The show was tonight and it was a full house -- all 2700 seats in this 84 year old former Vaudeville house were sold. My seat was pretty good -- a little off to the right, but only 15 rows from the stage.
There was no introduction. Cosby simply appeared from right side of the stage shortly after 7 PM. Applause ensued. Cosby sat in a wheeled, armless beige desk chair for the entire performance and was stationed besides a table that had a empty glass, a green bottle of something, and a box of tissues. He was wearing a dark colored sweatshirt that said "Hello Friend" in big bright yellow letters. Eight lights beamed down on him while the rest of the place was in the dark.
He was on stage for about an hour and forty minutes and his act generally flew by. It didn't seem like that long. He said when he was a young man that he asked some girl to grow old with him, but if he knew this is how he looked when he grew old, then he would have sparred the girl the agony. The best part of his act was his closing skit. He ended the night with his classic Dentist skit and when I think back to the performance years down the line, it's what I'll remember. Here is he doing it back in 1983:
. Nothing beats seeing it in person.
Cosby was given a short standing O at the end of his act. People were raving about the performance on the way out. The crowd was generally older than I am and in some cases much older. I hardly saw anyone who looked to be in their twenties or younger. Most of the crowd was middle aged on up, so some the material probably fit them better than it fitted me. Cosby does turn 73 this year.
In the end, I'm glad I went and it was worth the 60 bucks (the cheapest seats in the balcony ran 25). Even though I wasn't probably the target audience, to say you saw Bill Cosby perform is something you can cherish forever. Chances like that don't come around often and at Cosby's age you don't know how many more tours he embarks on. I'd recommend his shows to anyone.
