How to Throw a Roast

No, this isn’t a guide on how to slow-cook a large slab of meat. While we agree that that might be a delicious meal to serve at your party, you’re going to have to find a recipe and cooking instructions for that elsewhere.

A roast is a great way to honor someone celebrating a birthday and a fun activity that the honoree and guests will enjoy. A roast of a person involves subjecting them to comedic insults, praise, anecdotes both true and untrue, and various other tributes. The idea is to poke fun at them in a lighthearted way that they will be able to appreciate and that everyone will get a good laugh out of. Examples of famous roasts are the celebrity roasts held annually by the New York Friar’s Club and Comedy Central.

A roast is a fairly simple event to prepare for—all it requires is that the guests (the roasters) think of some funny ways to honor the birthday person (the roastee) before coming to the party. Of course, not all of the material has to be thought of beforehand—within a good group of friends, you’ll undoubtedly be able to improvise some amusing anecdotes and jokes.

Designate the funniest of the guests— or the one who knows the birthday person best –as the roastmaster. The roastmaster acts as the host of the roast, and is responsible for making sure each roaster gets their turn to take a jab at the roastee. There doesn’t really need to be much structure to your roast; after all, it’s just a group of friends having a good time. But if you want some guidelines, you can rent a copy of one of Comedy Central or the Friar’s Club’s televised celebrity roasts.

Even better, if the birthday person is a big fan of one of these roasted celebrities, rent the tape and show it at the party after his or her own roast. That ought to give him or her an opportunity to get back at the roasters by pointing out how bad their insults were compared to the celebrities’!