I have missed as many of these Comedy Central Roasts as I have seen, and it usually just depends on whether or not one is on when there’s nothing else to watch, and tonight’s certainly fit that criteria. [A Labor Day monday at nine o’clock? Yep, I’m pretty sure I’m free.]
Plus, I was curious to see the roast of (as Aziz Ansari put it) “a relevant celebrity” since these things usually revolve around a celebrity that is already half a punchline like Charlie Sheen, Donald Trump, or Chevy Chase. By going with someone like James Franco over someone like Joan Rivers and by getting actual celebrities to roast them, I knew it would give off a totally different vibe than most of the roasts. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing in that it’s just more fun to watch someone half-way respected like Jonah Hill take a beating than a campy personality like David Hasselhoff. A bad thing in that since these are actual celebrities who can take it personally and impact someone’s career, most of the jokes aren’t truly vicious. [Andy Samberg looked like anything directed at him pissed him off more than it should have.]
What this roast lacked in truly cutting barbs (really? a thousand jokes about Franco’s hosting of the Oscars?) it made up for in comedic diversity. Bill Hader (playing a character), Andy Samberg (with a nice guy mock-roast performance), Aziz Ansari (more politically correct), Sarah Silverman (more classic roast), and Jonah Hill all brought different styles to their segments so that the night didn’t feel as repetitive as most roasts do. And there’s no doubt that having so many fresh faces who’ve never done a roast before——a break from the Comedy Central “stars” who usually do it to promote the network more than anyone who has any connection to the roastee——-brought a lot of great new material (there’s only so many Lisa Lampanelli or Anthony Jeselnik jokes someone should be asked to care about).
The best roasters: no surprise that Jeffrey Ross, a veteran who’s there every year no matter who the roastee is would dominate, but I also thought Natasha Leggero was really strong. Their sets were hilarious, and, best of all, really mean-spirited. It’s what we watch a roast for, and they were the two who seemed to really get that. Grade: A-