Latest news with #JeffRoss
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Comedian Who Found Success Insulting Celebrities Made a Surprisingly Emotional One-Man Show — But More Roasts Are Coming, Too
If you're not familiar with Jeff Ross, he is best known as the 'Roastmaster General' — a three-decade master of the savage comic sport introduced by the Friars Club in the 1950s, in which a procession of comedians and wannabe smart-asses barrage a roastee with decidedly no-holds-barred insults crafted to evoke laughter and gasps. Ross is also executive producer of Netflix's celebrity roasts as well as a writer and a performer on them, including the headlines-making mocking of former NFL quarterback and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady. Ross was the subject of many of the headlines that the Brady roast generated because he directed a 'massage' joke at Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who was arrested in 2019 for soliciting prostitution in a Florida massage parlor. (The charges were dropped.) The joke prompted Brady — who took most of the barbs directed at him with grace — to walk across the stage and whisper to Ross, whose microphone was live, 'Don't say that s—t again.' More from Billboard Get 'Ice Cream Chillin' With Ninja's New Soft Serve Machine: Here's Where to Find It Online Shop Bang & Olufsen's Audio Deals on Speakers & Headphones Online - And Save up to $500 Ahead of Tony Hinchcliffe's First Return to Madison Square Garden Since Trump Rally, He's Still Not Sorry Brady and Ross embraced after the comedian's set, but Kevin Hart, who hosted the roast, had an insult waiting. 'Make sure to check out Jeff's one-man show. It's playing at the Hollywood Cemetery,' Hart said. 'His career is literally dying. If we stop doing these roasts, you will not see Jeff Ross ever again.' Hart was dead wrong. Ross does have a one-man show, Take A Banana For The Ride, which opens on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre on Aug. 18 and runs through Sept. 28, and its humor is nothing like the brand of comedy for which he is best known. Take A Banana is a sweet, heartfelt — and very funny — autobiographical homage to his parents, his grandfather (the show's title comes from him), the German Shepherd rescues that brightened his world at a low point in his life, and three good friends who died too soon: the comedians Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget and Norm Macdonald. It also delves into Ross' battle with colon cancer, and the circumstances and inflences that led him to become a comedian. There's music, too, which Ross wrote with another comedian, Avery Pearson. One song is called, 'Don't F—k With The Jews.' In his dressing room at the Nederlander following a rehearsal, Ross spoke to Billboard about the origins of his one-man show, his career in comedy, the foreclosure and sale of the New York Friars Club's landmarked townhouse headquarters and that Brady roast. 'You know I'm in it, man. I'm f—king in it,' he says. 'This is one of the craziest, most surreal moments of my life.' And he's loving it. is the last thing I expected from you. You need to make that your headline. It sounds like a compliment. How does a guy known as the Roastmaster General create such a touching, heartfelt show? I started writing it long before I was the roast guy. The heart of it happened before I discovered the roasts — or the roasts discovered me. I started writing stuff down and saving stuff in high school. There are actually things from high school that I found in notebooks that are in the show. And in the mid-'90s, I started doing this show because I wasn't really hitting it as a standup yet. It even had the same title. I did it 20-30 times. I certainly hadn't found the roasts yet. If anything, the roasts are what took me away from the show. This was obviously before the cancer diagnosis and your dogs. You've added a lot. I forgot about it for 20-something years. I didn't forget about it, it just wasn't interesting to me to look back. It wasn't the cancer diagnosis that inspired the look back. It was losing Gilbert [Gottfried] and [Bob] Saget and Norm [Macdonald]. That made me look back and go, what was I saying about grief and mourning and bouncing back and resilience when I was a kid, compared to how I feel now? That inspired me to revive the old show. The show is also about the life experiences that led you to become a comedian. It was the trickle of living in New Jersey where ball-busting is the love language — where all the radio stations and sports teams say they're from New York, so you get a bit of a chip on your shoulder. It was working in my dad's catering hall as a boy and as a teenager. My entire childhood was being the boss's son and having all the Scottish and Irish waitresses and waiters, the Russian guy making fruit salads, the Hungarian guy who made the Jell-O molds and the Haitian guys in the kitchen busting my chops for being the boss's son. Getting bullied as a little kid and my mom dragging me off to karate school. It's all of these things. They toughened me up. The origin story, at least how I tell it in the show, is all this stuff. If I had to point to one pivotal thing, then it's that first roast. That's right, you got your black belt in karate when you were quite young. Second youngest black belt in the United States. Good luck researching that one. Does it help with being a comedian? It helped get me the confidence to talk smack for a living, for sure. How did you bring this show to Broadway? That was something I was saying as a joke. Oh, I'd love to do it on Broadway. Or other people would say it, and I would do superstitious stuff like my mom did. She used to go ptuh-ptuh-ptuh. Then, in the last couple of years, Jim Carrey taught me about manifesting. He said, 'If you don't believe it, who's going to believe it? You have to speak it into truth.' That also motivated me to make the show better. To make something really great is an unbelievable amount of work — whether it was getting my black belt at ten-and-a-half or producing The Roast. Then, by chance, an old Friars Club pal, Marc Cornstein, grabbed ahold of the idea of taking it to Broadway. He started raising money and hooked me up with the Nederlanders. There's a musical element to . You have a keyboardist and a violin player onstage with you. Asher Denberg is our musical director and the keyboardist onstage. Felix Herbst is the violinist. Having some music in the show is my way of paying tribute to some of the older comics who always did that type of thing. There's a song about my dog from the voice of my German Shepherd, 'You're One of the Good Ones.' And there's the singalong about my family and my origin story called 'Don't F—k With The Jews.' I love comedians, but I also really love musicians. I love Broadway music. We're listening to show tunes all day in my dressing room and at rehearsal. So being able to work in a world-class theater with world-class musicians — comedians always say they want to host the Oscars. For me it was always the Grammys. I love music, and I love the musicians and a bunch of them are coming to opening night. You wrote the songs? I co-wrote them with my friend Avery Pearson. What are some of the show tunes you listen to backstage, and do you like any contemporary artists? I love new music. Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo are favorites — and I first saw Benson Boone at Clive Davis' Grammys party, and instantly fell in love with his music and showmanship. But in the dressing room before my show, I've been listening to Man of La Mancha a lot. I've been very influenced by 'The Impossible Dream' and 'Man of La Mancha.' Maybe because my parents had the 8-track. How did you get into the roast business? It was a happy accident. I have to credit my pal Greg Fitzsimmons for inviting me to his dad's honorary golf tournament. It was a Friars Club tournament at a golf club in New Jersey, and [Friars Dean] Freddie Roman was teasing me and picking on me because no one knew who I was. I walked up and started making fun of him. He was so loud and boisterous. I said they call him Freddie Roman because you can hear him in Italy. It was such a small joke, but no one had ever taken a swing at the head of the Friars before, especially some goofball kid that nobody knew. Months later, they couldn't get any stars to do the roast. It was corny and antiquated. I got the call from [executive director] Jean-Pierre [Trebot] at the Friars Club. He said, 'You were funny at the golf club. Do you want to do the roast?' I had to go to the Museum of Broadcasting to see what the roasts were about. This was 30 years ago, so I couldn't look it up on Google or YouTube. I was more into the rock 'n' roll comedy of Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy and the Blues Brothers, but I said, 'This is kind of funny.' I'm kind of like this anyway. I didn't really care much about Steven Seagal, who was being roasted, but I was taken by the idea of being up there with Buddy Hackett and Henny Youngman and Milton Berle who were all there at my first roast. You made it into a career. Well, it became my lane. There were years where it was lucrative but not necessarily cool. And then I got advice from Dave Chappelle that it was my job to make my lane a six-lane highway. I embraced that and realized I can't keep waiting for celebrities to agree to get roasted in a tuxedo. I have to figure out other ways to do it. That birthed the idea of me speed-roasting volunteers from the audience at my standup shows, the roast battles and the historical roasts. I even roasted at a jail. It's on Paramount+. Jeff Ross Roasts Criminals Live from Brazos County Jail. Is it true that celebrities would hire you to write jokes so that they would look good when it was their turn to roast or to be roasted? I wouldn't say I was hired by them. I was always a producer and a writer on those shows, and part of my responsibility would be the booking, writing, the promotion and appearing on the show. Back then, The Roast had a small budget, and we did everything. I wore a lot of hats — I guess I still do, but I have a lot more help now. Roast jokes are often politically incorrect, anti-woke — whatever terminology you prefer. What do you make of the whole woke vs. anti-woke humor debate? I feel like it's something that everyone talks about except the comedians. To me it's binary in a different way than woke or not woke. It's funny or not funny. It never affected me. People are telling me that the Tom Brady roast – because there hadn't been one in five years — helped recalibrate mainstream comedy a little bit back to let's call it normal or edgy or irreverent. I'm proud of that notion, but in Jeff Ross Land it's always roast time. It's just that the rest of the world is catching up. I saw it firsthand Saturday night after the show here at the Nederlander. I went out to sign Playbills and say hi to people, and there were three sets of teenage boys with their dads. I found it striking that 13, 14, 15-year-old boys were knowing me from the Tom Brady roast. From there they look at the Justin Bieber roast and the jail roast. Then they go 'Oh, that's roasting. I'm going to do that with my friends.' It's a sign of affection. It's their version of karaoke. That makes me immensely happy. That was always the motto at the Friars Roasts. We do it with love. I always felt like the roasts were the extensions and celebrations of friendships. I feel like my show is similar. It's a tribute to some of the people who made me who I am. Because it's about them I can do it every night. If it was only about me, I would have a hard time getting past the first week. I would get bored. But I really feel proud when I'm standing there and the video message that Bob [Saget] sent me plays or Gilbert sings a song from Fiddler on the Roof. They're getting one more turn at the mic. Do you have any rules for roasting? My general rule for roasting is to only roast volunteers. Once they opt in, anything goes. What went through your head when Tom Brady said what he said to you at his roast? Virtually nothing was going through my head when Brady interrupted me, except 'keep going.' We were having fun, and I always love a little verbal sparring during the roasts. Tom was sticking up for a father figure, and I respect that. Mr. Kraft was very gracious, and a great sport afterwards. Was Brady aware of how vicious his roast was going to get? I don't think any of us knew how rough that roast was going to be. I mean, from the get-go: Kevin Hart, me, Nikki [Glaser], Tony [Hinchcliffe] Andrew [Schulz], Gronk. We all went as hard as we could. And once you see Tom being a good sport and taking the jokes so well, you put your foot on the gas. But the real bravery was Tom saying yes in the first place. You've got to give him credit for agreeing to do a roast after no one, for five years, would say yes. This guy had the thick skin and was so confident in who he was that he said, 'Yeah.' I said to him, 'Why are you doing this?' He was like, 'I love the roasts, and I want to bring it all back.' To his credit and I guess to the credit of the roast, everything he would want from his life career-wise seems to have worked out great. He immediately became part owner of a team. He immediately launched this incredible broadcasting career, and he's doing Super Bowl commercials with his old teammates. I feel like the roast kind of melted away some of the ice that he may have had with his coach and his owner and maybe even his players. I think it did a lot for him. Are there more Netflix roasts on the boards? We have something cooking, but I can't talk about it yet. What do you make of the Friars Club's New York headquarters being sold in foreclosure? The Friars Club thing hurts because it feels like that's my alma mater. It especially hurts now because I always had this fantasy of doing a Broadway show, then going to lunch at the Friars Club and having everybody come over and tell me how much they loved it. This would have been a great time to be a Friar for me. Now I'm at the Yard House. It's not quite the same. The jambalaya is good, but it's not quite the Friars Club, where you would see people in the steam room, in the gym and there was a poker tournament, a pool tournament, a charity fundraiser. And then there were big events like the roasts. That is sadly in the past, and it breaks my heart. In terms of manifesting what's next for Jeff Ross? A cup of tea. A puff of weed. Get into my costume. I get to ride this incredible wave of emotions and laughs every night for the next two months. I've never done anything for two months in comedy. I'm not looking past this. When I was a young — before I became a comedian — my Aunt Bess would take me to Broadway shows. She took me to see Jackie Mason do his one-person show. I thought it was so cool. He didn't have dancers, he didn't have music, it was just him ripping the roof off the theater for an hour-and-a-half. I was like wow, that is the pinnacle of show business. If I can do that then I'm good. I can see myself retiring. That's how much I like doing this gig. Best of Billboard Kelly Clarkson, Michael Buble, Pentatonix & Train Will Bring Their Holiday Hits to iHeart Christmas Concert Fox Plans NFT Debut With $20 'Masked Singer' Collectibles 14 Things That Changed (or Didn't) at Farm Aid 2021 Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jeff Ross' Broadway Debut: The RoastMaster on Leaving Politics Offstage, Singing Live and Embracing His Serious Side
Jeff Ross is constantly traveling for work, flying across the country – often hitting multiple cities in the same weekend – for comedy gigs. But the veteran stand-up had held onto his Manhattan apartment for 20 years in hopes that he'd eventually return to the Big Apple as a working stage actor. That dream is coming true as Ross makes his Broadway debut with 'Take a Banana for the Road.' Previews began on Aug. 5 ahead of opening night on Aug. 18. Named for his grandfather's advice about traveling, the one-man show follows the comedian's upbringing in New Jersey before earning the nickname 'Roastmaster General' for his piercing takedown of celebrities in roasts. Here, he uses humor and song to reflect on many not-so-funny topics, like losing his parents at a young age, as well as three famous friends – Bob Saget, Gilbert Gottfried and Norm Macdonald – in quick succession in recent years. While he's telling these and other stories, including one about his colon cancer diagnosis and recovery in 2024 and another about his beloved German Shepards, he's accompanied by a giant LED screen and a two-piece orchestra to provide the kind of flair that bare-bones solo shows don't always offer. More from Variety Kid Harpoon Creating Original Music for Broadway Revival of 'Art' (EXCLUSIVE) 'The Drowsy Chaperone' Sets New York Benefit Concert With Laverne Cox, Jonathan Van Ness, Betty Who and Alex Newell (EXCLUSIVE) Broadway's 'Boop! The Musical' Is Latest Show to Close After the Tony Awards 'I always want to do something extra,' Ross says in his dressing room at the Nederlander Theatre the day after the first performance. 'I've seen some Broadway shows that felt like breakfast and lunch, but I didn't quite get dinner. I wanted this to feel like a full meal. I need a little schmaltz in my life.' I couldn't sleep the night before, which was a good sign. But I wasn't nervous. There was a guy in the front row with his feet on the stage, and his wife was on her phone. Her phone went off, and I'm like, 'Oh, this is like any other fucking gig. No phone is going to throw me off.' I've done the hard work of blocking the show, and I can smoke a joint and add in some more jokes. That part is fun. I don't know yet. Billy Crystal told me I'll be a new kind of tired. But I enjoy waking up in my own bed as opposed to heading to JFK or Newark Airport. Normally as a comic, it'd be Friday in New York, Saturday in Detroit, Sunday in Cleveland, or whatever. So there's a real charm to the idea that I'm home and I can have dinner and walk my dog by 10:30 p.m. I started writing and performing it in the mid '90s, but I didn't have the strength emotionally to keep it going. As circumstances in my life happened, mostly losing three pals in eight months, I go, 'Let me look back at what I used to do about mourning, death and resilience.' Just as I was getting the rhythm of the show, I got diagnosed with a tumor in my colon. So I had to take another break. I was terrified I would never get back to this. Not because I thought I was going to die, but more like, 'Something else will come up.' That part has been genuinely terrifying because, as a comedian, you want to have some swagger. You don't want to let them see you sweat. I had to drop that. On top of that, I had all these stories about my mom and dad. We're in rehearsals, and the tech people were like, 'All right, let's take it back to the beat where your mom dies.' And I'm like, 'That's just a cue on someone's sheet. But for me, it's a very vivid memory.' I have to go, 'He didn't mean it that way. He just wants to get the lighting right.' I walk through an airport and people will go, 'Roast me!' People treat it like it's a party trick, but there's a person in there. If I was that mean all the time, I doubt I would have any friends and survive in show business. If you don't surprise your audience at this stage of the game, I think you kind of fade away. I've seen that happen to funny people. They go, 'This works. Let me keep doing this, because it pays the bills.' I always kept my overhead down. Part of that is not having kids and a wife. I live the life of a bachelor in that I can do what I want creatively. It gives me some freedom. I'm not responsible for anyone but myself and my dog. So I go, 'Let me take a creative swing here.' Instead of going on the road and touring like a regular stand-up act, I can invest in something that's more creatively fulfilling at this point, especially after a near-death experience. It was early in my career. I was coming out of the open mic scene, and I got booked on 'Star Search.' Ed McMahon was the host, and he kept introducing me saying, 'This week's challenger, Jeff Lipshitz.' And then the next episode was 'Jeff Lipshot.' He just couldn't get it right. I was flying home, and I thought that maybe my last name is too complicated. I didn't have confidence, so when they screwed it up, it screwed up my performance. I spent the first 25 years of my life correcting people, every teacher, every employer, every date. How do you spell it? How do you say it? I was like, 'I don't want that to be the first thing that people ask me about.' So I went with my middle name, Ross, named after my great grandma, Rose. No. It was a little weird, but my grandfather was a band leader, and he went from Lifschultz to Larson many decades sooner. He was gone already, so I didn't get to talk to him about it. But I'd gone to film school, and I studied advertising and design, and I was like, 'I don't think Livshultz is going to work as a calling card, as a marquee.' Now people are more open to that kind of stuff. But at the time, I'd been teased about my name as a kid so much that I was like, 'Why am I giving people this? Let me make it simple.' You call that singing? I sat in this dressing room with Idina Menzel [when she was performing in 'Redwood' at the Nederlander] and told her about my show, and I go, 'I sing in the show.' She looks at me, her head tilts, and she goes, 'On key?' I go, 'No.' [Laughs]. I'm on Broadway. I wanted to challenge myself. But I'm careful to make sure the music tells the story just like the jokes do. It's significant. It's in the $1,000s per week. Bananas aren't cheap with the tariffs. It's a whole thing. Someone has to pass them out, check them for fentanyl… No, I'm kidding. But it was a big discussion. I really pushed hard. Funny either gets a laugh or doesn't. I've been talking about this show and the sentimental side, but once I'm up there, the biggest laugh I got was about me looking like Bruce Willis if his trainer also had dementia. Life sucks for a lot of people. Laughing is like a massage for your brain, so to start watering it down, who wants that? I've yet to meet somebody who goes 'You were a little too edgy for me.' It's like, 'All right, maybe you should stay home.' I never want to hurt anybody's feelings. Comics are sensitive; people are sensitive. As far as particular topics, I don't think anything is off limits. I do leave politics out of this show because I feel like people need a break. I have so many friends on all sides of it that I'd rather have them come together at my show. The advantage of having a small cast is that there's a little extra room. She calms me down, and it's nice having her around. And she'll be part of the show. She wasn't ready yet on the first night, but she comes out during curtain call. She jumps on the couch, sits there with me, and we howl. All her life. Best of Variety 'Blue Velvet,' 'Chinatown' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' Arrive on 4K in June All the Godzilla Movies Ranked 'House of the Dragon': Every Character and What You Need to Know About the 'Game of Thrones' Prequel
Daily Mail
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Tom Brady must have 'lost half' his sense of humor in Gisele Bundchen divorce after roast regrets, claims comedian
Legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady must have 'lost half' his sense of humor in his 2022 divorce to supermodel Gisele Bundchen, famous comedian Jeff Ross said. Ross' takedown of Brady comes as the now-Fox Sports commentator expressed regret in being the subject of a live roast on Netflix, with several talented comedians on the bill alongside plenty of the quarterback's NFL teammates and coaches. Ross, a legendary roaster who has targeted the likes of Donald Trump and Justin Bieber in the past, was on hand for the festivities and cracked jokes about Brady's time in the NFL and several aspects of his personal life. Brady appeared to take the jokes well during the broadcast, even when people came for his ex-wife, with it having an affect on his three children. 'I didn't realize you could lose half your sense of humor in a divorce,' Ross told Page Six. 'I want everyone to love the roast. To leave there feeling like it was the greatest night of their life.' 'Above that, beyond that, the guy deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for taking the hits for three hours so the rest of us can forget our problems.' Brady previously said after the event that he preferred when the jokes were about him. Bundchen has been dating Joaquim Valente since June 2023, while Brady has not had a high-profile girlfriend since the divorce. Plenty of jokes about Bundchen and martial arts were made since the supermodel entered the relationship post-Brady. Netflix has not held another live roast of the sort since Brady was the centerpiece, with other sporting legends like Tiger Woods and LeBron James having the star power necessary to be the next subject. Ross is known as the 'Roastmaster General' and is one of the leading names in the comedic genre. The set from comedian Nikki Glaser at Brady's roast sent her into superstardom, leading to her having a role with Prime Video for NFL games and hosting last year's Emmy Awards.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Roastmaster Jeff Ross Lands Venue For Broadway Summer Stand, Sets Opening Date
Emmy-nominated comedian Jeff Ross will bring his new theatrical solo show to Broadway's Nederlander Theatre this August. While a Broadway run was previously announced, the venue and opening night are being announced today. Jeff Ross: Take A Banana For The Ride will begin previews at the Nederlander on Tuesday, August 5, with an an official opening night on Monday, August 18. The eight-week limited engagement will play through Sunday, September 29. More from Deadline 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More 'Oh, Mary!' Breaks House Record As Cole Escola's Starring Run Nears End; Overall Receipts Drop As Hollywood Goes Home - Broadway Box Office 'Real Women Have Curves' Announces Broadway Closing Ross, known as The Roastmaster General for his three-decade run of celebrity roasts, will provide what the Banana synopsis says is 'a strikingly rare insight into his life, and that Take A Banana For The Ride is named 'for his beloved grandfather's practical and loving travel advice.' Continues the synopsis, 'this exhilaratingly intimate one-man show offers a peeled back look into the heart and soul of America's Roastmaster – but don't expect to get away un-skewered.' Take A Banana For The Ride will be directed on Broadway by Stephen Kessler, with creative consultation by Jeff Calhoun, and dramaturgy by Seth Barrish. The show is produced by Eric Nederlander, Robert Nederlander Jr., Marc Cornstein, and Tony Eisenberg, with ShowTown Productions serving as Executive Producer. 'Ever since my Aunt Bess took me to see Jackie Mason on Broadway when I was young, I've daydreamed about performing my own classy and uncensored one-man show,' said Ross in a statement. 'I'm honored and excited by the opportunity to share my origin story of how I became the motherf*n Roastmaster General! This new show is designed to be a cathartic experience shared with others – I encourage you to bring friends that you care about, people that might be going through tough times. I will shake them out of it with an evening of uncensored jokes, uplifting stories, songs and even some live roasting of the bravest volunteers.' Best of Deadline 'Stick' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The Apple TV+ Golf Series 'Stick' Release Guide: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 'The Buccaneers' Season 2 Soundtrack: From Griff To Sabrina Carpenter
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Comedian Jeff Ross Shares How Doctor Jokingly Told Him He Had Colon Cancer
Comedian Jeff Ross Shares How Doctor Jokingly Told Him He Had Colon Cancer originally appeared on Parade. Jeff Ross is known for eliciting laughter from crowds, but the legendary roast master, 59, faced a scary situation when he learned he had colon cancer after a routine colonoscopy. But despite the scary diagnosis, the comedian's doctor delivered the news untraditionally, Ross recalled on the Wednesday episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. "My oncologist was like, 'Jeff, the good news and bad news. The bad news is you're going to need six months of chemo. The good news is you lost your hair a long time ago,' " he shared. Ross had been urged by a friend to undergo his first colonoscopy due to his age. "I was already in my 50s, and I'd never gotten a colonoscopy," he admitted to Kimmel. "I went in, I had no symptoms, and I had a tumor in my colon. You always think it's never going to happen to you, and it happened to me." After having 7 inches of his colon removed, Ross said, "Now I have a semicolon." 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 While he's doing great health-wise these days, there are remnants of his surgery. "You know, I had laparoscopic surgery so I have holes around here," Ross said, pointing to his chest. "Little holes. I'm like 50 Cent if instead of getting shot, he ate pastrami twice a week for 50 years." The journey also turned into creative fuel for Ross, who channeled it all into his new Broadway show, Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride, which debuts this summer. Despite the blend of comedy and reality in the show, Ross said he thinks it's important to speak out about his experience. "I don't want the show to be maudlin, but I think it's important to address it. Norm was very private and hid his sickness," he said, referencing his dear friend Norm MacDonald, who died in 2021. "I didn't think that was fair to the audience and his friends, so I'm putting it out there. But I don't want people to feel sorry for me. It's going to be a very empowering and bold statement on how to get through tough times." View this post on Instagram A post shared by TAKE A BANANA FOR THE RIDE on Broadway (@jeffrossbway)Comedian Jeff Ross Shares How Doctor Jokingly Told Him He Had Colon Cancer first appeared on Parade on Jun 19, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
