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Joan Rivers is still making people laugh.
The late comedy icon was honored at her longtime publicist Scott Currie’s 60th birthday bash at the River Club in NYC, we hear.
The menu included one of Rivers’ funny quotes as an homage to the birthday boy: “I’m so old, my Bible is autographed,” it read.
Scott Currie with Joan Rivers at his 40th birthday party in 2004. Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesJoan’s daughter, Melissa, 56, spoke at the bash and described Currie as “the son my mother never had.”
She also recalled her famous mother’s propensity for snatching stuff from restaurants and hotels. “An unattended housekeeping cart was her holy grail,” she quipped.
In the same spirit, Melissa and Currie even jokingly encouraged the 90 guests to “take anything that’s not nailed down!”
Joan’s daughter, Melissa, spoke at the birthday party. Patrick McMullan/PMC/PMCMelissa attended the party with her fiancé, Steve Mitchel.
Melissa brought her fiancé, Steve Mitchel, as her date. Patrick McMullan/PMC/PMCCurrie hired famed event designer Preston Bailey to transform the private club into the legendary El Morocco.
Bailey replicated the famed 20th century hot spot, complete with the famous blue and white zebra stripes on the carpet, chairs and banquettes. The place was also decorated with facsimiles of the club’s giant white palm trees and cactuses.
Bailey even had reproductions of the club’s ashtrays, and matchbooks, at every table. The party also had everything one would expect from a top PR guru: A fancy crowd and a bit of gossip.
Dennis Basso, Joey Arias, Martha Stewart and Melissa Rivers were among the 90 guests. Patrick McMullan/PMC/PMCMartha Stewart, Dorinda Medley, Greg Calejo, Baruch Shemtov, Erik Bottcher, Elie Tahari, Candace Bushnell, Peggy Siegel, Anne Dexter-Jones, Stephen Baldwin, Thom Felicia, Dennis Basso, Nikki Haskell and Frank and Chris DiLella were among the guests at the formal gathering.
Downtown cabaret icon Joey Arias performed two songs by Billie Holiday in a Thierry Mugler gown with a heart shape cut out exposing Arias’ derriere.
R.O.M.E. magazine founder, George Wayne, apparently didn’t get the black tie memo. He pranced around in little white “pum pum shorts,” and yelled, “Butt cheeks!” while trying to snap a shot of Arias leaving the stage.
George Hamilton with party gal turned TikTok influencer Nikki Haskell. Patrick McMullan/PMC/PMCStewart, on the other hand, was dripping in diamonds amidst the predominantly gay crowd.
“Van Cleef for the gays,” the Netflix star explained to a male guest of her Van Cleef & Arpels earrings.
Stewart’s longtime publicist pal Susan Magrino reminisced with Haskell about “owning New York nightlife in the ’80s.”
Meanwhile, Haskell, who is still partying at 82, arrived fresh from LA — where she’d been dancing with strippers at a birthday party for Candy Spelling at Josh Flagg’s house, she told us.
Currie with Stewart and event designer Preston Bailey. Patrick McMullan/PMC/PMCDexter-Jones — mother to “Succession” star Annabelle Dexer-Jones, as well as Mark, Samantha, and Charlotte Ronson — gushed about her lesser-known son, Alexander, who’s in Paris recording music.
The tunes have his very cool mom’s stamp of approval: “It’s brilliant!” she said.
The Rockettes performed for the crowd. Patrick McMullan/PMC/PMCShe was also giddy about husband, Mick Ronson’s upcoming Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony next month.
Ronson is the guitarist for “I Want to Know What Love Is” rockers Foreigner.
Also at the bash, the Rockettes performed, and there was a nautical-themed cake brought out to the Village People’s “In the Navy,” plus indoor fireworks.
George Hamilton was overheard quipping, “I practically lived at the original El Morocco, but this is much more fun!”
The Rockettes presented Currie with a birthday cake. Patrick McMullan/PMC/PMCGuests went home from the party that would’ve made Joan Rivers proud with the clubby ashtrays.
