Comedy Central Roast
Comedy Central Roast is the name of a series of celebrity roast specials that air on the American television channel Comedy Central. The first official Comedy Central Roast premiered on August 10, 2003. On average one to two roasts air every year. There are eight to ten people invited who roast each other before finally roasting the title subject of each show. As of 2019, seventeen roasts have aired. Targets of roasts have included President Trump, actors and comedians. Since 2010, Comedy Central affiliates outside the United States have occasionally produced their own roasts; twelve such roasts have aired so far, in five countries.
History
Between 1998 and 2002, the American television channel Comedy Central produced and televised the annual roasts of the New York Friars Club, which have been conducted since 1950.- 1998 – Drew Carey, roastmaster Ryan Stiles
- 1999 – Jerry Stiller, roastmaster Jason Alexander
- 2000 – Rob Reiner, roastmaster Michael McKean
- 2001 – Hugh Hefner, roastmaster Jimmy Kimmel
- 2002 – Chevy Chase, roastmaster Paul Shaffer
Some roastees have stated that certain topics are off limits. Pamela Anderson, for example, prohibited jokes about her Hepatitis C infection. Joan Rivers disallowed jokes about her daughter Melissa, William Shatner asked that the death of his wife not be mentioned, and Donald Trump prohibited jokes about him not being as wealthy as he claims he is. Others, like David Hasselhoff, have imposed no limits on the topics. Although Charlie Sheen initially agreed to no restrictions on his roast, he later said during an interview with Jay Leno that he requested jokes about his mother be edited out of the broadcast.
During Sheen's roast, Steve-O made the joke "The last time this many nobodies were at a roast, at least Great White was playing". This was a reference to The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island that killed 100 people on February 20, 2003. It was removed from broadcast on Steve-O's request.
During Denis Leary's roast, Lenny Clarke, a friend of Leary's, said there was a carton of cigarettes backstage from Bill Hicks with the message, "Wish I had gotten these to you sooner." This joke was cut from the final broadcast. During Roseanne Barr's roast, Jeff Ross compared fellow roaster Seth Green to James Holmes, the mass murderer responsible for the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting. The joke was not in the broadcast program.
Roasts
Recurring roasters
The table below features any roasters who have appeared on multiple Comedy Central Roasts. As of the Alec Baldwin roast, the most frequent roaster has been Jeff Ross, who has appeared in all but the first two roasts, for a total of 15, and has yet to be a roastmaster., Seth MacFarlane has served as roastmaster three times, making him the most used roastmaster.Cancelled roasts
In 2008, a roast for the musician Willie Nelson was planned to coincide with the release of his box set, One Hell of a Ride, but was ultimately cancelled, according to Jeff Ross.A roast for the musician Kid Rock was announced in November 2010 and scheduled for January 2011, but was later replaced by the Donald Trump roast. Rock's roast was rescheduled for August 2011, but was replaced again, this time by Charlie Sheen's roast. Kid Rock agreed to doing the roast if it were filmed in his hometown which Comedy Central didn't agree to.
International
The following roasts have been aired by international Comedy Central channels:Comedy Central New Zealand:
- Comedian Mike King, on December 15, 2010.
- Rugby commentator and former rugby player Murray Mexted, in September 2011.
- South African performer, actor, and songwriter Steve Hofmeyr, on September 11, 2012. South African comedian Trevor Noah was the roastmaster for the evening.
- South African businessman Kenny Kunene, in April 2014. The roastmaster was British comedian Jimmy Carr, and roasters included comedians John Vlismas and Tumi Morake, socialites Khanyi Mbau and Somizi Mhlongo, TV presenter Dineo Ranaka, OFM's former host Rian van Heerden and music personalities PJ Powers and Jack Parow.
- South African actor and choreographer Somizi Mhlongo, in May 2018. The roastmaster was South African radio and television personality Gareth Cliff.
- South African rapper AKA, in February 2019. The roastmaster was South African actress and presenter Pearl Thusi.
- Actor and comedian Héctor Suárez, in May 2013. His son, actor Héctor Suárez Gomís, was the roastmaster.
- Actor, screenwriter, director and producer Santiago Segura, in May 2014. Comedian Alex O'Dogherty was the roastmaster.
- Television presenter, actor, musician, director and humorist El Gran Wyoming, in July 2015. Andreu Buenafuente was the roastmaster.
- Comedian and actor José Mota, in February 2019. Anabel Alonso was the roastmaster.
- Singer Gordon, on December 20, 2016. Jörgen Raymann was the roastmaster.
- Radio DJ Giel Beelen, on December 13, 2017. Gijs Staverman was the roastmaster.
- Actor and presenter Johnny de Mol, on December 18, 2018. Jeroom Snelders was the roastmaster.
- Rapper Ali B, on December 17, 2019. Sanne Wallis de Vries was the roastmaster.
Awards and nominations