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Comedy Reviews - CD - Bill Cosby - 200 MPH

200 mph cd cover
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Bill Cosby
200 M.P.H
Originally released 1968
Warner Brothers
35 minutes

200 M.P.H. is yet another classic though lesser-known Bill Cosby comedy CD. When comedy radio stations want to play a long track they usually go for the Noah triptych or the brilliant For Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With and not the title track of this stand-up comedy CD 200 MPH.

The flaw with this particular CD is aside from the title track there is only about 13 minutes of extra comedy.

200 M.P.H. is the story of Bill Cosby getting himself a Shelby Cobra -faster than anything Steve McQueen owns-- and living, thankfully, to regret it. The art in this track is how he gets the audience involved at first by riffing with them and taking a few jabs at Volkswagen owners (at that time, the Beetle, now all the other Volks and the New Beetle) before getting down to telling the story.

Cosby has always excelled creating the sound effects in his routine and this track is no exception. Many however, may not get the punchline to this story when he tells the deliveryman to give the car to Governor George Wallace. Wallace was a segregationist running for President at the time.

This Bill Cosby comedy CD includes one of the best relationship joke bit ever in The Wife where Cosby, unlike many other comedians who never manage to, tells his male audience how to win an argument with the wife.

To be fair, that kind of special knowledge should not be revealed in a review so you will have to listen to the track to discover Cosby's secret. The other tracks, Mothers and Fathers, The Grandfather are known territory for the Jell-O man and good stuff though not his best on the subject.

A minor track on 200 M.P.H. is Dogs and Cats. Fun stuff but we are talking Cosby standards here.

There are, believe it or not, people out there who dismiss Bill Cosby's contribution and importance to American stand-up comedy. For those few, I dare them to find any other stand-up comic who, in a 5-year period, from Bill Cosby Is A Very Funny Fellow, Right! to 200 M.P.H. has contributed so many classic, beloved, famous, still funny, and instantly recognized comedy routines.

Track List:

Mothers And Fathers
The Wife
The Grandmother
Dogs And Cats
200 M.P.H.

Other Bill Cosby Reviews

Oh, Baby: another very good if different Cosby cd. 1991 on the Geffen label.

When I Was A Kid: When I Was A Kid, originally released on the Uni label in 1971 and now available on Geffen, is a collection of childhood stories from Bill Cosby' s stand-up days after he left the Warner Brothers label.

Bill Cosby Is A Funny Fellow, Right!: probably the Bill Cosby album or comedy cd everyone is most familiar contains his classic and memorable Noah bit comprised of Noah: Right! Noah: And The Neighbor, and Noah: Me And You, Lord.

The Very Best of Bill Cosby: definitely not the very best of Bill Cosby.

To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With: Title track worth the price of the CD

Wonderfulness: Contains Chicken Heart, Go Karts, Tonsils and other good stuff

It's True! It's True!: A high school student could have done a better job with an old cassette copy, a tin can, and a piece of string

I Started Out As A Child: Contains Street Football and Lone Ranger, the rest of minor interest

Revenge: Features three back-to-back absolute classics: Cool Covers, 9th Street Bridge, Buck Buck

The Bill Cosby Collection: contains some of his most offbeat and hard to find stand-up comedy bits.

Why Is There Air?: Bill Cosby comedy CD contains $75 Car, Shop, and other good stuff

Himself: Bill Cosby DVD with The Dentist, Brain Damage, Naturan Child Birth, Chocolate Cake For Breakfast and other good stuff.

Ghost Dad: almost decent family fare

Leonard Part 6: 1987 Golden Raspberry Award winner for worst picture

Bill Cosby - Just For Laughs 2006: A giant show by the giant of comedy

Cosby And The Kids: The best Bill Cosby stand-up comedy CD compilation.

The Cosby Show - Season 3: A classic situation comedy that was excellent in its early years.

Bill Cosby - Montreal, July 25th 2009: This comedy giant is still a giant.