Himself
May 4, 2015 1:43 PM Subscribe
AV Club staff writer Joshua Alston attended the last stop on Bill Cosby's "Far From Finished" comedy tour this past Saturday night in Atlanta and shared his observations of what may be Cosby's last comedy show.
The husband and both used to be huge fans, and would say lines from his shows to each other, and now we can't even watch the Cosby Show reruns without feeling wrong about it. Ugh. He needs to be finished. And in jail.
posted by emjaybee at 2:07 PM on May 4, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 2:07 PM on May 4, 2015 [7 favorites]
It sounds like security was well briefed as to what sort of heckling would be allowed and what sort of heckling required a code-red response.
posted by el io at 2:09 PM on May 4, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by el io at 2:09 PM on May 4, 2015 [5 favorites]
now we can't even watch the Cosby Show reruns without feeling wrong about it
So much of this. It's knowledge you cannot "un-learn". It's so disappointing. I hope the people who suffered find some sense of closure and/or achieve the justice they seek.
posted by Fizz at 2:14 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
So much of this. It's knowledge you cannot "un-learn". It's so disappointing. I hope the people who suffered find some sense of closure and/or achieve the justice they seek.
posted by Fizz at 2:14 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Cosby comedy albums of the 60's were what we listened to on family road trips when the kids were young. My kids can do so many of the bits from memory. And they only listened to them when we traveled, they were a 'special occasion' thing. My son would always make sure the CD wallet was right up front and would want to start listening to 'I Started Out as a Child' as soon as we left the urban environment for the open road. It feels very selfish of me to hate him for ruining this memory for me.
posted by readery at 2:24 PM on May 4, 2015 [16 favorites]
posted by readery at 2:24 PM on May 4, 2015 [16 favorites]
To quote Amy Schumer, don't let the door rape you on the way out.
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:28 PM on May 4, 2015 [25 favorites]
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:28 PM on May 4, 2015 [25 favorites]
I realize there's a dogpile going on, but Clare Huxtable defended the guy.
posted by resurrexit at 2:32 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by resurrexit at 2:32 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
(Clarification: not defending the guy at all myself--just pointing out how weird that is.)
posted by resurrexit at 2:35 PM on May 4, 2015
posted by resurrexit at 2:35 PM on May 4, 2015
claire huxtable isn't a person, and so? guys like this always retain supporters, especially ones where their financial futures are so well entwined.
posted by nadawi at 2:36 PM on May 4, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by nadawi at 2:36 PM on May 4, 2015 [6 favorites]
In the meanwhile,an actress and a writer from The Cosby Show have accused Cosby of drugging and raping them.
He's a serial rapist and should be in jail.
posted by maxsparber at 2:40 PM on May 4, 2015 [9 favorites]
He's a serial rapist and should be in jail.
posted by maxsparber at 2:40 PM on May 4, 2015 [9 favorites]
For Leonard Part 6, he should have been in jail. The rest is just gravy.
posted by delfin at 2:42 PM on May 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by delfin at 2:42 PM on May 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
To Russell, My Brother Who I Slept With is one of the great comedy routines ever recorded and it was once my comfort entertainment. I try very hard to separate the art from the artist, but I'm having a very hard time doing so with him. It makes me so angry and sad.
Obviously, my feelings of sadness and betrayal pale in comparison to the horror he inflicted on his victims.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:45 PM on May 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
Obviously, my feelings of sadness and betrayal pale in comparison to the horror he inflicted on his victims.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:45 PM on May 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
yeah - the number of projects that the victims have been connected to spans a great part of his career and hits all the high points - i think that makes the second or third actress from the cosby show to mention that as the place where they met - and the story is always distressingly similar, about how he'd "mentor" them before assaulting them.
posted by nadawi at 2:45 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by nadawi at 2:45 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
He was greeted with reverence, but the kind reserved for people who, in death, have earned the right to be spoken of in flattering terms and have their transgressions overlooked.Oof. Weirdly, this makes me think of Margaret Thatcher more than anyone.
posted by psoas at 2:52 PM on May 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
For Leonard Part 6, he should have been in jail. The rest is just gravy.
I get that you were trying for humor, but that is in extraordinarily bad taste. It's not like the subject of this thread needed more examples of how scores of rape survivors coming forward isn't nearly as important to the public at large as whether their entertainment is any good.
posted by tzikeh at 2:54 PM on May 4, 2015 [44 favorites]
I get that you were trying for humor, but that is in extraordinarily bad taste. It's not like the subject of this thread needed more examples of how scores of rape survivors coming forward isn't nearly as important to the public at large as whether their entertainment is any good.
posted by tzikeh at 2:54 PM on May 4, 2015 [44 favorites]
Last weekend, I literally threw my once-beloved Cosby vinyl records in the garbage. Actually took them outside to the trash bin and took them out of the sleeves and broke them against the side, cussing and crying. I hate what he did, and the lies he told the whole time. I believed him. I believed he was a great dad. If you can't trust Dr. Huxtable, who the fuck can you trust?
I still shake with anger when I think of him. And the betrayal he represents in my life is absolutely nothing compared with that of the women that his path crossed.
posted by jbickers at 3:35 PM on May 4, 2015 [31 favorites]
I still shake with anger when I think of him. And the betrayal he represents in my life is absolutely nothing compared with that of the women that his path crossed.
posted by jbickers at 3:35 PM on May 4, 2015 [31 favorites]
Paraphrasing something I saw on Twitter a while back (and can't find now): One of the things comedians try to do to be "edgy" is start off with a joke that seems harmless and then suddenly end the joke with a dark twist. It's beginning to look like Bill Cosby may be the edgiest comedian ever.
posted by rmd1023 at 4:01 PM on May 4, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 4:01 PM on May 4, 2015 [9 favorites]
I realize there's a dogpile going on, but Clare Huxtable defended the guy.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that was defending. She didn't say that the accusations were outside his character, or that she couldn't imagine him doing such things, or that he was innocent of the charges.
It was *close* to defending, but *actual* defending would have looked like one of the things I just listed.
And as Phylicia Rashad ("Claire") worked with him for years, and perhaps considered him a friend, it's certainly understandable how she wouldn't want these charges to be true.
It's also apparent that she's gone out of her way *not* to discuss the charges, which certainly wouldn't put her in the 'defender' camp, per se.
As a side note, did anyone else parse that lawyers comment at the end of the "Claire" link and note that the lawyer didn't actually claim his client was innocent?
posted by el io at 4:11 PM on May 4, 2015
I wouldn't go so far as to say that was defending. She didn't say that the accusations were outside his character, or that she couldn't imagine him doing such things, or that he was innocent of the charges.
It was *close* to defending, but *actual* defending would have looked like one of the things I just listed.
And as Phylicia Rashad ("Claire") worked with him for years, and perhaps considered him a friend, it's certainly understandable how she wouldn't want these charges to be true.
It's also apparent that she's gone out of her way *not* to discuss the charges, which certainly wouldn't put her in the 'defender' camp, per se.
As a side note, did anyone else parse that lawyers comment at the end of the "Claire" link and note that the lawyer didn't actually claim his client was innocent?
posted by el io at 4:11 PM on May 4, 2015
This is how I think Bill Cosby should be remembered
posted by Hoopo at 4:14 PM on May 4, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Hoopo at 4:14 PM on May 4, 2015 [6 favorites]
A few years ago--long before all this was generally known, certainly years before I was aware of it--Cosby came to Georgia on a tour, and the review of that show was quite different. The crowd was boisterous, loud, and (so the article made it sound) gleefully uncontrolled, shouting up requests for him to do old material, which he'd keep refusing, reminding them he was doing new stuff. Lots of back and forth. Lots of insistence from either side. A tension that sounded, to my young ears, really uncomfortable, but the audience was apparently having fun.
What a contrast with the restrained (or tepid) reaction Alston saw. Funeral indeed.
posted by mittens at 4:15 PM on May 4, 2015
What a contrast with the restrained (or tepid) reaction Alston saw. Funeral indeed.
posted by mittens at 4:15 PM on May 4, 2015
One thing I just realized that's kind of disturbing. On The Cosby Show, Cliff was a OBGYN... and in some episodes he even seemed to have his office in the house? I don't know, it just seems really unpleasantly creepy and gloating in retrospect.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 5:18 PM on May 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 5:18 PM on May 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm glad this all happened while he was still alive, not like what happened with Jimmy Savile. I'm glad he had to face down that half-empty theater and know that being a comedic genius doesn't mean you can do whatever you please to other people without it coming back around to you in the end. He may never see charges, but he'll die knowing he's hated.
Paraphrasing something I saw on Twitter a while back (and can't find now): One of the things comedians try to do to be "edgy" is start off with a joke that seems harmless and then suddenly end the joke with a dark twist. It's beginning to look like Bill Cosby may be the edgiest comedian ever.
I feel bad for laughing.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:32 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Paraphrasing something I saw on Twitter a while back (and can't find now): One of the things comedians try to do to be "edgy" is start off with a joke that seems harmless and then suddenly end the joke with a dark twist. It's beginning to look like Bill Cosby may be the edgiest comedian ever.
I feel bad for laughing.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:32 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
he'll die knowing he's hated.
I think you may be underestimating the power of denial.
posted by caryatid at 5:58 PM on May 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think you may be underestimating the power of denial.
posted by caryatid at 5:58 PM on May 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
> This is how I think Bill Cosby should be remembered
Popping in here to give a shout out to the artist behind that piece, as the name is not included in the link. It's Justin Hager. (Disclosure: I used to drink beer with him in SF dive bars. Also, he's a very nice dude.)
posted by toofuture at 7:31 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Popping in here to give a shout out to the artist behind that piece, as the name is not included in the link. It's Justin Hager. (Disclosure: I used to drink beer with him in SF dive bars. Also, he's a very nice dude.)
posted by toofuture at 7:31 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
readery: It feels very selfish of me to hate him for ruining this memory for me
No, you shouldn't feel bad about this. You approached his comedy in good faith and shared it with your kids. I have fond memories of his comedy turning me on, as a kid, to how good standup could be, partly because of some of the material you cited.
But here's the thing. At this point, it's impossible to separate the artist from his art -- precisely because it's this highly personal standup that we now know is the product of a serial rapist worth somewhere close to a half billion dollars.
More to the point, a serial rapist who flaunts his own perceived invulnerability on some sad, last-gasp tour where he drag some of his once-beloved material through the muck and mire of the horrific things he did to women as one last "fuck you, I can do whatever I want to people" act. He's used to having the control. Now that he's losing it, watching him flail is just sick.
And in the process of so doing, he's holding up other sexual assault victims to the "Nah, maybe it's not true" traumatization all over again.
Forty. Women. Have. Said. The. Same. Thing.
People will still shell out money -- in good faith -- for the tickets to his shows. They are validators and applauders of rape. So also: fuck those people in the eye. They are shit. They are the same type of people who handed Jimmy Savile the keys to children's hospitals.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:43 PM on May 4, 2015 [7 favorites]
No, you shouldn't feel bad about this. You approached his comedy in good faith and shared it with your kids. I have fond memories of his comedy turning me on, as a kid, to how good standup could be, partly because of some of the material you cited.
But here's the thing. At this point, it's impossible to separate the artist from his art -- precisely because it's this highly personal standup that we now know is the product of a serial rapist worth somewhere close to a half billion dollars.
More to the point, a serial rapist who flaunts his own perceived invulnerability on some sad, last-gasp tour where he drag some of his once-beloved material through the muck and mire of the horrific things he did to women as one last "fuck you, I can do whatever I want to people" act. He's used to having the control. Now that he's losing it, watching him flail is just sick.
And in the process of so doing, he's holding up other sexual assault victims to the "Nah, maybe it's not true" traumatization all over again.
Forty. Women. Have. Said. The. Same. Thing.
People will still shell out money -- in good faith -- for the tickets to his shows. They are validators and applauders of rape. So also: fuck those people in the eye. They are shit. They are the same type of people who handed Jimmy Savile the keys to children's hospitals.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:43 PM on May 4, 2015 [7 favorites]
Man did the Onion nail Temple University before Bill Cosby resigned from the board of Trustees.
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:57 AM on May 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:57 AM on May 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
You know, there's often this challenge in separating the artist from the art.
This instance, not so much...
posted by mikelieman at 3:34 PM on May 5, 2015
This instance, not so much...
A Bill Cosby stand-up performance was once so tame as to ensure its own safety, but now a Cosby set is police-state comedy. Venue security ran attendees through a dual checkpoint. At the first checkpoint, security asked me for a photo ID to check against a “Security Watch List,” which at a glance, appeared to contain around 125 names.And there's the legacy...
posted by mikelieman at 3:34 PM on May 5, 2015
So now that early Cosby albums are off-limits for family-with-kids road trips, what's a good substitute?
posted by gottabefunky at 4:10 PM on May 5, 2015
posted by gottabefunky at 4:10 PM on May 5, 2015
Audiobooks for spoken word, and TMBG's kid-focused stuff for music?
posted by rmd1023 at 4:20 PM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rmd1023 at 4:20 PM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
So now that early Cosby albums are off-limits for family-with-kids road trips, what's a good substitute?
The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart
posted by jbickers at 4:25 AM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart
posted by jbickers at 4:25 AM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
Bill Hicks?
No.
I have some audiobooks of Winnie the Pooh with Dame Judi Dench and Stephen Fry, and all of the Discworld audiobooks would work...
posted by mikelieman at 6:47 AM on May 6, 2015
No.
I have some audiobooks of Winnie the Pooh with Dame Judi Dench and Stephen Fry, and all of the Discworld audiobooks would work...
posted by mikelieman at 6:47 AM on May 6, 2015
Winnie the Pooh - Chapter One - In which we are introduced (1 of 2)
Cast
Pooh: Stephen Fry
Piglet: Jane Horrocks
Eeyore: Geoffrey Palmer
Kanga: Judi Dench
Roo: Finty Williams
Rabbit: Robert Daws
Owl: Michael Williams
Christopher Robin: Steven Webb
Narrators: Judi Dench & Michael Williams
posted by mikelieman at 6:48 AM on May 6, 2015
Cast
Pooh: Stephen Fry
Piglet: Jane Horrocks
Eeyore: Geoffrey Palmer
Kanga: Judi Dench
Roo: Finty Williams
Rabbit: Robert Daws
Owl: Michael Williams
Christopher Robin: Steven Webb
Narrators: Judi Dench & Michael Williams
posted by mikelieman at 6:48 AM on May 6, 2015
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Far FromFinished”Fixed.
I hate that someone I looked up to turned out to be this. But fuck him. Nostalgia isn't worth the price of the many women who have been harmed and abused the way they were. Nothing funny about that at all.
posted by Fizz at 1:57 PM on May 4, 2015 [18 favorites]