Garden State Ribbing at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank Showing Feb. 28
By Mary Ann Bourbeau
RED BANK – The first-ever “Roast of New Jersey,” a one-night-only comedy show, is coming to the Count Basie Center for the Arts. Helmed by Jeff Ross, nicknamed “Roastmaster General,” the event will be an evening of jokes and barbs aimed squarely at the Garden State.
This special event will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, and is part of the Basie Center’s Centennial Celebration, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the historic theater, which opened Nov. 11, 1926.
As a regular on the “Comedy Central Roasts” shows, Ross has roasted some of the industry’s most famous people, including Alec Baldwin, Justin Bieber, Roseanne Barr and Charlie Sheen. His one-man show, “Take a Banana for The Ride,” was performed at the Count Basie Center in 2024 before moving to Broadway for a celebrated run that was also filmed for a future special on Netflix.
Chris Gethard, host of the “New Jersey is the World” podcast and the HBO special “Career Suicide,” is one of the most “Jersey” comedians in the lineup. The West Orange native, who began writing for Weird New Jersey magazine in his teens, has been taking friendly barbs at his home state for as long as he can remember. But to him, it’s all in good fun.
“New Jersey is the best,” he said. “I love this state – the food, the landscape has the Shore and the mountains, and there’s access to the cities. But at the end of the day, it’s the people who make it very special. They’re no nonsense straight-shooters with big hearts and good intentions. I’ve been all over the country and I have not met better people.”
Still, that won’t stop Gethard from poking fun at the state he holds dear, and not with the tired jokes about the Garden State such as “What Exit?”
“What’s infuriating about all the Jersey jokes is that they’re not real,” he said. “No one here says ‘Joisey.’ They should make fun of our real accent, like the way we say ‘cawfee.’ ”
Gethard acknowledged that there is an endless amount of Jersey material, naming a few off the top of his head, such as the nude beach at Sandy Hook, the Evil Clown sign in Middletown and one of his favorite targets, New Jersey Transit. In a recent issue of Weird New Jersey magazine, Gethard referenced what he believes should be NJ Transit’s slogan: “We may not get you to your destination on time, but at least you can’t see out the windows.”
Rounding out the lineup for the roast will be comedian Joey “Coco” Diaz (“The Many Saints of Newark,” “Uncle Joey’s Joint” podcast), “Impractical Jokers” star Brian “Q” Quinn, New York Giants legend and WFAN radio host Tiki Barber, Rich Vos (“The King of Staten Island”), Bonnie McFarlane (“Last Comic Standing,” “Comedy Central Presents”), Donnell Rawlings (“Chappelle’s Show”), Natalie Cuomo (named one of the New York Comedy Festival’s Comics to Watch), Chris Covert (host of “Jersey Shore’s Top Comic” and Basie Center Cinema’s open mic comedy nights), “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Joe Gorga and Vinnie Brand, a comedian and owner of the Stress Factory comedy club in New Brunswick.
Gethard is excited to be among this lineup of talented comedians, even though he’s stumped as to why some of them are on the bill, such as Tiki Barber and Donnell Rawlings.
“(Virginia native) Donnell seemingly has no connection to New Jersey,” he said. “And ‘Q’ is from Staten Island. If you want to make Jersey people mad, just imply that Staten Island is in any way connected to New Jersey.”
A mystery guest will end the night in defense of New Jersey, offering a rebuttal and perhaps some comic revenge toward anyone who dares to ridicule the state’s rest stops, industrial lands and the pork roll vs. Taylor ham debate.
“It’ll be a fun night and a joy to be on one of New Jersey’s best stages to celebrate our state with a bunch of other comedians,” said Gethard. “And who knows? Maybe Bruce will show up unexpectedly. I’d be happy to give away some of my stage time to accommodate him.”
Additional initiatives for the Count Basie Center for the Arts centennial include the introduction of the venue’s Walk of Fame and the upcoming debut of the outdoor ParkStage venue in Freehold, with more events to come. Visit thebasie.org/centennial for info. For tickets to the roast, visit thebasie.org.
The article originally appeared in the February 19 – 25, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
