Bill Cosby – The Bill Cosby Collection

Hard to find, The Bill Cosby Collection features two 1977 recordings made by Bill Cosby for the Capitol label. The only information available on these two recordings is a track list but there is no doubt The Bill Cosby Collection is a solid 2 stand-up comedy CD set featuring some of the most original and different material from the Jell-O man.

Of course, Cosby works clean and, of course, you get stories about his childhood and his parents, but this collection is one of the very few where Cosby does observational comedy that goes beyond the family and relationship material he is best known for. The packaging makes this excellent funny CD set look like junk but it most certainly is not.

Bill Cosby fans will certainly enjoy The Bill Cosby Collection. This is not a best of compilation although the recording does feel somewhat spliced together from different sets and venues. The first of the two stand-up comedy CDs in this collection opens with Cosby’s take on the English language. This is definitely new ground for him and he is very good at it as he pokes fun at the British and imitates a few American regional dialects.

One of Bill Cosby’s best growing up bits, and one that was particularly hard to find in its complete version on any comedy CD is My Father Confused Me where Bill reveals he thought for a long time his name was Jesus Christ. There is another version of this bit available elsewhere where it is revealed Russell’s name was Damn It. This first stand-up CD is also the only instance where Cosby mentions his other brother, Bob.

The first of two CDs on The Bill Cosby Collection, My Father Confused Me . . . / What Do I Do also includes more jokes about his parents. Mothers Enunciate, The FCC And Mothers, and Mothers Will Hit You For Nothing are simply great. Again, there is a slightly different version of Mothers Enunciate on another Cosby recording but this one is excellent. Fans of Cosby’s Dentist bit will hear a very early and very early version of that classic stand-up comedy routine on this first CD.

Bill’s Best Friend seems to be the title of the second stand-up comedy CD in The Bill Cosby Collection. Again, it appears to be a 1977 Capitol / Emi recording and again the tracks seem to have been put together from different shows. Roland And The Rollercoaster is a Cosby Kids style routine. Puberty is not common comedic ground for the Cos and is as risqué as Cosby ever gets. There is not “bad language” or anything but he does cover wet dreams. His vision of a bunch of twelve year olds washing their sheets at a laundromat at five in the morning is an interesting mental picture

This second CD also includes more adult-oriented material on people’s drinking habits. Cosby also goes towards fairly standard (at the time) material with Frisbees and Let’s Make A Deal. His drug routine is also off the beaten track. The CD closes with more standard Bill Cosby fare, Parents and Grandparents.

The Bill Cosby Collection is a must for any Cosby fan. It contains some of his most offbeat and hard to find stand-up comedy bits. Check out our Bill Cosby comedy download page

The Bill Cosby Collection
My Father Confused Me . . .What Do I Do?
Bill’s Best Friend
Reissued on a 2 CD set
EMI Capito

Track list:

CD 1

The English Language
Henry Kissinger
UFO
My Father Confused Me
The Glazed Donut Monster
Mothers Enunciate
The FCC and Mothers
Mothers Will Hit You For Nothing
Fathers Are The Funniest People
Marriage And Duties
New Husbands Kill Things
The Lizard And The Mouse
Dudes On Dope
The Dentist

CD 2

Roland And The Rollercoaster
Puberty
People Who Drink
Frisbies
Chinese Mustard
Famous People
Let’s Make A Deal
Cars
Illegal Drugs
Parents And Grandparents

 

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