Insults will fly at Spokane Comedy Club's Roastamania

Ed Condran, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
·2 min read

Jul. 21—Roastamania is back. After a year hiatus, four comics will dissect, insult and harass each other until one stand-up is declared the champ Sunday at the Spokane Comedy Club.

"The winner takes home a prize and most important of all, bragging rights," Spokane Comedy Club administrator/comic Josh Firestine said. "Zach Sommerfield won the last time in Spokane and he also won in Tacoma so he calls himself the Roastamania state champion," Firestine said .

Sommerfield will not be part of the roast Sunday, but Firestine will host the event. "I'm excited since I get to joke about the participants but they're not up there to roast me," Firestine said.

The key to taking part in such an event, according to the queen of Comedy Central Roasts, Lisa Lampanelli, is overpreparing. "I always came to those roasts with double the amount of material that I needed," Lampanelli said recently by phone from Connecticut.

Firestine concurs. "The comics are allowed to tell five jokes, but I tell them to come up with at least 10 jokes," Firestine said.

Chris Jessop, Charles Hall Jr., Ryan McComb and Rob Wentz will battle it out to be the king of Roastamania. Expect some brutal barbs from McComb and Wentz since the two have been close pals for the last three years.

"It's going to be so cool roasting one of my best friends," said Wentz, who lives in Coeur d'Alene. "Hopefully he cries."

Harsh words from Wentz, who is so close with McComb that the pair will become Coeur d'Alene expatriates together as they drive to the middle of America. The tandem are moving to Nashville.

"We're excited about living in a bigger market with a huge entertainment scene. We'll be closer to a lot of cities," Wentz said. "I've been doing this for four years and Ryan has been doing it for three more years than that. But before we drive across the country in September, we're going to battle it out at the Spokane Comedy Club."

It's vengeance for Wentz, who lost to McComb last year. "I owe him one," Wentz said. The Tomato Street bartender can handle anything McComb will hurl at him. "I work in the restaurant industry," Wentz said. "My boss calls me stupid and lazy. I can handle being roasted."

It runs in the family. Wentz's cousin is much maligned NFL quarterback Carson Wentz. "I don't have Carson's athletic ability but he doesn't have my charm," Wentz said. "He also doesn't have my roasting ability. Everyone better watch out when I go at it at the Spokane Comedy Club."

Roastamania is slated for Sunday at the Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. SpragueTickets are $10 and $16. Show time is 7:30 p.m. For more information, 509-318-9998, www.spokanecomedyclub.com