You know comedian Jeff Ross—who is appearing November 1 at the Borgata Music Box—from his many stints on Comedy Central’s celebrity roasts.
Ross has been one of the main comics to breathe some life back into the roast format—where some poor celeb is berated with a mixture of insult jokes with really insulting jokes.
Ross is so much a part of the format, he bills himself the Roastmaster General.
So that’s where you know him from, which is all well and good. It’s much, much worse, however, when he knows you, as celebs from Pamela Anderson to Krusty the Clown (on a recent episode of “The Simpsons”) have found out.
As Ross puts it, “Diss is my Life.”
“I never planned on making fun of people for a living,” says Ross at his roastmaster general website. “It happened by accident. In fact, my whole life has been a series of happy and not-so-happy accidents that have transformed me into the black belt in busting balls that I am today. I like being known as the meanest man in comedy, but I must admit that it’s a blessing and a curse. It’s not a bad way to make a living, but every now and then somebody wants to kill me.”
Ha, Ha kill him … well maybe.
Still, the art of the roast is a precarious thing and it certainly helps when the roastee both has a thick skin and can give as good as they get.
Ross, speaking to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, said the late Joan Rivers met that criteria perfectly.
“Comics have a responsibility to shine a light on the darkest place in our society,” he said. “In the wake of losing Joan Rivers, it made me realize how amazing her rebuttal was at the end of her roast. She went up and just skewered everybody.”
It’s an attitude he keeps in his stand-up—on display in his Comedy Central show “The Burn with Jeff Ross” and at The Music Box November 1.
“Most stand-up comics are self-deprecating,” he says. “I’m all-deprecating. Sure, I occasionally make fun of myself — but I specialize in making fun of others. I’m what is commonly known as an insult comic. Diss is my life.”
Tickets for Jeff Ross are $24.50 and $29 and are available here and at the Borgata Box Office.