The Joe Rogan Experience

Podbit · The Joe Rogan Experience

#2527 - MrBeast

Explore episode Jul 16, 2026
TV & Film
Live Zombie Show Concept: A $10M Abandoned City Nightmare

#2527 - MrBeast · Jul 16, 2026 TV & Film

Joe Rogan and MrBeast spent nearly an hour live-designing the greatest unscripted show ever conceived: ex-Navy SEALs and survivalists locked in a real abandoned city for 10 days, fending off hundreds of costumed zombie actors at night, with a prize pool that grows by $1 million for every completed daytime task. The only rule: no lights after dark, except for the red eyes in the woods.

Where this was said

Live Show Concept: Zombie Apocalypse in an Abandoned City

At 26:54 · chapter starts 22:30

What starts as a discussion about an abandoned European city MrBeast filmed in quickly evolves into something extraordinary: a live, unscripted creative pitch session that neither participant planned. Joe Rogan pushes MrBeast on how to make a zombie show work — specifically on how to kill zombies in a way that's visually exciting but doesn't actually hurt the stunt performers. They workshop everything from shotguns with beanbag rounds, to paintball, to gel blasters with sensor vests, ultimately landing on a dual-trigger system that syncs a blank round's bang with a laser tag hit and squib-triggered splatter. The format crystallizes into something genuinely compelling: elite contestants — ex-Navy SEALs, UFC fighters, survivalists — locked in a sealed abandoned city for 10 days, completing escape-room-style daytime puzzles to grow a prize pool (from $1M up to $10M), while at night, waves of armored zombie actors with glowing red eyes creep through the city looking for them. Everything is filmed with thousands of cameras. The zombies are incentivized too — if they 'tag' a contestant, they get a cut of the prize. MrBeast says he can physically feel his heart rate rising talking about the idea, which he calls his 'heart rate effect' — a reliable signal that an idea will go viral.

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