 2024. "Forever it was just New York and LA, now you can do it in Nashville."

"[Austin] is a soulless city that should be burned to the ground and everyone that lives here should be summarily executed," joked ‘Tim Dillon Show’ host Tim Dillon, another of Rogan’s compadres. "It is not the 'live music capital of America,' it's three heroin addicts busking with guitars. There is zero talent here in any capacity. There's three restaurants that are good and I've been to all of them twice."

"Yes, the taxes are better,” Dillon said on his podcast, “And yes, there are benefits to not being in LA. And yes, LA has a host of problems … But I moved here because … I said, something new will be good. I was wrong."

Another of Rogan’s friends, New Orleans-native comedian Mark Normand, recently called Austin's comedy scene "a punchline" and dragged the city’s oppressively hot weather and homeless population.

"That city is a boiling pot of evil goo, just circling a dish," Normand said last year. Chron reports he also declared "moving to Texas is over.”

Texas’ population continues to grow, but new surveys suggest that growth is beginning to slow.

Read the full Chron report at this link.

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