You may or may not have heard that comedian Bill Cosby will receive The Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence at the American Comedy Awards this year—tomorrow, in fact. It’s a ceremony that honors comedians who have impacted the entertainment industry. And boy, has Cosby.
Here’s a guy who’s been around making America laugh about family and life for five decades, in just about every medium you can think of—from stand-up comedy stages to best-selling books and albums to Jell-O Pudding Pop ads to mega-hit TV shows.
In fact, even though it’s been almost two decades since The Cosby Show cranked out its last program, it’s still a favorite with lots of families. Many considered the show to have almost single-handedly revived the sitcom genre back in the ’80s, and it was for good cause. Here was a TV show that was smart, honest, always chuckle-worthy, and best of all, safe for the whole family to watch together week after week. Tell me that ain’t a rare beast nowadays.
Even outside that family TV gold, however, Bill Cosby was a groundbreaking laugh-maker. Some will remember the great Cos was one of the first contemporary black comics to create what was, thirty or forty years ago, called “race neutral” comedy.
“This 99 percent audience looked at this man of dark brown coloring or medium brown coloring and expected me to begin to talk about race,” Cosby said about his early years, reported by ktiv.com. “I looked up at them and I waited and then I said, ‘I want to talk to you about karate,’ and they all laughed and then I knew I was home free after that.”
So, while you’re waiting for the American Comedy Awards to be handed out tomorrow, I thought you guys might just like to check out some random bits of the wonderful Bill Cosby’s funny stories and thoughts through the years. Enjoy.
The early days, back in 1965:
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy-au5jERro:550:0]
Some thoughts on dads and child-rearing:
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL1VfPlVuCE:550:0]
And a little rumination on the difference between a friend and a wife:
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF62DcUvI_0:550:0]
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