My BattleBots Creator - Trey Roski - Tosh Show

Transcript

Daniel Tosh (0:00)

This episode of Tosh show is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. Hey guys, it's me, Daniel. Do me a solid. I don't ask for a lot, but like and subscribe to this podcast also, you could rate it highly. I would appreciate, maybe even write a review. Maybe we become best friends. Comedy Central is one of the few companies in 01 that wasn't preempted during 9 11. BattleBots was on during that coverage. I'm just pointing that out.

Trey (0:56)

Yep.

Daniel Tosh (0:59)

Posh show. Posh show. Toss show. Welcome to Toss Show. I'm Daniel. There's Eddie.

Eddie (1:10)

What's up, Daniel?

Daniel Tosh (1:11)

Man? I'll tell you what's up, Ed.

Eddie (1:13)

Okay.

Daniel Tosh (1:14)

You know, I went to Palm Springs and had a delightful time. Now, when I go to Palm Springs, I usually rent a mid century modern in downtown Palm Springs and I try to pretend I'm in the Rat Pack, right?

Eddie (1:32)

You know, the old flavor.

Daniel Tosh (1:34)

Yeah, I smoke constantly. I push Carly around.

Eddie (1:40)

Hey, get over here.

Daniel Tosh (1:41)

Yeah, you know how it is. The golden days of show business.

Eddie (1:45)

The golden days.

Daniel Tosh (1:46)

No, I don't do that, but I do always rent a mid century and I do listen to a lot of Rat Pack music while I'm there. Now this time I decided to do something different. This year. We broke tradition and I said we're going to rent a house in Palm Desert. Okay. Now that's a neighboring community, but it's much closer to Indian Wells where we're going to watch tennis. So the commute's gonna be a lot less. Now, first of all, the house we rented, just beautiful hillside home. It turns out it's. What's his name? Bobby Burke. It's his house. Okay, now you know who he is. No, you don't. He's. He was on Queer Eye. He was like, he's the guy on Queer Eye that does the real work. You know, he's not the guy that like combs somebody's hair and goes, oh, there you look pretty. He's the guy, like, builds them a home.

Summary

Tosh Show – “My BattleBots Creator – Trey Roski” Original Air Date: April 7, 2026

EPISODE OVERVIEW

Comedian Daniel Tosh sits down with Trey Roski, co-creator of the iconic robot fighting competition BattleBots. Together, they go deep into the show’s quirky origins, its evolution from a cult event into a pop culture phenomenon, and the enduring spectacle of robot warfare. The conversation ranges from early technical struggles to the unique intersection of comedy, STEM inspiration, and competitive engineering—all peppered with Daniel’s signature irreverence and banter.

HIGHLIGHTS & KEY THEMES

Origins of BattleBots & Early Robot Wars
Oddities and Insider Stories from Comedy Central days
The Mechanical and Cultural Evolution of BattleBots
STEM Education and Youth Robotics
AI, Autonomy, and the Future of Combat Robots
The Vegas Live Show and New Pro League
Trey’s Perspective on Technology, Cheating, and Comedy

TIMESTAMPS & DETAILED DISCUSSION

1. Daniel Tosh’s Palm Springs (and Plastic Bag Catastrophe) [01:14 – 13:59]

Daniel regales the crew with vacation tales: a sensitive fire alarm, a squad of firemen asking for underwear photos, and a legendary incident involving a plastic bag, fried chicken & waffles with eggs Benedict, and an urgent call of nature.
- "You were coming up here to save my family’s life. It’s the least I can do. So now I’m posing shirtless in underwear with the Breathe Right strip with these ripped young firefighters..." – Daniel Tosh [06:41]
- Memorable moment: Daniel’s candid reflection on abandoning a “square” plastic bag in the desert and pondering the fate of its mysterious contents.

2. Introducing Trey Roski & Early Inspirations [17:50 – 21:08]

Daniel formally welcomes Trey, jumping straight into the existential: “Do you believe in ghosts?” [17:51]
- “No.” – Trey, succinctly [17:53]
Of course, the obvious path not taken: “Are you still happy you went with the BattleBots route instead of the lucrative yet disgusting world of sex robots?” [17:54]
- “That’s a good question. Sex sells, so I know it’s—” – Trey [18:02]
Trey’s childhood with erector sets, early tinkering, and the mechanical curiosity foundational to future robot builders.
- “Most of our contestants start with things like that to build. Even today they’ll start with Legos.” – Trey [18:32]

3. The Birth of BattleBots (And Law Machine) [18:50 – 23:34]

Origin story: Created with his cousin Greg, with roots back to the mid-90s Robot Wars conceived by Mark Thorpe, a George Lucas/ILM model builder.
- “He first built a vacuum cleaner that he put on a remote control tank… he started bumping into things…decided, hey, maybe I’ll get my ILM friends to build some robots.” – Trey [19:31]
Daniel marvels as Trey details the construction of their first competitive robot, La Machine—a $200 wedge, using scavenged boat starter motors and a car battery from a friend’s Honda Civic.
- “We didn’t have a charger, so we’d put it back in the car, start the car, and let the car charge it.” – Trey [21:08]
La Machine upsets a much heavier champion, delighting the crowd.
- “We ended up winning the middleweight competition that year, and we ended up winning the heavyweight melee that year.” – Trey [21:57]

4. BattleBots: From Underground to Comedy Central [25:12 – 27:22]

BattleBots’ TV journey: pitching, initial skepticism, and how Debbie Liebling of Comedy Central saw something in the chaos.
- “Debbie Liebling…kind of in charge, saw it and said, yeah, this is funny.” – Trey [25:34]
Trey insists it’s treated as a real sport, not edited for punchlines.
- “It was a sport to us. We weren’t going to let them edit the fight…This is a real sport.” – Trey [25:47]
Daniel’s inside-baseball observations on the network’s odd comedy priorities, host quirks (Bill Dwyer’s single ‘L’), and infamous guest hosts from Carmen Electra to Donna D'Errico.
- “She didn’t know the market. Those nerd kids don’t want to hang out with Carmen.” – Daniel [27:44]

5. DIY Culture and STEM Impact [29:38 – 31:24]

Parenting tangent: Daniel’s son’s destructive “inventions” and the parallels with Trey and Greg’s early creativity.
- “You should encourage him actually. Best thing you can do if you’ve got something that breaks…give it to him. Let him take it apart. What he could learn from that is phenomenal.” – Trey [29:38]
Post-Central, Trey launches a nonprofit to promote robotics for kids.
- “It’s kind of the whole point of BattleBots is to get kids interested in math and physics and building little things like that.” – Trey [31:24]
- Inspiring story: All-girls Catholic school in Miami still building BattleBots thanks to alumna Andrea Suarez (“Witch Doctor”) [31:48]

6. Cost of Robot Wars & Notable Underdogs [33:27 – 35:44]

The spendy and the scrappy: some teams drop $70K on hi-tech bots, others (like 9- and 10-year-olds with carpeted wooden boxes) win with $200 in duct tape and cleverness.
- “Duct tape is good.” – Daniel [35:29]
- “We outlawed duct tape after that too.” – Trey [35:31]

7. Cheating, Tech, and the Edge of the Rules [35:49 – 39:05]

Cheating: It’s mostly about pushing boundaries. Mythbusters' Jamie Hyneman’s psychological warfare, signal jamming, paint as a defensive weapon, and Daniel’s (always comedic) effort to “beat the system.”
- *“You can’t do that. So, the rules are basically—" * – Trey, on signal jamming [37:57]
- “I want a robot that just starts laying bricks and just builds a wall around [the opponent].” – Daniel [38:46]

8. Robots, Drones, and the Human Element [39:27 – 43:22]

The military’s interest in BattleBots alumni, the influence of companies like Boston Dynamics (creature combat teasers, anyone?), and the ongoing discussion: Are AI-driven robots interesting?
- “It's the human element... when this AI robot goes up against a human driving a robot, that's interesting to me. But if you had two AI robots going against each other, that would be boring.” – Trey [42:44]

9. Las Vegas Live Show & The BattleBots Pro League [48:09 – 53:41]

Details on the BattleBots Vegas residency: family-friendly, all ages, with both pro-built and amateur robots in action.
- “We have a couple dozen robots that were made by the professional teams… we also have proving grounds… for the newbies.” – Trey [48:17]
Famous faces in the crowd: Chris Angel, Donny Osmond, but alas, not Celine Dion or Carrot Top.
Daniel and Trey dig into arena safety protocols, discussing tops, filtration, and explosive battery management.

The next phase:

The new Pro League, filmed for YouTube with independent sponsorship—a huge shift from the traditional broadcast model.
- “Now because we’re going to YouTube and we’re going to be a YouTube full show now we can get our own sponsors. So we got our very first sponsor…” – Trey [51:20]
- Filming 20 episodes April, airing June/July.

10. Miscellaneous Fascinations: From Chopper Pilots to Giveaways [44:07 – 47:14]

Trey’s love for flying helicopters, why he won’t do it in bad weather, and skepticism about personal human-carrying drones.
Daniel gifts Trey an array of random items, including “legs” for a robot, a Japanese dustbin, and his Comedy Central gold record (“I thought it was weird to hang your own stuff up…”).

NOTABLE QUOTES

On Parenting and Tinkering:
- "You should encourage him actually… Give him a toaster. If it doesn’t work and you’re going to throw it away…and you’re not going to get it fixed, which most things you don’t today.” – Trey [29:38]
On the Origin of the Roomba:
- "He invented the Roomba." – Daniel Tosh [19:49]
- "I would say that’s pretty accurate." – Trey [19:51]
On The Human Element vs. AI:
- "You kind of ask yourself: do you want to see football players that aren’t human? ...It’s the human element." – Trey [42:12, 42:44]
On Being Outlawed:
- "We outlawed duct tape after that." – Trey [35:31]
On Trying to Beat the System:
- "What about a robot that just starts laying bricks and just builds a wall around [the opponent]?" – Daniel Tosh [38:46]
On BattleBots’ Long Game:
- "Did you ever think…that here you are 30 years later and you’re like, yeah, still doing that, building robots?" – Daniel Tosh [52:01]

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

Daniel’s epic tale of vacation mishaps and a “deserted” plastic bag [03:05–13:29]
Trey's stories about building robots with scavenged car parts, and letting young kids outsmart big tech with duct tape [21:08–35:44]
Anecdotes about Carmen Electra misunderstanding nerd fandom and Donna D’Errico kissing broken robots [26:51–28:41]
Live improvisation and attempted “robot parenting” with Daniel's son’s toys [29:11–29:54]
The transition from TV to YouTube, and finally landing the show’s first outside sponsor after 30 years [51:08–52:01]
Daniel contemplating a world where wars are resolved by BattleBots [39:33–39:44]

BATTLEBOTS AND THE FUTURE

New Show: “BattleBots Pro League” will stream on YouTube (filming April, likely airing June/July 2026)
Las Vegas Live: Family-friendly, ongoing, featuring pro and up-and-coming robots. Open to all ages and backgrounds.
Continued Mission: Inspiring the next generation to build, tinker, and challenge the status quo—in a box loaded with saws, hammers, and the occasional crowd-pleasing fireball.

Summary prepared for listeners who want a full rundown of both the comedy and the history, with easy navigation to the most insightful, offbeat, or hilarious moments.