Brian Moses (Comic, creator, and host of the Roast Battle League):
"It came organically. There were two comics at this open mic I was running who wanted to fight each other. I said, Why don’t you guys talk trash about each other and then all of us in the room will just, like gladiator sport, say Yay or Nay if it’s good or not.”
Roast Battle lived in the Belly Room of the Store for years, developing a cult following with it’s exciting premise and panel of special guest judges.
Roast Battle premiered at Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal in 2015.
It’s first official spin-off happened in New York at The Stand Comedy Club in New York, called Roastmasters. It was hosted by Luis J. Gomez and ran until 2018.
Comedy Central picked up the show in 2016. It ran for 3 seasons in United States, and 4 seasons in the UK - which Jeff Ross and Jimmy Carr hosted respectively.