Jeff Ross: Take A Banana For The Ride You’re probably familiar with the sight of Jeff Ross in an outlandish outfit cracking even more outlandish jokes at the expense of a celebrity for the Friarts Club, Comedy Central, or Netflix. Seeing Ross in a bright yellow suit in a solo show on Broadway explaining how he became an orphan in his teens, and lamenting the losses of comedy greats he considered dear friends, might surprise you. The show, Jeff Ross: Take A Banana For The Ride, opens with a highlight reel of Ross performing in various Comedy Central roasts, as well as Netflix’s 2024 Roast of Tom Brady, playing onstage before Ross himself enters. This serves as a reminder of his stature as the self-proclaimed Roastmaster General. What follows is described by Ross as his “origin story” as a comedian, detailing his upbringing in New Jersey in a family that owned and operated a well-known catering hall. His mother died from cancer when he was 15, and his father passed away from an aneurysm a few years later. In the wake of these losses, Ross found comedy as both a healing tool and his “superpower.” The show blends personal reflection with comedic storytelling, offering glimpses into Ross’s life and career. Early in the performance, he jokes about visiting Sarah Silverman’s father, Donald, in his dying days, cracking a joke about replacing him as an emergency contact. Silverman later referenced this anecdote in her 2025 Netflix special, PostMortem. Ross also shares details about his own health struggles, including a 2024 colonoscopy that revealed a stage-three tumor, leading to the removal of seven inches of his colon. He quips, “Now I have a semi colon,” and mentions a unique surgery he received as a baby that hasn’t come up in years of roasts.#jeff_ross #sarah_silverman #judy_blume #felix #asher
