NBC Pays Tribute to Comedian Joan Rivers in a TV Special

NBC honored the life and legacy of the late comic with "Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute," an hour-long television special that aired on May 13.

As Amaris Encinas wrote in USA Today,

Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, an executive producer on the special that aired on May 13, believes her mother would be pleased with how it turned out. “This tribute is everything my mother would have wanted — hilarious, unfiltered, and filled with people she respected (and roasted)," she said. "And as usual, she was still the funniest person in the room. It’s incredibly moving to see so many iconic comedians come together to celebrate her legacy, especially the women whose careers she helped make possible by breaking down so many doors."

“I know she’d be thrilled to see how far things have come, and she’d still have notes," her daughter added. "This is more than a tribute. It’s a reminder of the trail she blazed and the joy she brought to so many.”

"Given that I’m dead, I assume someone will finally decide to honor me," Rivers said in a letter she left for her daughter, Melissa Rivers. "Well, it’s about time."

The comedy special, which featured cameos from famous comics, was filmed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem on the opening night of the 2024 New York Comedy Festival, NBC said in a news release.

Here's a video clip of comedian Chelsea Handler in one of the tributes from the show. Enjoy! 

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Joan Rivers Recalls When Her Daughter Melissa First Dressed Herself

Today we're turning the clock back 53 years to 1969, when Joan Rivers made one of her many appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.

In this standup routine, Joan reminisces about the time when her daughter Melissa, then 18 months old, dressed herself.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Joan Rivers Performs Standup Comedy on The Carol Burnett Show

It's another Throwback Thursday and today we're turning the clock back to 1970 when Joan Rivers performed a standup comedy set on The Carol Burnett Show.

In this segment, Joan's topics included flying in bad weather, stewardesses, the questionable value of education, housework, and raising children.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THEPLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.  




#Throwback Thursday    #TBT

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Jeffrey Ross at Montreal Just For Laughs Festival

It's another Throwback Thursday, and today we're revving up the old time machine and driving it back to 1998 when Jeffrey Ross appeared at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.

Jeff Ross (born Jeffrey Ross Lipschultz to a Jewish family in Springfield, New Jersey) is a stand-up comedian, actor, and author. His skill in doing high-profile celebrity roasts and his appearances in Comedy Central's Roasts, have led him to be dubbed "The Roastmaster General."

He has appeared in various film, television, and cartoon projects. He has made appearances at events for U.S. soldiers and directed a documentary film covering his experiences touring U.S. bases in Iraq. 

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.



 #Throwback Thursday     #TBT
 

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Jack Benny, Mel Blanc, and the Tijuana Troubadors

One of Jack Benny's funniest sidekicks was Mel Blanc, the man of a thousand voices who went on to become the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, and the Tasmanian Devil.

Blanc made frequent appearances on Jack Benny's TV show. In this video clip he's the leader of the Tijuana Troubadors, a musical group from Mexico whose vocabulary is limited to Si, Sy, Sue, and Sew.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

 

#Throwback Thursday #TBT

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Joan Rivers - 50 Years Ago on Hollywood Palace

For today's Throwback Thursday comedy special, we go back fifty years for a Joan Rivers standup comedy stint on The Hollywood Palace.

The date was February 5, 1966, and Joan's performance was a preview of the themes that she would use for the next 40 plus years of standup comedy.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.


#Throwback Thursday, #TBT

The Great Jewish Comedians: Dick Shawn Performs Standup Comedy on the Johnny Carson Show

Dick Shawn was born Richard Schulefand in Buffalo, New York and raised in adjacent Lackawanna. 

The best remembered roles of his career are the hot-headed Sylvester Marcus, son of Mrs. Marcus (Ethel Merman), in Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and easygoing Lorenzo St. DuBois/Adolf Hitler in the musical Springtime for Hitler, the play within Mel Brooks's movie The Producers (1968).

He had continued success with his stand-up comedy act that he successfully performed for over 35 years in nightclubs around the world. His award-winning one-man stage show, The Second Greatest Entertainer in the Whole Wide World, was sometimes performed with a unique opening. When the audience entered the theater, they saw a bare stage with a pile of bricks in stage center. When the play began, Shawn emerged from the pile of bricks. The startling effect of this required complete concentration and breath control because the slightest movement of the bricks could ruin the surprise appearance.

In addition to roles in more than 30 movies and seven Broadway productions, Shawn made numerous television appearances, toured often, and periodically performed a one-man show that mixed songs, sketches, and pantomime. 

In this video clip of his appearance on The Johnny Carson Show (hosted by Joan Rivers), Shawn does a monologue on Jews in athletics, announcing, and religion followed by a session on the interview couch with Rivers.

Enjoy!
 
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Remembering the Two Sides of Joan Rivers - Hilarious Comedian and Passionate Defender of Israel

We were saddened yesterday to learn of the death of comedian Joan Rivers following serious complications during a procedure on her vocal cords in Manhattan. 

Rivers was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky in Brooklyn, New York in 1933, the younger daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. Her career in comedy lasted more than 50 years. Her range of humor was so great that it's hard to categorize it. 

Starting with stand-up comedy, she also was a writer for Candid Camera and acted as the bait to lure unsuspecting people into ridiculous situations. She wrote funny sketches for Topo Gigio, the Italian mouse puppet on the Ed Sullivan Show. And then there was her long professional relationship with Johnny Carson, which came to a sudden end when after her contract ended, she started her own competing late night show.

Many media outlets have aired tributes to Rivers, including the one from CNN below, but we haven't seen them show one of her last ad-hoc interviews at the Los Angeles airport in July, when she passionately defended Israel's response to Hamas attacks.

As a tribute and remembrance, we're sharing three videos below. The first is CNN's review of her career, the second is a hilarious routine from The Joan Rivers show, and the last is her emotional response to reporters challenging her staunch support of Israel.

We'll miss you, Joan.

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)