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Joan Rivers, RIP
There’s a wonderful documentary from 2010 about Joan Rivers called Piece of Work. Until I saw it, I had no idea of her relentless drive and hustle. She refused to give up or give in. And that was part of why Joan Rivers was relevant until her last breath. I really admire that. What a pioneer. What a life.
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yeah, I learned a lot about her from the documentary, too. I loved how she actually has a file cabinet where she stores all of her jokes; and has them broken down so specifically she even has a file for ‘Tony Danza’; so hilarious. not the most modest women; yesterday I listened to an interview of her with Howard Stern (2012) where she says that she’s the best stand-up comic alive today. but there’s probably some truth to that. it’s a real loss that she’s passed on.
She had such a full life, and worked up until the very end, without ever getting frail. I think it’s not a bad way to go.
I just ran into a neighbor who had attended Joan Rivers’ funeral. She said it was amazing.
I can’t say that I was a fan of hers, although I did use to enjoy her on the Johnny Carson show. When she teamed up with her daughter to insult people on the red carpet, she lost me. I have been enjoying hearing about all the philanthropic and altruistic stuff that she had been doing behind the scenes for years, though.
I have gone back and forth over how I feel about Joan Rivers but in the end she had courage to spare and knew how to hustle so she gets my vote. You don’t get to be a trailblazer by being nice, especially not for women.
With it all, she gets my vote, too.
Being a trailblazer is all well and good and everything, but I’m still idealistic enough that I don’t think that a person needs to sacrifice being nice in order to blaze a trail.
I’m willing to consider the context of being a female comic back in the sixties. I don’t think nice would’ve worked.
I can relate to what you’re saying, Stacey. I asked my neighbor, who knows Joan Rivers what she was like close up. And she said that Rivers was very kind and generous and that her comedy was a persona.