The Theo Von Situation Is Concerning

I am honestly not that familiar with Theo Von beyond his association with Joe Rogan and the Manosphere. For example, I didn’t know until yesterday that he got his start on MTV’s Road Rules franchise or that he was a Last Comic Standing contestant. I do know he’s hugely popular, that he interviewed the President and Vice President on his podcast before the election, and that he has a mullet. That hardly qualifies me as a Theo Von expert.

He made news last week when the DHS used him in a recruiting video for ICE, though he quickly asked for it to be removed, saying that his views were more “nuanced” than what the recruitment video suggested. I’ve also seen that he’s expressed some regret over his role in the President’s election. Then yesterday, Reddit lit up with comments claiming he bombed during the taping of his Netflix special at the Beacon Theater over the weekend.

The post that gained the most traction claimed that one-third of the audience walked out, calling it the “worst set I’ve ever seen,” that it pandered to the “dumbest people” in the crowd, and that it was a “failure of epic proportions.” Other commenters said he restarted the special three times, repeated material to get usable takes, didn’t have his set memorized, kept asking people offstage what to do next, did poor crowd work, and generally lost the audience.

Those in attendance repeatedly noted that it wasn’t bad because it was offensive or full of rage bait (though he reportedly opened with ten minutes of jokes about Jews) but because it was simply bad: poorly prepared, uninteresting, and hackneyed. And all of these observations came from people who chose to attend a Theo Von show, people who presumably like him.

The “concerning” part came after the show when he was chatting with the crowd and said (in a video posted to Reddit): “I’ve had a long month. I’m trying not to take my own life.” He does not appear to be joking in the video. At the very least, he doesn’t seem to be in a good place mentally.

Why? That’s not entirely clear. He wasn’t known as a particularly political comedian before 2024, but he inserted himself into the political world. Now, some of his views — on immigration and especially on Israel — don’t align with the MAGA base, and he’s getting blowback from his own fans. Maybe that’s leading to feelings of isolation or even fear of his own audience.

Here’s a take on the Theo Von situation from last week, in case that provides some context.