The Situation nearly booed off stage at Comedy Central's Donald Trump roast
Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino likes to talk about avoiding grenades, but on Thursday night he dropped a whole lot of 'em at Comedy Central's roast in Manhattan, where he joined Snoop Dogg, Whitney Cummings, Larry King and others to skewer Donald Trump.
After being introduced by the night's host, "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane (who warned the crowd to keep watch on the "Jersey Shore" star "in case Donkey Kong throws a barrel at him"), the Situation went up to the microphone, wearing aviator sunglasses, and proceeded to bomb all over the place. His jokes were so bad that one Comedy Central exec suggested that most of his act might be cut from the final broadcast of the roast, which airs March 15.
"The Sitch," as he's called, deadpanned to Cummings, "I actually wouldn't call you a grenade because you won't be blowing up anytime soon." (Buh-dum-bum!) He told Snoop Dogg that he and Trump had a lot in common because Trump owned a lot of property and Snoop's ancestors were property. (Snoop did not appear amused.) Before long, the audience began to boo so loudly that comedian Jeffrey Ross, who's been at this so long he's known as the Roastmaster General, had to interject into the act to try to save the Situation, who'd already claimed he shared one quality with Ross: "This is my first night doing comedy."
"It's also your last," Ross responded, to overwhelming applause.
Still, the crowd must have been glad that the Situation showed up, because he provided plenty of amusement for the other roasters. MacFarlane joked that "the Sitch" and Snooki made a good couple because "Italians are known for grinding organs with monkeys." Snoop pretended to mistake the Situation for Snooki, "I'm sorry," he said, "all white people who act black look the same to me." The deaf actress Marlee Matlin, a surprise roaster who's currently on Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice," even got in a swipe at the Great Bronzed One. "Like the Situation," she said in American Sign Language, "I too have never heard the sound of laughter."
But of course, some of the best lines were reserved for The Donald and that other "situation" -- the one on top of his head. MacFarlane: "You look like you fell head-first into a cotton candy machine." Cummings: "You look like Justin Bieber caught on fire." "You know who you need to fire? Your hairdresser ... and your face." Trump was a good sport through it all, even saying of his famous mop: "It's my trademark, and it's only bitten me once in my entire life." Though he couldn't resist punctuating that remark by shaking his head with a "who writes this stuff?" expression.
Backstage after the show, he was even more gracious -- or maybe it was just ego. Asked about the Situation's performance, he said, "I thought he was great. He came from a great distance to be here. And he did it just for me."
As for the Situation, he didn't seem fazed. "Maybe if I hadn't gone on with the sunglasses, there wouldn't have been such a negative [vibe]," he mused, adding that Snoop told him to wear the Aviators so that no one could tell he was looking at the teleprompter. "Maybe they thought I was too cool, but that wasn't the case. I was just wearin' them 'cause Snoop said to wear 'em."
Calling the jokes "a collaboration between me and the writers," his dismissed the idea that the crowd was too hard on him. "No, not at all," he said, still wearing his sunglasses. "My whole career people have been hard on me, so, y'know. I stood in the pocket where a lot of people would crumble, a lot of people would walk off stage, but I stood in there. I delivered."
-- Melissa Maerz
Photo: Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino at Comedy Central's roast of Donald Trump. Credit: Charles Sykes / Associated Press
Gee, these celebrity people are just so amusing and clever!
Posted by: larry | March 10, 2011 at 10:09 AM
I'm no situation fan nor do I watch Jersey Shore, but all they're doing is hating. The man makes a lot of money being himself and acting like an idiot...good for him. You can't hate the hussle.
Posted by: Gaucho420 | March 10, 2011 at 10:41 AM
The Aviator sunglasses were embarrassed to be wearing him....
Posted by: samish hill | March 10, 2011 at 10:44 AM
It sounds like both Trump and the Situation were good sports. Good for them. We need more guys who can take a booing once in awhile.
Posted by: Bluejeans | March 10, 2011 at 10:45 AM
" . . he didn't seem phased." Phase = a stage. Faze = daunt.
Posted by: JT | March 10, 2011 at 10:47 AM
his 15 minutes is well over
Posted by: ray | March 10, 2011 at 10:57 AM
Editor: He didn't seem "fazed." Come on, professional writers! Learn to spell!
Posted by: tbplayer | March 10, 2011 at 11:00 AM
Man, I miss Dean Martin, Foster Brooks, Dom DeLuise et al. Those roasts were funny. Get on youtube and watch a few--I dare you not to fall off your chair laughing.
Posted by: fasteee | March 10, 2011 at 11:43 AM
Thanks to JT for 'phase' fix!
Posted by: LAT editor | March 10, 2011 at 12:52 PM
His whole career? Now that is funny. The entire "cast" of Jersey Shore has an acute lack of self-awareness.
Posted by: Lou | March 10, 2011 at 01:12 PM
FAZE vs. PHASE
"It's much worse than base vs. bass, and almost as tough as principle vs. principal. People have trouble with phase vs. faze. Even some journalists and COPY EDITORS get them mixed up. But except for the fact that the two words are pronounced in exactly the same way, they could hardly be more different.
A phase is a stage of development, a temporary pattern, a cyclically recurrent form, a stage in a periodic process, a form of matter, etc. Phase is basically a noun, though of course there is a denominal verb meaning to carry something out by phases, etc. According to the AHD, phase is a "back-formation from New Latin phasēs, phases of the moon, from Greek phaseis, pl. of phasis, appearance, from phainein, to show."
Posted by: Josee | March 10, 2011 at 01:28 PM
"My whole career people have been hard on me."
What "career" is he talking about, exactly?
Posted by: Pomonafan | March 10, 2011 at 02:51 PM
Samish, you're funny.
Posted by: zygion | March 10, 2011 at 03:58 PM
If I was running the show I would have said "Situation, you're fired."
Posted by: Kirk | March 10, 2011 at 09:05 PM
Everyone involved in this alleged roast is well past their sell-by date. A disgusting gang of has-beens, no-talents, and freak show curiosities.
Posted by: gern | March 11, 2011 at 08:41 AM
The situation just needs to go away...I'm sure Snoop stole the show, love him!
Posted by: Celia | March 11, 2011 at 11:18 AM
I'm sorry, did he say "his career"? What career is he speaking about?
Posted by: JW @ Wine Will Fix It | March 11, 2011 at 11:19 AM
The Jersey Shore cast is less deserving of "celebrity" than Jason Davis & his claim to fame is heroin addiction.
Posted by: Gene Mullett | March 11, 2011 at 11:29 AM
Hate the hustle. Don't hate the dumb American. Just kidding, love the Situation. He's the most normal, likeable guy on the show. But he is a dumb American just like the rest of us. God Bless America.
Posted by: Peter | March 11, 2011 at 03:43 PM
That's what you get for having Charlie Sheen write your material.
Posted by: KJ | March 11, 2011 at 05:09 PM