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Some of the country’s funniest men and women are coming together to honor the legendary Joan Rivers for the upcoming special, Dead Funny: An All-Star Tribute to Joan Rivers.
Nikki Glaser, Aubrey Plaza, Chelsea Handler, Tiffany Haddish, Rita Wilson, Rachel Brosnahan, Jeffrey Ross, and Joe McHale are just a few of the stand-ups who will revisit Joan’s wit and wisdom, reflect on her contribution to the comedy world, and of course, retell some of her raunchier jokes during the special, which was taped at Harlem’s Apollo Theater last November, and will air on NBC on May 13.
The tribute was the brainchild of Melissa Rivers, who also serves as an executive producer of the special. She shares a show honoring her mom, who died in 2014, was a long time coming.
“Given that I’m dead, I assume someone will finally decide to honor me. Well, it’s about time,” Joan said in a letter she left for her daughter.
“I know she’d be thrilled to see how far things have come — and she’d still have notes,” Melissa shared. “This is more than a tribute. It’s a reminder of the trail she blazed and the joy she brought to so many.”
Melissa says she misses her mom’s sense of humor every day and wishes she was around to give her opinion on what’s happening in today’s political climate.
“As she used to say, she’d go, ‘Oh, stop it. Just stop it. Everyone get over themselves!'” Melissa told PEOPLE at the November 8 taping of the tribute. She added that her mom’s sense of humor appealed to everyone, and she loved being able to bring people together instead of dividing them.
“She appealed across the aisles and to the far ends as well,” she said.
“I think that’s one of the things that, as a country, we’re missing right now,” she continued. “Someone who can say, ‘We can all still laugh, Everyone take a deep breath. We’re still going to make jokes.’ She used to say making people laugh was like giving them a little vacation.”
Melissa also revealed why she wished her mom would been able to help her plan wedding to Steve Mitchel last month.
“She would be like, do you want this or this? And she’d make sure that she was very clear about which one was the right choice, but that she could live with it if I chose the other,” Melissa shared.
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“But I think she would be slightly horrified because we were taking a much more casual route,” she added of the nuptials. “No heavy card stock with high calligraphy, like ‘Mrs. Edgar Rosenberg invites you to the wedding of her daughter. ‘ No, it is definitely a more, ‘Hi, we’re having a party and a ceremony is going to break out at one point.'”
Still, Melissa said it was an event to remember, and one she wishes her mom could have seen, sharing, “The amount of genuine happiness in that room was so overwhelming,” she said. “I’m not one to be cliché and say, ‘Oh, you could feel the warmth and love!’ But you know what? I actually felt it! And I’m so grateful.”
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