# Ro@$t of Denis Leary on Comedy Central **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102 "2003-08-14T06:34:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/1 "2003-08-14T06:34:37Z")
Yes, before anyone asks, I had to write Roast that way in the thread title. Those commercials (ad spot…after ad spot…after ad spot…) have an effect on you! And I know that it had an effect on a lot of you–who else watched? Fess up! The commercials feel empty, now that it’s all over. I liked. I hadn’t really seen much of other Roasts, just bits and pieces here and there. But I liked this one quite a bit. I think Christopher Walken’s bit about Denis’s beautiful hands was the funniest one, hands down. And I thought Colin Quinn’s bit was very cute (…sigh, I’ve become a fan), although I didn’t know most of the people he was talking about at one point. And I think Denis Leary ultimately rocks. (I freely admit I’ve been brainwashed by Comedy Central, but I don’t care.) Ahh, any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/2 "2003-08-14T06:49:59Z")
Caught the end of it, not enough to form an opinion. Sure want to see the whole thing though. Dennis Leary is soo funny. Unfortunately, his current standup routine on Comedy Central isn’t as funny as the first one, but still pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/3 "2003-08-14T13:42:29Z")
I watched the first half-hour or so, but I fell asleep. I’m a morning person - what can I say? My most vivid memory of the show is of all those people leaning down to the mic at the podium. Is it absolutely necessary to speak directly into a mic for your voice to be heard? If so, why wasn’t the neck longer? If not, why didn’t someone tell them to stand up straight. It was painful to watch them! I guess I didn’t find it very funny since I fixated on the mic height. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/4 "2003-08-14T15:33:28Z")
I didn’t like it that much. Dennis Leary said on the Daily Show that his production company did it because he wanted to make a roast like the old Dean Martin days where everybody was friends. Too bad Dean Martin’s friends were actually funny…I think Leary missed that part… ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/5 "2003-08-14T15:40:00Z")
Yeah, seriously. Comedy Central’s Roasts so far have absolutely sucked. At least Leary’s was better than the garbage that was Chevy Chase’s. There were some good lines in Leary’s but it wasn’t great. They really have to get Jeffrey Ross in there. It isn’t a roast until Jeffrey Ross offends everyone, IMO. And I don’t think Leary is very funny at all. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/6 "2003-08-14T16:11:15Z")
I haven’t seen it yet but I will because Walken’s roasting. I’d listen to Walken read the police blotter out loud. ---
**Author:** ![SpaceForRent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@SpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/7 "2003-08-14T16:14:23Z")
I thought it was funny, but I was hoping for a little more. But I liked the slams on Keifer Sutherland. Those were great. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/8 "2003-08-14T16:15:38Z")
Ok, I admit “Loved you in the Lost Boys” had me laughing out loud. ---
**Author:** ![toque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@toque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toque)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/9 "2003-08-14T17:38:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pepperlandgirl \* > \*\*I didn’t like it that much. Dennis Leary said on the Daily Show that his production company did it because he wanted to make a roast like the old Dean Martin days where everybody was friends. > > Too bad Dean Martin’s friends were actually funny…I think Leary missed that part… \*\* I liked it for this reason. I happened to catch bits of the Chevy Chase and Hef roasts, and they just seemed cruel and fundamentally mean-spirited. The Denis Leary thing was more like a voyeuristic glimpse into a bunch of old friends telling humiliating anecdotes about each other. I found it kind of heart warming. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/10 "2003-08-14T17:42:15Z")
Seems like every time I turn on Comedy Central, it’s on. Did SNL stop sending episodes? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/11 "2003-08-14T17:44:22Z")
Anyway, the priest was great. Is he really his priest? “Boys and girls, don’t get into the priesthood for the money. It’s just not worth it.” ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/12 "2003-08-14T17:45:28Z")
It was tons better than the other roasts (Chevy Chase, Rob Reiner, etc.) and much more in the spirit of the Dean Martin roasts (which I grew up watching–usually hidded behind the sofa so Mom didn’t know I was watching). I laughed through out the show and only thought one guy wasn’t funny at all (I forget who). ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/13 "2003-08-14T18:16:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kallessa \* > \*\*It was tons better than the other roasts (Chevy Chase, Rob Reiner, etc.) and much more in the spirit of the Dean Martin roasts (which I grew up watching–usually hidded behind the sofa so Mom didn’t know I was watching). I laughed through out the show and only thought one guy wasn’t funny at all (I forget who). \*\* Oh man, the Chevy Chase roast was horrible, but the Rob Reiner roast was hilarious. “Even David Crosby says you’ve let yourself go!” Classic. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/14 "2003-08-14T18:30:33Z")
I thought it was funny, actually some of the people were a lot kinder than I would expect for a Denis Leary roast. I don’t understand why Keifer Sutherland was sitting front and center when he didn’t actually say anything. (I agree that the slams against him were great, and he seemed to take it very well). And who was that other guy, Liz Hurley’s date? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/15 "2003-08-14T18:41:21Z")
**Neurotik** wrote > [@](#): > > They really have to get Jeffrey Ross in there. It isn’t a roast until Jeffrey Ross offends everyone, IMO. Man, ain’t that the truth. He rocked in the Drew Carey roast. “I’m just sorry Abe Vigoda isn’t alive to see this. Drew, you’re a betting man, what’s the over/under on Abe Vigoda? I’ve got September and the points.” ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/16 "2003-08-14T19:22:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > They really have to get Jeffrey Ross in there. It isn’t a roast until Jeffrey Ross offends everyone, IMO. “I wouldn’t fuck her with Bea Arthur’s dick.” - Funniest Roast comment, ever. (Referring to Sandra Bernhard) ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/17 "2003-08-14T19:26:05Z")
Is he the guy who said “I’ve seen younger faces on cash” at the Alan King roast? ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/18 "2003-08-14T19:34:42Z")
I kind of missed the Friars’ Club feel of the earlier roasts, I guess that’s why no Jeffrey Ross or Alan King and no jokes about Abe Vigoda, and Jeff Garlin being the “host” rather than the “roastmaster”. But also I miss the fact that they don’t really pull their punches with the digs. Sure there are the usual hooker jokes, calling each other gay jokes, “your career’s dead” joke. But at least at a Friars’ roast someone might have stung Denis with jokes about him stealing material from Bill Hicks or that there were more beneficiaries of nepotism on that stage than at a Wayans family reunion. I liked parts of it: the priest, Dane Cook, the digs at Keifer Sutherland, Denis replying with photos and old stories, and “Show us on Keifer Sutherland where the priest touched you.” Parts I didn’t like: Who the hell is Jeff Garlin? I know the name for some reason, he’s like a lot of comedians who you see on TV but who make no impression - dull. And wouldn’t a better intro have been, “And now a man who spent the past 35 years (or however old he is) getting into a fatsuit he made himself, Jeff Garlin.” I mean if you’ve got to make a lame fatsuit joke, why not say his body is his fatsuit. The Gina Gershon/Rene Russo gag. Just too obvious. Dr. Dre and Ed Lover. Two unfunny idiots who waste everybody’s time by hanging around anywhere. And what joke got edited out about _Small Soldiers_ when they were running down his movie career? Are they still on the radio in New York? Why? That creepy Michael J. Fox tape. I’m glad the guy has enough sense of humor to poke fun of his illness, but were his movements for real or was he exaggerating them for the bit? ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/19 "2003-08-14T19:54:44Z")
Jeff Garlin plays Larry David’s manager on HBO’s _Curb Your Enthusiasm_. ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102/20 "2003-08-14T20:20:26Z")
I found myself laughing hysterically at some parts and nodding out at others, and that pretty much describes each commentator. It seemed to me they were trying too hard to be funny and had to string a bunch of not funny jokes in between the two or three that were actually good. My favorite though: Why are we roasting you, you’re Irish aren’t you? We should be boiling you… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-t-of-denis-leary-on-comedy-central/195102.md?page=2)