Joe Rogan Experience #2527 - MrBeast

Beast Games: scale, casting, and the “not scripted” philosophy

• Jimmy explains that getting people to participate usually isn’t about access to the show—it’s about time off work. Beast Games can require a month or more of filming.
• To prevent last-minute dropouts, they keep backup contestants (and even backup casting options) ready.
• For the latest Beast Games season, they selected contestants from roughly every country on Earth (around ~200 people). Jimmy jokes about vetting for “not insane” candidates, then explains they run psych/background checks. They also use a workaround: choose multiple candidates per country and let people from that country help vote on who competes.
• He addresses why competitors from small-population countries could still be “worth” huge payouts, joking that you could theoretically distribute millions across a tiny nation.

The origin of Beast Games: “turn the volume to 11”

Jimmy describes how the concept came from watching other reality/game shows and wishing contestants were recorded with far less scripting and more autonomy.

• He claims Beast Games uses over 1,200 cameras, breaking records for camera count and production complexity.
• The logic: instead of a story producer telling people what to say for a few minutes with one camera, each contestant gets a dedicated camera and “reality plays out.”
• Editing is massive—Jimmy says 150+ editors worked on a season.

Wild real-world locations (pyramids + Roman Colosseum)

Jimmy recalls filming in Egypt’s pyramids, including 100 hours living there (including time spent in flooded tomb sections). He frames it as “technically possible” once authorities agree it’s educational and not disrespectful.

He then shares one of his most surreal achievements: filming the $5 million Beast Games finale in the Roman Colosseum, with a live orchestra and a dramatic first game played there in over a thousand years.

• He reflects on the shock of imagining how people once used the arena to watch people die.
• In a dark joke, he wonders why nobody just assassinated the “emperor seat” from that close.

Main standout creative segment: the “Zombie Show” brainstorming

The biggest highlight is Jimmy and Joe collaboratively designing a format for a massive, unscripted survival horror competition:

• Contestants would be placed in an abandoned city for ~10 days.
• Zombies hunt at night.
• During the day, contestants complete tasks/puzzles, with sleep deprivation adding pressure.
• The pitch includes practical “horror-but-safe” ways to “kill” zombies, such as:
  • futuristic laser tag suits
  • gel-blaster-style weapons
  • possibly shotgun-like bean-bag approaches (discussed with intense safety rules)
• They emphasize that real prop/firearm safety is non-negotiable, referencing tragedies of the “Alec Baldwin-type” to underscore why.

Jimmy’s key creative obsession

Jimmy’s focus is to make it feel like a real zombie world while avoiding gore-related rule conflicts—suggesting framing it as “eliminating zombies” and using practical effects like suit sensors triggering squibs/gel packs.

Incentives and structure (so it’s “Game of Thrones” tense, not random chaos)

To keep the competition tense and intentional rather than chaotic, they discuss:

• A prize pool that grows daily based on tasks completed.
• The money could be physically located in the city center and protected—meaning if zombies touch it, it could reduce the prize.
• Lore to keep the world believable, including zombies trained as “elite” fighters (e.g., ex-Navy Seals) and contestants including highly capable combat/survival experts.
• How to prevent “zombie actors” from going rogue:
  • physically restricting movement
  • strict choreography rules
  • high-stakes filming constraints

Jokes, banter, and side highlights

• Joe jokes that Jimmy “calls everything a show,” even when Joe thinks it’s more like a YouTube video, and they riff on terminology.
• There’s a recurring gag: Joe notices Jimmy’s visible “heart-rate/adrenaline” response to ideas.
• Jimmy shares a story about using puzzle-solving teams for a Salesforce Super Bowl interactive challenge—an enormous online puzzle hunt with Reddit-solver culture and elaborate multi-step clues.
• The conversation also lightly touches on future AI/VR possibilities, including “uploading” speech patterns to create a “forever robot you,” with creepy implications.

Big moral/support segment: child labor in cacao + food waste

Late in the conversation, Jimmy pivots to two serious topics:

Illegal child labor on cacao farms in West Africa

• Jimmy claims 1.5–1.8 million children are involved in illegal child labor.
• He describes Feastables’ case-study approach:
  • paying a “living income reference price”
  • using fair trade cooperatives
  • auditing/remediating farms
  • building/ensuring schooling
  • reporting results
• He describes a case study with roughly a 90% reduction.

Food waste in the U.S.

• He notes about 40% of produced food gets thrown away.
• Feastables partners with nonprofits/logistics hubs to redirect edible food to people in need.
• He mentions distributing tens of millions of meals.

Closing

They wrap up with mutual enthusiasm—Joe and Jimmy jokingly treat the zombie concept like a “next project,” and Jimmy thanks Joe for the platform to spread both entertainment ideas and awareness campaigns.

Main personalities mentioned (at end)

• Joe Rogan
• MrBeast / Jimmy Donaldson

Additional figures mentioned

• Dr. Zahi Hawass
• Graham Hancock
• Mark Andreessen (Mark Andre)
• Zahi / Egypt historians
• Michael and Danny Philippou (The Rakaraka brothers)
• Daniel Cormier
• John Anik
• Elon Musk
• Mark Zuckerberg
• Ken (stunt choreographer, referenced)
• Ari Matty
• Cam Patterson
• Pennywise (actor reference in an escape room anecdote)
• Various unnamed editing team / story producers