The Time I Roasted Ricky Schroder On The Eve Of My Wedding: 3 Takeaways
Takeaway 2: Something about being mean to strangers
The year was 2013, and I was somehow invited to the Friar’s Club to roast Ricky Schroder. Don’t ask me how it happened, I barely remember, which leads me to my first takeaway, and something I want to spend a lot more time writing about in this newsletter:
Takeaway 1: You don’t have to have an agent to get interesting and/or high profile gigs. I will talk more about this next Monday, because it’s an important note. Please hold.
Ricky and his wife were there, promoting a new film or something, and they thought it’d be fun to make a thing out of it by having a roast and a Silver Spoons reunion at the Friars Club. Though I rarely feel nervous before performing, I admit I did feel a little bit timid that night. There was a lot on my mind, but most of all, I’d moved my wedding date to roast Ricky Schroder. It was that big of a deal to me at the time. I mean, heck, it was covered in The Hollywood Reporter, Vulture, US Weekly, New York Daily News and more, and the photos are archived on Getty Images. Infamous legends Alan Zweilbel and Gilbert Gottfried were judging (along with my friend Seth Herzog). Let me just stress that I would never have done that today. My priorities were…off kilter. Knowing your priorities is a really important part of being a comedian, because it will allow you to say yes and no at the correct times. I spent a number of years saying yes to things I shouldn’t have and no to things I should have said yes to. But alas, hindsight is at least 20/20.
I didn’t know Ricky or his wife at all, yet here I was, on the night I was supposed to be getting married, surrounded by a bunch of once upon a time famous strangers, and taking cheap shots at them, while we were all drinking cheap shots. I don’t remember a lot about the night, but I still remember the way it all made me feel, which was, in two words, not great.
Takeaway 2: Every gig can be a learning experience. I learned that night that I did not get into comedy to be mean to strangers, and that my family and husband are so much more valuable than any gig.
It could be that roasts just weren’t (and still aren’t) my thing, but I think if the situation had been right, like if I were roasting loved ones, or good friends, it might have felt better. I found a recording of my set from that night. I shared it on YouTube on my old Weekly Witstorm vlog, and if you want to, you can watch it (subscribe to my YouTube channel while you’re at it). It’s actually pretty good, if I do say so, myself, which I just did, but it still feels a little mean. For example, at one point, I dug into his wife a bit, and, I mean, c’mon, she’s married to Ricky Schroder. Hasn’t she been through enough? ;-)
I seem to remember the show had a contest element to it, and the best roaster would get to roast Jack Black on a future show. I did not win the roast contest, but I did win the most lessons learned per capita.
Takeaway 3: While a tricky monster to navigate, contests are generally worth seeking out. Pros: They can sometimes open doors in comedy, the bar to entry is usually pretty low, and there is usually a decent crowd, so if you have a good set, you can get a good tape. Cons: Contestants are usually amateurs, meaning you never know what you’re going to walk into, it never feels good to lose, and sometimes there’s a fee, so you have to pay, in some cases, to lose.
I didn’t win the roast, but hey, at least I looked good. And I think I did a respectable job, too! Judge for yourself. Watch me roast the crap out of poor Ricky Schroder here.
Later that night, I hurried out into the black city sky and hopped into a car with my now husband, who whisked us away to the Jersey shore, where, the next day, while 70 of our favorite people—and The New York Times Vows—watched, we officially began our lives together.
But that’s a story for another Museletter.
Today’s inspo:
Watch me roast the crap out of poor Ricky Schroder | YouTube
Roast coverage | THR | Vulture | US Weekly | NY Daily News | Getty Images
I might have to crash it | Colin Jost to host White House Correspondent’s Dinner
‘til tomorrow, dear.