Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle

The television series is based on a live show that runs at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles in the comedy club's Belly Room. The live show originated from a heated argument that occurred in The Comedy Store's parking lot in 2013 between two comedians over a stolen joke. The Roastmasters show in NYC was emceed by comedian Luis J. Gomez and audio recordings were posted to a podcast feed under the Roastmasters name. In 2015 Ross brought the live show to the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal where it caught the attention of Jonas Larsen, a senior vice president at Comedy Central. In 2018 the Verbal Violence podcast's name was changed to Roast Battle and the podcast was moved to Comedy Central’s Global Podcast Network. ==Format==

The show is hosted by Jeff Ross who also serves as one of the judges on each show. Comedian and show co-creator Brian Moses announces each competitor and also serves as referee. The winners of each battle are determined by a panel of guest judges that include two or more comedians or other celebrities. In addition, there were comedians added to the final sixteen competitors list who did not compete in the regionals. The final eight battles of the second season were filmed on the Sunset Strip and the final battle was also broadcast live. The show changed it format in the third season and abandoned the bracket-style tournament. As a result there were no preliminary regional battles and instead each episode featured only two battles per episode over six episodes. In addition Anthony Jeselnik and Nikki Glaser served as judges on all six episodes and they were also joined by Pete Davidson during the final episode. The final episode also marked the first time that Ross took to the stage as a battler during the show; he battled with NBA player Blake Griffin. ==International versions==

The popularity of Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle has led to the launch of roast battle shows on some of Comedy Central's sister stations outside of the United States: • Comedy Central’s Roast Battle South Africa launched in 2017 on Comedy Central Africa and was renewed for a second season in 2018. • Roast Battle was launched in 2018 on Comedy Central (UK & Ireland). The show is hosted by former Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle contestant Jimmy Carr. ==Broadcasts==

Series 1 The winner of each roast battle is in bold. Series 2 The winner of each roast battle is in bold. Series 3 ==References==