JOAN RIVERS
(1933 - 2014)

It is with great sadness that we note the passing of our friend Joan Rivers, and great gratitude for the hundreds of shows we did with her at venues including Fez, The Cutting Room, The Gramercy Theater and Laurie Beechman Theater. We never stopped laughing for seventeen years, and we will remember that laughter forever. We were fortunate to know the real Joan, whose compassion and warmth knew no equal. Truly an irreplaceable woman, and one that we knew and loved. This is literally the first time she made us cry. We will miss you always, Joan.
               
            -Chip and Ron

This poster that hangs in our office from our first shows with Joan shows her true spirit:

"She is the mother of a certain brand of transgressive female comedy. Would there be a Sandra Bernhard or a Roseanne or a Rosie O’Donnell or a Kathy Griffin or a Sarah Silverman, without Joan Rivers?" -- New York Magazine

Described as a post-menopausal Lenny Bruce, JOAN RIVERS delivers a raunchy, politically incorrect evening of stand-up comedy. One of the hardest working women in show business, she is a best-selling author, Tony-nominated actress, playwright, screenwriter, motion picture director, Emmy Award-winning television talk-show host, jewelry designer, business woman and mother to "what's-her-name" Melissa. She is on the board of God's Love We Deliver, National Chairwoman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and gives lectures around the world on suicide prevention and survival. With her trademark mix of outspoken wit, savvy and compassion, she continues to be one of America's most admired first ladies of comedy.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, JOAN RIVERS made the rounds in New York during the 1950s, appearing in a few off-off Broadway plays (including one where she played a lesbian opposite an equally unknown Barbra Streisand), surviving sleazy agents, tawdry clubs, and hostile audiences. A 1965 booking on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" led to her hosting one of the first syndicated talk shows on daytime TV, "That Show with Joan Rivers" in 1968. In the 1970s Joan wrote the TV-movie The Girl Most Likely To (starring Stockard Channing) and then wrote and directed her first feature film Rabbit Test, casting Billy Crystal in the lead. In 1983 Joan became the permanent guest host on "The Tonight Show." Later, she headlined in Las Vegas, sold out Carnegie Hall, produced a Grammy nominated comedy album, and wrote two best-selling books. In 1989 the Tribune Corporation launched Joan in her own syndicated daytime talk show. She won an Emmy and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1994 she wrote and starred on Broadway in Sally Marr and Her Escorts, for which she received a Best Actress Tony nomination. Since then, Joan has written five more best-selling books, maintains her own jewelry line on QVC, served as host of the series “How’d You Get So Rich?” on TVLand, and filmed a special for Bravo. In 2009, she was the winner of Donald Trump’s "Celebrity Apprentice". In 2010, she returned to The Fashion Police show on E! and was featured on the big screen in the acclaimed Sundance Award-winning documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. In 2011, she launch the reality TV series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? on Oxygen.