Review: CAN WE TALK?- JOE POSA: THE BITCH IS BACK at Laurie Beechman Theatre

It is hard to overestimate the importance of Joan Rivers on the field of stand-up comedy. She was, without a doubt, the most important comic to have worked in the second half of the 20th century, including some high-powered men like Lenny Bruce and Johnny Carson, both of whom were instrumental in building her astounding career. She was a master of survival and as brilliant at reinvention as Cher or Madonna. There isn’t a comic working today who doesn’t cite her as an influence on their work and style. But her legacy wanders far afield from just stand up. She was the author of many books, three plays, and a cult screenplay. The Girl Most Likely To, in which Stockard Channing played an overweight wallflower who takes revenge on her enemies by means of a plastic surgery transformation.

She was also one of the most successful businesswomen of the same period, playing several record-breaking residencies in Las Vegas and creating a jewelry line that is still the highest-grossing seller in QVC history. She was an essential presence on the red carpets of many Hollywood events, including the Academy Awards. Her fashion commentary, although painfully sharp, was always precisely on point. She was one of the most intuitively funny people in the history of show business. She also starred in two Broadway plays to great acclaim, as well as the Mel Brooks film Spaceballs.

Throughout her career, she made many appearances at the Laurie Beechman Theatre to try out new material before taking it on the road. She used her personal technique of writing jokes on poster board that she placed on the front of the stage so she had all her act in front of her at all times. She had jokes written on 3x5 cards, which she stored in rooms full of card catalogs (a technique she picked up from her role model, Phyllis Diller), and it is rumored she never threw a joke away. She merely stored it for future recycling. Even after she died in 2014, she remains as influential as ever. Two hit television series, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and Hacks, are both loosely based on her life and persona.

And 11 years after her death, impersonator Joe Posa is traveling the country paying homage to the Queen of Comedy and lovingly keeping her legacy alive. I was lucky enough to see Posa’s show on Friday September 5, in the very spot where Ms. Rivers so frequently worked out her act. In fact, the last joke Joan Rivers ever told was on the stage of the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Joe Posa is every bit as hilarious and outrageous as Rivers herself. His show, THE BITCH IS BACK…at the Beechman, was an hour and 10 minutes of vintage Joan material delivered with high-voltage energy. A portion of the proceeds was donated to God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that sends meals to patients with medical conditions who would otherwise go hungry, a charity Joan frequently collaborated with. It was a night of non-stop laughs for a very good cause.

Posa is not a dead-ringer physically for Joan Rivers. However, he is masterful at channeling her signature essence. He has studied her cadence and timing and delivers both with spooky accuracy. His wardrobe is also magnificent. His designers have recreated some of Joan Rivers' classic looks. He is brilliant at interacting with audience members in Rivers' fashion, including one woman named Esther who was the butt of many ongoing gags. Posa used her as a comic foil, using lightning-fast improvisation, which was right in Joan Rivers' vein. He also worked the crowd beautifully near the end, distributing roses to some of the luminaries in the crowd, including playwright/icon Charles Busch and cabaret artist Seth Sikes.

Joe Posa is a true artist. For 25 years, he has been impersonating some of the great divas, including Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Gloria Estefan, and Susan Lucci as Erika Kane in New York, Boston, Provincetown, Puerto Vallarta, Ogunquit, Rehoboth, Palm Springs, and London. But it is Joan Rivers who is his most consistent alter ego. Even Rivers herself was a fan, calling him her favorite Joan Rivers impersonator. She was accurate. Posa is a consummate entertainer who loves his audience and adores his subject. There were moments when I felt I was in the presence of the great Joan. No greater compliment can be paid to an impersonator.

For more information about Joe Posa, please visit his website, joeposa.com, or follow him @joe.posa on Instagram.