Roast specials, popularised primarily by Comedy Central, have an interesting USP- anything can happen, anything gives, (almost) nothing is off the table. This results, of course, in a smorgasbord of fat jokes and gay jokes, like Justin Bieber pointed out when he labelled his roast as, “A bunch of has-beens calling me a lesbian for 2 hours.” And then we have our latest celebrities to be roasted- Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas.
Netflix’s Jonas Brothers Family Roast surprisingly didn’t fall back completely on punching down.
Was it perfect? Hardly. It, too, fell prey to the evil in comedy that is repetition- ‘nobody knows Kevin Jonas, Jumanji 2 sucks, the Jo Bros are short, they’re really bad at acting.’ But it was funny, and for an added touch, endearing. The brothers’ adorable equation with their wives was only the painful cherry on top at a time where my Instagram feed is filled with wedding videos.
The Jonas Brothers Family Roast starts with a skit, and another, and another, which was one too many. We could’ve done without the Thor-Loki equivalence, which seemed like a Halloween party performance gone bad, and probably fed the ‘bad actor’ jokes. That being said, the inclusion of multimedia in roasts, including the slideshow of audio-visual aids, could probably be innovative, if done well.
If you’ve delved into the land of comedy, most of the roasters will be fairly familiar for you- Lilly Singh, Jack Whitehall, John Legend, and the roast format’s golden child Pete Davidson. Yet, the best part of the roast came from the Jonas Brothers’ wives- Priyanka Chopra, Sophie Turner, and Danielle (who was arguably the funniest despite not having said a word).
And that is the star of the show, Kevin Jonas’ wife Danielle. For a taste, Danielle jokes about Kevin ‘ruining her life’, even calling him a neglected child. Her jibe at Kevin’s popularity probably hit closest to home.
Priyanka Chopra’s dig as Nick Jonas’ acting career stood out from the several, severaaaal jibes at it. The actor, and self-proclaimed ‘most famous Jonas’ used her 10-year age gap with Nick, and her immense popularity to build her roast, and boy, did it work.
Sophie Turner’s bit fell short especially in comparison with her Jonas Sisters. Jack Whitehall would probably be funny to his fans, and I’m clearly not one but his bit about Nick Jonas being the ‘Meghan Markle of pop’ was his redemption.
Lilly Singh relied on her ‘They’re so white….’ shtick but while it wasn’t hilarious, most of the jokes landed mainly because she is an experienced entertainer and because dad jokes are still funny sometimes. Pete Davidson obviously knows his way around roasts. His bits as the Jonas Super Fan and the ‘Bonus Jonas’ were highlights.
Dr. Phil makes an appearance, and John Legend plays on his strengths- a magical voice. He serenades the Jonas Brothers and reminds them, incessantly, that they will never be The Beatles.
Coming to the flagship stars of the show, the Jonas Brothers. They really should’ve stuck to the skits, and singing.
Comedy is not their strong suit and they were funnier from their couches than they were on stage. They’re entertaining only because they’re Nick, Joe, and Kevin. Otherwise, the jokes were repetitive and rather….meh, ending an otherwise funny special on a rather lacklustre note filled with perhaps laughs of pure encouragement.
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