I was very glad when Lewis Black pointed out what everyone at the Bob Saget roast must have been thinking: why roast Bob Saget when his entire career has been one extended roast? For a comic who’s not much of a comic, who’s appeal has turned from "I can't believe the dad from Full House is obscene" to "I can't believe Bob Saget is making a fortune off being the dad from Full House and obscene," the Saget roast, broadcast on Comedy Central Sunday night, showed just how dated the format has become in an age when the very construct of a celebrity is inherently a source of insult humor. In that sense, roasting Bob Saget is as pointless as roasting Paris Hilton.
That doesn’t mean there weren't any laughs to be found. Despite what the comics kept telling themselves, there were some legitimately funny people on stage that evening. Jon Lovitz, like only he can, made me laugh the hardest even though his roast was basically one extended gay joke (the fact that he was the most effeminate roaster — male or female — only added another level of humor). The other notable performances of the night came from the always reliable and underrated Greg Giraldo and Sarah Silverman, who gave an uncharacteristically earnest (but still filthy) roast from a recording while battling depression.
The true standout, however, came from the most unexpected source. Cloris Leachman, while easily deflecting jokes about being old and having a dry vagina, somehow made jokes about giving Jack Benny the reach-around and wanting to fuck John Stamos seem classy. She was the only roaster on a completely different cultural plane, but she was as funny and filthy as anyone else, which meant that she was funnier and filthier than anyone else. When she talked about how pathetic everyone else there was and how much better than that she was, there was no way to counter her. Respect and nostalgic appreciation goes a long towards making a successful dick joke. Just ask Bob Saget ten years ago.
But the datedness of the roast format still remained. Throughout the roast, you were overcome with a painful sense that you were watching a bunch of losers trying in vain to rekindle the magic that only worked with their heroes of another generation. No doubt this wasn’t helped by the fact that roastmaster John Stamos is not actually a comedian. For someone who was knocked about only being appealing because of his looks, Stamos mugged at the camera un-ironically more than you would ever want to see in a comedy event.
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