The first Friars Club Roast ever open to the public

June 18, 2001 7:34 PM

The first Friars Club Roast ever open to the public is reported on by Frank DiGiacomo of The New York Observer. Some funny stuff, some interesting stuff, and some vulgar stuff. Who knew that Paul Sheaffer was actually funny?
posted by BGM (13 comments total)

Paul Shaffer is very funny. He was far more involved in the original 1975-80 SNL than most people realize. In addition, he wrote "Dress Cool".
posted by aaron at 8:36 PM on June 18, 2001

Damn, I'm impressed by Shaffer! Go figure.

And Maher's bombing doesn't surprise me. In fact, it fills me with a special glee.
posted by solistrato at 9:28 PM on June 18, 2001

Shaffer also co-wrote "It's Raining Men." Ahem. But his interim comments on Letterman can be really funny.
posted by Karl at 9:40 PM on June 18, 2001

Don't forget his "Artie Fufkin" cameo in Spinal Tap. Kick my ass!
posted by machaus at 9:43 PM on June 18, 2001

The strong guy, the fat guy, the genius
God gave them each a special gift at birth
One's strong, one's fat, one's a genius
That's the reason they were put upon this earth
posted by aaron at 9:58 PM on June 18, 2001

machaus: Or his SNL turn as a practically catatonic Don Kirshner of Don Kirshner's Rock Concert/Midnight Special fame. I imagine it's better if you knew who Don was. But it could be any clueless, would-be hepster or music biz management type reading from a cue card. It's screamingly funny. (Don K. appears on Monkee's VH-1 "Behind the Music" as himself, the all-knowing svengali behind the Prefab Four. He's not that bad.)
posted by raysmj at 10:21 PM on June 18, 2001

I suppose we are going to have to suck him off to get a copy of the videotape.

Not in a gay way, mind you, but in a manly, U.S. Marine way- without dropping our weapons. Or our guns. But I digress...
posted by Alwin at 11:02 PM on June 18, 2001

Good link.

“...Mr. Belzer’s last HBO comedy special had been about one of the roastee’s favorite subjects: conspiracy theories. So Mr. Shaffer proposed a "Warren Commission to look into exactly how you died."” That’s good stuff.

You know, I can’t read the Observer in public without people staring at me. Some stigma with salmon colored tabs that the ones reading them must be rich and snooty.
posted by capt.crackpipe at 5:33 AM on June 19, 2001

If your idea of funny is a bunch of old Jewish comedians from the 1950's saying "fuck" and "putz" a lot, then the Friar's Roasts are for you.

I was surprised when Comedy Central started showing the roasts a couple of years ago because they're very lame, even with the addition of more contemporary comedians like Shaffer and Belzer.....well, maybe I'm not very surprised because Comedy Central has a high crap-to-funny ratio.
posted by briank at 8:25 AM on June 19, 2001

hmm... my idea of funny is a bunch of old Jewish comedians from the 1950's saying "fuck" and "putz" a lot...

Get Alan King on the phone, I was born to be a Friar!
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 8:55 AM on June 19, 2001

Glad to be of service to you, Uncle Joe!
posted by briank at 9:03 AM on June 19, 2001

a high crap-to-funny ratio

May I humbly propose this as a new MeFi tagline?
posted by bradlands at 9:15 AM on June 19, 2001

Let's see...

Some of America's funniest comedians...
In an environment without censorship...
Insulting someone they know well...
With prepared bits...

And yet, completely, utterly, not-at-all funny.

I mean, not even Billy Crystal made me crack a smile.

Jesus. (Naw, I guess he's not funny either.)
posted by Marquis at 3:29 PM on June 19, 2001