I Only Roast the Ones I Love: Busting Balls Without Burning Bridges

I loved this book! Funny, witty and heart warming. Although I had seen the Pam Anderson roast on Comedy Central, I did not know who Jeff Ross was. I bought the book after hearing him pitch it on the Stephanie Miller radio show one morning. He had me and my car pool riders cracking up. This book provides great insight into how and why someone becomes a comic and the kind of courage it takes to be a comic and to make fun of other people in public without crossing the line and pissing them off. The book is well written and is very funny as well as insightful. I particularly loved the story about how his dad busted Don Rickles balls by playing the same prank on Rickles that Rickles had once played on Sinatra.

I found this book funny and enjoyable, a voyaristic ride into the life of comdey's roastmaster general, Jeffrey Ross. I was fascinated by the concept of roasting which seems to be a lost art that Mr. Ross brought back from its place in the "old timer's saloon" and into the 21st century. Since this is not my typically preferred genre of books I was pleasantly surprised by the entertaining stories, anecdotes and great advice for anyone who needs to speak in public without fear. I recommend this book to comedy lovers everywhere and to those who want a behind the scenes journey into what it takes to make a roastmaster general.

To be honest, I haven't read a lot of books written by comedians. I used to pick them up and flip through the pages and I'd see...a lot of white pages. A lot of empty space. Sometimes a successful comedian's book would simply be a list of zingers and one-liners, a transcript of their act. Not this book! I've enjoyed Jeffrey Ross on the Comedy Central Roasts, along with what roast footage I could find online, and I have seen him several times at the local Improv. He's just a funny, funny guy. If he works hard at it, he still makes it look like the easiest thing in the world--a true pro. (And just chatting with him between shows has also shown what a genuinely nice person he really is, despite some of the most frigid insults ever thrown from a dias). So when I saw his book in the bookstore, I picked it up and skimmed through parts of it. I kept saying, "Oh, I remember that! I remember that too!" But it was also fascinating to hear about what he saw during his most memorable moments. I bought the book and read it immediately. Numerous times I've laughed out loud. Many times I was even touched when he talked about his family while growing up in New Jersey and how he performs for our soldiers in the field and recovering in hospitals. As if that wasn't enough, the show business anecdotes and personal stories of famous people, especially the older generation of comics like Milton Berle and (Jeff's mentor) Buddy Hackett and the new generation of comedians like Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silvermann, definitely make this book worth reading. It's a fast, lean read with some laugh-out loud comedy and some wonderful insights into being a Roastmaster General. But, for now, there's only one. Loved it.

I ended up spending the day I bought this book reading it from start to finish. Jeffrey Ross did a fantastic job with this book, its amazingly funny and gives you great look inside the world of the Roast Master General. Highly recommended!!!

This book is a great read and very well written. And yes, it's laugh out loud funny. It's so much better than I thought it would be. No offense to Jeffrey Ross, but he doesn't seem like he'd have the patience to put sentences together so well. Loved the chapter on New Jersey and the background on The Friar's Club.