The businesswoman and reality TV star shared the surprising story to TikTok on Wednesday.
Barbara Corcoran feels like life is for the living! And, seemingly, she feels funerals should be for the living as well.
The 74-year-old businesswoman and Shark Tank star took to TikTok on Thursday -- while getting ready and having her makeup done for the day -- and took fans back a few years with a story about the time she threw herself an "early funeral."
"A few years back I overheard that my friends were planning a surprise 70th birthday party, and they were going to have it in my own home, to surprise me," Corcoran recalled. "Well, I hate surprises, and I made up my mind to surprise them instead."
Thus, she came up with the idea of holding a living funeral for herself, a la The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
"I figured why wait until I'm dead to hear all the nice things people are going to say about me," she explained. "You're not even alive at your own funeral!"
So, pretending to be a party organizer instead of herself, Corcoran sent out a mass invite that read, 'And you thought she was dead?! Come to Barbara's 70th dance party. Black tie only." She made sure those coming still thought it would be a surprise to her.
"I found the perfect coffin and turned my living room into a funeral parlor," recalled Corcoran, who said that all the guests arrived on time, and were corralled onto the top floor of her apartment, waiting for her to come home.
"But I was already downstairs, climbing into my own coffin instead!" she declared excitedly. When the time was right, the guests were told to come and hide in the living room, totally unaware of what was in store.
"When people walked into my own funeral parlor, I could hear them gasp as they walked into the room. They thought I was really dead!" Corcoran said with a laugh. "A minute later they realized the hoax and the room was rolling with laughter."
Corcoran beamed as she recalled the experience, and recalled, "My friends and my children came to the coffin to pay their last respects and I got to hear all the nice things people say about you when you're dead."
"Then I did a high kick out of that coffin to start that dancing!" she said.
When asked for photos of the wild and unusual funeral party, Corcoran had no shortage of snapshots.
The pics show Corcoran lying in a casket while decked out in a gorgeous red gown, as guests congregated around her and her friends read out eulogies.
Mark Cuban was, evidently, one of the many guests, and Corcoran seemed absolutely delighted to be laid to rest before eating a shark-themed cake.
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