Comedian Jeff Ross lost his parents by the age of 19, lost his hair after making his mark in Hollywood and might have lost his life, had he not listened to a friend who encouraged him to get a colonoscopy last summer.
Ross (whose real last name is Lifschultz) is currently on Broadway in his solo show “Take a Banana For The Ride” at the Nederlander Theater. It got its title as his grandfather, Jack, used to give him the yellow fruit as he drove from New Jersey to comedy clubs in Manhattan.
Trial By Fire
Ross said he would get grilled by his uncle he dubbed “Mean Murray” but later realized it was out of love. In school, a guy named Joe went around hitting boys in the midsection, but when Ross was a victim, he mocked the guy and realized the power of the insult. In the show, he discusses the heartache of both his mother dying and father passing away dying he turned 20. While some might have sunk into depression or used drugs, Ross said he felt he had to be positive and find his path in life.
“My dad accidentally OD’d on cocaine, so I think I took the warning sign that it’s a great way to waste your life and money and I saw it as a roadblock to success,” Ross told The Journal. “I have more of a high going on stage and making people happy. Oddly enough, had I not suffered that loss as a young man, I might not have been so funny. It made me understand you have to laugh at all the dark things to get through it.”
The Colonoscopy That Saved His Life and Why He Got Back On Stage Quickly
Shortly after “The Roast of Tom Brady” on Netflix last May, a friend urged Ross and others to get routine coloscopies. Ross took the advice and was told he had a tumor in his colon, and it was surgically removed. He said he knows many who beat cancer would take a year or more off, but that’s not his style.
“It fills me up with joy to be on stage and that was part of the healing,” Ross said. “If I thought I’ll just get better and sit around on vacation, I would not have been as motivated.”
Did Ross Write a Song In Response To Hamas?
“Take a Banana For The Ride” includes a few memorable songs, including “Don’t F— With The Jews.” It’s understandable those who attend the show would think he wrote this in response to a hated terrorist group, but he penned it before the horrific attack.
“I wrote it as a cultural tribute to my family,” Ross said. “It was a cultural pride thing going on long before Oct. 7. This was my mantra-being a tough Jew, a world-beater as my grandfather used to say.”
Letterman and The First Roast of Steven Seagal
Ross became friends with numerous comedians, including Sarah Silverman and Dave Chapelle. He said a huge catalyst for his success came on April 13, 1995, when he made his late-night debut on “The Late Show With Dave Letterman.” His energetic performance, which included jokes about Angela Lansbury and how he thought the stench in New Jersey smelled like Belgian waffles, earned him acclaim.
“I was sort of struggling to get on cable shows,” Ross said. “Somebody cancelled. I got my chance to show who I was, and it was life changing.”
Ross, who earned a black belt before turning 13, even did a kick in his set. Now known as the Roastmaster General, the first time Ross did performed on a celebrity roast was for Steven Seagal. Could the Jewish comedian beat Seagal in karate today?
“He remains undefeated,” Ross said. “The only thing that’s beating him is his cholesterol.”
Ross once did a roast in a prison and seeing the man had a swastika tattoo, told him he should get six million years in jail for every Jew that died in the Holocaust.
Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett and Gilbert Gottfried
Ross learned from such Jewish comedic legends as Milton Berle, who said he should edit stuff down as the crown only wants home runs, and Buddy Hackett, who was a mentor to him.
“Milton taught me how to smoke cigars and figure out if they were really Cuban,” Ross said. “He was very old showbusiness. He put on make-up to go out to lunch. I loved his sense pf showmanship, and he used to love to sit around and tell old stories.(Ross stood next to Berle at a urinal, and says the legend of his endowment was true.)
Buddy Hackett was almost like a brother to me. He taught me about a lot of things besides comedy. He taught me about politics, romance, he knew a lot about alcohol, transmissions. You could call Buddy for anything.”
In the show, he also mentions his great friendship with Jewish comedians Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget and comedian Norm Macdonald, who’ve all passed away in the last few years. He said Gottfried taught him to be irreverent in his comedy.
Trump, Brady and a Flava Flav Kiddush Cup
Most of the roasts Ross took part in can be seen on Paramount +, including “The Roast of Donald Trump” that aired on Comedy Central in 2011.
“He was always a good sport,” Ross said of Trump, “I thought his rebuttal was funny. He worked hard on it with the writers and performed well.”
When Ross roasted future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady and joked about his ex-wife, some worried that Brady’s feelings were hurt.
“Brady was fine,” Ross said. “He took the hits better than anyone in history. That might have been the most brutal roast in history that I’ve been to. Once someone volunteers to be roasted, I go all in, and I don’t worry too much about hurting people’s feelings. When I write jokes, I don’t want to just break the skin, I want to scratch it.”
For his roast of the rapper Flavor Flav of Public Enemy, Ross placed a diamond encrusted Kiddush cup he had made on the podium. While some consider Ross a germ freak, he said he was happy that both he and the guest of honor drank from the kiddush cup.
“I’m happy to get whatever he has,” Ross said.
The Surprise of Alopecia and Ross Reacted to Oscar Slap
Growing up, Ross had an impressive Jewfro, and was stunned when it fell out and he was diagnosed with alopecia. It was frustrating at first — he looked much different bald — but he knew his comedic prowess would win people over. He said he was disappointed by Jada Pinkett Smith’s response when Chris Rock made a joke about her at the Oscars and was slapped by her husband, actorWill Smith, in 2022.
“I was hurt as someone with alopecia, Ross said. “If Jada laughed, she could have normalized the condition for all the kids out there who may not feel beautiful. Had she laughed, I think that might have done a lot to erase the stigma.”
Twist at the ending
Ross act includes crowd work, resulting in heartfelt discussions of the obstacles members of the audience faced.
“I felt like the audience was emotional during the show and going through a catharsis, as was I, talking about loss, resilience and bouncing back,” Ross said. “I thought instead of talking to people outside, I can do this at the end while it’s still going on. It’s kind of like fireworks at the end. People can earn their banana by taking a joke. “I hope they leave with a doggie bag of emotional utilities.”
Asked his favorite kosher food, Ross replies: “I’m eating an onion bagel with egg salad now. I would eat on stage if I could.”
Ross said he loves knishes and Schnipper’s, a midtown diner run by a Jewish family, named theirbanana milkshake after him.
He said working hard and long hours at his family’s kosher catering hall, Clinton Manor in New Jersey, not only gave him the discipline of hard work, but the experience of interacting with people of all ethnicities, races and nations.
A Unique Ending and Who Would Roast Him?
Ross who would like to host either the Oscars, Grammys or “Saturday Night Live,” turns 60 later this month. Who would he want to roast him? Trump? Snoop Dog?
“We might have to do a series,” he said. “There’s probably 100 comics who want revenge.”
