EXCLUSIVE: Jeff Ross' Grief Over Comic Pals' Deaths Changed His Comedy — After 'Roastmaster General' Was Shaken to Core by Passings of Bob Saget, Gilbert Gottfried and Norm Macdonald
Jeff Ross revealed how the deaths of comic pals changed his comedy.
June 16 2026, Published 2:20 p.m. ET
Jeff Ross said the deaths of close comedy friends Bob Saget, Gilbert Gottfried and Norm Macdonald transformed the way he thought about grief, loss and comedy – helping inspire the deeply personal Broadway show which has become one of the most significant projects of his career.
The 60-year-old comedian, known as the Roastmaster General thanks to his decades fronting Comedy Central's celebrity roasts, has spent the past year bringing Take a Banana for the Ride to audiences on Broadway and Netflix.
Banana Show Born From Loss
Jeff Ross created a personal Broadway show about grief.
The one-man show explores Ross' childhood in New Jersey, the loss of his parents at a young age, his relationship with his late grandfather, and more recent personal challenges – including a Stage 3 colon cancer diagnosis in 2024 that led to surgery and six months of chemotherapy.
The production, which has been taped as a Netflix special and is now under Emmy consideration, also reflects on the deaths of several people who helped shape his life and career.
It sees Ross on stage in front of a set of gold frames, which he uses to pull up images from his past, with the comic dressed in a banana-yellow suit.
He concludes his show by handing out bananas to strangers dealing with their own battles as a sign of togetherness and kindness.
A source close to Ross told us: "Losing Bob, Gilbert and Norm hit Jeff harder than many people realized. Those losses made him revisit ideas about mourning that he'd been carrying around for decades and ultimately changed the direction of the show.
"Jeff has always used humor to process difficult experiences, but these deaths forced him to think more deeply about how grief affects people and how comedy can help them move forward."
Friends Who Changed Everything
Actor Jim Carrey encouraged Ross to pursue Broadway.
Speaking about the evolution of his Banana show, Ross explained how revisiting old material helped him recognize how much his views on loss had remained the same throughout his life.
He said: "The show was too intense for me emotionally back then, but I realized people were getting something out of it. People would stop me. For 30 years, people would go, 'Whatever happened to that show about your grandfather?' I always think about that. And there was that emotional thought in there of mourning.
"I say in the show, 'Human beings were made to mourn and then move on. You can't mourn forever or a part of you dies.'
"I learned that young. And 30 years later when (Bob) Saget, Gilbert Gottfried and Norm Macdonald died, I realized, I still kind of feel that way.
"You can mourn them and remember them, but you can't let that define you or bring you down."
Ross said the trio of comics' deaths encouraged him to revisit material he first developed in the mid-1990s after the death of his grandfather, whose advice to always "take a banana for the ride" became the title and central metaphor of the production.
The comedian also credited actor Jim Carrey with helping him pursue his Broadway ambitions after years of treating the idea as an unrealistic dream.
Ross said: "(Jim) would berate me for playing (the show) down. I'd be like, 'Don't jinx it.' He'd go, 'This is going to Broadway. You have to say it, and other people will hear that and help it come true.'"
Digging Up Painful Memories
Bob Saget died from an accidental head injury in 2022.
The show also forced Ross to confront painful memories from his childhood, including letters written by his late parents and stories connected to his mother's long illness.
Ross also told Deadline: "I was digging up these old memories; I was basically digging up my parents. I was reading their love letters, and then I read the baby book my mom wrote about me, and it would really affect me."
Ross' pal Bob Saget died from blunt head trauma caused by an accidental fall, with investigators concluding he likely hit the back of his head, thought nothing of it, and went to sleep.
The official autopsy revealed multiple skull fractures and bleeding in the brain.
Orange County Chief Medical Examiner determined the death to be an accident with no signs of foul play, illicit drugs or toxins.
While an autopsy noted underlying heart disease and a positive test for COVID-19, authorities and doctors confirmed neither contributed to his passing. Toxicological screenings revealed only therapeutic levels of prescription anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications in Saget's system.
Saget, 65, was found unresponsive in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida, in January 2022 following a stand-up comedy performance.
Tragic Deaths Still Haunt Him
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Gilbert Gottfried passed away from a genetic muscle disorder.
Comedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried died on April 12, 2022, from recurrent ventricular tachycardia caused by an underlying, rare genetic muscle disorder called type II myotonic dystrophy.
The condition – which causes progressive muscle wasting and irregular heart rhythms – ultimately led to the severe heart complications that resulted in his death at age 67.
And beloved Canadian stand-up Norm Macdonald died on September 14, 2021, at the age of 61.
He passed away in Duarte, California, after a private, nine-year battle with leukemia.
Macdonald made the conscious decision to keep his cancer diagnosis entirely hidden from the public, his fans and most of his colleagues.
His producing partner and friend, Lori Jo Hoekstra, noted Macdonald was most proud of his comedy and did not want his health struggles to affect the way his loved ones or the audience perceived him.
