Who is the best Comedy Central Roaster of all time?

More of Lisa's act.

Lisa Lampanelli on the Roast of Donald Trump:

She was amazing and burned so brightly, almost busted my gut when I first discovered her.

But then she got the band and the funny melted away along with the fat practically overnight. I also think she came in at just the right moment, her jokes wouldn't land now anymore for obvious reasons.

Jeselnik is incredible.

^Greg Giraldo was even better.

Lampanelli reigns supreme. On the Flavor Flav roast she said the Flavor of Love girls looked like “The 3AM shift at the Jacksonville FL Waffle House.” You can’t do better than that.

Gilbert Gottfried's takedown of Roseanne is a classic.

Gilbert's joke about Joan Rivers.

Wow, I just don;t find those Gilbert Gottfried bits funny at all.

I always think he was mistaken to believe he would be funny shouting his lines all the time. It was always irritating.

Martha Stewart replying to her roast and Bea Arthur roasting Pam Anderson.

“We’ve got a drag queen, a pervert and a drug addict. I’m only talking about Andy Dick. What a fruity bastard. I’m not saying Andy Dick is gay, but I will say he’s been known to guess the flavor of a popsicle by just sitting on it!”

I remember as achild watching some of the Friars' Club comedy roasts of the 1970s. Since it was primetime network television, it was all pretty cleaned up and unfunny. There was one for Dean Martin that was all drunk jokes, and one for Danny Thomas that was all big-nose jokes (no glass coffee table jokes, alas).

R6 The Flavor Flav roast is my all time favorite of the Comedy Central Roasts. Besides the Waffle House joke there were other awesome Lisa's burns like:

"At least it was easy for me to find the place. When I MapQuest'd the direction, it said: Go down Ventura and take a left when you smell the cocoa butter".

"Katt Williams uses the N-word almost as often as Sarah Silverman uses Jimmy Kimmel for airtime".

"If Flavor Flav was darker and smaller, Brad and Angeline would try to adopt him".

"As you know, I bang the blacks. My twat has been on more black guys' lips than Purple Kool-Aid".

"Carrot Top... I used to think they called you like that because of your red hair. Now I know is because everyone would love to see you buried up to your forehead in dirt".

I remember watching these on Comedy Central and enjoying them at that time. I’m not sure if they’re paid these comics a lot of money, but I hope Lampanelli and Andy dick saved some of it. Whitney Cummings had some production deal with two sitcoms at one time, but I’m not sure how many seasons each lasted. The economics of standup looks precarious.

Andy Dick’s life unspooled fast and sad. I remember some funny sketches on his show and I think he had a stretch of time on a sitcom, but he’s sort of a pariah now. I wonder how he gets by and manages basic things like finding a place to live. I hope he’s ok.

^^ “not sure if they’re paid these comics a lot” that’s meant to spell.

^^ “they” (ugh this iPad)

Poor Greg Giraldo’s story is a very sad one. He may have been the funniest and most fearless.

I think Whitney Cummings is kind of a hack, but I loved on the Hasselhoff roast when she said Hulk Hogan had “less sperm in his nuts than Pam Anderson has in her mouth right now”.

Lisa Lampanelli was boring. She had 2 jokes: black guys fucked her and gays. Self-loathing fags liked her, of course, because - like Kathy Griffin - she marketed to us. Our standards were low then ("please look at us!!!!!") and still are (yes, we know you see us, Chappell).

But Lisa wasn't funny after the first time.

Greg Giraldo was the best.

R19 Lampanelli’s material was uneven in quality and much of it has aged pretty badly. She also morphed into someone really different after bariatric surgery.

Natasha Leggero was funny on the Justin Bieber roast.

"Justin you're such a media whore. You've been on Ellen more times than a pussy juice mustache."

Rivers, White, and Leachman........... classic.

[quote] Jeselnik is incredible.

I actually think Jeselnik is a horrible roaster and stand-up comedian. He's a weirdo who thinks anything inappropriate is funny. While it's perfectly acceptable to be inappropriate at a roast, Jeselnik keeps forgetting that he still has to deliver a punchline. Otherwise, he just comes across as someone who says whatever is on his mind for attention.

Greg Giraldo may have been a drug-addled mess, but he was superior to Anthony Jeselnik because he understood the art of a punchline, as did Lisa Lampanelli and Jeff Ross. These guys clearly did research on the people they were roasting, and that's why their jokes mostly landed well. Anthony Jeselnik is an attractive man, but I never thought he was very good at comedy.

Anthony Jeselnik is gay, don't you know.

R24 He is not and I'm the dame to prove it!

Personally, I don't like roasts - it's negative, mean energy under the disguise of comedy. It's a holdover from previous insult comedians that feels so dated and bigoted.

Hey - we found a way to say racist, sexist, homophobic jokes without getting in trouble because the roastee is fake laughing for hours.

That's the other part - is the forced fake laughter (80% of it) from the panel.

Roasts are for mean-spirited people - mainly straight men watch this shit because it taps into all of their prejudices and shit thoughts.

Even though I can't stand Jimmy Kimmel, he delivered great jokes on the Flavor Flav roast as well.

"Sommore was great and terrific. By the way, I loved that song you did in the 80s: "Word Up".

"It's great to be at the roast of Flavor Flav. What happended? Coolio said NO? Young MC had a state fair to perform at?"

"I don't want to say Brigitte Nielsen's vagina is big, I just want everyone at home watching us right now to know we are doing this show from inside her".

"The first time I saw Flavor jumping into Brigitte's arms, originally I though VH1 gave Joan Embery a show from the San Diego Zoo".

"Ron Jeremy is here in the audience tonight, he's here to support his twin brother: Lisa Lampanelli".

"Lisa Lampanelli almost didn't make it tonight. Up until 6am, she was chained to a truck axle in Michael Vick's backyard".

"VH1 named the show 'Flavor of Love', cause the original title 'Black Guy Impregnates 20 Whores' wasn't catchy enough".

"Flavor Flav is responsible of more homeless black children than Hurricane Katrina".

"Chris Benoit was a better father than Flavor Flav".

"Let's be honest. This is a guy that went famous for yelling YEAH BOY! on stage. He doesn't deserve to be honored. Flavor Flav is the reason President Bush doesn't like black people".

The worst thing ever to be called comedy on television.

R26 I think they edit responses so that it appears more jovial and uproarious in the broadcast form. These takings are very long and tightly choreographed.

^^ “these tapings are very long”

Greg Giraldo was the best. He never missed.

R31 Greg was indeed a true savage. I lost my shit when he was roasting Jeff Foxworthy and said: "You put out 11 books, including a cook book, greeting cards and slot machines. You're like the redneck Martha Stewart but with a smaller dick".

Just imagine if he was still alive and being hired to host Academy Awards or Golden Globes.

R32, I would rather have seen him host the RNC.