Friars Club Roastmaster: Comedian Jeffrey Ross

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"EVERYBODY IN NEW JERSEY thinks they're an insult comedian," remarks Jeffrey Ross, 43. "If there was an academy of roasting, it would be in Jersey. I never realized I was funny until I went away to college. Back home in Jersey, I was just another guy."

Ross was a little-known stand-up comic before his work as a producer of and participant in the Friars Club roasts put him on the map. Now people come to his stand-up gigs expecting to see a roast — so Ross puts a podium onstage, invites fans to stand behind it and goes to town, Jersey style.

» EXPRESS: What kind of relationship did you have with [early television comedian] Milton Berle?
» ROSS: Milton taught me a lot. He must have hosted hundreds of roasts. After my first roast, he gave me a kiss on the cheek in front of a thousand people and invited me back to the Club to have a drink and a cigar. We'd have lunch all the time. He taught me to smoke cigars. He literally stuck one up his nose and explained that if it smelled like crap, it was genuine Cubano.

» EXPRESS: Tell me about the Friars Club's history.
» ROSS: The Friars Club is a country club without the golf course. It's a party. It's a living history of show business on 55th Street in Manhattan. The Club has been around for over 100 years. As a comedian, it's very comforting -- you can go home. When Henny Youngman would walk in, even into his 90s, it was as if he was the biggest star in the world. They treated him with reverence.

» EXPRESS: Do you think you helped put the Friars Club back on the map?
» ROSS: I don't think it's about the Friars Club as much as roasting. It's become this more popular, hip thing, bigger than I ever would have imagined. It's no longer just old guys in tuxedos. ... The Friars roasts are no longer on Comedy Central. They're private. And because they're private, they can get some real heavy hitters to have fun. I once heard Barbara Walters say "[extreme expletive]" at a roast.

» EXPRESS: Did you see the video of Joe Rogan confronting Carlos Mencia?
» ROSS: I heard about it. This goes right to the roots of the Friars Club. This whole outing people for stealing material — that's something that's unique to Hollywood. In New York, comedians settle things differently. We have more fraternity. The Friars Club's a big part of that. In New York, people settle those differences with cash or with a fistfight in the alley. I don't want to see two magicians arguing about how to do a trick. I'm not into embarrassing each other.

» EXPRESS: Have you ever hurt someone's feelings onstage?
» ROSS: No, I think I'm a good barometer of where the line is. The key is to have everybody wishing to be the recipient of the next roast. You want everyone to feel loved.

» EXPRESS: Do you have any jokes about the Boss?
» ROSS: Well, I take Bruce seriously — I just saw him perform two weeks ago. John Stamos took Bob Saget and I to see him perform in L.A. We got the whole VIP treatment.

I've seen Bruce 30 or 40 times as a regular fan. So, suddenly, I'm being escorted through the back doors as a VIP, [but] I went just as crazy. I hadn't heard "Rosalita" — which is the greatest New Jersey anthem ever — I hadn't heard it live, ever. So I took my shirt off and swung it over my head. My friends were embarrassed.

» The Improv, 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW; through Sun., 8 & 11 p.m., $20; 202-296-7008. (Farragut North)

Written by Express contributor Tim Follos
Photo courtesy Personal Publicity