Search - Joan Rivers - Live at the London Palladium on DVD

Acerbic, hysterical wit from the one and only Joan

blondeguy10 | South Africa | 11/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Can we talk? The one and only indomitable, inconquerable, inspiring Joan Rivers live at the Palladium in London, is at once "allegedly" biting, tasteless, and utterly charming and hysterically funny. You do not want to miss her takes on everything from celebrities to farts to politicians and a whole lot more. I laughed from beginning to end...its that good and that funny...and also quite funny watching some of the 'stiff upper lip Brits in the audience' reacting to some of Ms Rivers brash humour. She tells it like it is. Joan you are truly an inspiration. First Class and highly recommended as an all round mood enhancer."

Lord of the (wedding) Rings

Boxodreams | district of columbia | 06/27/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Here is the diminutive Larchmont dynamo just one step below full throttle, pulling very few punches from her honed-to-Ginsu sharp, raunchy nightclub routine. Gone is the outlandish visual image of old women using their ... as suction cups to go down the walls of the World Trade Center during 9-11, but her gray bunny slipper remains. The London Palladium is not made for Joan Rivers. It is huge and daunting and very stuffy looking. So are its inhabitants, who like Joan in theory, but in practice have trouble permitting laughter to rise up through their staid bodies. Nothing, particularly, is in good taste. But Joan is on her game and goes for it. She almost doesn't seem to care if she gets the laughs or not. She knows the material is strong. It is dense, full of set pieces and subtle asides. Past 70 now, the woman does not take the easy way out and coast. This is a master class in stand-up comedy, extended verbal clowning of the first order. Small things are hilarious (Theresa Heinz' waving during the John Kerry campaign like she's shaking a stubborn ketchup bottle) and so are longer bits, like about burying her mother-in-law -- actually, cremating -- before the show. You momentarily feel for Joan, displaying a wistful sadness, until she complains how tiring it was keeping her foot up for so long on the oven door. If this had been filmed in the New York nightclub where she holds court every Wednesday, where the deserved laughs flow like a river of delicious sin, this would be a five-star DVD, the perfect artifact of a great comedian raging into the twilight at or near the top of her game. What she lacks in energy from the "What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most?" days, she makes up for by being fiendishly feral, dare I say sexy? The only drawback is the audience. They're lucky to have her, but they don't deserve her."

FUNNY! HILARIOUS! UPROARIOUS!

B. P. C. Swart | Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa | 08/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Palladium and its inhabitants do not appreciate Joan Rivers. Does she care? Heck NO! She is sharp and delivers zinger after zinger to a shell-shocked British flock clinging to their chairs in horror and fear of the ever uncouth and divine Joan. Not even Barbara Streisand is safe from the queen of funny!

I have watched this over and again. Still enjoying it as much as the first time. Worth every penny."