Joy Behar -

By: Dominick A. Miserandino

Joy Behar is one funny woman. She is a co-host on

DM: I was talking to a friend of mine and mentioned that you are coming out with a kids’ book. What is with celebrities coming out with books, in particular kids’ books?

JB: We all do that. A lot of celebrities write children’s books because people seem to like them. And I have a dog here I want to immortalize.

DM: Is this something you were thinking of before or is it like they came to you?

JB: I don’t remember. Do I have to remember this? Who remembers?

DM: I understand this is the second one in the series.

JB: It is. It’s the second one. And by the way, the children love it. Little kids love it because it’s got caca and poo-poo in it.

DM: Which always makes a kid happy.

JB: Exactly.

DM: Are you considering writing a third and fourth one?

JB: I’d love to write another one but I think in the next one I’m going to put my cat in. He needs his day in the sun, too.

DM: Are you actively doing shows? Do you have enough time?

JB: I’m doing as many things as I’m capable of doing. I do The View, I sit in for Larry King when I’m asked, I write children’s books, I do stand up. I’m going to be in Atlantic City on Feb. 28, and I’m going to be at Foxwoods in March with Whoppie Goldberg. I’m going to be in Long Island. I’m all over the place.

DM: Do you enjoy working or is the horrible economy?

JB: I always work like that. I’m a worker. I don’t believe squandering your talent.

DM: It seems like The View’s controversy level is ratching up every so often.

JB: I don’t think it’s as much controversy as it is legitimacy. The View has been very much part of the election. We were in the middle of the news when John McCain came on the show. We were in the news last week when Blagojevich came on the show. And we’ve interviewed Joe Biden, and we’ve interviewed Obama, and Michelle Obama. So it’s not that it’s controversial, it’s that we’re relevant. Controversy erupts every once in a while but I think it’s the relevancy that has evolved into a major force in the media.

DM: Now that the election is over, how do you keep the show in the forefront?

JB: There’s always something going on. There’s never a dull moment these days, and we are one of the few legitimately spontaneous shows on the air. What you see is what you get. That’s the beauty of the show. You don’t know what’s going to happen.

DM: Do you ever get nervous sometimes or think, ‘I wish I didn’t say that’ or we better pull back on this?

JB: No. Almost never. I get a little more nervous when I do stand up because it’s me alone and I have to carry the whole thing by myself so I have my adrenaline rush. On The View, I’m pretty comfortable there.

DM: Are you involved behind the camera, too? Do you have say in who will guest host, or who will fill in?

JB: I leave that to Barbara [Walters] and Bill Geddy. That’s up for them to decide. I just go on and shoot my mouth off.

DM: Do you get pulled off to the side and told shoot it off more or hold back a little bit?

JB: Once in a while. Over the years I’ve been told maybe you should lay off something. Not very often, though. I have to tell you, I think The View is a show that really practices the First Amendment. We’re practically never told what to do or what to say. We have practices. We won’t go on and say the words George Carlin joked about. Not that it would slip past. They’d bleep us out because there’s a seven-second delay.

DM: Really? I wouldn’t think they would have to worry about on daytime television.

JB: Ever since Janet Jackson showed her boob during the Super Bowl, that’s when the whole thing crashed on us. I said ‘blue balls” the other day and they bleeped it.

DM: I read somewhere you can say Jesus as a person but not as an exclamation.

JB: I once said ‘Thank you, Jesus’ and they bleeped it. Even Jerry Falwell went on television to back me up. He said I was testifying.

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