Irene and I went to see Bill Cosby back in 2007. We enjoyed him, and I had a number of complimentary things to say about his performance. A link to this popped up at the bottom of one of my posts as a ‘related item’.
Here in 2026 my review of Bill Cosby’s show looks pretty out of touch. By 2014 Bill Cosby’s predatory nature and use of date rape drugs was public knowledge. It makes me a bit sick to think about what kinds of things he had already done at the time we saw him in 2007.
It is impossible now to separate the man, the comedy, and the sexual crimes. I wish Bill Cosby had never walked down whatever dark path led him to harm all the women he was charged with assaulting. I liked his comedy, but the man that created it is toxic.
No excuses, but…
I won’t try to excuse the fact that i like a lot of Cosby’s old comedy. It was and still is a style that works well for me: largely devoid of cruelty, swearing, and potty humour yet still funny. Listening to a live Bill Cosby comedy show was, back in 2007, not unlike having a lively chat with a really funny friend.
Can I legitimately watch a recording of a Bill Cosby comedy set today and laugh at it? As long as Cosby gets no benefit from me watching, is there harm in that? I struggle a bit with this kind of thing to be honest. There are lots of alternative comedians to enjoy, so mostly that’s what I’ll do. But that dentist skit is still a classic, even twenty years later.
