The impolite history of the comedy roast

Originally published on July 25, 2018

This weekend, Bruce Willis becomes the latest target of a long-running tradition: the Comedy Central Roast. It airs Sunday, July 29 on the Comedy Network in Canada, and on Comedy Central in the U.S.

Roasting is a sport in the comedy world. Celebrities have been getting together to insult each other since the '40s, and the history of how it started is pretty wild. It includes comedians trespassing in wigs, exclusive clubs and a death on stage.

Today, comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff joins us to tell all of those stories, walking us through the fascinating, impolite and often vile history of the comedy roast.

— Produced by Vanessa Greco