Years before the indomitable Joan Rivers died in 2014 she immortalised hopes for her own farewell in her memoir. “I want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action … I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents. I don’t want a eulogy; I want Bobby Vinton to pick up my head and sing Mr Lonely.”
Needless to say some details were changed, but the resulting affair was perhaps even more spectacular than the queen of snark would have hoped for. Along with performances from Hugh Jackman and Broadway star Audra McDonald, it featured a eulogy from notorious shock-jock Howard Stern and the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus singing Big Spender. The bagpipers of the New York police department played as mourners escorted her body from the synagogue.
