Review: The Roast of Charlie Sheen

bill bodkin looks at the Comedy Central roast of uber-popular actor …

“How do you roast a meltdown?” — Jeff Ross

This is exactly what I was wondering.

Comedy Central’s celebrity roasts don’t have the best track. (How can we forget The Situation on the Donald Trump roast?) So I went into the Charlie Sheen Roast with a bit of trepidation. I mean, how many tiger’s blood, hooker and cocaine jokes could be made in the span of 90 minutes or so?

The answer? A lot … and this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The Roast Of Charlie Sheen was actually extremely entertaining. A bunch of celebrities and comedians, completely wasted, just letting loose on Charlie Sheen and each other.

Yes, this show was definitely “winning.”

As the roast master, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane was genius. He was so quick-witted and he didn’t hold back at all. I mean this guy could deliver some of the most devastating put downs with a huge, mile wide grin on his face.

One of the best roasters of the night was oddly enough of the most random roasters included on the dais — Private Practice star Kate Walsh. Walsh, who looked completely hammered, just cut into people without fear. Giving her “diagnosis” for everyone on the panel and Sheen himself, she floored everyone with just how blunt she was.

One of the best spectacles of the night was Mike Tyson. Tyson, also beyond smashed, was having an absolute ball laughing his ass off at everything as if it were the funniest joke ever told. He also rolled with the punches, pun intended, at all the jokes hurled at him. He truly was a champ.

William Shatner was also a terrific attraction as a roaster. With his vintage Shatner delivery, his references to Sheen as both “Carlos” and “Emilio” were subtle pieces of comic gold. And honestly, I could just listen to Shatner read the phone book — he’s ace.

The worst roaster of the night? No one was terrible, but Amy Schumer, a finalist on Last Comic Standing, was probably the weakest. She didn’t handle the other roasters’ interjections during — she would often go on obviously mean-spirited rants against the them or give kind of grade-school comebacks.

And there was Sheen himself. He handled all the jokes, especially the rather below-the-belt ones about him loosing his kids, with grace. Or maybe he was just really wasted. His end monologue was awesome. His put-downs on the entire panel was delivered with that classic Sheen smirk, snarky tone and wild-eyed insanity. Sheen’s always been a funny guy, if you don’t believe me go out immediately and rent Hot Shots, so it’s no surprise that he killed it on the mic. Yes, the rockstar from Mars, the Vatican Assassin, “won” the night.

In the end, The Roast Of Charlie Sheen is definitely worth checking out — it’s not the train wreck you’d expect. You’re not watching a drug-addled Sheen incoherently rant about completely insane conspiracies and nonsense. This roast is actually very funny and has a high rewatchability factor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJNgT8nhklw