Whenever Comedy Central does a roast, I have so many mixed emotions. Some of these have actually been decently funny, such as the roast of David Hasselhoff, which was also the last roast that the late Greg Giraldo (Rest In Peace) would participate in. Since his death, his presence has been missing, as has much of the humor. Especially after the trainwreck that was Mike “The Situation” from Jersey Shore trying to speak in the roast of Donald Trump, I’ve been wary of these episodes.
However, Charlie Sheen is finally a subject that is relevant and worthy of being roasted. After his public meltdown that resulted in him being fired from Two and a Half Men, everybody was ready to hate this drugged up, sex loving maniac. I personally was more sympathetic simply because it was awesome to see a celebrity have the guts to say the things he said. Following a failed comedy tour and a career that’s not heating up anytime soon, he’s ready to be roasted. But are the roasters up to the task?
Featuring roasters that range from Jon Lovitz to Mike Tyson, the lineup this time around is definitely diverse, but surprisingly funny. To keep the diversity going, I’m going to rate each roaster on a scale of 1-10, based solely on hilarity. Let’s see how these Warlocks stand up to past roasters.
Seth MacFarlane: The creator of Family Guy stands in as host for the third roast in a row. Although he doesn’t get too many lines, his introductions are usually pretty funny, poking fun at Amy Schumer’s anonymity and Sheen’s family issues. Overall, he is a much better host than Kathy Griffin or Larry the Cable Guy. Plus, all of the jokes that make fun of his show’s similarities to The Simpsons are half the fun. 9/10
Jon Lovitz: The first roaster up, who also happens to be a veteran to comedy, is pretty solid. None of his jokes really stand out as hilarious or highlights of the show, but it’s still great to see Lovitz back in the comedy game. Not many of the roasters aimed any jokes his way either, so he almost disappeared about halfway through the roast. Still, his presence towards the beginning was enough to bring a few chuckles. 7/10
Kate Walsh: The Grey’s Anatomy star changed things up again by offering her comedy in the form of diagnoses to all of the roasters. Once again, as funny as it was, none of it stood out as extremely hilarious or noteworthy. 6/10
Jeff Ross: And this where the roast finally picks up. The Roastmaster General, who dressed as a warlord in honor of Sheen’s warlocks, was probably the funniest roaster of the night. Making fun of such things as the Republican Party and “winning”, Ross takes the place of Giraldo as the man who can consistently bring the laughs. Also, is that Dog the Bounty Hunter in the audience when Ross performs?! 10/10
Mike Tyson: Everybody was definitely wondering what Tyson was doing here, but he surprisingly held his own against the other comedians. Part of the hilarity was trying to understand him as he shuffled uncomfortably from side to side and delivered insulting poems and pretty hilarious jokes. Plus, he was the butt of almost every joke, which provided a majority of the laughs. Also, his commentary from the sidelines was always entertaining. 7/10
Anthony Jeselnik: The young comedian who is starting to make waves in the comedy world delivered a solid set. He even made of fun of his girlfriend Schumer, who took it all in jest. His delivery style alone was enough to solidify him as a roaster to keep an eye on. 8/10
Steve-O: Again, another “WTF?” choice for a roaster. His part was very small and had a few chuckles, but the best part came when he tried to give himself a black eye by running into Tyson’s fist. Yeah, seriously. At the end of the show, he broke his nose on the second attempt, so I give him a bonus point for trying. 6/10
Amy Schumer: I’ll be honest, she was decently funny, but definitely more brash than the others. And nobody loves an insulting comedy set more than me. But her joke about Ryan Dunn was, for me, too much too soon. Like I said, the rest of it was funny, but seeing Steve-O keep a straight, solem face while she tries to get a rise out of him was a bit misguided on her part. Leading to this score: ?/10
William Shatner: Captain Kirk was definitely more dependent on style and delivery rather than jokes. Although a few of them were funny (especially the one about the celebrity auction where he sold a kidney stone), it was ultimately just comfortable to have a former roastee on the giving end of the jokes. 5/10
Patrice O’Neal: After getting slammed all night for having diabetes and being overweight, O’Neal got his chance to get back at everyone else. His style was more of a ramble than anything, and definitely wasn’t as funny as earlier roasters. As the final roaster, I expected more, but at least he was the butt of some of the funniest jokes on the show. 6/10
Charlie Sheen: Finally, the man of the hour gets his chance to speak. Sheen was surprisingly hilarious, and many of his jokes had me laughing until I gasped, especially those made at Jeselnik’s expense. Finishing with a sincere speech, he ended the night as one of the best people to receive a roast. He was much funnier than many of the others and he took the jokes in stride, laughing along with every beat. 10/10
So was The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen any better than the others? Personally, I think so, especially since many of the roasters are familiar and established by now. Even the least funny of the group tonight were still pretty hilarious, and it was a definite improvement over The Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump. If you like the roasts, definitely try to catch this one.
#Winning