"Laughter is the best medicine, and you would never want your medicine watered down. You want your medicine potent. And roasting goes to the gut."
While most are struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic, there are a few business are flourishing; drive-in theaters, toilet roll sales, to-go cocktails... and roasting.
Just ask the Roastmaster himself Jeff Ross, who told TooFab that business has never been better.
"Somehow, as sad as the pandemic is - it's great for comedy," he said. "It's the old cliche: laughter is the best medicine. And when the whole world is having a pandemic, they really look for laughs."
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View StoryRoss said he was "nagged" for weeks by friend, Vegas Showman Jeff Beacher -- who also joined the call -- to roast start roasting his friends and his fans on Instagram.
So he he did -- and the InstaRoast was born.
What started as a 15 minute experiment, became an hour, then became two hours, "then became a movement."
Ross insists he is an equal opportunity insulter: he will tear you down if you are an A-list celeb, or a no list randomer on his channel (but only ever willing volunteers who ask to be roasted).
Snoop Dogg, Nicky Hilton, Joey Fatone, Gilbert Gottfried, Samantha Ronson, Michael Rapaport, Andrew Dice Clay and Brad Paisley have all recently wittingly walked into the cross-hairs (even his formerly-440lb executive producer Jeff Beacher is not safe from the jibes -- despite losing a further 40lbs in quarantine).
Not only that, the roasting continues in the comments, where celeb fans like The Rock, John Mayer, Sarah Silverman, Bob Saget and even Paris Hilton have been seen hurling some good-natured abuse.
While the show is live produced by Beacher but not pre-produced at all -- meaning who ever turns up online is usually unplanned, and no-one ever knows whats going to happen any given week.
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View StoryAnd there's a good cause attached; Ross has an ever changing charitable organization attached, such as the First Responder's Childrens' Foundation which recently benefited by a random appearance by UFC President Dana White, who came on demanding a $5,000 roast.
"I asked him if he meant to call Joe Rogan," Ross chuckled, before telling White that UFC stood for "Ugly F--king CEO"
Ross is not worried about Earth's newfound era of sensitivity; he agrees that roasting is not only immune to it, but may be the antidote.
"We've all heard laughter is the best medicine; you would never want your medicine watered down. You want your medicine potent. And roasting goes to the gut. Roasting like a pat on the back and a kick in the ass."
"That's why people are getting emotional. That's why thousands of people are requesting roasts, or roasting in the comments, or just watching -- because it truly is healing."
Indeed, he even admitted recently roasting a guy who was hooked up to a ventilator battling COVID-19... and the recipient was so thankful for the tonnes of support and love he received during it. Ross now considers it one of his favorite roasts of all time.
As for Jeff himself, he's just happy to be doing his little part in the ongoing coronavirus battle.
"I can really only speak for myself when I say that I am fighting the war against COVID-19 the same way our President fought the war against Vietnam -- safely sheltered at home."
The InstaRoast, produced by Jeff Beacher and Talent Resources, takes place on Ross's Instagram Live @therealjeffreyross every Saturday and Sunday at 5pm PST.
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