On Thursday night, David Ortiz took the stage at the House of Blues in Boston for “The Roast of David Ortiz,” an event to benefit the former Red Sox star’s charity.
And among the roasters was none other than Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots tight end who pushes the limits of how much frat-bro nonsense the public will tolerate if it’s delivered with a goofy smile.
Gronkowski’s set was very classic Gronk, full of mediocre jokes delivered with irresistible earnestness. Gronk is almost like an 8-year-old who asks to tell you a joke, gets the punchline wrong but makes you laugh anyway because he tried so hard. The best moment was probably when Gronk tried to joke about Big Papi’s “Pequeño Papi” but mispronounced the word “pequeño.”
Gronk probably made some people squirm when he ventured into the dangerous comedic territory of black jokes, Jew jokes and incestuous sexual assault jokes. All of these zingers were fairly offensive, made either more or less so by their utter simplicity. The rules about what is acceptable humor are generally relaxed at roasts, for better or worse, and Gronk certainly took advantage.
After Gronk’s set, Dustin Pedroia stepped to the podium, bragged that he had written his own jokes, swore a lot, told two somewhat amusing stories and received a loud ovation from the Boston fans in attendance.
Overall, the Roast of Big Papi was so vulgar that NESN was forced to abort its plans to broadcast the event. But when you invite Gronk, what do you really expect?
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