Bill Cosby Himself

NR	Rottentomatoes.com Rating:80%	1982
(Some mild language)	Picky Flicks Quote: "Certainly a historic record of one of the all-time best comedians, and funny!" -Steve Crum, Video-reviewmaster.com	RUNTIME: 1hr. 45 mins.
Visit:www.screenit.com for complete details		Movie Mood: Entertained

Bill Cosby Himself is proof that stand-up need not be dirty to be funny—no, make that hilarious. Although I must admit I was a bit skeptical when my husband insisted that I had to see this show. Not that I feared that Mr. Cosby would suddenly pull a Dave Chapelle or Chris Rock and leave me wondering where I’d put my brain bleach. But still, how funny can taped stand-up performed by “America’s Dad” in 1982 be?

In a word, very.

Mr. Cosby’s fatherly approach offsets his dry wit to good effect. In fact, he seems so good that we’re surprised he’s even capable of letting slip a mild curse word or two as he does at rare points during his set. Still, we never get the impression that Cosby is naïve or unacquainted with the hard facts of life.

He manages to keep things light while still delivering droll social commentary—which is at once gently mocking and condemning when it comes to topics such drugs and alcohol. One amusing bit about the different “walks” employed by various kinds of drunks is at once entertaining and (I’m guessing) uncomfortably accurate.

There’s also a very funny sequence about going to the dentist—trying to answer his inevitable and inane questions with your mouth full of gauze, picking your lip up off the floor after it’s been pumped full of Novocaine, etc. It sounds passé, but Cosby manages to breathe new life into what could have been ho-hum material as he mimics the peculiar dialogue of a numb-lipped, drugged up dental patient leaving a visit. You’ll probably get sick (or already are) of my saying this, but it’s really very funny.

Still, as good as these sets are, Cosby is at his very best when he sticks close to home. Literally.

A good deal of his inspiration clearly comes from his own domestic life with his wife, Camille, and their five children. He regales the audience with story after story of both his own childhood and his children’s exploits and how the one inevitably affected the other. Apparently, the worst spanking he ever received came after he finished a sentence that his mother began with, “I’m just SICK,” with the words, “And tired.” I can totally relate to the mom on that one.

Cosby has a gift for the frenetic (wild hair and eyes when appropriate), but he never takes it too far, instead using to his mobile features to his best advantage when necessary before schooling them into a mask of composure right before he delivers a punch line.

Although it’s certainly not necessary to have kids of your own to enjoy this show, I’m pretty sure that I laughed harder once I watched Bill Cosby Himself as the mother of two toddlers. I probably assumed before that he must have been exaggerating at least a little (and I suppose he is, but only a little) until I found myself literally repeating myself fifteen times in a row and sounding like an idiotic skipping record when trying to get my oldest to do…(you name it, I’ve probably chanted it). And that’s what’s so great about his show. It speaks to real life, making light of it while pointing out the genuine joys and frustrations of it.

When he insists that he and his wife were highly intelligent and well-educated people who never planned on babbling the words, “Come here, come here, c’mere, COME here, would you just COME HERE!” like incoherent fools while the two-year-old just stared, I could totally relate—and laugh, of course.

Cosby even manages to introduce a few new jokes about gender roles (an especially good example being the story he tells about the morning he became his kids’ hero for serving them chocolate cake for breakfast—hey! It has milk, eggs, and flower, right?—and almost got himself a permanent spot sleeping on the couch), which is an impressive feat all by itself.

Ultimately, Bill Cosby Himself is little more than an enjoyable evening on the couch, but it's one that I highly recommend if you like to laugh and particularly if you like stand-up but don’t want your ears to fall off after the third joke.

Until next Wednesday, stay picky! Your mind will thank you later.