Bill Cosby: Difference between revisions

 

 

Born and raised in the Philadelphia projects, Cosby attended Temple University as a phys.ed major but eventually dropped out to become a standup comedian in the mid-1960s. He was an immediate success, in part because his material — in sharp contrast to most of the black comedians of the day — was largely apolitical, based instead around Cosby's friends and foibles growing up and the perils of raising his own family of five. Defending this choice, Cosby once noted: "A white person listens to my act and he laughs and he thinks, 'Yeah, that's the way I see it, too.' Okay. He's white. I'm Negro. And we both see things the same way. That must mean that we are alike. Right? So I figure this way I'm doing as much for good race relations as the next guy."

Naturally, in 1969, the next step was ''The Bill Cosby Show'' — no, not that one, the one that featured Cosby as Chet Kincaid, high school gym teacher. No, really, it ran two whole seasons. He even sang the theme song.

 

 

 

Much better received was his 20-odd-year side career as pitchman for Jell-O pudding. The standard spot featured Cosby mugging shamelessly while surrounded by cute moppets and — of course — lots and lots of chocolate pudding. Not at all surprisingly, they were instrumental in switching his image from young, hip urban dude to goofy sweater-wearing curmudgeon.

 

 

 

* [[Alliterative Family]]: See [[Theme Naming]] below. Cosby named all of his children with E-names.

* [[Angrish]]: "Did you ever make your mother so mad that she forgot your name? 'Come here, [[Rapid Fire Name Guessing|Roy—uh Ralph—Roquefort— Rutabaga]]—what is your name, boy? And don't lie to me, 'cause you live here and I'll find out who you are!'"

** Later in the same skit: "I used to think my father was an idiot because the man could not complete a full sentence... Now I understand ... had it've been a grown person, you'd have cursed: 'What the foul filth foul foul filth filth filth foul foul! And you're filth and foul!' But you talk to your child, you censor yourself, and you say, 'What the... Get your... I'll bust... Get outta my face!'"

* [[Creator Backlash]]: For ''Leonard Part 6'', a movie he co-produced and co-wrote but ended up begging audiences not to see.

* [[Creator Breakdown]]: Bill Cosby the Comedian died when Ennis did. Bill Cosby the Angry Old Man Who Mutters Invectives at Black Kids Who Wear Saggy Pants took his place.

* [[Ironic Echo]]:

** In the Noah and the Ark sketch:

'''Noah:''' ...How long can you tread water? }}

** Then later, when Noah's griping at [[God]] about all the ridicule he's being subjected to:

'''God:''' '''''How long can you tread water?''''' }}

* [[Ironic Echo Cut]]: In "Driving in San Francisco", after stopping on a hill so steep that he's afraid he'll roll backward as soon as he lets go of the brakes:

* [[Irony]]: Several times on the ''Revenge'' album:

** In the title track, Bill plans to hit Harold with a snowball, but Junior Barnes hits him with one instead (prompting Bill to complain [[Ironic Echo|in much the same way Harold always does]]). Bill ends up saving a snowball in his freezer, but when he goes to use it against Junior Barnes in the middle of July, he discovers his mother had found it and thrown it away. (Undaunted, he spits on Junior Barnes instead.)

* [[Lamaze Class]]: The "Natural Childbirth" routine. Cosby seems to enjoy his role much more than his wife does, even doing "macho breathing" along with her and cheering, "Push 'em out, shove 'em out, waaay out."

** And then is mightily aggrieved, during the actual birth, to discover his wife less than appreciative for all this supportive effort: [[Narrative Profanity Filter|"And on the next contraction, she told everyone in that delivery room that my parents were never married!"]]

* [[MD Envy]]: In a skit from ''Wonderfulness'' describing the day he had his tonsils removed, the young Cosby addresses an orderly: "Hey, you! Almost a doctor!"

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: In ''Himself'', Bill suggests this is the attitude many fathers take towards things they don't want to do.

** Cosby also says "shit" at one point in that same skit, which is perhaps the only time he ever said that word onstage.

** [[Disney Channel]] played a heavily edited version of the special ad nauseum in its early days. Among the cuts are the "Jesus Christ & Dammit" joke below.

* [[Secret Weapon]]: Buck Buck, a game about who can get dogpiled longer without falling down. Bill and his friends had crazy endurance, but so did the kids from [[Wrong Side of the Tracks|"the rough part of town"]]... but those kids didn't have Fat Albert.

* [[Smith Will Suffice]]: Inverted:

* [[Stand Up Comedy]]: Which eventually turned into "sit-down comedy", as Cosby took to performing while seated in a chair.

* [[Theme Naming]]: Cosby gave all five of his kids names beginning with E, supposedly for "excellence".

* [[This Is My Side]]: Figures prominently on the title track of ''To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With''.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Geffen Records]]

[[Category:Actors]]