The Roast of David Hasselhoff: status of the Hoff…Hassled
August 16, 2010 Ilya News, Reviews, Roasts, Television, The Roast Of David Hasselhoff
Between you and me, the last few years the Comedy Central Roasts have been pretty meh. Sure they were funny, but they weren’t that level of balls out laugh out loud hilarity that a roast should be. Unfortunately this had a lot to do with who the roastee was. Let’s be honest a guy as squeaky clean as Jeff Foxworthy is going to be tough to make fun of, even for minds as sadistic as Lisa Lampanelli and Greg Giraldo. How many hick jokes can you make about Larry the Cable Guy? (by the way Comedy Central, roasting TWO members of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, for shame)
Luckily, David Hasselhoff is the perfect subject for a roast because he embodies all that is great about a roast. He is a celebrity past his prime who’s become a living cartoon character. There isn’t just one thing to make fun of him about, from Baywatch, to Knight Rider, to drunken burger eating, to being “big in Germany”, your choices are limitless. Like a fine wine, the Hoff is complex, aged, and filled with alcohol.
Seth McFarlane did a passable job of hosting, he is an amicable guy and delivered some zingers but probably won’t go down in any history books for it. As much as we like him and his work, most of McFarlane’s comedy relied on him breaking into one of his trademark voices. To quote the great Jeffery Ross, “Seth McFarlane is a man of a thousand voices, all of them Stewie.”
In fact Jeffery Ross once again might have stolen the show, delivering some of the most stinging burns of the night. Ross, who sported a curly fro that made him look like Jonah Hill getting out of rehab, proved he is one of the best roasters in the industry. Which is especially great because frankly he doesn’t get much work the rest of the year.
While Ross might have been the slight points leader in acerbic barbs, other dais regulars Greg Giraldo, Lisa Lampanelli, and Gilbert Gottfried delivered some scathing sets. Whitney Cummings probably had the line of the night delivering a zinger to Pamela Anderson that made humor out of an AIDS joke.
As usual there were some “celebrity” members on the dais also. This year it was George Hamilton, Jerry Springer, and Hulk Hogan… yeah I have no idea why either but if anything they all made great targets for the roasters.
If you didn’t watch the roast you missed out on one of the funniest ones in years. While hopefully these clips courtesy of Comedy Central tided you over, don’t sweat it the entire roast will be replayed in it’s entirety midnight tonight going into Tuesday, as well as Friday and Saturday but just make sure to check local listing I am not taking responsibility for you missing the hilarity.
For those who saw the roast, what did you think of it? Was McFarlane a good host or should they have gone with someone else. Also for your consideration I submit this.
