Bill Cosby, Himself
by Bill Cosby
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bill CosbyDirector: Bill Cosby
Brand: COSBY,BILL
Producer: Bill Cosby
Writer: Bill Cosby
Cinematographer: Joseph M. Wilcots
Producer: Joseph M. Wilcots
Editor: Daniel J. Johnson
Editor: Ken Johnson
Editor: Rachel Igel
Editor: Steve Livingston
Producer: James B. Herring
Producer: Mary E. Waller
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-10
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of Bill Cosby, Himself
Movie Review: Cosby's greatest stand-up routines immortalized.
Summary: 5 Stars
Himself (Bill Cosby, 1983)
Back when it originally came out, I saw Himself so many times it's one of the few movies where I've actually lost count of the number of times I've seen it. I also own the album, and wore out two or three copies of it on cassette in the eighties. (Thank heaven for the CD!) I DVRed it from one of the commercial-free channels a few months ago and saved it to watch with my daughter recently; she's about the same age now I was when I first saw it, so it seemed a natural. My daughter's one of those kids who laughs at comedies, but is horrified of being seen to like things that won't be seen as cool (for example, she goes into fits of giggling when I sit her down in front of an episode of Are You Being Served? or The Golden Girls, but still professes to hate them), so I figured I'd get the same reaction here. It seems, though, that Bill Cosby is still cool. We've been going around the house intermittently singing the Chocolate Cake for Breakfast song ever since.
Cosby, of course, went mainstream (and kind of boring) in the mid-eighties with The Cosby Show and Bill Cosby Mysteries, but as a standup comedian, the man has been a king among kings since the sixties. I've always thought Himself has actually been his best set; pieces of it (including the Chocolate Cake for Breakfast song and the immortal first line of the album: "Dentists tell you not to pick your teeth with any sharp metal object. Then you sit in their chair...") have become cultural icons, quoted even by those who have no idea where they came from. Unlike the album, though, the film of Himself is not the entirely-wholesome image that Cosby kind of grew into after The Cosby Show started airing; his first monologue here, about drugs, is not off-color, but it's definitely a mature theme, and Cosby proves himself as hysterical when walking the same ground as folks like Richard Pryor and George Carlin as he is when doing the family-oriented stuff. (During my drunk years, I always used to do the "oh, toilet bowl, you're my only friend" routine when I found myself in, erm, that position.)
This is straight-out four-on-the-floor funny stuff, and it remains the finest standup video I've ever seen. Great stuff. And I now have evidence, though it's the smallest of sample sizes, that new generations are also finding Cosby as funny as us old folks. This is a must-see. **** ½
Summary of Bill Cosby, Himself
One of America's most popular comedians, Bill Cosby treats his fans to a funny, satirical and heart-warming concert at Toronto's Hamilton Place Performing Arts Center. His material ranges from marriage and the unending trials of parenthood, to the side-splitting antics of the very young, and a hilarious encounter with a dentist's drill and needle. Insightful and witty, this highly entertaining film is a rare cinematic treat, filled with all the spontaneity and electricity that only a live performance can provide.After I Spy and before The Cosby Show, Bill Cosby left his own inimitable mark on the arena of stand-up comedy in this live concert showcasing his down-to-earth observations on the rigors and joys of family life. Cosby, using only a microphone and a chair, discusses his take on raising kids and the illogical nature of children and the futility of trying to argue with a child that in the end may be smarter than you. Notable highlights include Cosby's ruminations on the meaning of the all-purpose phrase "I don't know" to kids, and Cosby describing the effect raising children has on his wife Camille's mental state and the pitch of her voice. Containing the basis for the humor of his long-running situation comedy, Bill Cosby: Himself is a polished, occasionally insightful, and frequently hilarious night of comedy from one of the longtime masters of the form. --Robert Lane
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