Saint Joan - The Survivor

I took my mother to see Joan Rivers last week. Some may say a little blue for one’s mother – but I think my mother is the exact target audience for Joan’s swearing and sick humour.

This is because although she still shocks my age group, we’re shocked because this woman is old enough to be our grandmother and not because what she’s saying is truly awful.

Whereas my mother was actually wincing and then howling with appalled laughter.
The show: Joan Rivers, A Work in Progress, is an interesting concept. Half play, half stand up – Rivers exposes her life story but within the context of a half scripted drama, you can appreciate her more at a distance and reflect on her life experiences and not just laugh absent-mindedly at them.

And she’s had it tough, in parts. As expected, the suicide of her husband comes up and compared to her previous comic treatment of this tragic episode, she shows the audience some of how it must have really felt and brought a tear to my eye with her vivid recollection.

But despite all the personal trauma, I think the saddest and most wonderful thing about Rivers' life is her addiction to being a star. The whole play occurs in her dressing room – the place she reveals will always feel like home. It’s sad because you can be cast out and be nothing one day, and wonderful, because when you own it, you own the world.

I personally didn’t know Rivers had been cast out of TV for nearly 20 years and her comeback was her sharp red carpet commentary role. I’ve grown up with ‘that’ being Joan Rivers – nor did I know that she coined the crass yet catchy phrase: “Who are you wearing?”

I love that and the show ends on a real high – showing Rivers as the fighter she really is while walking up a lovely fake red carpet, having just placed her fabulous feathered wig on her head.