Joan Rivers - America: you will never know how much you have lost.
 

When Joan Rivers first appeared on British TV, I did not like her. I saw her as just another rude American, insulting other celebrities, and not very funny. This was back in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Over the years she seemed to get funnier, and I assumed she had improved her act. I was wrong, she had always been one of the best American comedians ever, it was not her that had changed, it was British television.

Back then our broadcasting rules were similar to your current rules -very restrictive. Over the years they have become very lax, and you can almost say anything after 9pm (when young kids are in bed) on most channels. And that meant Joan Rivers could get away with her full act on TV, not just go on and shock people by being rude about other people, but could give us her full foul mouthed, and sometimes sexually obscene, almost always "beyond the pail" humour. And she was a fucking genius.

Unfortunately in America you still have more controlled broadcasting companies, with lots of rules about what you can and cannot say on TV. She could simply not get away with 75% of her act on American TV, and this was the best 75%. To illustrate this I'll tell you one of the funniest things I've seen on TV. It was a "you had to be there" moment, so it won't sound so funny in words, but it illustrates my point.

Joan Rivers was being interviewed alongside another American TV celebrity (no idea who he was, but I think he was a regular on "Desperate Housewives"). He was new to fame, and very new to be interviewed in a foreign country and he was very nervous - it was obvious from just looking at him that a British TV chat show was well outside his comfort zone. Then Joan Rivers told a story that was well beyond anything she could say on American TV, and you saw this guy relax and sit back. He obviously assumed the host was about to "cut to a commercial" while the producers wheeled Joan Rivers off the set. But this was British TV, so this did not happen. You could see the poor guy looking more and more confused as the host continued as though nothing unusual had happened. Eventually he could stand it no longer and interrupted the host by asking "Excuse me...But can you actually say that on British TV ?!!!!????"

So in America, her home country, you only ever got her "limited" act on TV. In Britain we saw Joan Rivers "full force" in chat shows and on stand up shows, and she was hilarious. But on American TV she could only be "funny" not as "fucking hilarious" as she was elsewhere in the world. I'm guessing her stage show was as uncensored in your part of the world as it was over here, but 99% of people will have only seen her on TV, not live on stage.

British chat show host Graham Norton was once asked who was his favourite guest of all time. He replied "Joan Rivers". Then he added rather sadly "But people in her own country will never know how funny she really was."

May I echo Graham Norton's words and say at least "Thank you America for giving her to us."

R.I.P. Joan, although they don't know it, you were one of their best.

She was simply brilliant - even during the fashion police stuff RIP

I was fortunate to see and hear her live, and yes, if anyone hasn't watched her working uncensored, you've never really met Ms Rivers.

For those who have Showtime, you can see some of that material in her "Don't Start With Me" special on SHOWe. It's on tonight at 8pm (Eastern time), then again at 2:15am Sunday morning and 9:30pm on September 14th.

RIP

You were lucky, she was due to start a tour over here next month, I was going to see her then!

What is it with American stars? So many plan a tour or a big show in Britain, or get a deal for their own TV show on British TV, then die just before it happens.

I was reading the Sunday supplement from a friend's newspaper yesterday. Although it was given away in last Sunday's paper, it was printed at the beginning of the week, before Joan Rivers had died. In it there was an interview with her (to publicise what was going to be her "upcoming British tour") and rather prophetically, the interviewer commented on her age and said "This could genuinely be the last interview she does."

She was a cunt until the very end.

And I loved her for that :)

Reading that, I genuinely don't know if you mean it as an insult or compliment!

No question her live act was where the real Joan was to be had.

In person, on stage, she was unequaled. God help you if you sat in the hot zone. (first 3 rows)

Total hellacious cunt, God luv her, God rest her soul.