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Without question, the most watched and discussed piece of comedy released this year was The Roast of Kevin Hart,<\/a> which aired on Netflix in May. Whether this is a positive or negative indication of where the comedy industry is heading is one of the many topics comics Gianmarco Soresi and Jay Jurden discuss in this year\u2019s annual State of the Industry address at Montr\u00e9al\u2019s Just For Laughs festival. Well, actually, rather than discussing the roast, they roast it \u2014 along with many of the comedians who participated<\/a> (Shane Gillis, Tony Hinchcliffe, etc.), comedians who generate controversy like Louis C.K. and Dave Chappelle, comedians with bad politics like Jerry Seinfeld and Nate Bargatze, and even beloved comedians and comedy platforms quietly minding their business like Josh Johnson and Dropout. \u201cKevin Hart produced and starred in the roast of himself, where the most famous people in the world got a chance to make fun of his height,\u201d Soresi says in the address. \u201cAlthough I heard the thing he\u2019s really short on is money to keep people employed at Hartbeat productions<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The State of the Industry address is a time-honored JFL tradition<\/a>, which began in 1995 and was hosted by veteran curmudgeon Andy Kindler until 2023, when comedian Jessica Kirson briefly took it over. \u201cMoment of silence for Andy Kindler,\u201d Soresi says at one point in the address, which took place July 23. \u201cHe\u2019s not dead,\u201d Jurden clarifies. \u201cHe just doesn\u2019t have 100,000 followers, so they didn\u2019t bring him back.\u201d His joke hints at the other purpose of the address, which is to examine the health of the ecosystem in which comedians seek their livelihood and hold it to a higher standard. And currently, Jurden and Soresi believe, the state of the industry is one of \u201cdecay,\u201d in which even agents and managers are struggling to eke out a living: \u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of money in 10 percent of SubwayTakes,\u201d Soresi jokes. \u201cThe TV and film industry is so dead, the last big thing they shot in America was Charlie Kirk.\u201d<\/p>\n If all this sounds a little self-righteous, rest assured Jurden and Soresi don\u2019t spare themselves. \u201cWe\u2019re like Michael Che and Colin Jost if all the people online calling them faggots were correct,\u201d jokes Jurden at the beginning of the address. It\u2019s a take-no-prisoners set in which two of the most prolific joke writers working today set out to feed the public\u2019s insatiable appetite for shit talk<\/a> and deliver a ten-course Michelin-star meal. Watch Jurden and Soresi\u2019s full 38-minute-long (!) set and read some of their best roasts below.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Soresi: \u201cShane made some major headlines last week for selling 76,212 tickets for his comedy show at the Eagles stadium in Philadelphia. And if you do the math \u2014 76,000 tickets times 80 bucks a pop \u2014 that comes out to more than $6 million dollars in missed child support.\u201d Jurden: \u201cSome people say that [Neal Brennan] is the Gianmarco Soresi to my Dave Chappelle. And by \u2018my Dave Chappelle,\u2019 what I mean by that is, after this, I\u2019m getting drunk and hitting on so many trans women.\u201d Soresi: \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of Tony jokes. We have more than he\u2019s ever written, actually. Look, everyone\u2019s seen Kill Tony, but nobody has ever seen Tony kill.\u201d Soresi: \u201cTheo Von\u2019s a tricky one because, despite the many things he\u2019s done and his whole stand-up comedy career, he has spoken up for Palestinians. Which means there actually is worse representation for Palestine than Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n Soresi: \u201cBill Maher won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Very well deserved because Bill Maher goes after both sides: He\u2019ll suck Trump\u2019s cock and eat his ass.\u201d Jurden: \u201cLouis C.K. is back with a new Netflix special. It\u2019s a real cum-rags-to-riches story. Hey, you guys, it\u2019s a different time \u2014 it\u2019s 2026. Now if you want to expose yourself to people who don\u2019t want to watch, you have to call it the \u2018L.A. clown scene<\/a>.\u2019\u201d Jurden: \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t go too hard on late-night shows because Trump already has.\u201d Soresi: \u201cNate Bargatze \u2014 or as some people now call him, Jeff Fox-newsworthy \u2014 betrayed a lot of his fans when he showed up at a UFC match on the White House lawn. But it wasn\u2019t nearly as bad as when he told his fans to see his new movie, The Breadwinner, in theaters. Breadwinner was so bad people were praising Colin Jost\u2019s performance.\u201d Soresi: \u201cI\u2019ve always been a Seinfeld fan who needs to clarify I\u2019m talking about the show. Seinfeld said Palestine doesn\u2019t exist, which in my opinion, is the worst thing a former cast member of Seinfeld has ever said on stage. Jerry Seinfeld was heckled several times by pro-Palestinian protesters, but honestly, I think they were just trying to get him to do some new material. Although who wants to hear Jerry\u2019s political material? He\u2019s going to be like, \u2018Occupy? Why can\u2019t we occu-strudel?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Jurden: \u201cDropout\u2019s doing amazing things. Finally there\u2019s a comedy hub for people too afraid to make eye contact with their baristas. I love Dropout. Dropout proves comedy doesn\u2019t need to punch down. Or be funny.\u201d<\/p>\n Jurden: \u201cChris is known for the most inside-baseball jokes performed for people who don\u2019t know the rules of baseball.\u201d Soresi: \u201cCongrats to everyone who competed. I did think it was weird that Keegan-Michael Key was one of the judges for a stand-up comedy show. I would sooner trust his opinion on wives<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Jurden: \u201cI don\u2019t need an agent; I need a 15-year-old girl who knows the algorithm of TikTok.\u201d Sign up for the Vulture Daily<\/p>\n An entertainment newsletter for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n
Jurden: \u201cThe Guinness World Records recorded it as the largest cross burning in the world. Good \u2014 it\u2019s about time Canada got some smoke from America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soresi: \u201cSpeaking of transitions, I, for one, can\u2019t wait for Chappelle to transition back to comedy.\u201d
Jurden: \u201cHis last special was so long-winded, I thought he was copying Josh Johnson.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jurden: \u201cTony Hinchcliffe impressively had the worst Netflix special I\u2019ve ever seen \u2014 since the last Tony Hinchcliffe special.\u201d
Soresi: \u201cDid he film the new one in Montr\u00e9al? Because it had just four laughs.\u201d
Jurden: \u201cAlso, ladies: If you want to see Tony deliver a punch that actually lands, just go on a date with him.\u201d
Soresi: \u201cAllegedly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jurden: \u201cAt least when Mark Twain said the N-word, it was funny. I know we joke, but Bill Maher has done a lot for the Black community. Specifically the Black female sex-worker community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soresi: \u201cYou hear that, clowns? That\u2019s a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soresi: \u201cThat\u2019s right. Donald Trump got Stephen Colbert taken off the air, which so many of us had already done with the power of our remote controls.\u201d
Jurden: \u201cBut, hey, Jimmy Kimmel survived.\u201d
Soresi: \u201cSo what? Kimmel cried more over Charlie Kirk than Erika did.\u201d
Jurden: \u201cMore liquid came out of his eyes than Charlie\u2019s neck.\u201d
Soresi: \u201cI personally love that Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla are still friends because sometimes you need to put politics aside and come together over your mutual love of money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jurden: \u201cI loved Breadwinner. It\u2019s nice to see proof that it\u2019s possible to make a movie the whole family can hate.\u201d
Soresi: \u201cReal quick \u2014 round of applause if you saw Breadwinner. I\u2019ll give a synopsis: Breadwinner is the story of a man being left to take care of three young girls. It was actually originally slated to be a horror movie starring Chris D\u2019Elia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soresi: \u201cHis special really incited a lot of conversations, like explaining to my mom why this is funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soresi: \u201cUnfortunately, she\u2019s already with Jeff Ross<\/a>.\u201d
Jurden: \u201cOkay, another one: I don\u2019t need an agent; I need a 14-year-old girl who knows the algorithm of TikTok.\u201d
Soresi: \u201cUnfortunately, Woody Allen just adopted her.\u201d
Jurden: \u201cOne more: I don\u2019t need an agent; I need a 17-year-old girl \u2026 I\u2019m starting to think this industry has a problem.\u201d
Soresi: \u201cYeah. And we\u2019ve already made enough jokes about Seinfeld.\u201d<\/p>\n