The nicest guy in motocross gets ripped a new one by his close friends
July 30, 2009, 4:03 PM
By: Ryan Leyba
Red Bull Toasted with Travis Pastrana went down Tuesday night at the Avalon in Hollywood and it was one of the coolest moto-related events I've been to. If you've seen a traditional "Roast" on Comedy Central or elsewhere, then you understand what this kind of event is about. For those of you who haven't had the chance to see a roast (or a Toast in this case), it's basically a really ruthless way to honor a great and influential character, such as Travis Pastrana.
While keeping Pastrana clueless as to what was going on, Red Bull coordinated all of his best friends, top action sports heroes and a few drop-dead funny comedians who have actually performed at previous roasts on Comedy Central. The event started off in the parking lot of the famous club, Avalon in Hollywood. A fully legitimate red carpet scenario took place for nearly an hour before the event kicked off. Since I'm not really too into the scene and try to completely avoid anything and everything that wreaks of MTV reality television, I didn't know who was who when it came to the b-list celebs, but I did recognize a few — like Kyle Loza's sister in law, Audrina Patridge, and of course Mini Me AKA Vernon Troyer, Sal Masekela and uh... that's about it. Supposedly some really popular-for-no-reason dude named Brody Jenner was in attendance (and coincidently the butt of a lot of the jokes), but I couldn't tell one Hollywood character from the next.
Red Bull Photofiles
Throughout the night, Pastrana's close friends tried their best to jab at TP, but it wasn't until the real comedians took the stage that the real mud began to fly. Luckily for Pastrana, Ryan Sheckler ended up being the butt of most of the jokes...
As the herd began to migrate inside the Avalon, host Arj Barker from "Flight of the Concords" kicked things off with a few pre-written, teleprompter-heavy jokes before close friends, Carey Hart, Andy Bell, Sal Masekela and Jolene Van Vugt took the stage and attempted to toast Pastrana, but it wasn't until the Real comedians came out that proper toasting took place — and when I say proper toasting I mean Travis got burned. The great thing about roasts is that the jokes getting told are so harsh because there's truth to them— they're the types of things people think about the roasted person but never have the cajones to say. There were definitely feelings getting hurt. Hands down, skateboarder Ryan Sheckler was getting torn a new one by the comedians — it might as well have been a Red Bull Toasted with Ryan Sheckler.
All in all, the night was amazing and I'd like to thank Red Bull for inviting me to the event. It's really cool to see Hollywood and action sports merge to honor one of the greatest action sports athletes ever. What a great way to kick off X Games 15! Stay tuned as I'll be bringing you more blogs and video from the event. For now this piece should hold you over.
Red Bull Photofiles
The Red Bull Toast with Travis Pastrana was a first class deal through and through, bringing out the biggest stars of the action sports world and the... uh... not so big reality TV stars. Peep Kyle Loza's sister-in-law on the right... lucky.
Red Bull Photofiles
I don't know the name of the comedian on the stage, but this dude straight killed it. He was so harsh, but it was so awesome. Good call on booking this dude Red Bull. Please tell me there will be video from the roast...
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