For the “Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump,” roaster extraordinaire Jeffrey Ross sees taking down Trump as not just making jokes, but providing a noble service for our country.
“Unemployment is through the roof, and we’re roasting a billionaire on national television. That’s the key to this,” says Ross. “In a way, we’re roasting him vicariously for America.”
Of course, roasting those in need of a take down is what Comedy Central Roasts have been doing for years, sending up celebs whose fame comes with list of embarrassing foibles and pervasive fame — such as Hasselhoff, Flava Flav, and Joan Rivers.
“I think Comedy Central just sits there and thinks, who is the biggest tool in Hollywood?” says roaster Whitney Cummings.
“Every single person Comedy Central has successfully roasted has been somewhat of a joke, but remained an icon,” says roaster Lisa Lampanelli. “They have this unique power to laugh at themselves and stay in the public eye.”
But perhaps no roastee has been more deserving than the Donald, whose well-documented shenanigans — from calling for a Kanye West boycott, to his overblown smackdowns with Rosie O’Donnell, to unleashing Omarosa on an underserving public — are now being eclipsed by word that he’s thinking of buying the New York Mets, and also that he might be looking to take his toupee collection straight into the White House.
“Trump has said that he wants to be president, and that he wants to buy a major league baseball team,” says Lampanelli. “All he has to do is add wanting a pony for Christmas, and he sounds like my eight-year-old nephew.”
But topic number one will always be Trump’s incredible, indestructible hair.
“I hope he does become president, because I wanna ride in Hair Force One,” says Ross.
Part of the excitement of this year’s roast is that after years of filming in LA, the roast returned to New York, where it taped last Wednesday at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Given Trump’s status as a New York icon, the scenario could not have been more appropriate.
“There’s a certain affection here for Donald Trump. He’s royalty in New York,” says Ross. “I feel like he’s essentially our de facto mayor.”
In addition to attacking the guest of honor, the roasters descend on their fellow roasters as well, and this year presents an abundance of rich targets including roast master Seth MacFarlane, and roasters including Snoop Dogg, Marlee Matlin, Larry King, and The Situation.
“This is such a diverse group,” says Cummings. “The Situation is in his 20s, and Larry King is in his 120s. So I’m looking forward to going after everyone.”
“I cannot wait to get ahold of Marlee Matlin,” Lampanelli says of the Oscar winner and current “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant. “I heard she has an awesome sense of humor about herself, but also, she’s deaf. So if you put your hand over your mouth, she won’t even know what you’re saying about her. As long as you smile, she’ll think it’s a compliment.”
But while everyone will take their hits, the harshest jokes are sure to be saved for Trump. While it may seem difficult to imagine a man with his monstrous ego subjecting himself to such vicious personal attacks, the Friar’s Club already roasted him several years ago, and Lampanelli, one of that evening’s roasters, says that he took it all in stride.
“What’s cool about him is, I don’t think he’s given Comedy Central any rules,” she says. “Most of the roastees will. Pam Anderson was like, please don’t make fun of my Hep C, and William Shatner didn’t want us to make fun of the ‘dead wife in the pool’ thing. But so far, Trump doesn’t have any stipulations. So it’s gonna be pretty hardcore.”
“That’s how much of a narcissist he is — he’ll take any attention he can get,” says Cummings. “To be willing to have people make fun of you for an hour on national television takes a very special kind of ego. I think he’ll take any kind of attention he can get. He probably should have been a comedian.”
THE COMEDY CENTRAL OF DONALD TRUMP
Tuesday, 10:30 p.m., Comedy Central