She was first female admitted to the Friars Club.
If Joan Rivers left her mark anywhere, it was in the temple of comedy known as the Friars Club, where a century's worth of comics have honed their skills.
And where Thursday night, they say the woman who pulled no punches wouldn't have it any other way.
"She would probably talk about how tragic it is, you know, she was 81 but her face was probably 25, 30," said Harrison Greenbaum, a comedian.
Harrison Greenbaum is part of a younger generation of comedians who owe much to Rivers' legacy.
And despite her public persona, Rivers never stopped working, never stopped churning out new jokes, and never stopped testing the limits.
"This is like new material that she's doing, I mean she's in her 70's and she's still performing writing new material, has to get out new jokes," said Marcus Monroe, a Friars Club member.
"You can't help but be inspired by her honesty, bravery, courage, sometimes you go on stage you don't know if I should say that, Joan would say it," Greenbaum said.
"Joanie was a trailblazer," said Stuart Stone, a Friars Club member.
Longtime member Stuart Stone remembers when Rivers first started out in the world of comedy; in a man's world where she never backed down.
And as for the elective throat procedure that eventually led to her death?
"She would probably do a joke. She would deal with everything with humor and that's the thing about all the laughs she could have given us," Stone said.