Joan Rivers has always been one of Howard's best guests. She always struck me as his mother from another lover, and their affection for each other (and between Joan and Robin) seemed unforced and genuine. Howard's humor owes something to her own, and the trail she blazed.
This story on Joan's last interview, with the radio host Tavis Smiley, really struck me, because she speaks so honestly about facing the end.
When asked by Smiley “If a moment ever comes when you don’t ‘have it’ on stage, how will you know?”, Rivers responded “I’ll know, I guess, when I do the same joke three times. And then I will go offstage and call Dr. Kevorkian”… a reference to the late pathologist who championed physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill.
After a long pause, Rivers added, “And you’re waiting for a joke. No joke”.
Steve North wrote it up. You can read about it here.
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