Comedy Central and Jeff Ross announced that comedic heavyweights Anthony Jeselnik, Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman and David Spade will serve as celebrity judges deciding the fate of 16 insult-comedy combatants during the four nights of Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle. Additional judges are to be announced. The Thunderdome-of-comedy bracket-style tournament will be filmed live in four nights at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal, airing in four one-hour episodes on July 28th-31st at 10:00pm on Comedy Central. The July 31st finale airs live same-day.
Comedians doing battle include Tom Ballard, Matthew Broussard, Jimmy Carr, Christi Chiello, Chris Cubas, Olivia Grace, Tony Hinchcliffe, Mike Lawrence, Ralphie May, Sam Morril, Mark Normand, Ms. Pat, Steve Rannazzisi, Earl Skakel, Sarah Tiana and K. Trevor Wilson. Fans can visit RoastBattle.com to track the tournament bracket and watch highlight clips from each night’s battles, and can join the social conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #RoastBattle.
First round matchups are:
Jimmy Carr vs. Christi Chiello
Earl Skakel vs. Tom Ballard
Mark Normand vs. Tony Hinchcliffe
Steve Rannazzisi vs. Sam Morril
Ralphie May vs. Ms. Pat
Matthew Broussard vs. Mike Lawrence
Sarah Tiana vs. Chris Cubas
Olivia Grace vs. K. Trevor Wilson
Jimmy Carr was last year’s champion and you can check out the full breakdown of everything that happened right here.
Inspired by the gritty, competitive proving grounds of the comedy-club circuit, Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle is led by Roastmaster General Jeff Ross and referee/comedian Brian Moses and will be filmed at L’Astral in Montreal.
In a nod to Roast Battle’s club roots, a lead-up Road to Roast Battle tour made stops in four U.S. cities and was filmed for a televised companion special to Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle. Exclusive content including individual battles and city recaps from the Road to Roast Battle tour will be featured on RoastBattle.com and on the Comedy Central and Comedy Central Stand-Up Facebook accounts. Road to Roast Battle premieres July 24th at Midnight ET/PT on Comedy Central and re-airs immediately before the premiere of Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle.
We’ll be on the scene at Just For Laughs reporting live.
