SiriusXM to Launch Channel Dedicated to Friars Club Roasts, Featuring Never-Before-Heard Archive (Exclusive)
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SiriusXM will launch Friars Club Radio, a new channel dedicated to the famed Friars Club, on Aug. 6, TheWrap has exclusively learned. The channel will play the never-before-heard archive of the club’s iconic roasts, including George Burns, Jack Benny, Joan Rivers, Betty White, Garry Shandling, Will Ferrell, Bob Newhart, Redd Foxx, Quentin Tarantino and others.
Starting Aug. 6 through Sept. 2, Friars Club Radio will be available to SiriusXM subscribers in their cars on channel 109 and on the SXM App.
The channel features over 40 hours of audio, including unreleased material that features Bob Saget on Jack Black, David Letterman on Betty White, Phyllis Diller on Kelsey Grammer, Lauren Bacall on Humphrey Bogart and Gene Wilder on Richard Pryor.
The archive dates back to 1950, and the list of comedians whose performances were preserved on both video and audio includes Gilbert Gottfried, Henny Youngman, Rich Little, Phyllis Diller, Whitney Cummings, Bruce Willis and more.
“We are pleased to share the Friars Archive for the very first time,” Arthur Aidala, Esq, Dean of the Friars, said in a statement. “Our roasts began as a vehicle to raise monies to aid veterans of WWI, and we will honor that tradition by having our treasured archive benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. By partnering with SiriusXM, we’re able to not only share our time capsule of comedy with a huge audience, we’re also able to honor our legacy of giving to an important cause.”
“This is a dream come true,” Jack Vaughn, senior vice president of Comedy Programming at SiriusXM, said. “The Friars archive has been closely guarded for years, and so we’re honored that SiriusXM gets to air this treasure trove of amazing material that no one ever thought would see the light of day. Listeners are in for a real treat.”
The post SiriusXM to Launch Channel Dedicated to Friars Club Roasts, Featuring Never-Before-Heard Archive (Exclusive) appeared first on TheWrap.
