Joan just wants the world's attention

The self-proclaimed queen of comedy has only one fear: being forgotten. It is this fear that drives Joan Rivers to air her personal drama on the big screen.

In “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work,” Rivers struggles to continue working and filling her calendar so she can stay relevant. It almost seems like the documentary was produced to help her maintain this relevance — and of course keep her one step ahead of Kathy Griffin, her oft-mentioned heir apparent to the throne of female comedy.

Rivers gives us brief glimpses into her rise to fame — TV spots, her husband’s suicide and her relationship with her daughter among them — but the film’s focus is more on how these events have made her more determined to persevere and avoid celebrity death.
The documentary’s lightness is revealed through several clips of recent stand-up gigs that attest to the comedic genius of the 75-year-old icon.

Ultimately, Rivers understands she is overlooked as an old fish in a sea of young talent — but it’s this understanding that motivates her to continue performing day in and day out until she has outlasted the very last comic left standing.