No one is safe from the wrath of Rivers (well, the onstage Joan Rivers that is). Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston, Cher, Lindsay Lohan — and  even Helen Keller and Anne Frank — get a whack or two Rivers-style in the legend’s stand-up show at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.

As per usual, Rivers’ candid take on everything from “your ugly children” to how annoying blind people are, is not for the faint of heart.

Offstage however, Rivers is a whole other ball of wax.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous to visit her backstage after the show. After all, she did just mention (in a long, expletive-laced tirade) how annoying she found people from the 5 Towns (my hometown), and that she thought all skinny people should “go die!”

But, I’m happy to report that she didn’t greet me with a verbal kick-to-the-gut. Quite the contrary.

“How great was that crowd?” the legendary mouth-that-roared said to my pals and I backstage after the show (in what was more of a purr than a roar). Greeting us with a big hug, we chatted for a while about Lady Gaga, how much she loves performing, and about how she’s heading off to L.A. to film a TV show with her daughter Melissa called “Mother Knows Best.”

It will come as no surprise to those who saw the documentary "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" that she is not the hard-nosed woman she is onstage. In my few moments with her, I found her pleasant, warm and incredibly humble.

“Ah, I love it when they just want to have a good time,” she said, teetering back and forth on her three-inch heels.

The standing ovation she received after her hour-long set proved they did…and then some.

[caption id="attachment_2625" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Me with Frank and Chris DiLella and the great Joan Rivers!"][/caption]
Joan Rivers returns to the Laurie Beechman July 14. Click here for tickets and more information.