The Gene Simmons Roast

One of the more amusing and entertaining television programs recently has been the Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Had I not found The Osbournes to be amusing a few years back, I probably wouldn't have watched this.

I'm not much of a TV person, let alone reality TV, but for some reason the reality rock 'n' roll family shows strike a chord. The Simmons program is better than the Osbournes, mainly because of his son, who comes up with some of the funniest stuff imaginable. It looks like he has a brilliant future ahead of him.

Here's a clip from a roast Simmons' wife put on for him, along with a dozen comedians to poke fun at him. It's a special 1.5 hour episode, I think showing on A&E. This is the clip with Cher and Diana Ross entering the room.

There's all sorts of interesting stuff at this roast: the comedians get weirded out by Simmons' kids being in the audience, Steve-O gets tossed before the show even begins, Carrot Top looks like he's out of control with the steroids. He looks like Ronald McDonald turned Frankenstein, and not in a good way. Creepy stuff, actually.

Perhaps the funniest moment is when Craig Gass does a mock KISS press conference where he imitates Paul Stanley, Simmons, and Gilbert Gottfried as if he was in KISS. He follows that up with an impression of Al Pacino handing Simmons an acting award and quoting KISS lyrics. I almost fell off the couch laughing.

If you ever even had a remote interest in KISS, or wanted to know what the hoopla was all about, this is an interesting way to get behind the music and into the mind of one of the more amusing characters in rock, Gene Simmons. A legend with the ladies.

One more line from the roast. Quoting Andrew Dice Clay: "Gene made a decision when he was young...why not become the Bozo the Clown of rock 'n' roll?" S