At 76, Joan Rivers has the energy of a teenager, the drive of an entrepreneur and the hectic schedule of a campaigning politician. Retirement doesn't interest her.
"And do what, make the postman laugh?" the irreverent comedian said in her raspy New York accent. "My work is my hobby."
That's obvious from watching Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, a no-holds-barred documentary on possibly the most influential female comic in history. The movie, screened at the Sundance Film Festival, follows Rivers as she strives to keep her career going at an age when most entertainers are lounging on the beach or playing with their grandchildren.
During the 14 months that directors Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg filmed Rivers, she performed on television, in theatre and at nightclubs and casinos. She attended book signings, a celebrity roast in her honour and a Kennedy Centre tribute to George Carlin. She was crowned The Celebrity Apprentice by Donald Trump and heckled by an audience member in Wisconsin offended by a Helen Keller joke.
Total access
We see her laugh and cry. We get a close-up of her surgically altered face without make-up, then see her groomed to perfection. We see her joyful over a standing ovation in London and downcast over scathing reviews the next morning.
Rivers said she gave the filmmakers total access and didn't censor anything.
"I didn't want a regular documentary," she said in an interview with a small group of reporters at a Park City restaurant, where she wore a red-beaded necklace and a black jacket. "In all these biographies, everybody's wonderful and they never did anything bad. This would be a chance to put down the truth. Because I like the truth."
Never one to hold her tongue, Rivers had some sharp words for Conan O'Brien, who left NBC after the network tried to push The Tonight Show back a half-hour to create a new slot for his predecessor, Jay Leno.
"Conan is the luckiest white man alive," Rivers said. "His [rating] numbers were going down. If he had stayed with NBC, he would have been cancelled and that would have been the end of him. Conan now has America feeling sorry for him, he's walking around with $40 million (Dh146.92 million) and Fox wants him. Conan should be tap dancing... and he should send Leno flowers."
Rivers has her own stormy history with The Tonight Show. Her career skyrocketed after she appeared on Johnny Carson's programme in the 1960s and she later became the steady substitute host when Carson was off. But when Fox gave Rivers her own talk show in 1986, Carson was furious and never spoke to her again.
Though she's still angry over the snub, Rivers doesn't dwell on the past, including her husband Edgar's suicide in 1987.
"The Carson thing was so long ago, one third of the audience wasn't even born then," she said, sipping from a wine glass. "My grandson doesn't even know who he is."
In Rivers' world, there are no sacred subjects. She jokes about everything from 9/11 to deaf people. "A comedian's job is to say the emperor's not wearing any clothes," she said. "The minute you forget what your job is, you're not a comedian anymore."
Rivers has inspired several generations of female comedians, including current stars like Kathy Griffin and Sarah Silverman. Her only child, Melissa, also followed her into show business, working as an actress and TV host.
Despite all her accomplishments, Rivers would rather talk about the future than the past.
"I'm not finished," she said. "Watch what I'm doing now. Don't tell me I opened the door for you. Darling, there are six more doors I'm opening now. And if you're smart, get behind me and try to get through."
Thank heavens for plastic surgeons
Joan Rivers' extensive plastic surgery has been the butt of many jokes. Her face seems frozen and many other body parts have been nipped and tucked. Yet she makes no apologies for trying to look youthful. "If it makes you feel better, I don't care if you put your nose on the back of your head," she said. "It's all about you feeling good. I think plastic surgery is wonderful. I hear people say, ‘God made me this way,' but God also made plastic surgeons."
