Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not the whole story..., February 14, 2002
I have watched the performance film version of Bill Cosby Himself
many times, and the comedy never gets old. I watched it for the first time when I was seven years old, and I still love it today(I'm 25 now). That being said, the film version of these routines are far superior to the audio version. First of all, not all of the routines in the film are included on the CD(the first two--"Drinking Alcohol" and "Smoking Drugs" are missing).
Secondly, as was pointed out by another reviewer, most of the laughs heard in this production are due to Cosby's facial antics and body language. Hence, you're not going to get the full effect hearing only the monologue. Finally, a few of the routines that ARE included on the disc are not complete; they have been edited for time.
Still, one can not get around the fact that, despite the flaws, the material on this disc is HYSTERICALLY FUNNY. It is Bill Cosby in top form, and I honestly do recommend buying this CD if you've never seen these routines.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The quintessential Bill Cosby comedy album, August 28, 2004
I still have vivid memories of being a kid and watching Bill Cosby do his The Dentist sketch on a show called Solid Gold. It was easily the funniest thing I had ever heard in my life, and I went around telling everyone just how hilarious Bill Cosby was. At the time, I only knew Cosby from his Picture Pages segments on Captain Kangaroo and the Fat Albert cartoons, and I actually felt like some type of visionary when a little television vehicle called The Cosby Show debuted soon thereafter based to a large degree on the comedy you will find on this album (and the longer video from which these tracks were taken). A few of the skits in this performance were translated almost directly to the screen in the show's first few episodes.
Bill Cosby, Himself video is hilarious; I still laugh every time I listen to it, no matter how many times I've heard the routines. There was a time when I practically had The Dentist memorized. Cosby's humor resonates so well with audiences because he is describing and joking about things we all know and understand to some degree. He doesn't need to use foul language or tell dirty jokes in order to reach his audience. He just comes in and starts talking about the humorous things in life.
The comic material on Bill Cosby, Himself, deals primarily with family life - marriage, children, etc. He makes the birth of his first child a hilarious journey into the delivery room, explains that parents lose a lot of their intellect as they age because of the frustrating brain damage that afflicts all of their children, explains how differently his parents treat his own children compared to the way they treated him, and describes quite vividly some of the antics of his own five children over the years.
Bill Cosby knows people, and he knows what will make them laugh; he is also one of the greatest storytellers in the world. He is at his funniest here, and I really can't imagine there is anyone out there who would not enjoy listening to Bill Cosby, Himself. If you loved The Cosby Show, you will definitely love this album.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Why?, October 21, 2002
I caught this performance on tv a little over 20 years ago and was pleased to find that it had been released on cd. It is disappointing.
WHY WAS SO MUCH OF THIS GREAT PERFORMANCE CUT OUT OF THE CD? AND WHO'S IDEA WAS IT?
They should be ashamed of themselves.
Get the video instead. For those of us who want to listen to BILL COSBY "HIMSELF" on long car trips, alas, (sigh), we shall have to wait for someone to release an uncut version.
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Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
by Bill Cosby 
