NEED TO KNOW
- During a June 18 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Jeff Ross revealing a savage joke that his doctor delivered while sharing his colon cancer diagnosis
- “My oncologist was like, ‘Jeff, the good news and bad news. The bad news is you’re going to need six months of chemo. The good news is you lost your hair a long time ago,’ ” he recalled
- Ross had 7 inches of his colon surgically removed in the summer of 2024
Jeff Ross can appreciate a joke, even in the most dire situations.
The 59-year-old comedian, known as the “roast master general” for his performances in celebrity roasts over the years, even found some humor in a joke his doctor delivered when he was diagnosed with colon cancer.
During a Wednesday, June 18, appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Ross reflected on his diagnosis and having seven inches of his colon removed via laparoscopic surgery in the summer of 2024.
Recalling the moment that he learned about the diagnosis, he said that his doctor shared it with a savage joke.
“My oncologist was like, ‘Jeff, the good news and bad news. The bad news is you’re going to need six months of chemo. The good news is you lost your hair a long time ago,’ ” he shared.
Ross explained that he was diagnosed after having his first colonoscopy at the urging of a friend.
“I was already in my 50’s, and I’d never gotten a colonoscopy,” he admitted. “I went in, I had no symptoms, and I had a tumor in my colon. You always think it’s never going to happen to you, and it happened to me.”
He poked fun at losing some of his colon, saying, “Now I have a semicolon.”
His surgery and remaining scars also provided some material for a joke: “You know, I had laparoscopic surgery so I have holes around here [singalling his torso and chest]. Little holes. I’m like 50 Cent if instead of getting shot, he ate pastrami twice a week for 50 years.”
Ross addresses his cancer diagnosis and treatment in his one-man show Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride, which is heading to Broadway for the summer.
Speaking to The Minnesota Star Tribune in March 2025, he said that he was “still trying to figure it out” regarding incorporating the experience into the act.
“I don’t want the show to be maudlin, but I think it’s important to address it,” he said. “Norm [Macdonald, his close friend who died in 2021] was very private and hid his sickness. I didn’t think that was fair to the audience and his friends, so I’m putting it out there. But I don’t want people to feel sorry for me. It’s going to be a very empowering and bold statement on how to get through tough times.”
The comedian’s brush with cancer isn’t the only medical emergency that he’s approached in a joking manner.
In April 2025, Ross revealed that he spent the night in an emergency room after developing a serious allergic reaction to something that he ate.
“It was my first allergic reaction ever,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “I guess that’s pretty remarkable considering I’m constantly shoving whatever food is in front of me into my face.”
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Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel, Ross joked about his dramatically swollen appearance triggered by the reaction, “It looks like I got hit in the face with some nunchucks.”
Since they have “no idea” what he caused the reaction, he added that he will need to carry an EpiPen “for the rest of my life until it happens again.”
“I’m like a little kid with a peanut allergy,” he teased.
Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride opens on Broadway on August 5 at the Nederlander Theatre. Ticket information is available here.
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