As a 'Distinguished Speaker,' Bill Cosby entertains with wit
By Cary Ginell Soundthink@aol.com

Those who attended legendary comedian Bill Cosby's appearance at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza last Tuesday witnessed a master at work.

Although Cosby was slated as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series, which features politicians, statesmen and personalities expressing their personal and professional beliefs, Cosby would have none of that. After ambling on stage without so much as an introduction, wearing a sweatshirt that read "Hello Friend," he dispelled the formalized structure of the series immediately, reasoning that he had a choice: to speak or to perform.

After saying rather wistfully that he gets in trouble whenever he speaks (he has been highly criticized in recent years for his controversial views on black American youth culture), he launched into a hilarious twohour monologue centering on the angst of being 70.

The Distinguished Speaker Series podium is an unfamiliar place for many featured guests, some of whom are not used to giving an address in front of a live audience. But Cosby is probably more comfortable in this setting than anyone and showed why he's been not just the most gifted monologist of our time but the most influential as well.

For almost a half century, he has conquered nearly every entertainment medium that exists, beginning as a standup comic and proceeding to recordings, television, film, books and commercials. Today, he is a respected, outspoken figure, frankly expressing his views on race, education and the American social structure.

Cosby began his career in the early '60s, telling stories about his childhood in brick-walled night spots like San Francisco's hungry i (he reminisced warmly about those days when prompted by an impertinent member of the audience). His comedy, which brought his life growing up in a Philadelphia ghetto into his act, displaced that of joke tellers like Bob Hope and Henny Youngman.

Through exaggeration, vivid characterizations and an unparalleled sense of timing, Cosby became a beloved personality, and when he moved to television, he created three indelible characters: secret agent Alexander Scott ("I Spy"), high school gym teacher Chet Kincaid ("The Bill Cosby Show") and upwardly mobile obstetrician Cliff Huxtable ("The Cosby Show").

Cosby's act has become far different than his more disciplined routines of the past, some of which were drawn-out stories that would take a half-hour to tell. Last Tuesday's "speech" was more stream-of-consciousness "musings" than a comedy act.

He leaped from subject to subject without finishing a thought, sometimes coming back to wrap up a story, sometimes not. His presentation was not unlike that of a jazz musician, improvising as he went, sometimes even surprising himself with a humorous, offthecuff remark.

Some of his best moments came when addressing members of the audience. After an intrusive sneeze from someone in the orchestra section, Cosby, without missing a beat, asked the offending party, "Is that an allergy? You live in California. So where do you move now?"

He spoke rather poignantly about not being able to look at himself in the mirror ("I shower in the dark"), about "feeling the weight" of his age and about sitting at the senior citizen's table at a 1yearold's birthday party. (At 70, he doesn't go to parties anymore; he attends "functions.")

In this day and age of anything goes in comedy, Cosby still refrains from using explicit language- and it's still funnier that way. Upon launching into a sidesplitting segment on Viagra (which he did not even mention by name), he had the audience in stitches when he told of looking at the list of side effects on the box only to remark, "I already have these."

Although he was probably dying to bring politics into his address, Cosby was able to restrain himself until the very end, when he delivered three very brief homilies about the current chief executive. Two are repeatable here: "I don't think Bush is going to get a library," and "It's not too late. We could offer him a buy-out."

The only obviously prepared part of his speech was his final uproarious segment on dentists, which he first recorded for Capitol Records in 1977. Although I knew the bit by heart, it still had me gasping for breath with laughter.

Even at 70, Bill Cosby is a marvel, a man who views every aspect of society with a sense of irony, humor and wit. We should never take Cos for granted. He is our generation's greatest comedian.