Jeff Ross on the art of roasting – comedy style – and new ‘Roast Battle’ series

MONTREAL – Jeff Ross has an idea for how to resolve the contentious U.S. presidential election.

“I would love to see Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, two great minds, settle this not in a debate but in a roast battle,” says the comedian, who knows a thing or two about roasts. He’s been a major player in many of them, including celebrity TV roasts for Canadian-born entertainers such as Justin Bieber, William Shatner and Pamela Anderson.

The New Jersey native, long a mainstay at Montreal’s Just for Laughs comedy festival, is back this year with “Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle.” The four-night, 16-comic tournament will be broadcast Thursday through Sunday at 10 p.m. E.T. on The Comedy Network and simulcast on Comedy Central in the U.S.

Ross road-tested the format in a tourney held last year in Montreal. This year, however, the hand-picked comedians — including Toronto-native K. Trevor Wilson (Squirrelly Dan on CraveTV’s “Letterkenny”) — are vying for a share in a $100,000 purse. “The money adds a little extra tension,” says Ross.

Celebrity judges have also been added, including Kevin Hart, Whoopi Goldberg, Judd Apatow, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman, David Spade and Anthony Jeselnik.

The rules are fairly straightforward: four jokes/insults per round and anything is fair game. Original material only and each round must end in a hug.

Ross knows all about Trump, having roasted the Republican contender in a celebrity special in 2011.

“He’s a good sport,” says Ross. “He doesn’t always show it but he always comes back for more.”

Just don’t assume Trump would crush Clinton in a roast battle.

“Women are very competitive in that world,” he says. “Have you ever seen a woman lose an argument?”

In “Roast Battle,” Wilson is one to watch, says Ross. He was the top Canadian last year, coming in third overall. “He’s coming in with a bit of a swagger, which is fun to watch.

“He’s also lovable,” he adds. Roasters are usually “spitting venom, but he has a heart under all those clogged arteries.”

This is Wilson’s fifth consecutive year at Just for Laughs. A graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts as well as Humber College, his TV credits date all the way back to his child actor days on “Goosebumps.”

His size helped land him a part on that series, he figures. “They needed a bully.”

It will also offer his “Roast Battle” opponent — young American Olivia Grace in the opener — an easy target, but Wilson’s ready for that. “You gotta have a tough skin for this show,” he says.

Last year, he got picked on by celebrity judge Wanda Sykes. She called him “the brother who was too fat for ‘Duck Dynasty.'”

Going up against a woman is tricky, he concedes. “You can’t be mean. You have to wait for them to make a couple of cracks about your size and then the door is open.”

Listening — and zinging back — is a big part of winning in these kinds of tournaments, he feels. U.K. funnyman Jimmy Carr, who is back this year, won the previous tournament with his snappy comebacks.

Wilson says it’s strange being recognized at airports and other places now for “Letterkenny.” Production on season 2 of the series has already wrapped with new episodes expected by the end of the year. The third season will shoot in Sudbury, Ont., next February. Series star and co-creator Jared Keeso figured it was “high time we did some winter scenes,” says Wilson.

Wilson’s stand-up style is more of a storyteller than an insult comic, but Ross says the good comics can change. He’s seen comedians as diverse as Andy Samberg, Bill Hader and Aziz Ansari — and even the late Bea Arthur — adapt to the roast style.

“It just goes to show you a funny person is funny,” says Ross, “whether they’re at a roast or a funeral.”

— Bill Brioux is a freelance TV columnist based in Brampton, Ont. While in Montreal, Brioux was a guest of The Comedy Network.

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