Roast Battle set to up the ante with Comedy Central, and a televised week of shows from Just For Laughs
June 14, 2016 Matt Kleinschmidt Just For Laughs, Roasts
Any readers of this website knows that Roast Battle is one of the hottest events in comedy right now. A competitive joke telling format (similar to a rap battle) that was born from Brian Moses and Rel Battle from The Belly Room of The Comedy Store. The show was destined for something bigger than Tuesday nights on the strip as the Roastmaster General himself Jeff Ross soon got involved with the show, bringing it to comedy festivals across the land where it gained momentum.
Last year at Just For Laughs, the Roasmaster’s Invitational was particularly inspiring as the Roast Battle got a bracket-style format and over the course of the week pitted comedians against each other from all over the US, Canada, and Europe until Jimmy Carr eliminated everyone else and rose victoriously as the winner.
Now the ante has been upped and Comedy Central is involved to bring the battle to the next level. After a series of primaries across the US, Roast Battle will air live same-day during the Just For Laughs Festival. So that means four nights of the Roast Battle tournament style. The first three episodes of the four-part series will air day-after-tape on July 28-30 at 10pm on Comedy Central and the July 31 finals air live same-day. The event will once again be filmed at club L’Astral in Montreal. Judges and the full competitors will be announced later, but you can pick up tickets now here.
“Roast Battle is the most fun I’ve ever had. Think Fight Club for comedians where anything goes. Two roasters go head to head and rip each other to pieces while a panel of celebrity judges weigh in,” said Ross. “It’s the Olympics of insults and sometimes feelings get hurt. I got to give Comedy Central props for having the guts to put something so dangerous on the air.”
The preliminaries will live and filmed for a Road to Roast Battle televised companion special and will premiere July 24th at midnight on Comedy Central.
Here are the preliminary lineups.
AUSTIN – June 12th at Cap City Comedy – 8pm
Mac Blake vs. Jake Flores
Ashley Barnhill vs. Jay Light
Chris Cubas vs. Kath Barbadoro
Martin Urbano vs. Pat Dean
LOS ANGELES – June 14th at Comedy Store Belly Room – 10:30pm
Guy Branum vs. Alex Hooper
Earl Skakel vs. Jesse Joyce
Sarah Tiana vs. George Perez
Keith Carey vs. Joe Dosch
Leah Kayajanian vs. Olivia Grace
Tickets and Info
CHICAGO – June 16th at Lincoln Hall – 8pm
Sean White vs. Xavier Lamont
Ms. Pat vs. CJ Sullivan
Jeff Arcuri vs. Meredith Kachel
Sean Flannery vs. Kolin Bohannen
Tickets and Info:
NEW YORK CITY – June 19th at Gramercy Theatre – 8pm
Mike Recine vs. Yamaneika Saunders
Sam Morril vs. Christi Chiello
Liza Treyger vs. Joe List
Mike Lawrence vs. Scott Chaplain
Mark Normand vs. Leonard Outz
Tickets and Info
