Comedy Stars Grace The Red Carpet at Comedy Central’s Roast of Bruce Willis!! And We Were There!

Published by Sara Dahms at July 16, 2018

It’s a very special edition of Notes From a Comedy Junkie as our own Sara Dahms flew out to Los Angeles to cover the red carpet at Comedy Central’s Roast of Bruce Willis. Sara is a comedy superfan who even goes so far as to call herself a comedy nerd. Raised on National Lampoon, John Hughes, Gene Wilder, and Fairy Tale Theatre, her life changed after her older sister showed her Eddie Murphy’s Raw in 1988. Soon after, she found Andrew Dice Clay and became a stand-up junkie for life. Eighteen months ago, she took her first comedycation to see Jeff Ross play in Miami on her birthday. Since then, she’s been traveling all over the country checking out the best comedy everywhere, a confirmed comedy addict, and now she’s agreed to share her travels with us. Read all Sara’s write-ups here!

Our Own Comedy Junkie Covers the Red Carpet of Comedy Central’s Roast of Bruce Willis in Los Angeles with Nikki Glaser, Brian Huskey, Joe DeRosa, Dom Irrera, Chris DiStefano, Esther Povitsky, Benji Aflalo, and More!

I’m getting ready to take my place on the red carpet and speak with some of the guests

Samm Levine

Samm Levine who was born in Chicago, raised in New Jersey and got his big break when he was cast as the geek in the cult classic series, “Freaks and Geeks”. Levine was very excited for the evening and was most looking forward to seeing his dear friend Kevin Pollak both roast and get roasted. Samm fully expected some serious lobs to be thrown in Kevin’s direction and couldn’t have been more excited to witness this event! Levine is a huge fan of the tradition of roasting and has actually seen every roast that has ever aired. Out of all the roasts Levine has seen, the most memorable moment for him occurred in 2001 when he was on the dais of “The Roast of Hugh Hefner”. Samm said that Gilbert Gottfried telling The Aristocrats joke was a completely unforgettable moment and he will never stop laughing whenever he thinks about it!

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Stars of “Alone Together” Benji Aflalo and Esther Povitsky

Congratulations to these two very funny comedians on having their series “Alone Together” picked up for a second season on Freeform and Hulu. And as if that’s not exciting enough, Fran Drescher will be joining the cast, playing the role of Esther’s mom. Benji said that Drescher isn’t just an amazing actress she is also a ridiculously talented writer as well. Esther said that the experience of working with Fran Drescher has been a dream come true and she actually has a framed picture of the two of them together on her nightstand. Drescher isn’t the only exciting new addition to the cast of “Alone Together” for season 2 either. The woman Benji has had a crush on since he was in high school, Carman Electra, will be playing his interest! How cool is that?! As for tonight Benji said that the person he was most looking forward to seeing get roasted was Dennis Rodman because there is so much potential material there he cannot wait to see what this talented dais comes up with!

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Chris Distefano

Chris Distefano has a weekly interstitial series for Comedy Central called, “Stupid Questions” where he sits down with a different comedian each week and asks them a ton of silly questions, which always leads to hilarious conversations. Distefano has had guests like Nikki Glaser, Big Jay Oakerson and Roy Wood Jr. on his show but of them all, Chris said thatso far his favorite episode was the one he did with the hilarious Yameneika Saunders where they got out of control and actually kissed on the lips during their episode! He said he loves her and absolutely loves what she’s about!The guest he is dying to have on in the future is the legendary comedian, Colin Quinn. Chris considers this fellow Brooklynite to be a friend but he’d still like to bust Quinn’s balls and let him know he’s coming for his heat! As for the roast, Chris predicted that Nikki Glaser was going to crush and destroy everyone up there and he was most looking forward to seeing her do just that. He also thinks that nothing should be off limits at a roast and when people participate or view a roast they have to remember to not take these jokes to heart even though they will be extremely personal.

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Joe DeRosa

Joe DeRosa was really looking forward to seeing the man of the hour, Bruce Willis get roasted. He shared that he thought Willis would be a difficult specimen to roast due to his success and good looks but that the talented dais would be able to crack the stoic stone that is Bruce Willis and really make him and everyone who watches laugh. DeRosa was another comedian who predicted that Nikki Glaser would be the one up there on the dais to watch out for because she has “the charm and wit to bring it.” Joe shared that he is a big fan of roasts and was recently at “The Roast of Rich Voss” where no subject matter was off limits and added that this was one of the reasons why Voss’ roast was so damn hilarious. DeRosa added that one of the funniest jokes of the night was about Jim Florentines’ deceased girlfriend and if Jim can laugh those jokes off there is no reason why others can’t do the same adding that it always surprises him when people get offended by a joke. Joe DeRosa believes that as long as a comedian is coming from a place of trying to make people laugh, no subject matter should be off the table and I completely agree!

Fahim Anwar

Fahim Anwar is a super funny actor, writer and comedian who was most excited to see his buddy Dom Irrera who was on the dais roast the room. Fahim also had the opportunity to see Nikki Glaser and Jeff Ross run their sets at The Comedy Store and was looking forward to seeing their final, perfectly polished material because he’s not just a fan of the final product, he truly loves the process. Anwar added that the first moment he’s able to work out a joke on stage, find the funny and get that laugh he was looking for is thee reason why he loves stand-up. Having a finished joke is great but finding the funny through the stand-up process of working out a joke on stage, in front of an audience is like solving a riddle and Fahim Anwar loves the puzzle that is stand-up! That comedic intelligence and ability to find the funny never ceases to amaze me and is one of the many reasons why I love comedy and am in such awe at the talented people around me.

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Brian Huskey

Brian Huskey is a veteran actor, writer and comedian who has been in the game for over two decades and was an absolute pleasure to speak with last night. When I asked Huskey what he was most looking forward to at tonight’s roast he simply responded with, “tears!” I died laughing! He elaborated, “I want to see iconic masculinity break down into just vulnerable, childlike tears.” I responded with, “Through humorous truths?!” Brian agreed and said that he wanted this to be more of a, “therapeutic intervention experience.” I laughingly added that everyone up there should leave it ALL on the stage. To which he replied, “Yes! And if we all end up in a group hug or whatever, it’s all a part of the process!” I asked him if he thought there should be anything off limits in comedy and at first he said “yes”, but then after thinking about it a second changed his answer to “no,” with the disclaimer that, “You can say or cite anything as long as you have a point to it and you have to have a message. You can’t just use it for the shock and then walk away from it. You can’t just be gratuitous and you can’t just be mean. There is truth in comedy so you have to have some kind of truth behind it and sometimes truth is really ugly.” I asked Huskey, if a comedian is coming from a place of looking for the humor in a dark situation does the vein in which the message is being delivered matter? Brian replied, “I think if they try to shock and awe the crowd, the comedian has to have a point to it. They have to get on the other side of it and have that moment where the crowd understands, ‘Oh, that’s why you’ve brought us to this place!’ Because if you just take people to a horrible place and then leave them there, then you’re a terrible person.” To which I replied, “And NOT a comedian!” Brian agreed and laughingly added, “They wouldn’t be a comedian, they would be a psychopath!” Brian Huskey’s favorite comedian right now is David Cross. I shared that I just saw him record his live “Unmasked” with Ron Bennington at Moontower Comedy Festival and I thought Cross was a very deep thinker. Huskey said that David is a person that “provokes and kind of taunts and likes to stick the stick in the cage but with good affect.” I thanked Brian for his time and he cod not have been any nicer! He actually ended our conversation by giving me a great compliment on our exchange which gave me the confidence I needed to keep moving forward on this path. Thank you, Mr. Huskey!

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Dom Irrera

Dom Irrera was on the dais for “ The Roast of Bruce Willis” and is a comedy legend who came up through The Comedy Store. Due to the recent passing of Store owner, Mitzi Shore I asked Dom to tell me a little bit about her. He said the one thing he wishes more people knew about her was how funny Mitzi was and how much of a trip she was to hang out with. He said that “when she loved you, she really loved you.” He then shared that he and Rosanne Barr came up at the same time and were definitely Mitzi’s pets at the time and the two of them were given complete artistic license to do and say anything up there on the stage. He was very humble and sweet when I replied that Mitzi must have seen his amazing gift for finding the funny very early on. He then added that he has evolved over time and no longer just finds the funny, he now “filets the funny” adding that there are a lot of people who find the funny but then leave too much fat on it. Where as he filets the funny until it is the perfect cut! As for “The Roast” he was most looking forward to seeing his good friend Bruce Willis get roasted. He was interested to see the different angles people were going to take; like how many different ways they’ll be able to tell a “Die Hard” joke. Dom Irrera really considers Bruce to be a true friend and added that they’ve been through a lot and that Bruce has always been great to him. I replied that tonight he really will be “roasting the ones you love” and that is the way a roast is meant to be. Dom answered with, “ Now you’re gonna make me cry you son of a gun! I’m getting all moist here!” It was really great meeting him!

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Nikki Glaser

Nikki Glaser was definitely one of the people on the dais with the most buzz around them so I was super excited to speak with her. Glaser talked with me about her love of comedy and her fellow female comedians adding that she truly finds female comics to be funnier than her male counterparts. She also shared her love of the tradition of roasting and said that Greg Giraldo’s material about Larry at “The Roast of Larry the Cable Guy” was her favorite moment in roasting history, especially the part when Greg really let go and started questioning all of the reasons why Larry was so damn famous! I wished Nikki luck and let her know that a lot of the comedians I’ve been talking to are naming her as the person to watch for the night. She was completely flattered and accepted the compliment with grace and humility. She is awesome and it is only a matter of time before Nikki Glaser becomes a household name!