If you’ve ever seen one of the celebrity roasts that have propagated like offspring of aroused rabbits over the last decade, then you know Jeffrey Ross. He’s insulted Andy Dick, Hugh Hefner, Bea Arthur and William Shatner, among others. He wore a huge fur coat onto the stage of PETA activist Pamela Anderson’s roast. They call him “Roastmaster General” at the New York Friars’ Club, “The Meanest Man in Comedy” in New York Magazine and hundreds of mocked celebrities just call him an asshole. Is there is a softer side to this BU alumnus that you don’t see on stage? Speaking to him in advance of his shows this weekend at the Comedy Connection, The Muse tried to find out.
The Muse: You’ve become famous for your roasts over the last few years. Do you still like it, or is it getting a little stale?
Jeffrey Ross: What could be better? Embrace who you are, that’s what I always say. Dave Chappelle sat me down a little while ago and gave me some very good advice: if you find a lane, take it. It’s tough to get a hook in this business, to separate yourself from the other thousand comics. I always tell people my favorite roast is the next one I’ve got coming up.
Muse: Along those lines, what’s your favorite putdown you’ve said to somebody?
J.R.: I remember at the Hefner roast, right after 9/11 — it’s the one we talk about in The Aristocrats. Tommy Davidson, very funny guy, gets up there and does a song for Hefner as Sammy Davis Jr. Instead of “Candy Man,” though, it’s “P**** Man.” “Yes, the p**** man can.” And Hef gives him a polite smile. So I’m next after Tommy, and once I get up there I say, “If Sammy Davis were alive to have seen that, he’d have poked his other eye out.” Because Sammy only had one eye.
So, yeah, that one isn’t the most famous but it’s a personal favorite.
Muse: Speaking of The Aristocrats, do you have any good stories about that movie, the joke, what it was like to be in it?
J.R.: Well, to be honest, the directors Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette had to corner me in New York just to convince me to do it. Every comic I knew that was asked about it considered it an annoying obligation at best. I saw them walk up to Chris Rock and ask him, and he threw his hands up and said, “OK, if I have to!” It seemed like a unanimous waste of time, it wasn’t going to matter, it wasn’t even going to see the light of day. Rarely am I proven wrong, but it turned out to be terrific. It was a huge love letter to free speech, to the Bill of Rights, to comedy. It showed comedy as an art form, like jazz. It showed how so many comedians have their own styles, can approach something from a completely different way. I have the poster up in my office now, and my name is on there — right between Don Rickles and Sarah Silverman.
Muse: I’m impressed you admit thinking it would bomb instead of pretending to be in on it from the start.
J.R.: No, I thought it was going to be a huge flop. It was just guys going around with handheld cameras. If you look at my scene, I’m eating an ice cream. I don’t even show them the courtesy of finishing my dessert before I talk to them.
Muse: What do you think about the presidential race right now — is it easy to find comedic value there?
J.R.: I think that with politics, the longer it goes on, the better for comedy. I root for the crazies, the people about ready to go off the edge. In my mind, it’s really just a big new reality show at this point, America’s Next Top President. When it comes down to it, we should just get Tom Bergeron to emcee, or Ryan Seacrest. Then again, I’m not the best judge of this kind of thing. The last guy I voted for was Clay Aiken. Twenty times. But there’s some serious fun in joking about the candidates, because something new changes everyday. The jokes start to write themselves.
Muse: Like Obama’s pastor.
J.R.: Isn’t that hysterical? He’s up there with his Cosby sweater on. Actually, I don’t want to say anything bad about Obama, [if he gets elected president] I’m still looking to get invited to his inaugural Block Party. And with McCain, even if he did end up having sex with an aide, well. this time it won’t be a scandal, it will be a miracle.
Muse: What would you say to the kids languishing in school, who want to do what you’re doing but they’re stuck because there’s no comedy degree?
J.R.: The key in comedy is life experience. Go out there and get different jobs, have relationships, do all that stuff. The best people in comedy have failed at other things first. You don’t become a comedian at 5 like Justin Timberlake in the Mickey Mouse Club. You need to do life things, see some bands, fall in love, fall out of love, sprain your ankle, knock up your RA. Just build experience. Comedy comes from pain, and you can find that kind of stuff in life. And if you decide you want to get up on stage, do it every single night of your life.
Jeffrey Ross will be at the Comedy Connection in Quincy Market at 8pm and 10:15pm this Friday and Saturday.