Joy Behar isn’t on The View for the next two days, and it’s all because of a career power move (not because of a nipple-covers-on-face-related injury).

The 81-year-old cohost and comedian won’t be at the Hot Topics table on Thursday or Friday, as she prepares to hit the stage for her New York Comedy Festival plays Bonkers in the Boroughs — the first performance of which premieres Nov. 3 in Manhattan.

“I’m taking it off so I can concentrate on this other thing for two days. I’ll be back next week. I thought to myself, ‘It’s self-preservation, darling,'” Behar told The View executive producer Brian Teta on Thursday’s episode of the Behind the Table companion podcast.

“It’s self-preservation for me, too, frankly,” Teta replied with a laugh.

EW has learned that, although Behar typically takes over as moderator in Whoopi Goldberg‘s weekly absence on Fridays, Goldberg will step in on her typical day off to moderate the table this week.

Before she joined Barbara Walters on The View‘s inaugural season in 1997, Behar rose to prominence as a comedian and actress, appearing in projects like Madea Goes to Jail, Hall Pass, Ice Age: Continental Drift, 30 Rock, and Woody Allen’s TV series Crisis in Six Scenes.

Her upcoming stage plays, which she wrote, follow five different comedic stores centering on families in the New York City area.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.