Top 10 RuPaul's Drag Race Roast Wins & Fails

Despite her usually hilarious antics in the workroom, Alyssa Edward's sharp sense of humor fell flat at the roast of RuPaul. Though she threw in some clever wordplay about cracks, her sloppy delivery hurt every joke she had. Edward's attempt to call the competition trashy also felt obvious and a little undercooked for where she could've taken the idea. Some smart puns and digs at Santino Rice came out half-baked as well, and showed potential for a great routine that was never refined. While the editing definitely played into how bad Alyssa's set appeared, her lackluster writing was what earned her a spot in the bottom two that week.

Valentina has unleashed some great reads in the past, but she crashed and burned trying to roast legendary drag queen Lady Bunny. It didn't help either that she took 30 seconds to set up her first punch line, only to offer an underwhelming visual gag. Though Valentina's attempt at mocking her mask scandal was admirable, it was far too drawn out and simple. Her bizarrely gross and sexual jokes also focused too much on pushing the envelope rather than saying something witty. Given that the commentary about Valentina's stand-up was more entertaining than her actual material, this roast was painful to watch.

For Michelle Visage's roast, Trinity The Tuck spiced up her comedy with a colorful ranch girl persona. Despite some snappy farm humor however, many of her jokes were just far too lengthy. Trinity's continuous stream of childish poop gags lacked depth too, which resulted in plenty of silent responses from the crowd. Though she brought a side-splitting Caitlyn Jenner to her 'All Stars' Snatch Game, her constant joke explanations at the roast of Lady Bunny hurt the set. Trinity's stiff execution was dreadful enough that she actually roasted herself in response as well. With this kind of poor writing in her stand-up, Trinity's roasts felt much longer than the short airtime they were given.

Alaska left everyone with a hard act to follow at RuPaul's roast, but Roxxxy Andrews still managed to read her as a discount Sharon Needles. Sadly, Roxxxy's nerves ruined the rest of her routine as she stumbled awkwardly through otherwise decent material. Even a quick jab at Ru's age sounded mean thanks to her dry inflection. Roxxxy stopped so many times trying to insult Michelle that she deflated the impact of her wordplay too. Thankfully she was cut-off quickly though, as the editors were really emphasizing her mistakes through the audience. But Roxxxy's clunky performance was all the more agonizing since most of her good jokes couldn't survive her delivery.

Tasteless jokes got particularly out of hand during Michelle Visage's roast, but they only reflected poorly on the people saying them. Farrah Moan's detail-heavy read on Michelle's fame just stated facts maliciously and didn't have a true punch-line. After Farrah's tactless quip about sexual favors however, it was satisfying to watch Visage grimace in contempt. Alexis Michelle on the other hand insulted Fortune Feimster's career without any sort of comedic twist. Visage on the other hand was the only one laughing at Alexis's predictable STD humor. And her water sports gag was too obscure for Visage herself, let alone for viewers. This shoddy writing closed Visage's roast on a sour note, and understandably landed Farrah and Alexis in the bottom two.

It's a big risk to go first in a comedy challenge, but Shea Couleé brought a non-stop opening routine for Michelle Visage's roast. Her initial backhanded compliment hilariously implied Michelle was a man, before she laughably cleared things up. Shea's lewd jokes got to the point quickly, which gave her plenty of time to savagely compare Visage to a urinal. Many of these bits worked best because she was able to add an even funnier twist to keep them going. Her closing line also cleverly deflected any haters toward her opponents. Between her sharp one-liners and momentum as a comedienne, Shea set the bar high for the rest of Visage's roast.

While prop comedy can be tacky at times, Monét X Change's glasses provided a goofy and lighthearted tone for her Lady Bunny reads. Though mentioning Beyoncé would seem like a compliment, Monét actually invoked Knowles name to riff on Lady Bunny's weight. X Change even pricelessly name-dropped some oversized mascots and presidents to give viewers a powerfully weird visual. Monét's ancient bible references wittily ripped into Lady Bunny's age too. However it was her detailed story about eating other queens that left everyone in stitches. Her friendly but zany roast kept people laughing from start to finish, and more than lived up to her reputation as a comedy queen.

To capitalize on the funeral theme of Lady Bunny's roast, Manila Luzon made a dramatically gloomy entrance. Her excessive recoil upon smelling Bunny however, was completely unexpected and hysterical. Manila touched on death too, just to comically read Lady Bunny for eating too much. And just when her jokes got incredibly saucy, she threw in another twist about the dearly departed's military-grade appetite. It was all these creative subversions of funeral clichés that allowed Luzon to stand out and nab a spot in the top two as well. By getting Lady Bunny laughing and simultaneously burning her fellow queens, Manila had a roast worthy of an all star.

There was a loving quality to Peppermint's voice at Michelle Visage's roast, which gave more punch to all the shade she dished out. Peppermint used this warm energy to praise Ross Matthews in the most backhanded way she could. She also questioned Michelle's outrageous negativity for a side-splitting deep cut on her book. Peppermint's research allowed her to deliver long-form jokes that actually stuck the landing, while also touching on subjects that her competitors missed. However it was her genius Destiny's Child comparison that had everyone laughing the longest. This fierce comedic talent and her great timing helped Peppermint win the roast challenge and showed audiences she had the talent to go all the way.

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Sasha Velour (WIN)
"RuPaul Roast"

Detox (WIN)
"RuPaul Roast"

Valentina (FAIL)
"RuPaul Roast"

Nina Bo'Nina Brown (WIN)
"RuPaul Roast"

Naomi Smalls (FAIL)
"Roast in Peace"

For the first ever 'Drag Race' roast, Alaska set the tone by comically insulting Leslie Jordan and Michelle Visage at the same time. And her endless riffs on RuPaul's age were wacky enough to have Ru herself screeching. From disasters to Judaism and some graphic medical issues, Alaska brought laughably great material on a topic that's usually overdone. In her critiques on RuPaul's career achievements, Alaska's snarky tone gave her comedy an edge many queens lacked. This also allowed her to fire off particularly harsh words at Roxxxy Andrews while she was heading off the stage. This comfort to leave no stone unturned in her routine assured that Alaska never gave audiences a dull moment.