Jeff Ross Comedy Central special aims to ‘rehumanize the immigrant experience’
When Comedy Central gave comedian Jeff Ross free reign for his upcoming comedy special, he said he was motivated to reveal the nuance of America’s immigration debate.
“I chose Brownsville … to rehumanize the immigrant experience,” said the prolific insult comic in a recent phone interview. “It seems like a lot of politicians and … people forgot where our ancestors came from … (and) how hard it is to get and stay in America.”
“Jeff Ross Roasts Immigration: Live from Brownsville” premieres Nov. 16 on Comedy Central.
Ross built his brand as “the Roastmaster General” known for the Comedy Central Roasts of Justin Bieber, Charlie Sheen, Donald Trump and many more. His shtick spawned a series of roast specials targeting social issues, like crime and policing. Previous programs “Jeff Ross Roasts Criminals: Live from Brazos County” and “Jeff Ross Roasts Cops” saw the comic embed himself with prisoners and police to humanize hot-button issues.
The comic was annoyed by the pervasive, binary portrayals of immigrants and set out to explore ideas beyond that, he said.
“Everything is always so left or right, cut and dry, red or blue,” said Ross of what he described as the “mainstream” narrative regarding immigration. “I thought it can’t possibly be that way in real life. There’s got to be common ground where people agree and there’s got to be surprises.”
Ross and his production team spent the last week of April filming, interviewing local stakeholders in the Rio Grande Valley. He spoke to the recently deported in Matamoros, those who patrol the border, those who live with the wall in their backyards, those who were brought to the United States as children and even those who illegally traffic migrants into the country.
The climax of his trip was a free comedy show with the border wall as the backdrop at Alice Wilson Hope Park in Brownsville
“I made Brownsville into one big stage and a comedy club isn’t just about getting laughs,” Ross said. “It’s about seeing a perspective objectively, catching hypocrisies and stuff that sounds like (expletive).”
Embedded with a constable, Ross came across a pregnant woman who braved the trip to berth an American citizen.
In a rough cut of the program, Ross asks the constable if he ever follows up on the families he comes across. He replies that he doesn’t because he’s coming across too many people too often.
“It made me realize that this was a problem that was beyond what a human brain could even comprehend, how many human stories are coming over that border,” Ross said. “And you can’t get to know everybody so you have to hold onto your own humanity — your own compassion — and treat everybody with dignity.”
This is a perspective he took with him into the editing process “staring into their eyes for months,” he said.
“When you actually go there and see how people actually come over on a raft with their son, pregnant with their water about the break. You see how humiliating that could be,” he said. “To be honest, there were nights that I got back to the hotel and my eyes filled with tears.”
While only a few people have watched the special, he said those who have are noting how emotional it is compared to previous work.
“I think that’s part of the subject matter. It’s a very emotional experience coming to America,” he said. “I felt a lot of love for the people that I met and I want to know they’re okay.
“You want to tell their story in a graceful way but you also don’t want to wash it over.”
Because he wasn’t a journalist, people would open up to him, he said.
In a particularly striking scene, Ross interviews a coyote, one who crosses immigrants into the country. The comedian inquired about logistics of his operation in an interaction Ross is still “wrapping his head around,” he said.
“Why would he tell me all of this? The one thing I didn’t ask him is if he killed anyone. I couldn’t imagine I was talking to a murderer,” he said. “Once I got to kidnapping I was like, maybe I don’t need to ask any amore questions because I didn’t want my interview or myself to be subpoenaed.
“Part of it is knowing when you got the shot and moving on. I saw that room full of guns, and I guess I could assume the rest.”
Ross even teased the coyote, which was received with a laugh.
“A few friends who’ve watched the early cut thought maybe I shouldn’t joke in that situation — that I shouldn’t honor or dignity the moment with a roast joke,” he said. “But to me, it broke the tension.
“Why do we get uncomfortable in intense movement? There’s always comedy in tension.”
Ross speaks with affection for those he met in the Valley, and is appreciative of the access he was given.
“The situation is so dire for some people and beyond feeling lucky as a filmmaker that I captured the footage, I felt lucky as an American — a human being — that I was born in this country, that I didn’t have to endure what I saw,” he said. “It does feel like I had an experience that most Americans don’t get to have and don’t get to see.”
