Friday, May 06, 2005

Bill Cosby Up Close

A couple of weeks ago Bill Cosby visited our university to give a comedy stand-up, which I attended. It was so worth the 32-dollar ticket! The guy was amazing. I've always liked him and have been a big fan of the Cosby Show for a long time. I still watch its re-runs and enjoy them even more.

What struck me was seeing, up close, how aging has taken a serious toll on him. I was looking at him all the time and having flash backs of the early seasons of the Cosby Show, when he was all young and energetic.

What struck me even more was despite his aging, he still cracked us up so hard. His facial expressions and body language were still very much there. The show was very spontaneous. It had a general theme that I'm sure he gave some thought to, but the detailed jokes and stories seemed mostly spontaneous. He'd be telling a story and out of no where he'd say "oh by the way, ...etc" and jumps into a whole new story or a joke, then comes back to the one he started previously.

Seeing him live was just another item crossed out on my To-Do-in-the-US list. Not only do I like him for his show and humor, but also for his inspiring story. A black kid from Philly starts from nothing, maintains a successful career, a good family man , speaking loudly about black ghettos and criticizing black parents, and overcoming the murder of his son. When Larry King once asked him if he sought revenge for his son as a closure, he replied "oh no, I think he [the murderer] is looking for closure now." Greatness!

5 comments:

Jelly Belly said...

love the Cosby show too…I can’t think of a favorite episode but one that stands out to me is when Rudy sang Ray Charles song “babyyyyyyyyyyy” and she was so into it…it was too cute and funny.
and I really agree with him on his stand against some of the musician who uses the "N" word as something cool between them.

Unknown said...

i remember that episode! ifa6is min il thi7ik..

Jandeef said...

S&M,
Hehe yea that fish funeral was hillarious. It was one of the earliest seasons.

JB,
I remember that one too. Rudy was always cute, then Olivia stole the show. Still Rudy was great with Kenny hehe.

My favorite episode? Oh where do I begin. In addition to the ones you mentioned,

- "Women's Day" .. When Rudy became a woman.
- Theo deciding to quit school and move out.
- When Theo's GF caught him kissing that theater girl. And Cliff teaching him how to apologize on the "Bad to the Bone" song.
- When the men bought gifts for their women for a maximum of $20.
- When Denise brought her husband to the house the first time.
- Cliff Tap Dancing.

Hehe I could go on and on.

Snookie,
WB. How did your finals go?

Almond said...

Yay BILL! he's one of my favorites. I'm glad you got to see him. I go to Temple University, his old college, he visited late last summer but I missed him! darn for me. Which University do you attend?

Jandeef said...

Almond,
Welcome to my blog. Yea he spoke alot about Philly and Temple. He spoke about the Beating vs. Wupping when he was a little kid :P

You missed it ?!?1 bummer. Make sure you don't next time he comes around. It's so worth it.