How insanely awkward was that part? I could feel being in that audience with those people.
shareIt makes you wonder why some clueless, easily-offended people go to comedy clubs, especially knowing what her act is about.
shareI know! And the joke was hardly about deaf people, but more of the fact that Helen Keller was inable to speak. I mean it's funny because it's true, but it doesn't change that fact that she's probably one of the most inspirational people ever. I agree with Joan and the lady backstage baking her up, it's just comedy. But yeah totally felt awkward, and then making funny 9/11 jokes. Lol
I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you.
-Lara Flynn Boyle (Happiness)
Truthfully, she really didn't make a 9/11 joke at all. She just said it would have been difficult for all of us to make it through 9/11 if we didn't laugh. What she made was an Osama Bin Laden joke.
shareActually I tried to find some confirmation that her mother was deaf. I never heard her say that before (and I remember her very early days) and I can't find any documentation of it on the net.
Personally, I wouldn't believe her if she said that night follows day. I think she'd say anything that served her purpose.
Wait a minute ... this dude got offended by a deaf joke? At a comic show? Ummmm, would he stand up and get offended if she had made a gay joke? Fat joke? Bald joke? Get a life, man, lighten up.
shareHonestly. How do you go to see Joan Rivers show and not know it was going to be offensive? What bothers me is that she had been making fun of all types and races all night, and he clearly wasn't offended when she was ripping everyone else, he probably had a good laugh about it like he was supposed to. I'm sorry about his son but this dude needed to shut the hell up.
"If I have one more piece of vomit pie, I'm gonna pumpkin.” - Roger.
I thought it made Joan look awful. (Overall I came away from the movie liking her, except for this one part.)
Yes, the guy should have known what he was getting into. What do you expect at a Joan Rivers concert? If this type of humor is not to his liking, he can get up and leave.
But Joan treated him like he was a drunken heckler. She lost her humor, completely overreacted, and was pretty classless.
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I was shocked at her calling him a son of a bitch and all too, but then I thought that it wasn't her being pissy at him, just that she was "acting" as her comedic self. The whole cussing and name-calling was more just her act, not what she was really saying, especially since backstage she said she felt sorry for him.
Last Film Seen:
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work - 9/10
http://idioticbunny.blogspot.com
I agreed with Joan and I'm not even that big a fan of hers. She just tells it like it is. I think people should expect that. Joan goes for big laughs by making jokes that make us feel uncomfortable. The more awkward the joke is, the bigger the laughs and the better it is for her.
I wouldn't be offended by this. The job of comedians is to do this and she doesn't necessary believe the things she is saying. They aren't politicians. If a politician said something like this it would be a different story.
How many holocaust jokes did she make. People could be really offended at this stuff. Yes, she's a Jew so it's less of a problem. Eventually, it becomes obvious though that Joan will make fun of everyone and anyone. The jokes that work are hysterical.
The guy didn't even get the joke in the first place. She was right to call him stupid. She was making fun of children -- in other words, everyone. We all are, or have been, children. And we didn't earn our way out. We aged out. It's an inside joke that includes the world.
Joan, like most comedians, understand that you can joke about a lot of "taboo" things, without hurting people. It's professionalism, talent, and skill. Look at the "Jackie O/Blackie O" joke. It's not as if there are that many first ladies to make a "Jackie O" comparison with. She considered the possible interpretations, and seemed to have rejected the joke. If we didn't have such a racist past, it would have been a great joke, on the same level as blondes or freckles.
I don't buy the "it's an act" philosophy of comedy. It's not an act, any more than any person's job is an act. A comedian's jokes are from their head, and are a true part of them. Maybe that part only exists on the page and on the stage, but it's there.
If someone actually was attacking segments of the audience (and we've all seen this happen to various washed-up or borderline comedians trying too hard to be current) it would be on YouTube that night, and the world would pronounce judgment one way or another. There's no hiding any more.
I wish more politicians were like Joan. There's more honesty in her show than any given day of Congress.
But Joan treated him like he was a drunken heckler. She lost her humor, completely overreacted, and was pretty classless.
It dramatized the clash between people who handle trauma in diametrically opposite ways.
And who understand the functions of comedy in radically different ways as well.
Good then the little bastard wouldnt have had to hear the joke.
Stupid SOB got what was coming to him. And as has been stated, the moron shouldnt have gone to a joan rivers show if he gets offended, she makes fun of everyone and everything, And she made jokes after 9/11 that were about 9/11 as did Gilbert Gottfried.
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I agree with what Joan said, humour helps us to work through the hard things in life.
I don't know any deaf people, but right after the exchange with the heckler she went on to joke about only having one leg, and my Grandfather had to have an amputation 5 years before he died. Her joking about it sure didn't offend me.
We always joked about it, including my Grandad, because it made all of us feel better and come to terms with a very serious event.
I think Joan was very gracious after the show, and was right to stand up to him during her performance.
I hate to be cynical, but that guy could have been planted in the audience. She made him look bad, but she made herself look good.
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god, it was an awful moment in the show and i feel like it may have been staged. i don't think anyone would really do that in the middle of a show, especially when Joan is known for saying things that could easily offend.
share@ryanclough,
I just saw this yesterday and do not believe it was staged. If you look at the Michael Richards heckling debacle this could have very well been real. I think this is just how Joan chooses to handle hecklers. She argues with them until she can turn it around into a joke and possibly recover and control her audience again.
I also wondered if maybe the guy had possibly been drinking and lost control of his emotions.
It was an amazing segment full of tension and honesty. I wish the rest of this documentary felt as real.
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