8. The Church Of What's Happening Now
When Joey "Coco" Diaz was living in Boulder, Colorado, he cared about two things: crime and Miami Vice. Imprisoned for kidnapping and aggravated robbery, Diaz soon found he could pass the time by making his cellmates laugh. Upon his release, he took the advice of a prison librarian, and entered the world of stand-up. After many years of honing his craft, Diaz began to attract offers from Hollywood, getting small parts in Spider-Man 2 and the remake of The Longest Yard. Then podcasting happened. Diaz began to appear regularly on The Joe Rogan Experience. A friend and tour-mate of Rogan's, Diaz's angry, hilarious rants about everything from the apocalypse to ranch dressing increased his following. There will always be people who claim to have been down with Diaz since day one. The rest of us heard him on Rogan first. He co-hosted Beauty and Da Beast with Felicia Michaels for a while. (The Ritch Shydner episode is gold for comedy nerds.) His greatest achievement, though, is The Church of What's Happening Now. With straight man Lee Syatt in tow, Diaz discusses the topics of the day, along with his reflections on the people he grew up with, decisions good and bad, classic heavy metal and movie tough guys like Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin. He approaches all topics with the zeal of an angry uncle-turned-art critic. As it happened with Rodney Dangerfield, it's taken a while for the world to discover Joey Diaz. His sudden boost in popularity is a testament to the idea that some things are worth the wait.