Like Mother, Like Gay Son...

My mom was in town for over a week and stayed with me here at my apartment in West Hollywood. I dragged her all over town with me so if you're local and attend any of my events, you probably got the chance to meet her and now realize that I am merely a chip off the old block. She is the genuine article. The original print. Like mother, like gay son.

For her birthday, I took her to see Joan Rivers at The Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. I bumped into Kathy Griffin there and it was a thrill for my mom to get to see her too. Susan Sarandon was in the audience as well. I was impressed by the show itself and felt it was inspirational. I had no idea the hell that she'd been through with being the first real female stand-up comic to make it, being blacklisted from late night after starting her own talk show and having a comeback in her 50's inventing the phrase "Who are you wearing?" as the first celebrity interviewer on the red carpet. And that's just her career. In her private life, her husband comitted suicide, which the press widely reported she "drove" him to, and left his entire fortune to her 16 year old daughter Melissa (obviously a basket case from losing her father) whom she had to get permission from when it came to any financial decisions.

"I broke down a lot of doors," she said in the show. "And where there weren't doors, I built them and broke them down. That's the real secret to surviving this long. You just keep moving, one foot in front of the other, even in the face of upset or tragedy. You go through one door and another and then another. And you keep your fork because the best is yet to come."

The woman is 74 years old and is at her peak when it comes to her looks, her health and her comedy. What the fuck is she taking and where do I get it?

I really just thought she was a red carpet chick until now. This her last week at the Geffen following an extended run of the show, A Work in Progress By A Life in Progress. Snatch up some tickets if you have some time this week.

Here's some more recent clips of her comedy act. So impressive.