This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

Review: Joan Rivers Plays Napa, Uninhibited and Uncensored

While Hurricane Irene was threatening the East Coast Friday night, Joan Rivers regaled a capacity crowd with her own storm, full of acerbic wit and X-rated comedy, live at the Uptown Theatre.

From my seat in row K at the , the one and only Joan Rivers looked a sprightly 78 years old, sparkling in her gold lamé, floor-length cape with a large black ruffle down the front to just short of her Manolo Blahnik black high heeled shoes.  

With her blond coiffed hair, heavy makeup (concealing years of elective plastic surgery) and using only a wooden stool center stage as a prop, Rivers was the quintessential “Queen of Bash” for the fast-paced, 90-minute show. 

It’s the hyperactive, public personae of Rivers we’re accustomed to seeing on television.

Find out what's happening in Napa Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

These include: being a judge on E’s weekly Fashion Police, designing and selling jewelry on QVC, guest starring on the FX series, Louie and with her daughter, We TV’s Joan & Melissa:  Joan Knows Best.

In fact, the Uptown show was being taped for the upcoming reality program, Joan & Melissa.

Find out what's happening in Napa Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

No subject or personality (alive or deceased) is banned from Rivers’ particular brand of comedic “dish,” which is heavily salted with four-letter words. 

As revealed in the 2010 documentary on her life, A Piece of Work, Rivers has battled stage fright all her life and thus writes her jokes on index cards to review in pre-show prepping. (She claims to have well over a million jokes, many on scraps of paper all over her apartment.)

With her raspy voice and thick New York accent, she turned every punch into an irreverent knockout. 

For example (and one of the few “PG-13” jokes I dare share in this review), she set the tone with the first “observation” of the evening: congratulating singer Amy Winehouse on being sober for 36 days. 

Next, the ruse Rivers set up was that before she could start the show, certain people in the audience (“and you know who you are”) would be asked to leave. 

For each group, including among others Chinese women, old people, blind people, cripples and “fit people,” she gave hilarious rationale to her logic. 

Who could stay?  “My gays,” lesbians (but go to the back) and fat people.

Rivers is known for her bitter jabs at celebrities and this night was no exception. 

Her favorite targets? Hollywood icons including Jennifer Anniston, Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Kim Kardashian, Olivia Newton John, Nicole Kidman, Goldie Hawn and Barbara Streisand, to name a few. 

Larry King, Dick Clark and Kirk Douglas were equally skewered as were Oprah, Mother Teresa, TV’s The View, Martha Stewart,  Jackie Onassis, Michael Jackson and Cher’s daughter-turned-son Chaz Bono. 

Throughout the evening, Rivers was in constant motion, moving often from one side of the stage to the other, interacting with the audience and at one point, ending up (purposefully) flat on her back downstage. 

She is a seasoned impersonator owning a multiplicity of accents, facial expressions and poses. Rivers' goal in life was to be an actress, but she clearly found a calling more suited to her love of celebrity.

The band – drums, saxophone, keyboards and bass  are non-negotiable parts of the Joan Rivers contract – were a musical backdrop for only the entry and exit of Rivers and her opening act, comedian Tony Tripoli, who warmed up the crowd with 30 minutes of gay-centric comedy.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?