Record basics

Album name: Bill
Artist name: Bill Cosby
Year: 1973
Number of discs: two
Label: MCA Records
Collection: Selman
Distinguishing characteristics:
- Clipped top left corner
- Sticker on back: SAMPLE COPY
Buy it on Amazon: $130.00

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record, and never intentionally watched or listened to any of Bill Cosby’s work. Mostly I know him from The Cosby Show, which my parents watched when I was a child but which I did not find even remotely interesting; and from the crass commercial advertisements on television featuring his endorsement of Jell-O; and from Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, which was shown in class by teachers in my elementary and middle schools (the schools were government-operated, and the teachers were union members).

What I expected

The record claims:

“Bill Cosby is a beautiful man” (…and also very funny)

Ok. I am looking forward to an hour and a half of Bill Cosby telling his jokes.

What it was actually like

I thought that I would find many parts of this to be very funny and that I would be laughing despite myself, but actually, it was not funny at all, and I don’t think I even cracked a smile. In fact, I had a very difficult time even paying attention, and kept getting distracted by my iPhone and my dog.

Notable moments included:

Cosby making fun of how the Italian language sounds to an American, which is the perfect complement to Adriano Celentano’s Prisencolinensinainciusol
Cosby mocking his wife, who’s from the South, for liking chitterlings, and also mocking Greek people for eating tripe
Cosby telling stories about his toddler children and their diaper habits
Cosby claiming that he tried taking a bath in the toilet bowl when he was a child (“The problem with bathing in the toilet bowl is that the water is cold”)

Grade

1/5: I made it all the way to the end, but could not force myself to pay attention

Bill by Bill Cosby (Vinyl record album review)