Joan Rivers: A piece of work

I saw Joan Rivers live once in the 80s, so even before watching this frank and revealing documentary I knew her live comedy included almost nonstop profanity of the most potty-mouthed kind. I usually have no respect for and don't enjoy comics who seem to depend on swearing and insults for their laughs, but I have to admit that Joan Rivers is also very funny. I used to watch her frequently in her heyday of frequent appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, both as guest and guest host (but naturally without all the profanity). What this documentary displays is her extreme dependence on her career of standing in front of people and hearing their laughter and applause, the only time she's truly happy, as she says in the film. She'll do anything in order to fill her calendar - calling her a workaholic is an understatement, and I was exhausted watching this 75-year-old woman dashing from place to place, always of course in full makeup that can't hide the extensive "work" she's had done on her face, her first act upon getting out of bed each day. She gave the directors full access over a year of her life, and they (Ricki Stern and Anna Sundberg) did an amazing job. If you enjoy this type of voyeuristic and fascinating documentary, I highly recommend the film.