OH YES.

He’s one’a the greats. Right up there with Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Martin Short and of course Robin Williams (may he rest in peace). Bill Cosby is one of those comedians who can make me laugh with a single facial expression. Or one gruesomely awesome sweater. One proclamation, stating “Theoooo likes the swirly puddin’ poppppss!”. Oh, but he is so much more. A poor kid who “didn’t know he was poor”. A guy who won the hearts of millions doing stand-up comedy, writing books,  and of course playing our favorite TV Dad, Dr. Huxtable. He is a master of comedy. He is a man I feel privileged to have seen live.

Bryan’s job earned us a spot at the company table a couple nights ago, for a local youth program aimed at keeping kids off the streets after foster care. An absolutely wonderful organization and one that Bry and I were happy to support, the evening kicked off with a cocktail hour. With Mr. Cosby as the head-liner, I wasn’t surprised to see this AMAZING list of cocktails presented at the bar:

And OF COURSE jello shots. Because what night with The Cos would be complete without them?

After a couple of drinks, we all headed into the banquet hall for dinner.

The menu consisted of a soup, entrée and the best part – dessert. I had the goat cheese tart with asparagus and was SO excited to get through it so I could dive into the CANDY centerpiece. Btw, Milk Duds might be a life-changer. Like, HOW have I not been eating these everyday of my life??

After our dinner, Mr. Cosby was introduced and slowly made his way onto the stage. The guy is 77 and yeah, he looks it. He sat down, adjusted his mic in a crew neck sweatshirt that said “Hello Friend” and – instantaneously became the comedian I remembered.

He began by talking about his childhood in the Philly projects. He recounted such details as drinking water from empty Hellman’s mayo jars and nearly setting his house (and himself) on fire on more than once occasion. He talked about his family, his parents and his granddad. Then he went into (his famous) bits about Adam and Eve and of course, The Bible. I had to squeeze Bryan’s arm in sheer excitement when he began that part.

As a kid, we had a few Bill Cosby stand-up routines on vinyl and I would sit and listen to them for hours. I still have some sections memorized. Here I was, some 20 years later and finally listening to the real thing! It was pretty amazing.

He concluded his routine in the most sincere, grateful and classy way possible. He thanked each and every one of us for being “a part of the solution” to helping kids have a better life no matter the hand they were dealt. What a guy, that Cosby. What a guy.

We drove home that night with sugar comas, sore cheeks and full hearts. Definitely a Cosby kind-of night :).