Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav

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I´m not sure of the criteria used by Comedy Central to select a celebrity for their annual roast. The show, which typically airs in August, has seen over the past three years Pamela Anderson, William Shatner and now Flavor Flav. That is quite an eclectic mix. William Shatner is an entertainer that has starred in film and television, has written bestselling novels, and recorded what is arguably music. Pamela Anderson has brought awareness to silicon to multiple generations. She has starred in a few television shows and made a few horrid films. I can see Shatner being honored with a roast, but for the life of me, I cannot find a reason to honor Anderson. This year´s selection is another odd choice. Born William Jonathan Drayton, Jr. and better known as Flavor Flav, one half of the legendary rap group Public Enemy has not stepped into the Terror Dome known as the Comedy Central Roast.

Flavor Flav is an intriguing personality. There are more than enough reasons to poke fun at Flav. He wears an oversized clock around his neck. His teeth are heavily grilled with gold and his vocal pronunciations are one-of-a-kind. Flav´s reality show and televised relationship with Brigitte Nielsen could be considered a low point in the rapper´s career; unless of course you think about the two seasons of "Flavor of Love" that has aired on VH-1. Of course, there is the little fact that Flavor Flav is working hard on fathering ten children. At the time of "Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav," the rapper is responsible for seven children to seven different women. Take any of the above nuggets about Flavor Flav and you have more than enough material to fill a Roast session and Flav has the kind of personality to take whatever is thrown his way and laugh it off.

Those assembled to roast the Flavor is a varied mix of Comedy Central comedians and friends and colleagues from his personal life and the rap world. The show is hosted by Katt Williams, a diminutive black comedian whose first film role was "Friday After Next." Comedy Central familiar faces include Greg Giraldo, Patton Oswalt and Jeffrey Ross. Rappers Ice-T and Snoop Dogg are on the Roasting board and take turns roasting Flav. Comedians Lisa Lampanelli, Jimmy Kimmel and Carrot Top take turns with off-colored jokes and poke fun at Flavor Flav and their fellow roasters. Of course, Lampanelli is known for her sexual exploits with black men. Actress and comedian Sommore, who appeared with Katt Williams in "Friday After Next" and former supermodel and girlfriend of Flav, Brigitte Nielsen round out those offering their kind words to Flavor Flav.

Whereas the William Shatner roast centered many of its jokes around homosexuality and the Pamela Anderson roast was a sex-charged attack on her talents, the Flavor Flav roast combines a racially diverse cast with racially flavored remarks. Ice-T is called the ´O.G.,´ which stands for Original Gangster. Snoop Dogg is best known for his love of Mary Jane, and I´m not talking about a lovely young lady. With two hard-core rappers in attendance and a number of white comedians, I was curious as to how far the racial jokes would go. Jimmy Kimmel is known for crossing the line and in this roast, he does. However, it wasn´t a racial joke, but a Chris Benoit joke that earned him a majority of boos. Lisa Lampanelli is always roasted for performing sexual acts on black men and that too played into the roasting of Flavor Flav. The "Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav" did have a lot of off-color racial jokes, but for the most part there was nothing aired that demanded a Don Imus-like firing.

Most of the roasters do a fine job of delivering the laughs by either roasting Flavor Flav or assaulting their fellow roasters. The Comedy Central comedians are veterans of the Roast and Greg Giraldo and Jeffrey Ross both do a fine job of going just far enough to be funny, but not necessarily insulting. Lampanelli is called the ´Queen of Mean´ and she too is quite funny in her roasting and she was a large target. I thought Kimmel was more insulting than funny and he was one of two presenters I did not particularly care for. The other Roaster that should not have taken the microphone was Brigitte Nielsen, who was funny for about ten percent of the time she stood in front of the camera. She was more pathetic and sappy than humorous and out of the three Roasts I´ve watched, she was the first absolute bomb that was a complete dud. Carrot Top provides his always entertaining prop comedy and both Ice-T and Snoop Dogg provide as many laughs as the comedians.

The "Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav" is a lot of fun, but it is not for those with weak sensibilities. The jokes are racy and vulgar. The comments are sometimes mean and cruel and although Nielsen was horrendous as a roaster, she was a good sport considering the plethora of jokes pertaining to the size of her genitalia and mention that Sly Stallone´s career was lost in there. Flavor Flav is an individual that provides enough elements to his life for the jokes to fly. He wears a clock around his neck, large golden grills on his teeth and is often seen with a Viking helmet. There aren´t many individuals like Flavor Flav and the comedians and others tear into him pretty hard, but are hardest on each other than they are on Flav. Flav sits on his oversized throne and provides vocal outburst of laughter and calls out names in his trademark style during the commercial bumpers. He appeared to have a blast during the roast and that just made for a more entertaining show.

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