Wonderfulness

Performer: Bill Cosby
Engineer: Bruce Staple
Producer: Roy Silver
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Bill Cosby (vocals). Recording information: Harrah's, Lake Tahoe, NV. Photographer: Ed Thrasher. Anyone whose first experience with Bill Cosby was through the cartoon FAT ALBERT may be surprised to discover that some of those characters and stories date back to the comedian's earliest stand-up work. (Anyone whose first experience with Cosby only dates back to his 1980s role as Cliff Huxtable has been missing out altogether.) "Chicken Heart," a remembrance of listening to scary radio dramas (the story later became an entire "Cosby Kids" episode), is one of those classic Cosby combinations of narrative, character voices, and microphone sound effects that picks up hysterical velocity at the story's climax. WONDERFULNESS has a number of other standout pieces. "Tonsils" tells the story of a hospital visit in which Cosby and his two fellow patients are promised "all the ice cream in the world you can eat." "Go Carts" recounts a race down Dead Man's Hill ("It was called Dead Man's Hill because it went straight down, for about a quarter of a mile, and then it emptied out onto a freeway"). "The Special Class" and "Niagara Falls," about a couple of adults, are just as funny.

From the 1960s into the 21st century, Bill Cosby's family-friendly comic routines and accessible "everyman" persona have made him one of the most recognized and admired performers in the United States (and perhaps the biggest television star of the 1980s). His comic themes are universal, ordinary experiences delivered in Cosby's trademark rhythmic, relaxed style, with a healthy dose of self-mockery. Cosby scored an unlikely top 10 hit with a parody of Stevie Wonder's "Uptight."

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