| The New York Friars' Club | |
|---|---|
The "Monastery" |
|
| Motto | Prae Omnia Fraternitas ("Before all, brotherhood") |
| Formation | 1904 |
| Headquarters | 57 East 55th Street |
| Location | New York City, New York |
| Website | www.friarsclub.com |
The Friars Club is a private club in New York City, founded in 1904 and famous for its risqué celebrity roasts. The club's membership is composed mostly of comedians and other celebrities. It is located at 57 East 55th Street between Park and Madison Avenues in a building it calls the Monastery.[1] In 2004 the City of New York named the southeast corner of 55th street where the clubhouse stands "Friars Way".[2]
Contents |
The organization traces its roots to 1904 when representatives of the Broadway theatres working with New York publicists organized the Press Agents' Association to exchange lists of people who were fraudulently receiving complimentary passes to shows.[3] Shortly thereafter it began its tribute dinners to theatrical celebrities with the first being Clyde Fitch;[3] impressario Oscar Hammerstein was toasted in 1908,[4] the year the Friars moved into a club house at 107 West 47th Street.
The first Friars Frolics were held in 1911, with Abbott George M. Cohan working with Will Rogers, Irving Berlin (who wrote "Alexander's Ragtime Band" for the event), and Victor Herbert; the money generated by the Frolics enabled them to purchase 106-108-110 West 48th Street.[4] Under Abbott Cohan it laid a cornerstone on the building in 1915.[3]
In 1924, Walter Donaldson wrote the music for "My Blue Heaven" one afternoon while waiting in the club for his turn at the billiard table[5]
The Friars Club moved into its current headquarters in 1957, an English Renaissance mansion built for Speyer & Company investment banker Martin Erdman by architects Taylor and Levi in 1908.[6]
Friars Club Roasts were first televised in the late 1960s, first as part of the Kraft Music Hall series, and later The Dean Martin Show. From 1998-2002, the roasts were broadcast on Comedy Central.
In 1999, filmmaker Dean Ward's documentary "Let Me In, I Hear Laughter - A Salute To The Friars Club" appeared on Cinemax. It featured never-before-seen roast footage and interviews with Friars such as Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar, Steve Allen, Henny Youngman, Jeffrey Ross, Larry King, Ed McMahon, Phyllis Diller and many others.
In 2001, Hugh Hefner's roast at The Club was the scene of Gilbert Gottfried's public telling of the Aristocrats joke, made famous by the documentary of the same name.
In 2008, the Friars Club began a new stand up comedy competition entitled, "So You Think You Can Roast!?" On October 24 of that year, the winner performed at the Friars Club Roast of Matt Lauer.
The inaugural Friar's Club Comedy Film Festival was held in September 2009, opening with the American premiere of the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man.
Frederick F. Schrader is credited with suggesting "Friars" as the organization's name.[4] Following the theme, their monthly newsletter is known as the Epistle. Officers of the Club (as distinct from the Friars Foundation[7]) are given monastic titles:[4] Freddie Roman is the current Dean. Jerry Lewis is the Abbot, named in 2006 during a roast in New York City. Previous Abbots have included Alan King, Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan and George M. Cohan.
Michael Gyure is the Executive Director of the Friars Club and of its charitable arm the Friars Foundation.[7]
The Friars' Club, The Lambs Club, and The Players Club are often confused. The longtime syndicated columnist Earl Wilson put it this way in 1964: "Long ago a New Yorker asked the difference between the Lambs, Friars, and Players, since the membership was, at the time, predominantly from Broadway." It was left to "a wit believed to have been George S. Kaufman" to draw the distinction: "The Players are gentlemen trying to be actors, the Lambs are actors trying to be gentlemen, and the Friars are neither trying to be both."[8]
Each year, the Friars Club roasts a member. As to who gets roasted each year, the motto is, "We only roast the ones we love." The following is a list of who has been roasted each year:
Between 1998 and 2002, the roasts were aired on Comedy Central. After 2002, Comedy Central began their own annual roasts, which are not to be confused with the Friars' Club roasts.