Friars Club Classics Now Online

Roasts of legendary comedians like Jerry Lewis are now available online.

ByABC News
October 10, 2010, 9:05 AM

Oct. 10, 2010— -- For the first time, the Friars have made available online "The Classic Friars Club Roasts," a DVD box set featuring roasts of legendary comedians Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Jerry Lewis, Don Rickles and Johnny Carson.

Video of the roasts is accompanied by a DVD of previously unseen classic out-takes. Almost a half-century has elapsed since these shows aired originally, and the pop-cultural artifacts have never been made available to the public until now.

Summing it up, writer Greg Beato said, "Thanks to the Friars Club roasts, America's comics were acknowledging humanity's intrinsic comic baseness rather than ignoring it. Finally, they were using their comic skills to push against the bounds of propriety, instead of merely tickling the public with childish euphemisms and coy innuendo. Cursing with abandon, reveling in their unconstrained crudity, erstwhile Catskills tumblers elevated themselves, at least temporarily, from jokers to truth-tellers."

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