Hello Friend

We went and saw Bill Cosby last night at a local venue.  As there are no reviews to be found in our local rag (oh, THERE'S a surprise!), I thought I'd write a few tidbits about the show.  I've never seen Dr. Bill in person before, so that was rather fun.  We didn't buy the tickets--they were a gift from two dear friends, which is good because I don't know if I would have ever purchased tickets to see a comedian (I gave away my ticket to see Ellen way back when, so you know I'm not much for seeing comedians "on tour.")   We had 5th row, center seats, so it was great--we could see all the hilarious facial expressions he makes (and, he makes a lot of them). I'm very glad our friends had the smarts to send me to see him--not only is he an American icon, he's just plain funny.  I'm glad I got to see part of history, because he really is historic.  My stream-of-conscious thoughts....

(1) He's a tall fellow, much taller than I ever realized.  That really doesn't have anything to do with his show, but it did take me by surprise. I guess I was expecting a four foot midget or something.  (Can I say midget? I think that's considered very offensive now. The wife says I'm supposed to say "little person."  Okay, so I was expecting a four foot little person....but, is four feet small enough to be a little person or is that too big?  Sigh.  I was expecting someone shorter.)

(2) He's a casual guy.  He was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, grey sweat pants, black socks and slip-on sandal-type shoes.  I liked it.  Made him present as your grandpa sitting in the living room, telling stories in slow motion.  Since that was his goal (to make it like he was talking to us in the living room), he succeeded.

(3) The "hello friend" screened onto his sweatshirt and placed on the back of his chair is purposeful.  I had heard or seen it before, but I had no idea what it meant...a name of a book? A title of a skit? A tag line from a show? No, it's a tribute to his son (who was murdered in the 1990's).  I had no idea and had to google it when I came home.  I am so out of the loop.  He didn't mention why he had that on his shirt and he never said it (well, not that I heard) but it's about his son, who according to Wiki (and we all know that that site is ALWAYS right--cough cough!) used to say that when he would meet people.

(4) He is a lot funnier in person than on TV.  Case in point: he was on Letterman the night before he was in town and I didn't laugh. Not once.  I didn't get it.  I thought his topic was funny but there was something wrong.  After seeing him in concert, I get it--it's not that he isn't funny--it's just that TV doesn't allow him to emit the humor he is afforded on stage, in person.  TV is about speed and punch-lines and getting to the point. It's not personal.  We live in snippets.  His slow banter in a five minute interview is not what he is about. On stage, he is afforded the luxury of building the story, making expressions, playing off the audience, developing a rapport.  I loved his TV shows, but that's different.  TV shows aren't live. In person, he just oozes what he needs to ooze to be funny.

(5) Three stories can take 90 minutes to tell....and, it's wonderful.  Three stories! Maybe two and a half stories--depends on how you count.  Any more would have been too much.  I'm not sure what today's youngsters would think about this, but for the audience, it was just right. 

(6) He lives on the east coast.  I had no idea. Why I pictured him in California, I don't know.  Where have I been, under a rock?

(7) Sit near the front.  If you can go, make sure you spend the money to sit close.  His facial expressions really are priceless.  Oh sure, you can see them on the big screen, but they are funnier "live." 

(8) Clean can be fun.  No need for raunchy.  No need for filth.  No need for swear words or shock.  Good, clean fun.  Yum!

Makes me want to go eat some Jell-o.