Comedy Icon Turns to Broadway After Heartbreaking Loss of Three Famous Friends originally appeared on Parade.
Jeff Ross, infamous for his reputation as the “Roastmaster General”, surprised fans with the announcement of his upcoming Broadway debut in April 2025. Now, he’s revealing how losing three of his famous friends in less than a year — Bob Saget, Gilbert Gottfried, and Norm Macdonald — inspired him to finally make his Broadway dreams come true.
The Roast of Tom Brady host admits he’s wanted to do a one-man show since he was a kid, but “didn’t think [he could] until seeing Jackie Mason’s performance of The World According to Me!.
“When I was a young comic, my aunt Bess would take me to Broadway shows, and she took me to see Jackie Mason do a Broadway show,” he recalled on The View on July 25, 2025. “And I thought, well, he doesn’t sing or dance either. He’s just another guy telling jokes.”
Though he began writing his own 30 years ago about losing his parents as a teen and living with his grandparents in his early comedy career, he said he “abandoned it” because he “didn’t have the emotional stability to do it.”
However, after losing friends Macdonald in September 2021, Saget in January 2022, and Gottfried in April 2022, he decided it was time to follow through with his dream.
“After 30 years of going through show business, and [losing] three good friends in 8 months, I handled it in a way where I was like, I think I understand mourning and bouncing back and being resilient a little better,” he said. “So I looked at the old show and I updated it for my new audience, and it’s kind of a dream come true to be able to tell my story on Broadway.”
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Ross added that he’s trying to be more “vulnerable” in the show and in life. That included opening up about the alopecia diagnosis that led to him losing his hair 12 years ago, and his 2024 colon cancer diagnosis. Though he still has his port in, “just in case,” he said he’s feeling “fantastic” and was cleared by his doctor to take on “eight shows a week.”
Ross’ one-man Broadway show, Take a Banana for the Ride, debuts Monday, August 18.
Comedy Icon Turns to Broadway After Heartbreaking Loss of Three Famous Friends first appeared on Parade on Jul 25, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
