rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 2001; aka Comedy Central Presents: The N.Y. Friars Club Roast of Hugh Hefner
Directed by Paul Miller; produced by Mark Krantz, Jeffrey Ross, Jean-Pierre Trebot; hosted by Jimmy Kimmel
Starring Hugh Hefner; roasted by Jimmy Kimmel, Alan King, Rob Schneider, Jeffrey Ross, Cedric the Entertainer, Sarah Silverman, Drew Carey, Ice-T, Adam Carolla, Dick Gregory, Artie Lange, Gilbert Gottfried
The N.Y. Friars Club roast, presented by Comedy Central, exists out of a couple of comedians, making fun of one person. Sex and race are a subject often handled, and when the guest of honor is Hugh Hefner this is only empathized. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, this roast was mainly about sex and the old age of its subject, with some good words in between.
Although I liked this roast, there was a weakness to be found. The better comedians, in my opinion, were too close together. Jeffrey Ross, Sarah Silverman and Drew Carey, only briefly interreptud by Cedric the Entertainer, were my favorites. After them it was fun, but not as good as it used to be. Luckily the roast was closed by Gilbert Gottfried, also giving a fine performance.
Rob Schneider opened the show, being more funny in this couple of minutes than in all of his films combined. After that the great ones appeared, followed by non-comedian Ice-T, doing a pretty good job. Not unfunny, but lesser performances came from Adam Carolla, Dick Gregory and Artie Lange. Hefner himself rounded things up, with some of the same jokes - about himself of course - heard before.
Without commercials only 45 minutes long, 'The Roast of Hugh Hefner' is entertainment as it should be. Noting seems off-limit, which is a good thing, since it's all in good fun. It aired only two months after 9/11, and some remarks were made about it, respectfully, which showed the good intentions of this show. A great comedy special.