RIP Joan Rivers

[Martinus]

[derspiess]

RIP.  Loved her since the days she guest-hosted for Johnny Carson.

[CountDeMoney]

You get to a certain age, general anesthesia is a no-no.  Bye, Joan. 

[mongers]

We saw a lot of her over here in the 1980s, I think her stateside career was then at a bit of a low ebb.

Her comedy was amusing, but somewhat acerbic for my tastes, I prefer the more gentle/subtle types of Jewish humour. 

RIP.

[Caliga]

I absolutely loved her.  I think she was an amazing comedian (not Robin Williams-level amazing, but pretty close).

Interestingly, I found out about this on my drive home when I was listening to SiriusXM and the DJ actually broke in to a song in progress to announce a special tribute channel had just been created.  First time I'd ever heard something like that on sat radio.

[sbr]

I was never a fan, but RIP.

[Caliga]

gentle....Jewish humour. 

[Josephus]

Not a fan of her shtick really, but there's one bit I remember from years ago:

" I was doing a show once
There was a mother nursing her son in the first row
It was disgusting. Yuck.
Kid was 14.
Wasn't even her son."

[CountDeMoney]

Found this clip of her bio--

Joan Alexandra Molinsky was born on June 8, 1933, in Brooklyn and grew up there and a nearby town, the daughter of a doctor and a housewife. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard College and had a six-month marriage that was annulled before she began pursuing an entertainment career with the last name Rivers, which she borrowed from her agent.

Rivers first wanted to be an actress but veered into comedy and wrote sketches for Topo Gigio, a talking mouse character on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in the 1960s after a friend turned down the $500 job. "For $500, I'll write for Hitler," she said in an interview with National Public Radio.

She also worked on the seminal reality TV show "Candid Camera" as a writer and in sketches with unknowing members of the public. She wrote jokes for comedians Phyllis Diller and Bob Newhart before concentrating on her own stand-up act.

Rivers' peers in the comedy club scene of New York's Greenwich Village at the time included Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Woody Allen and George Carlin, but she said she never felt like she was part of their clique.

Her career got a boost in 1965 when Johnny Carson - the undisputed king of late-night TV in the United States - had Rivers on his "Tonight" show and declared she was a star in the making.

I think her legacy has been clouded by what people remember about her from the last 20 or so years and don't remember or even know how important she was to comedy culture of the 50's and 60's and the old mobbed-up Vegas scene, when you could count on one hand the number of women doing what she did at the time.
Her career was never the same after the falling out with Johnny.

[Josquius]

RIP, now who will tell the ev0l Israeltards how it is?

Why was she so popular with the gays anyway? Seems to be a huge outpouring of RIPs from half the gays I know (the camp half).

[Brazen]

There are some great Riversisms here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29075239

"You know why I feel older? I went to buy sexy underwear and they automatically gift wrapped it."

[garbon]

Why was she so popular with the gays anyway? Seems to be a huge outpouring of RIPs from half the gays I know (the camp half).

Jos, really?

[Caliga]

 

[Josquius]

Why was she so popular with the gays anyway? Seems to be a huge outpouring of RIPs from half the gays I know (the camp half).

Jos, really?

I've always known she is linked with the gay scene, but I've never known the origin.

[garbon]

Why was she so popular with the gays anyway? Seems to be a huge outpouring of RIPs from half the gays I know (the camp half).

Jos, really?

I've always known she is linked with the gay scene, but I've never known the origin.

Think about some of the attributes of Joan Rivers and think about why gay people might like that.