I have never been to one or been the subject of one. I know I am way to sensitive for that.
I have only seen them for celebrities.
What about you?
I remember reading William Shatner said no toupee jokes , everything else was OK . As you might expect there were a few toupee jokes.
Never been to one but I would be OK with it about me if it was for a charity.
The closest I’ve been to one was when I was in the Navy working in the Pentagon. One of the senior officers in our group was a great story-teller, so for going-away luncheons, he’d act as MC and talk about the person who was leaving. It never got nasty like some roasts I’ve seen, but it was always hilarious.
I won’t watch the roasts on Comedy Central (do they still do them?) because they strike me as nasty excuses to tell crude jokes while the “guest of honor” fake-laughs thru the proceedings.
I can’t imagine anyone would want to roast me - I’m rather boring and non-descript.
At my company, they used to have elaborate yearly meetings, with patent awards, a luncheon, and service awards. Not so much anymore, with the downturn in Oil & Gas.
They would “honor” the milestone employees, I believe 20 year anniversaries and up, with photos and stories from their careers. They weren’t mean-spirited at all, but could get extremely squirmy for the recipient.
The audience loved it! By the time my 20 year came around, they stopped having that type of meeting. I’m glad! Next year will be my 25th.
At this one company I worked for, there was a big retirement lunch for one of the long time, and well loved program managers. It was decided that there was going to be a roast as part of the luncheon, and it was suggested that I be one of the roasters ! I put together a bit of a script, which actually poked more fun at various members of the audience, but did it ala Bob Newhart’s one-sided phone conversations - with me playing the person retiring. As my one foray into being a stand-up comedian, it was nerve-racking, but went off really well.
I was really glad to have done it, and I would not have done it for just anybody. I think if you do it purely for “fun” and entertainment, it is a nice way to honor somebody (they also need to be able to laugh at them self and have a sense of humor).
A bunch of friends organized one for one of the group. Had 40-50 people show up and maybe 10 do the roasting. It was one of the funniest things I’ve witnessed. His mother actually peed her pants from laughing. At the end the target had a chance at rebuttal which was also really funny. We’ve been talking about it for years as the most epic get together this group has ever had.