August 20, 2008
The Friars Club
Well, THAT was scary.
A roast was held last night for George Takei at the legendary Friars Club, and I was invited to be a part of it. It was one of the more daunting endeavors of my life. It's one thing to stand up in front of a crowd of fans at a convention and play for laughs, as I have done at such gatherings as the Stan Lee roast at the Chicago Comicon. This is a venue where I'm trying to make laugh a roomful of professional comics and roasters who have no frickin' clue who I am.
Judging by the number of people who came up to me and congratulated me on my outing, I did okay. Below the cut line are pictures of me with Roastmaster Alec Mapa, with fellow roaster Gilbert Gottfried, and with George. I think video will actually be available through the Friars Club website.
PAD
Peter and Alec Mapa
Peter and Gilbert Gottfried
Peter and George Takei
That's fantastic, Peter. Congratulations! I look forward to seeing the video.
Very nice photos. and I'm sure the Friars Club is much more classy than Comedy Central.
Kathy, I wouldn't count on it. From what I understand the Friar's Club roast are supposed to be quite blue Perhaps Peter would care to shed some light on the tone?
Very cool! Any chance this will air on Comedy Central anytime soon, or would it be too close to their Shatner roast?
BTW, how often are these roasts held? They seem to air one a year on Comedy Central, but I'm sure lots more are done.
Based on what I've read, between their website and Wikipedia), the earlier Roasts on Comedy Central had the blessing of the Friars Clubs.
But what CC runs now, where the roasts have devolved into running d*ck and fart jokes and more often seem to involve people who have no connection to the honoree? Not connected to the Friars Club. Thankfully.
That said, I am curious as to why Takei was given this particular honor by the Friars Club. I'm not saying he didn't earn it, but past roasts that I'm familiar with have mostly focused comedians. And while Takei is a funny guy, he's not generally considered a comedian. But then also I admit I have no idea what the criteria is for the Friars Club in the first place.
Any chance you could shed some light on this, PAD? And I really hope the video is made available. It sounds like it was a great time.
If the video doesn't go up, any chance of putting your routine's words up hereabouts?
One more reason I miss the actual Friar's Club roasts on Comedy Central. If they had been showing the one for George Takei instead of... whoever that was they roasted sometime in the last two weeks (see how little I've started to care), I'd have been glued to the chair in front of the television.
WSB radio and various University of Georgia-associated groups recently held a Vince Dooley (former coach and Athletic Director) roast recently here in Atlanta.
Unfortunately, they apparently forgot the charcoal.
That said, I am curious as to why Takei was given this particular honor by the Friars Club.
Since he became a part time addition to the Howard Stern Show his profile has been pretty high and he's probably gotten to know a good number of comedians in NY. And the opportunity to use up every gay/Asian/age/Star Trek joke doesn't come by often.
Either fatherhood is agreeing with Gilbert Gottfried or that's just the best picture I've ever seen of him. I hope he kept the jokes at his usual family-friendly level.
Ohhh, no, Gilbert was not family friendly in the least. A string of gay jokes. It was hysterical.
I have to say, there's no comparison to the Comedy Central roasts. Were there off-color and even filthy jokes? Yes. But it wasn't the incessant battering of poor taste that marked the CC event.
PAD
Gilbert's post-9/11 Roast jokes and version of the aristocrats joke were amazing. What's that guy doing lately?
Gilbert is the voice of the AFLAC duck.
I thought they had a roast for Takei already-it was the Shatner roast on Comedy Central. He wasn't even the roastee but man, did he get his fair share of ripping at that event.
What's that guy doing lately?
Lots of voice overs. "AFFALCK!", that sort of thing. For a guy who's famous for filthy jokes (and his infamous opening act for the Go Gos) it's funny to hear him on so many cartoons. It's as crazy as making a cartoon out of an x-rated gore movie like The Toxic Avenger. Which is still not as great a crime against God and Nature as The 3 Robotic Stooges.
Ah! So THAT was what Alec was talking about! (Folks may have seen Alec Mapa on several sitcoms, and he's done several one man shows in Southern CA and NY. He's one of several Asian American performers whose careers got jump started by the polar opposite duo of M. BUTTERFLY and MISS SAIGON).
Congratulations, that had to be a kick and a half!
I made it a point to go watch Gilbert Gottfried when he was in Wichita last year. I got to high-five him as he was leaving the stage. Great show!
So when does YOUR tour start, Peter? :D
Wildcat
I watched last weekend's Comedy Central Roast of Bob Sagat, and Gilbert was hands down the funniest roaster of the bunch...which surprised me, because I've never been a fan of his.
Peter, after having dinner with you and your wife at the Friars Club, and then seeing you perform on stage, all I can say is...YOU ARE AN EXTREMELY TALENTED PERSON!!!! (And your wife is also wonderfully creative with her puppets!!!!)You did GREAT and I think if you wanted to pursue a career on stage, you would be a hit!!!! YOU WERE AWESOME!
I dont think the Friars club website has a section for video,
even when they were doing the comedy central roasts they didnt put them up...
Gilbert also does or did ( don't know if the show is still in production-- my kids love and watch it all the time) the voice of an robotic bird on PBS's CYBERCHASE. Ever since ALLADIN the guy seems to always get (the part of) the bird... ;)
No matter which roast it is, Gilbert Gottfried is always the highlight for me. His act never fails to crack me up. I saw an interview where he dropped the persona, and he is a very thoughtful, soft spoken gent in real life!
BTW Peter, did you see the announcement about the new Stargate TV series? It sounds like an updated version of Space Cases! Since Jewel is on the current Stargate series, wouldn't it be synchronicity if she landed a role on the new version?
“Stargate:Universe introduces a team of explorers who find an ancient unmanned ship called the Destiny. Unable to return to Earth, the crew must fend for themselves aboard the ship, which has a preprogrammed mission taking them to the far reaches of the universe."
Bill Clay, with that kind of summary, I think it sounds a lot like ST: Voyager meets B5: Crusade.
You made Youtube, Peter. This is the link for a 5-minute excerpt bit, but Rina found the whole thing on another link as well. Very funny!
Gottfried did one of my all-time favorite jokes, one I still find funny years later, during his turn in the barrel to promote Aladdin. It may be just me, but in his voice, his reply left me on the floor.
He was asked the silly question, "How did you prepare for your role as Iago the parrot?"
"I did the whole DeNiro thing," he replied. "I moved to South America! I lived in the trees!"
Oh my, Peter got quite the groaping there! Looking forward to seeing the whole thing when it turns up!
For those looking for the full Roast, I haven't checked all the videos yet but it looks like the whole thing is available on YouTube under the FriarsRoast user ID. Here's the link to it:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=FriarsRoast
The Friars Club also seems to have their own site promoting their Competition show:
Enjoy!
Raphy