''Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle'' is an American roast comedy competition television series that was broadcast on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

from July 27, 2016 to August 28, 2018. Hosted by

Jeff Ross Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz (born September 13, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director and producer. Nicknamed the "Roastmaster General" for his insult comedy, his multiple appearances at celebrity Roast (comedy), roasts held by the ...

, the show consisted of one on one roast battles during which the comedians would insult each other comedically. The winners of each battle were decided by a panel of guest judges that consisted of fellow comedians and other celebrities. Comedian Brian Moses served as the

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...

and

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

History

The television series is based on a live show that runs at

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

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in the comedy club's Belly Room. The live show originated from a heated argument that occurred in The Comedy Store's parking lot in 2013 between two comedians over a stolen joke. The argument was about to devolve into a physical fight and comedian Brian Moses–who was hosting an

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, often taking place at night (an open mic night), in which audience members may perform on ...

night the following night–suggested that the two comedians could fight it out verbally on stage. Two other comedians volunteered to judge the event. From there Moses and fellow comedian Rell Battle started the live ''Roast Battle'' comedy show. Moses and Battle eventually parted ways. Moses continued the show in the Belly Room and his shows were sometimes credited as "Jeffrey Ross Presents". Moses also brought the show to The Stand comedy club in New York City under the title ''Brian Moses and Jeff Ross Present Roastmasters''. Both the LA and NYC roast battle shows held bracket-style tournaments to determine the top regional roaster for each city, then the top LA and NYC roasters would compete for the title of Roastmaster, which included a

championship belt A championship belt is a large, extravagantly designed belt used primarily in combat sports as an award, similarly to trophies in other sports. There are several companies in the business of constructing championship belts. The first belt given ...

similar to those awarded in professional combat sports. ''The Roastmasters'' show in NYC was emceed by comedian Luis J. Gomez and audio recordings were posted to a podcast feed under the Roastmasters name. The NYC show dissolved in 2018. Moses also broadcast audio recordings of the LA show as a podcast titled ''Verbal Violence''. The show gained in popularity and Ross was able to recruit friends like

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle ...

and

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She first rose to prominence for her brief stint as a writer and cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' during its ...

to serve as guest judges during the show. Since 2014 Ross has been adviser and lead judge of ''Roast Battle'' In 2015 Ross brought the live show to the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal where it caught the attention of Jonas Larsen, a senior vice president at Comedy Central. The first episode of ''Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle'' aired on the network in 2016. In 2018 the ''Verbal Violence'' podcast's name was changed to ''Roast Battle'' and the podcast was moved to Comedy Central’s Global Podcast Network.

Format

The show is hosted by Jeff Ross who also serves as one of the judges on each show. Comedian and show co-creator Brian Moses announces each competitor and also serves as referee. The winners of each battle are determined by a panel of guest judges that include two or more comedians or other celebrities. There are three rules to the competition: The competitors must use only original material, no physical contact is allowed and the battle always ends with a hug. In the first two season there were regional events filmed at various comedy clubs across the United States in search of some or all of the sixteen contestants to compete in the main eight battle competition via a bracket-style tournament. In the first season the regionals were held in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

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and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The final eight battles were filmed at the 2016 Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and the very final battle was broadcast live on Comedy Central. In the second season the regionals were held at the

Comedy Cellar The Comedy Cellar is a comedy club in Manhattan where many top New York City comedians perform; it is sometimes referred to as the "Harvard of comedy clubs". Operations It was founded in 1982 by then-stand-up comedian, and current televisio ...

in New York City,

Comedy Works Comedy Works is a stand-up comedy club with two locations in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area. The downtown club opened in September 1981 and is located in Larimer Square in Denver. The south club, which opened September 2008, is part of The ...

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, the Laughing Skull Lounge in

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and the Los Angeles Comedy Store. In addition, there were comedians added to the final sixteen competitors list who did not compete in the regionals. The final eight battles of the second season were filmed on the

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California, United States. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western bord ...

and the final battle was also broadcast live. The show changed it format in the third season and abandoned the bracket-style tournament. As a result there were no preliminary regional battles and instead each episode featured only two battles per episode over six episodes. In addition

Anthony Jeselnik Anthony Jeselnik ( ; born December 22, 1978) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He is known for his dark comedy style, which emphasizes ironic misdirection, non sequiturs, biting insults, an arrogant demeanor, and a stage pe ...

and

Nikki Glaser Nikki Glaser (; born June 1, 1984) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and television host. She hosted the television series '' Not Safe with Nikki Glaser'', which premiered on Comedy Central in 2016. She starred in the 2022 reality show ' ...

served as judges on all six episodes and they were also joined by

Pete Davidson Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He began his career in the early 2010s with minor guest roles on ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', ''Friends of the People'', ''Guy Code'', and ''Wild 'n O ...

during the final episode. The final episode also marked the first time that Ross took to the stage as a battler during the show; he battled with

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player

Blake Griffin Blake Austin Griffin (born March 16, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player. Griffin primarily played with the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and played college basketball for the Oklahoma ...

International versions

The popularity of ''Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle'' has led to the launch of roast battle shows on some of Comedy Central's sister stations outside of the United States: * ''Comedy Central’s Roast Battle South Africa'' launched in 2017 on Comedy Central Africa and was renewed for a second season in 2018. * ''

Roast Battle ''Roast Battle'' is a British roast comedy show that is broadcast on Comedy Central. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr and features comedians facing each other in roast battles. The show was created by American comedians Jeff Ross and Brian Moses ...

'' was launched in 2018 on Comedy Central (UK & Ireland). The show is hosted by former ''Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle'' contestant

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an Irish-British comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of One-line joke, one-liners. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regula ...

. * ''Duelo des Comediantes'' was launched on Comedy Central Latinoamérica in 2018. * Two versions have been produced in Canada, the English-language '' Roast Battle Canada'' for

CTV Comedy Channel CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming and operates two time-shifted feeds, runni ...

and the French-language ''Roast Battle: Le Grand Duel'' for Z.Jordan Pinto
"CTV Comedy commissions Roast Battle adaptation"
''

RealScreen Brunico Communications is a Canadian magazine publishing company."Desktop tabloid publishing firm sports 2 publications and a profit". ''The Globe and Mail'', October 9, 1989. The company specializes primarily in online trade magazines serving medi ...

'', April 12, 2021.

Broadcasts

Episodes

Series 1

The winner of each roast battle is in bold.

Series 2

The winner of each roast battle is in bold.

Series 3

References

{{Reflist 2010s American comedy game shows 2016 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings Comedy Central game shows American English-language television shows Roast (comedy)