Joan Rivers Is So Rich . . .

by Randy Jones, host of the Media Mavens Group, and author of

the new book, The Richest Man in Town

. . . and there is no punch line. The 76-year-old queen of comedy is the richest woman I know in all the ways that truly count. Let’s count a few of them.

She lives like Marie Antoinette, only better, because her opulent apartment is in Manhattan and yeah, she’s still living. She is a completely devoted mother and doting grandmother. She is the hardest-working woman in show business. She’s a jewelry designer and CEO. No one can keep up with her pace.

And this week this rich funny lady is the subject of a new documentary debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, fittingly titled Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. She is just that and so much more. The early reviews have been stunningly positive so folks in the know agree with me that Joan Rivers is replete with riches. She gave the filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg carte blanche to chronicle her 75th year of life.

Imagine having cameras follow you everywhere for a year. I can’t, but for Joan, it was business as usual. She told Ricki Stern, “I’ve been in front of the cameras all my life.” Indeed she has, and one thing that makes her life so richly rewarding is that the public can’t get enough of her. We pulled for her on The Apprentice, we gawked with her as she took us on her TV journey of How’d You Get So Rich?, we bought her jewelry on QVC, and we belly-laughed with her at her stand-up gigs.

Those of us who have gotten a glimpse of Joan Rivers the human being see a much more complex person than her stage persona. Joan, the comedienne and actress is the consummate professional continually pushing herself toward artistic perfection, never satisfied, but continually questing for the next big thing. In private, she is the most caring, thoughtful, genuinely sweet person you’ll ever know.

Sometimes I wonder if Joan even knows how truly rich she is. What I do know is that I’m richer for having her in my life as a friend. And I can’t wait to see Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.