Justin Timberlake was roasted at a performance from the Harvard University Hasty Pudding Club theatricals (HPC is the oldest college theatrical group in the US). He was awarded Hasty Pudding Pot Man of the Year by the group at Harvard University on February 5, 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
I must admit, I have no idea of what roasting consists. A sarcastic guess would be perhaps it happens every time Timberlake goes on SNL, or otherwise just happens to find himself dressed up as the world’s least-alluring cross-dresser. Enjoy the second-hand embarrassment, oh, and the jaunty flick of his heels.
Justin Timberlake’s roasting at Harvard on Feb. 5, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
[...] Justin Timberlake dressed in drag – Amy Grindhouse [...]
Roasting consists of paying homage to a person while using jokes, wisecracks, and language that would normally be considered rude, insulting, or in poor tase all for the sake of laughter but normally intended to both render tribute and ridicule.
Thanks, Rain – I pretty much had an idea that’s what it was… though I don’t think we do that here, and on paper “roasting” kinda makes no sense.
It’s a take on “toasting”.
It started originally with the Friar’s Club in New York (originally a theatrical club but now more of an elite group for actors and especially for comedians).
I’m not certain if you guys do that in Britain (I believe you do). But the closest thing to it that the general public is aware of here in the US are the “Carry On” series of movies.
Even in the US, Friar’s Club roasts were practically unheard of (because it is a private club) until Dean Martin made them popular in a series of specials in the 1960s. Today Comedy Central cable network carries on that tradition.