FEATURE: Joan Rivers

By Mark McLaughlin
Evening News
May 23, 2008

SHE'S the acid-tongued queen of comedic one-liners who has become notorious for revelling in bad taste gags.

Now it seems Joan Rivers' love of the cheap and nasty could be a boon for the Capital's purveyors of tartan tat.

The veteran performer, who will mark her 75th birthday by making her acting debut at this year's Fringe, says she can't wait to return to "magical" Edinburgh so she can stock up on tacky souvenirs.

Speaking to the News, she said: "You better bring out all your cheap, tacky Scottish stuff when I come over, because me and my friends just love that stuff and we're gonna buy it all in spades.

"I just love Edinburgh, there's something magical about the place and I can't wait to see it again."

The notorious comedienne will take to the stage for her self-penned autobiographical play, Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress, for a run of 19 performances at the Underbelly's Cow Barn, on Teviot Place.

The show, which opens on August 7, will then transfer to London's West End where it will be the opening production at the newly refurbished and re-named Leicester Square Theatre before moving to Broadway in 2009.

Rivers said she couldn't wait to return to the Capital after first performing in the city seven years ago.

She said: "I visited the place for the first time when I was in a very bad place in my life. I'd just split up with someone and I was feeling very low and a friend said to me 'why don't you go to the Edinburgh Festival to cheer yourself up'.

"I said, 'Nobody's ever asked me' and the very next day I got the phone call inviting me over.

"It was almost like it was meant to be. I came over, had a wonderful time and when I got home my career really took off in a big way."

During her 2001 Fringe debut at the Festival Theatre, the New Yorker famously insisted that the dress and upper circles of the Nicolson Street venue be sealed off because of an aversion to playing to audiences "above" her.

She last appeared in the Capital three years ago when her First Annual Farewell Tour stopped off for a night at the Usher Hall.

She said: "The Festival's just great because you can be walking down the street and see mime artists - which I absolutely despise by the way - performing next to Shakespeare plays and it all seems to fit together.

"I love all these quirky shows they put on, they're right up my street. I once saw Hamlet in Polish and a lesbian production of Shakespeare called Queen Leer."

The Fringe show will be a part-confession, part-performance comedy based on Rivers' rolleroaster life.

In total, Rivers will play 75 UK performances, one for each year of her birthdays.

To further mark the occasion, 48 Diamond Tickets will be sold for each of the Edinburgh performances, with the bearer receiving a Joan Rivers goodie bag and a chance to meet the star after the show. Diamond Tickets go on sale today, and are available by calling 0844-847 2475 0844-847 2475 .

JOAN RIVERS ONE-LINERS

"I knew I was unwanted when I saw that my bath toys were a toaster and radio."

"I hate housework! You make the beds, you do the dishes — and six months later you have to start all over again."

"I was born in 1962. True. And the room next to me was 1963."

"Trust your husband, adore your husband, and get as much as you can in your own name."

"The average airplane is 16 years old, and so is the average airplane meal."

"Talk about getting old. I was getting dressed and a peeping tom looked in the window, took a look and pulled down the shade."