UNSTOPPABLE in COMEDY and BEYOND Joan Rivers Never Shied from Taking Chances, and That’S No Laughing Matter
REMEMBERING JOAN RIVERS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014 Bob Chamberlin/ Los Angeles Times JOAN RIVERS often bantered with the audience as a host on “Fashion Police.” UNSTOPPABLE IN COMEDY AND BEYOND Joan Rivers never shied from taking chances, and that’s no laughing matter By Mary McNamara TELEVISION CRITIC ust as we long suspected, the only thing rible, Rivers, who died at age 81 on Thursday, that could stop Joan Rivers was death. created a kind of in-your-face, self-depreca- Abrasive, raunchy, self-immolating tion that both exploited the tendency toward J and often unapologetically offensive, self-hatred in comedy, particularly women’s Rivers changed comedy, courted con - comedy, and satirized it. troversy, survived catastrophe and refused to If as she grew older Rivers developed a rep- give up or give in, even when either of those utation for being more mean than funny — in might have seemed the best option. recent months, she was criticized for, among Known best for her grating, New York-af- other things, her remarks regarding Adele’s flicted tones, penchant for plastic surgery and weight, Palestinians and the Holocaust — willingness to tell anyone that they looked ter- she remained true to the brassy image and Remembering Joan Rivers take-no-prisoners attitude that allowed her to was impossible not to admire the indefatiga- rise during a time when the term “female co- ble spirit, the refusal to let anything soften or median” was almost an oxymoron. sag, including her very sharp tongue. Rivers famously wrote for Ed Sullivan and I remember seeing Rivers at the 2007 Os- then Phyllis Diller, appeared on “The Tonight cars, dressing down an official who was at- Show” when it was still hosted by Jack Paar, tempting to turn her away from the red carpet then became one of Johnny Carson’s guest because she wasn’t wearing her credentials.
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