| Genre: | Roast comedy Insult comedy |
| Creator: | Brian Moses Rell Battle Jeffrey Ross |
| Director: | Joel Gallen |
| Presenter: | Jeff Ross |
| Starring: | Jeff Ross Brian Moses |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 3 |
| Num Episodes: | 19 |
| Executive Producer: | Brian Moses Rell Battle Jeffrey Ross Amy Zvi Willie Mercer Rick Austin Joel Gallen |
| Editor: | Timothy Schultz Pi Ware |
| Camera: | Multi-camera |
| Network: | Comedy Central |
| Related: | Comedy Central Roasts Roast Battle |
Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle is an American roast comedy competition television series that was broadcast on Comedy Central from July 27, 2016 to August 28, 2018.
Hosted by Jeff Ross, 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 and referee.
The television series is based on a live show that runs at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles in the comedy club's Belly Room.[1] [2] [3] 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.[1] [2] The argument was about to devolve into a physical fight and comedian Brian Moses–who was hosting an open mic night the following night–suggested that the two comedians could fight it out verbally on stage.[1] [2] Two other comedians volunteered to judge the event.[2] From there Moses and fellow comedian Rell Battle started the live Roast Battle comedy show.[1] [3]
Moses and Battle eventually parted ways.[3] Moses continued the show in the Belly Room and his shows were sometimes credited as "Jeffrey Ross Presents".[3] Moses also brought the show to The Stand comedy club in New York City under the title Brian Moses and Jeff Ross Present Roastmasters.[3] 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 similar to those awarded in professional combat sports.[3] [4]
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.[4] 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 and Sarah Silverman to serve as guest judges during the show.[1]
Since 2014 Ross has been adviser and lead judge of Roast Battle[5] 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.[1] The first episode of Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle aired on the network in 2016.[3] [6] [7] 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.[8]
The show is hosted by Jeff Ross who also serves as one of the judges on each show.[5] [7] [9] Comedian and show co-creator Brian Moses announces each competitor and also serves as referee.[3] [6] [10] The winners of each battle are determined by a panel of guest judges that include two or more comedians or other celebrities.[3] [6] [10] 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.[1] [2] [7]
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.[3] [6] In the first season the regionals were held in Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago and New York City. 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.[7]
In the second season the regionals were held at the Comedy Cellar in New York City, Comedy Works in Denver, Colorado, the Laughing Skull Lounge in Atlanta, Georgia and the Los Angeles Comedy Store.[11] 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 and the final battle was also broadcast live.[12]
The show changed it format in the third season and abandoned the bracket-style tournament.[8] [13] As a result there were no preliminary regional battles and instead each episode featured only two battles per episode over six episodes.[13] In addition Anthony Jeselnik and Nikki Glaser served as judges on all six episodes and they were also joined by Pete Davidson during the final episode.[8] [13] The final episode also marked the first time that Ross took to the stage as a battler during the show; he battled with NBA player Blake Griffin.[8] [13]
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:
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 27, 2016 | July 31, 2016 | 5 | |
| 2 | January 1, 2017 | January 29, 2017 | 8 | |
| 3 | July 29, 2018 | August 28, 2018 | 6 |
The winner of each roast battle is in bold.
| Episode | Episode Title | First broadcast | Judges | Battles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Road to Roast Battle | July 27, 2016 | Various (see notes) | Various (see notes) | This was an introductory episode featuring clips from the preliminary battles that were held in Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago and New York City. |
| 1.2 | Night One | July 28, 2016 | David Spade, Kevin Hart |
| |
| 1.3 | Night Two | July 29, 2016 | Whoopi Goldberg, Anthony Jeselnik |
| |
| 1.4 | Night Three | July 30, 2016 | Seth Rogen, Jimmy Kimmel |
| |
| 1.5 | Night Four: Live Finals | July 31, 2016 | Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow | Semifinals:
| The final round was broadcast live on Comedy Central |
Finals:
| |||||
The winner of each roast battle is in bold.
| Episode | Episode Title | First broadcast | Judges | Battles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | New York Regional | January 1, 2017 | Lisa Lampanelli, Jay Pharoah, Jim Norton, Mike Lawrence |
| Filmed at the Comedy Cellar in New York City
|
| 2.2 | Denver and Atlanta Regionals | January 8, 2017 | Denver:Russell Peters, Moshe Kasher | Denver:
| Filmed at Comedy Works in Denver, Colorado.
|
| Atlanta:Lil Rel Howery, Josh McDermitt, Fortune Feimster | Atlanta:
| Filmed at the Laughing Skull Lounge in Atlanta, Georgia.
| |||
| 2.3 | LA Regionals: Part 1 | January 15, 2017 | Chris D'Elia, Sebastian Maniscalco, Ron Artest |
| Filmed at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles.
|
| 2.4 | LA Regionals: Part 2 | January 22, 2017 | Chris D'Elia, Sebastian Maniscalco, Ron Artest |
| Filmed at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles.
|
| 2.5 | Night One | January 26, 2017 | Anthony Jeselnik, Snoop Dogg |
| Filmed in Los Angeles on the Sunset Strip |
| 2.6 | Night Two | January 27, 2017 | Whitney Cummings, Ken Jeong |
| Filmed in Los Angeles on the Sunset Strip |
| 2.7 | Night Three | January 28, 2017 | Sarah Silverman, John Mayer |
| Filmed in Los Angeles on the Sunset Strip |
| 2.8 | Night Four | January 29, 2017 | Patton Oswalt, T.J. Miller, Jason Sudeikis, Natasha Leggero | Semifinals:
| Filmed in Los Angeles on the Sunset Strip |
Finals:
| |||||
| Episode | Episode Title | First broadcast | Judges | Battles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Sarah Tiana vs. Dolph Ziggler | July 29, 2018 | Anthony Jeselnik, Nikki Glaser |
| |
| 3.2 | Yamaneika Saunders vs. Jamar Neighbors | July 31, 2018 | Anthony Jeselnik, Nikki Glaser |
| |
| 3.3 | Randy Sklar vs. Jason Sklar | August 7, 2018 | Anthony Jeselnik, Nikki Glaser |
| |
| 3.4 | Sam Morril vs. Joe Machi | August 14, 2018 | Anthony Jeselnik, Nikki Glaser |
| |
| 3.5 | Mike Lawrence vs. Tony Hinchcliffe | August 21, 2018 | Anthony Jeselnik, Nikki Glaser |
| |
| 3.6 | Blake Griffin vs. Jeff Ross | August 28, 2018 | Anthony Jeselnik, Nikki Glaser, Pete Davidson | ||