D’yan Forest: Comedian Pushing Boundaries at 90

By Grace Katich

The Hamptons, New York & Paris

At 90 years old, D’yan Forest is proving that life — and laughter — don’t have an expiration date. The Guinness World Record holder for the Oldest Working Female Comedian still takes the stage with her signature mix of bold humor, music, and unapologetic storytelling. Whether she’s performing in the Hamptons, New York or Paris, playing golf, swimming, or writing about her extraordinary life, D’yan is unstoppable. “People ask how I keep going,” she says. “Well, I take 12 pills a day — including prednisone, which, frankly, I think is helping! It makes me talk more, but that’s fine. I’m a comedian — I should talk more.”

D’yan’s journey to stand-up was anything but conventional. Raised in a conservative Boston household, she never imagined she’d one day be cracking jokes in front of packed comedy clubs. After a “scandalous” divorce, she set sail for Paris, a city that captured her heart and forever shaped her career.   DONRDONEShe started out as a French cabaret singer,  country clubs and nightclubs, reinventing herself along the way. A casual conversation with comedy club mogul Caroline Hirsch set her on a path that would define the next chapter of her career. With her ukulele in hand, D’yan developed a one-woman show that was both hilarious and risqué.

Risqué Routine

“I don’t think I’m vulgar,” she insists. “Some older folks say I am, but I don’t curse much in my act. I’m just… risqué. I push boundaries, but always with a wink.” That approach caught the attention of Joan Rivers, who famously called her “the filthy ukulele player.” D’yan laughs at the memory. “I corrected her — I said, ‘No, Joan, I’m just risqué.’ She got it. She was one of my heroines.” D’yan’s resilience is unwavering. Earlier this year, she suffered a black eye after being assaulted in NYC, but she didn’t let that stop her. Instead, she performed for her 90th birthday at Joe’s Pub, even calling out the detective who handled her case — who was sitting in the audience.  D’yan poured her life into her memoir, I Did It My Ways, a no-holds-barred account of her journey from Boston to Paris, from heartbreak to reinvention, from cabaret singer to comedian. “I let it all out,” she says. “Things I never say in conversation, I put in the book. Some people were shocked, some loved it — but I figured, why not tell the whole story?”

New York Fringe Festival

Now, with her latest show, “Dyan Forest: 90 Years of Songs & Scandal,” still drawing crowds in New York at the New York Fringe Festival and Paris, and new performances lined up at Joe’s Pub, D’yan shows no signs of slowing down.  “ I start my set with, ‘Hi, everybody. I’m D’yan, and I’m 90 years old… in case I don’t make it through the show,’” she jokes. “Most of the time, people laugh. And if they don’t? Well, I make them laugh.”

dyanforest.com