[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeGUUCe1NHE[/youtube]

Yesterday an unexpected email came into the OffBeat office: an announcement that Joan Rivers, the 79-year-old actress and comedian, would be performing a benefit show on Tuesday, August 21 at Cafe Istanbul for the New Orleans Healing Center.

The show starts at 7 p.m., and tickets are $45 in advance (via Paypal or in cash at the Island of Salvation Botanica shop in the Healing Center), or $55 at the door.

Although Rivers might unfortunately be better known at this point for her many plastic surgeries than for her comedy, she’s been performing stand-up since the early 1960s, her material getting raunchier, and often funnier, with age. Last summer, Rivers turned in a memorable performance on current comedy king Louie C.K.’s tv show Louie, giving the comic advice after meeting at a show in Las Vegas. That clip is above, and here’s some stand-up clips from the 2010 documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9aJcorcJ8g[/youtube]