Comedy Roasting. This, I believe, is a predominantly US thing, (although there have been incidences in the UK where a Comedy Roast has been "performed") and I gather quite a few have been broadcast over the years.

The idea is quite simple. Pick on quite a famous celebrity and then get their "friends" to basically take the piss out of them - all in the name of idol worship. Eh? OK, so the idea works quite well sometimes - I've seen several other Comedy Roasts, including William Shatner and (a UK-made) one for Bruce Forsyth. Both of those were quite enjoyable and amusing affairs, with a bit of gentle piss-taking and ribbing, nothing too harsh. Naturally, the British-made Brucie one was funny, but as no-one wants to upset Brucie's sensitivities, so maybe not as harsh as some of the US made ones I've seen.

Along the way, the "Roasters" also roast the "Roastees". Fine.

However. I'm going to blurb (i.e. rant) about one in particular. This particular roast was recorded in 2009, the roastee was US comedienne Joan Rivers.

Now Joan Rivers - let me just mention - is one of my favourite comediennes. She has been around for a while and I was - am - a big fan of hers. (She did the chat shows and comedy shows of the 70's and 80's in the UK and had her own programme on UK TV.) Honestly, she used to make me cry with laughter. Then she seemed to disappear from TV for quite a long period and I didn't see her all that much, only on the odd chat show etc.

Then this particular Comedy Roast. Oh dear. I didn't really know whether to cry with laughter or horror.

And this is why. This roast was something quite quite different to those I had seen before! Yes, it was funny. The actual material itself (i.e. the mickey-taking out of Joanie) was funny.....up to a point. What made the programme so bad, so bad that I felt compelled to rant about it, was the fact that it just lurched from one contrived (and not-very-well-delivered) speech to the next. What's more to the point, there was so much swearing in it, it actually detracted from the material!

Let me mention at this juncture that I have no objection whatsoever to swearing! In fact I am probably the world's worst potty-mouth at times (something for which I get berated often), so it isn't the actual swear words, or being offended by them here. It is the fact that swear words were just gratuitously thrown in every once and a while in an attempt to extract more humour from the already contrived pieces.

Anyhow, my point is this. If you're going to be invited to do one of these roasts - and they are normally for very well known people - at least have the decency to learn the bloody lines, instead of blatantly reading them from an autocue! You're roasting a celebrity - the very least you can do is look them in the face and take the piss, rather than point straight ahead, eyes not even wavering from the autocue!! The very fact that the person being roasted is there - and is famous - should at the very least have your respect by roasting them directly.

Out of the roasters there, only two even came close. Jeffrey Ross gave a good performance by actually addressing the people he was roasting face to face constantly. Whitney Cummings came a close second with only a few glances (some well hidden) at the autocue. Well done guys. The rest of them I'm afraid were crap.

As to the swearing, the very low point of the roast was poor Carl Reiner saying the "c" word. Dear oh fu**ing dear.