You might have seen a roast battle at Tokyo Comedy Bar before, or maybe you remember tuning in to Roast Battle on Comedy Central back in the day. But we can guarantee you’ve never seen anything like this before: With RoastFest 2025, an all-star cast of elite battlers will be descending on Tokyo for a weekend of no-holds-barred, absolutely brutal verbal violence.
The event’s cosmopolitan roster features four world champions and two national champions, with six battlers flying in from overseas – some of them to perform in front of HBO’s cameras in the two main events. On the first night, Friday September 12, Roast Battle Hall of Famer Paige Wesley will be taking on Tokyo’s reigning champ Yuki Nivez, while Saturday evening sees a mad clash involving four world champions: Ryan Nesen, Mike Lawrence, Frank Castillo and Tokyo’s own Jay Yamaki.
And that’s not all. There will be stand-up showcases featuring RoastFest’s international guests from 7.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday, plus a stand-up writing workshop by veteran comedian and Conan regular Mike Lawrence on Sunday afternoon. Closing out the weekend will be ‘Your Hood’s A Joke!’, an energy-packed series of battles between regional rivals and historical enemies – think Tokyo vs NYC, Canada vs USA and Japan vs India – hosted by Danish Anwar.
See the full schedule on the website, and be sure to get your tickets well in advance.