Roast Battle

Not to be confused with Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle.

Roast Battle
Promotional image
GenreComedy
Satire
Stand-up comedy
Created byBrian Moses
Jeff Ross
Written byAiden Spackman
Christine Rose
Dan Swimer
Dominic English
Geoff Norcott
James Farmer
Jesse Joyce
Directed byLiz Clare
Presented byJimmy Carr
StarringKatherine Ryan
Russell Brand (series 1)
Jonathan Ross (series 2–3)
Brian Moses
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageBritish
No. of series4
No. of episodes22
Production
Executive producersBrian Moses
Emma Clarke
Gabe Turner
Jeff Ross
Jill Offman
Jimmy Carr
Louise Holmes
Suzi Aplin
ProducerMia Cross
EditorsAndy Kinnear
Jason Boxall
Philip Lepherd
Original release
NetworkComedy Central
Release15 January 2018 (2018-01-15) –
17 February 2020 (2020-02-17)
Related
Comedy Central Roasts
Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle

Roast Battle is a British roast comedy show that is broadcast on Comedy Central.[1] The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr and features comedians facing each other in roast battles.[1]

The show was created by American comedians Jeff Ross and Brian Moses and is based on their Comedy Central series Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle on which Carr has appeared as a contestant.[2]

Concept, format and production

Roast Battle is based on Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle, an American television series created by comedians Jeff Ross and Brian Moses that first aired on Comedy Central in 2016.[2][3] The American series is based on a live show created by Moses and fellow comedian Rell Battle that runs at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles in the comedy club's Belly Room.[2][3] Jimmy Carr participated as a contestant in Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle's first series.[1][2]

Roast Battle premiered on Comedy Central in the UK and Ireland in 2018.[1] The show is hosted by Carr and Moses acts as the announcer and the referee of each battle.[1] The winner of each battle is determined by a panel of judges, including Carr.[1][4] In the series' first series Katherine Ryan and Russell Brand served as judges.[1] The second and third series featured Ryan and Jonathan Ross on the judges panel.[5][6] The fourth series judges panel featured Ryan alongside a different guest judge each episode.[4][6] These guest judges included Richard Ayoade, Big Narstie, Sara Pascoe, Noel Fielding and Joe Lycett.[4][6]

The show is recorded at the Electric Brixton nightclub in London and is co-produced by James Corden’s production company Fulwell 73 and Carr's production company Ideasatron.[4][7]

Reception

Roast Battle became Comedy Central's highest-rated UK commission.[4][8][9]

In December 2018, a complaint was upheld by Ofcom after a trailer for the programme featured an anti-Semitic joke delivered by Jimmy Carr towards Tom Rosenthal, the latter of whom is of Jewish descent.[10]

Transmissions

Series Judges Start date End date Episodes
1 Jimmy Carr
Katherine Ryan
Russell Brand		 15 January 2018 19 January 2018 6
2 Jimmy Carr
Katherine Ryan
Jonathan Ross		 1 October 2018 5 October 2018 5
Special 10 December 2018 1
3 14 January 2019 18 January 2019 5
4 Jimmy Carr
Katherine Ryan
Guest judges		 20 January 2020 17 February 2020 5

Episodes

The winner of each roast battle is in bold.

Series 1

Episode First broadcast Battle 1 Battle 2
1x01 15 January 2018 Tom Allen vs Suzi Ruffell Phil Wang vs Ed Gamble
1x02 16 January 2018 Daniel Sloss vs Desiree Burch Joe Lycett vs Nick Helm
1x03 17 January 2018 Bobby Mair vs Harriet Kemsley Dane Baptiste vs Tez Ilyas
1x04 18 January 2018 Sofie Hagen vs Larry Dean Alex Brooker vs Matt Forde
1x05 19 January 2018 Joel Dommett vs Iain Stirling Fin Taylor vs Paul Chowdhry
1x06 19 January 2018 Jayde Adams vs Alex Edelman Mark Steel vs Elliot Steel

Series 2

Episode First broadcast Battle 1 Battle 2
2x01 1 October 2018 Fern Brady vs Ivo Graham Chris Ramsey vs Tom Rosenthal
2x02 2 October 2018 Alfie Brown vs Jessie Cave Daniel Sloss vs Phil Wang
2x03 3 October 2018 Catherine Bohart vs Sarah Keyworth Andrew Maxwell vs Mark Watson
2x04 4 October 2018 Stephen Bailey vs Darren Harriott Matt Richardson vs Angela Barnes
2x05 5 October 2018 Naz Osmanoglu vs Rose Matafeo Alex Brooker vs Rosie Jones

Specials

Episode First broadcast Battle 1 Battle 2 Play-off Final
Christmas special 10 December 2018 Bobby Mair vs Ed Gamble Suzi Ruffell vs Desiree Burch Bobby Mair vs Desiree Burch Suzi Ruffell vs Ed Gamble

Series 3

Episode First broadcast Battle 1 Battle 2
3x01 14 January 2019 Tom Ward vs Darren Harriott Tom Allen vs Larry Dean
3x02 15 January 2019 Kiri Pritchard-McLean vs Brennan Reece Alex Edelman vs Joel Dommett
3x03 16 January 2019 Tom Houghton vs Lauren Pattison Simon Brodkin vs Dane Baptiste
3x04 17 January 2019 Nigel Ng vs Tom Lucy Johnny Vegas vs Phil Ellis
3x05 18 January 2019 Rhys James vs Lloyd Griffith Rhys Nicholson vs Felicity Ward

Series 4

Episode First broadcast Guest judge Battle 1 Battle 2
4x01 20 January 2020 Noel Fielding Laura Lexx vs Tom Livingstone Baga Chipz & The Vivienne vs Glamrou & Crystal
4x02 27 January 2020 Big Narstie Joe Sutherland vs Sophie Duker Jamie Laing vs Ivo Graham
4x03 3 February 2020 Richard Ayoade Ed Night vs Huge Davies Richard Herring vs Sara Barron
4x04 10 February 2020 Joe Lycett Adam Rowe vs Maisie Adam Fern Brady vs Phil Wang
4x05 17 February 2020 Sara Pascoe Dane Baptiste vs Jordan Stephens Lou Sanders vs Luke McQueen

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Logan, Brian (15 January 2018). "Roast battles and insult comedy? No thanks. We're British". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Zinoman, Jason (29 July 2016). "Insult Comedy as Blood Sport: The Rise of the Roast Battle". The New York Times. New York City, New York, United States. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Finally, the Comedy Roast Competition Battle is Coming to Television". The Interrobang. Orange Pop Media. 31 March 2016. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Rebecca (15 October 2019). "Noel Fielding switches baking for roasting as he joins new Comedy Central show". Metro. London, United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Jonathan Ross replaces Russell Brand on Roast Battle UK judging panel". Evening Express. Aberdeen, Scotland. Press Association. 9 July 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b c "Comedy Central orders yet more Roast Battles". Chortle. 15 October 2019. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  7. ^ Clarke, Stewart (8 September 2017). "Russell Brand Set for U.K. Version of Comedy Central's 'Roast Batt". Variety. Los Angeles, California, U.S. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  8. ^ Dessau, Bruce (29 January 2018). "News: Roast Battle Smashes Ratings Record". www.beyondthejoke.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  9. ^ Price, Stephen (1 February 2018). "Roast Battle turns up heat". www.broadcastnow.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Comedy Central rapped over Jimmy Carr's 'antisemitic' joke". Chortle. 3 December 2018. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.