Netflix’s recent special, The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady, might have just been the final nail in the coffin for an outdated and stale genre of programming. While there were some memorable moments within the show, it certainly was not deserving of its title. One set that was particularly difficult viewing was that of actor Ben Affleck, who has now been called out by Nikki Glaser.
For the roast of ex-NFL quarterback and American sports icon Tom Brady, Netflix employed a star-studded cast, including the likes of Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart and Kim Kardashian among many others. Of course, the usual roast suspects were present, including the increasingly dated comedy of co-host Jeff Ross, but certain parties were not so accustomed to the world of comedy roasts.
Over the course of the night, various celebrities, comedians and sportspeople took turns to take some light-hearted jabs at the former quarterback. On the whole, these sets were very well received but Ben Affleck’s set stood out like a sore thumb. The actor delivered a toe-curling six-minute monologue centred around the online abuse received by Brady on social media.
This premise certainly didn’t land with the audience, who could only watch in cringe-induced silence as the set soldiered on. According to fellow roaster Nikki Glaser, the failure of Affleck’s monologue was entirely his own fault.
“I haven’t watched it again, like how it looked, because I don’t like to watch people bomb,” the comedian shared on KFC Radio, adding, “He didn’t prepare. He’s someone who’s famous enough he probably thinks it’s beneath him to do this. Like, ‘I’m just gonna do a favour, it’s not gonna be that big of a deal’”.
Within the interview, Glaser almost seems to feel sorry for Affleck, explaining that the set could have been so much better. “There were so many jokes that didn’t get used that could’ve filled up an entire set of his that would’ve been amazing,” she argued, “but either they couldn’t get him on the phone enough to work out something, he didn’t practise enough or he just picked a bad premise and then he had to stick to it the whole time”.
Most, if not all, the comedians and celebrities that appeared at the roast relied on behind-the-scenes writers to concoct their jokes for Brady, and Affleck would have been no different. If you have an audience that is willing to laugh at the likes of Jeff Ross and Kevin Hart, and they are sitting in silence for your set, you must be doing something terribly wrong.