Jeff Ross
Ross in May 2016
Born	Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz[1] (1965-09-13)September 13, 1965 (age 60)
Other names	Roastmaster General
Alma mater	Boston University (B.S.)
Notable work	Comedy Central Roasts Patriot Act: A Jeffrey Ross Home Movie The Burn with Jeff Ross
Comedy career
Years active	1989–present
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Genres	Observational comedy,insult comedy,black comedy,cringe comedy,satire
Subjects	American politics,Jewish culture,popular culture,self-deprecation,sex,current events,religion
Website	roastmastergeneral.com

Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz (born September 13, 1965)^[2] is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director and producer. Nicknamed the "Roastmaster General" for hisinsult comedy, his multiple appearances at celebrityroasts held by theNew York Friars Club, theComedy Central Roast television series, and the Netflix historical comedy seriesHistorical Roasts.^[3][4][5][6] In 2009 theChicago Tribune called Ross "the new millenniumDon Rickles."^[7] His directorial debut, the 2006 documentaryPatriot Act: A Jeffrey Ross Home Movie, won the prize for Best Film at theComedia film festival held at theJust for Laughs comedy festival inMontreal.^[8][9]

Ross was raised inNewark, New Jersey, until he was in second grade; then his family moved toUnion, New Jersey, and later toSpringfield, New Jersey, where he attendedJonathan Dayton High School.^[10][11] He is Jewish and has a younger sister named Robyn.^[2][12][13] His mother Marsha died fromleukemia when he was 14 years old.^[10][13][3] His father died of drug-related causes when Ross was 19 years old and attending college.^[10][3] His father owned and ran Clinton Manor Catering, a business that was started by Ross's great-grandmother.^[3] The business was located in Newark, and later moved to Union.^[3]

Ross attendedBoston University as a broadcasting and filmmajor with aminor inpolitical science.^[14][15] He graduated from theBoston University College of Communication in 1987.^[15] Ross also worked as the music director at the university's student-run radio stationWTBU in addition to working for the university'spublic radio stationWBUR where he was anaudio engineer.^[15]

Ross began performing stand-up in 1989 after attending a comedy class.^[16] He appeared onA&E's An Evening at the Improv in 1994.^[1] By 1995 he was performing at iconic New York clubs like theComedy Cellar andStand Up NY.^[17] That same year he was invited by theNew York Friars Club to participate in a roast of actorSteven Seagal.^[14][7]

Ross became a regular at the Friars Club roasts and was given the title of "Roastmaster General".^[6][18] The Friars Club's first televised event was the roast ofDrew Carey that was broadcast onComedy Central in 1998.^[13][19] Ross credits a particular joke that he made at the expense of attendeesBea Arthur andSandra Bernhard at the 1999 roast ofJerry Stiller for taking his roasting career to the next level.^[20] That same yearJimmy Kimmel hired Ross as a writer onThe Man Show and Ross also wrote some of the punchlines forBilly Crystal's monologue at theOscars in 2000.^[13]

In 2003 Comedy Central began producing their own celebrity roasts.^[19] Ross has been a roaster at all Comedy Central roasts since the 2005 roast ofPamela Anderson.^[3][14] During hisComedy Central Roast appearances Ross became known for dressing up in edgy and sometimes controversial costumes: He roastedCharlie Sheen dressed asMuammar Gaddafi; he roastedRob Lowe dressed asPurple Rain-eraPrince on an episode that aired five months after the musician's death; he roastedRoseanne Barr dressed as the late football coachJoe Paterno during the height of thePenn State child sex abuse scandal; he also roastedJames Franco wearingcornrows and a neck tattoo in reference to Franco's character in the 2012 filmSpring Breakers.^[13][21]

Ross has participated as a roaster on the followingComedy Central Roasts:

Ross has also written for, performed in or produced the roasts of the following celebrities:

Ross has taken part in severalUSO tours and has performed stand-up comedy at US military bases inAfghanistan,Guantanamo Bay andIraq.^[13] Ross first traveled to Iraq in 2003 as part of a comedy tour hosted byDrew Carey.^[22] In 2005 Ross released the filmPatriot Act: A Jeffrey Ross Home Movie, which he both produced and directed and which documented his experiences on the Iraq tour.^[22] That same year the film won the prize for Best Film at theComedia film festival, a comedy film festival held annually inMontreal as part of theJust for Laughs comedy festival.^[9] In 2006 the film was shown onShowtime and also screened at that year'sSouth by Southwest Film Festival.^[22][23] In 2017 the USO made Ross the Ambassador of Veterans Outreach for the Artists & Athletes Alliance.^[24]

Ross published his first book,I Only Roast the Ones I Love: Busting Balls Without Burning Bridges, in 2009.^[24][11] The book recounts his journey to becoming Roastmaster General and includes tips on writing roast jokes and how to put on a roast.^[24][11]

Ross was the creator and host of the comedypanel showThe Burn with Jeff Ross, which aired on Comedy Central for two seasons from 2012 to 2013.^[25]

In 2015, Ross starred in the Comedy Central specialJeff Ross Roasts Criminals: Live from Brazos County Jail, where he performed stand-up comedy for male and female convicts inBrazos County, Texas.^[26][27] The following year he releasedJeff Ross Roasts Cops where he performed for members of theBoston Police Department.^[3][24]

Ross and comedian Brian Moses launchedJeff Ross Presents Roast Battle on Comedy Central in 2016.^[26] The show consists of comedians competing in one-on-one roast battles where the winners are decided by Ross and a panel of guest judges.^[26][27] Ross also appeared as a battler in final episode of the show's third season in a battle withNBA playerBlake Griffin.^[28]

In 2018 Ross and fellow comedianDave Attell embarked on theirBumping Mics comedy tour.^[29] Footage of their tour was also released in a three-part special,Bumping Mics with Jeff Ross & Dave Attell, onNetflix,^[30] the series was filmed during three of their performances at theComedy Cellar in New York City.^[30] Their shows consisted ofobservational andpolitical humor interspersed with Ross and Attell roasting one another as well as members of the audience.^[31][32] The comedians also invited audience members onto the stage, some of whom includedBob Saget,Gilbert Gottfried,Michael Che,Amy Schumer,Nikki Glaser andPaul Rudd.^[30]

Starting in 2019,Netflix began airing the seriesHistorical Roasts, where Ross hosts fictionalized versions of comedy roasts for figures likeAbraham Lincoln andAnne Frank.

In 2025, Ross made his Broadway debut with a limited run of his one-man show,Take A Banana For The Ride. The show chronicled Ross' roast career, his personal life, and his experiences with grief, notably with the losses of his parents, his dog, and his friendsGilbert Gottfried,Bob Saget, andNorm Macdonald. It opened on August 18th at theNederlander Theatre to positive reviews, and closed on September 28th.^[33][34]

TheRiyadh Comedy Festival began on September 26th, ending on October 9th, with Ross as one of a line-up of comedians slated to perform. Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher atHuman Rights Watch, said in a statement that the Saudi government is using the comedy festival towhitewash itshuman rights abuses.^[35][36][37]

One of Ross's first acting roles was a small part in the 1996 comedy filmCeltic Pride.^[38][39] Some of his other film roles include a security guard in the filmStuck on You (2003) and a wedding band leader in the filmAlong Came Polly (2004).^[8][40] Ross's television acting work includes roles onHBO'sSix Feet Under andCrashing, andShowtime'sWeeds.^[6][41] He also played a dramatic role onCBS'sCSI.^[8][6]

Ross was co-creator of thesatirical animated programWhere My Dogs At? that was broadcast onMTV2 in 2006. The series centers around characters Buddy, abeagle voiced by Ross, and Woof, abulldog voiced byTracy Morgan.^[42] Ross has also voiced characters on two episodes of the animated seriesFuture-Worm! as well as on an episode of thelive-action/animated seriesHappy!^[8][43] He also voiced himself in the 2012 episode ofBatman: The Brave and the Bold, "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth!", attending a literal roast ofBatman.^[44]

Ross appeared in the 2005 documentaryThe Aristocrats about the famousdirty joke of the same name.^[40]

He was the guest on the debut episode of theWTF with Marc Maron podcast in 2009 and also appeared on the podcast's 800th episode in 2017.^[24]

Ross appeared in the third tournament ofCelebrity Poker Showdown in 2004, but lost in his first match.^[6] He was also a competitor on theseventh season ofDancing with the Stars that aired in 2008.^[6] During rehearsal for their first dance, his dancing partnerEdyta Śliwińska accidentally poked Ross in the eye, causing a scratchedcornea.^[6] Against medical advice, Ross continued the competition, but the couple were the first to be eliminated.^[6]

In 2011 Ross visited the protesters of theOccupy movement in Los Angeles to support their cause.^[38] He took to the microphone at a stage set-up atLos Angeles City Hall.^[38] His talk included roastingWall Street and thebig banks.^[38]

In 2019, he appeared on an episode ofCrank Yankers as himself.

Ross credits his tough upbringing in New Jersey for helping him develop his talent for insult comedy, which he says he developed as a defense mechanism.^[7][45] Ross stated in an interview withThe Atlanta Constitution: "Everyone in my family was good at [roasting]. I had to quickly learn not just to take a joke but to give it back. My uncle Murray was the first to bust my chops. We called him Mean Murray."^[45]

In June 2020, an allegation that Ross had engaged in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old when he was 34 was published in the media; his accuser, Jessica Radtke, had also posted these allegations on herFacebook page in 2019.^[46][47] Ross disputed the accusation, claiming that his relationship with Radtke did not begin until 2002, when Radtke was an adult.^[48][49] In November 2020, Ross filed a defamation suit in theNew York State Supreme Court, in which multiple named witnesses asserted that Radtke's claims were inaccurate and dishonest; Ross' legal team accused Radtke of extorting Ross for "significant sums of money".^[50] He dropped the case in March 2023.^[51]

In the fall of 2024, Ross was diagnosed with stage 3colon cancer. He had seven inches of his colon removed and underwent six months ofchemotherapy.^[52][53]

• No Offense (2008,Shout! Factory) – CD/DVD/Download

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