We suppose it’s better than being a tour guide. Mohr said that doing a roast is a way to demonstrate one’s writing and performing ability. Which it is. But, as Kathleen Madigan readily admitted (and amply demonstrated), it ain’t for her. Richard Lewis, in “A Hundred Years, A Million Laughs” (Buy it HERE), said, “The one type of event which is most famous for the Friars, which are the roasts, is the event that I purposefully (sic) have a problem doing. There’s a real reason for it. My whole thing as a standup comic is talking about me… I’m the same person onstage as I am off. And I just never figured out a way to affectionately berate anyone else but me.”
Gary Gulman adhered most closely to what a roast should be. Alonzo Bodden did the best out of all of the contestants. Norm Crosby was way off when he criticized Gulman’s material as being too crude. Crosby himself said (once again in the book pictured at left), “You’re not going to do your act, because it’s a totally different environment. It’s learning a little bit about the guest of honor. You can take the oldest joke in the world, but if it fits that person, it works. And you can be risque, you can be dirty, it just has to belong. It has to fit. And that’s the secret.” Rich Little‘s criticism was also out of touch with reality– his ridiculous admonition of Gulman for roasting the others (and not just London) was insipid. We get rather peeved when someone who should know better (in this case, Crosby and Little), says something that they absolutely must know is wrong. What gives? Gulman nailed his portion of the roast. He did it exactly how it should have been done. His frustration must have been nearly unbearable. Regardless of whether you thought his portion was funny, it was textbook Friars Roast. If they wanted to find something to pick at, they were entirely entitled, but they really shouldn’t have said the things they said. Hell, even Ed Sullivan– a man who was notable for his nearly fanatical avoidance of profanity– was heard to say “Fuck you!" to an audience member at a Friars Roast. It’s a tradition!
Of course, any roast is much more entertaining (and easier to write for) if we are more than passingly familiar with the roastee. Jay London is (as even he would proabably tell you) rather obscure.
Impressions (prior to the judging): Gulman did a nice set… they cut out his better tag lines on the opening bit (is it asking too much to have the person who is editing the sets on L.C.S. to actually know something about standup comedy?— like when the end of a bit is?)… Ant’s set was rambling and largely dependent on energy…
Well, whaddya know: Gulman wins with 73 per cent! Not too far off of the results of our poll. Our readers are the savvy ones, yes?
What is with the producers of Last Comic Standing? Why do they think it’s funny to haul the comics around in a short yellow school bus? What is the implied message here? The short yellow school bus is a hackneyed staple of 80s standup. A favorite heckler line among the creatively challenged– “Sir, did you get here on that short yellow school bus?” The implication is that only the retarded or the special education kids are transported via the stubby bus. We all know it. Would it have killed the producers to haul the comics around in some sort of zany limo? A stretch Pacer, maybe (Yeah, sure, we saw it in “Wayne’s World II”)?