Why Is There Air?
by: Bill Cosby
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Music : Why Is There Air? |
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Rating: - * If you are new to this old stuff... ... I'm 39 now. My Mom used to listen to these albums when she was a teenager, and years later, she would to play them for me all the time when I was young. Instead of plopping me in front of the tv, we'd sit and listen and imagine Cosby on stage and we'd be laughing right along with the audience. I have been listening to them ever since. All these stories have held up wonderfully (no pun intended) after over 40 years. Bill Cosby is a master comedic story teller - and most of what he is telling is through real life experience. "Why is there Air" is pretty funny stuff, but not as good as Wonderfulness or Revenge. If you are new to this old stuff, I'd recommend one of those two as a first purchase. Highly recommended to anyone who has never heard Cosby's old bits, and also to anyone that wants to enjoy them again. Rating:  - * Bill Cosby; always good for a laugh! ... I got this for my son-in-law for Father's Day. He has two young children and 3 jobs so he is always on the go. It is a perfect distraction as he hurries down the road to all the places he has to be. Rating:  - * Not his best, but well worth a listen ... "Why is there Midol?" was the question I asked myself in the late 1960s when I was just a little too young to catch some of Bill's references. But, having achieved hoary middle-age, I'm catching more than I used to. "Why is There Air" (WITA) is Bill Cosby's 1965 comedy album, his 3rd album of comedy material. Bill continues to mine his childhood reminiscences, including embellished memories of what it's like to be in kindergarten, shop class and "personal hygiene" class. He also throws in some funny material about driving on San Francisco's steep streets, and a hilarious bit about getting rid of a toothache with Midol, the women's anti-cramping medicine. WITA's piece are a little longer and better developed than Cosby's previous material, and show him loosening up a little and experimenting with longer material with more obviously fictional and absurd elements. The humor on this records a little risqué by 1965 standards, though is still extremely tame by ours. When I last listened to this (surreptitiously at my cousin's house a few short years after it was released) I was rather unclear about Midol and not at all sure what jock straps were for. The standards were so tight then that Cosby even forewarned his audience that his references were not meant to be "off-color" -- the quaint term for material that was not lily white and pure. My older ears now appreciate this material more, understanding why a young man might not want to have his Midol habit broadcast to his chums. Some material might be classified as gay-unfriendly. Such were the times. But Cosby's warmth and humanity are on full display, as always. It's fun to watch Cosby honing his comedic craft. In what might have been a mistake, but may well have been a deliberate choice, his "Hofstra" piece expands and elaborates on "TV Football" piece from his previous album. Cosby tells basically the same story, about a team so bad that it desperetely needed television revenues to keep afloat. But he adds characters (the school administrator who lectures the players about not scratching while on TV), and expands on a throwaway line about signing affidavits to ensure good behavior into a definite event with concrete descriptions and times. This is not Cosby's best material, but shows him bridging the gap from his episodic material to the longer stories that became his trademark and lasting legacy. WITA records another chapter in Bill Cosby's warm-hearted and intelligent take on the American scene, altogether amazing considering the climate of racism that pervaded the country at the time. Listen to this record, delivered with no a hint of anger or bitterness, expressing casually that black men date philosophy majors, play college ball and have kindergarten memories so like those of whites that the shared experience causes recognition and laughter. I still think Bill Cosby was one of the most subversive artists of his time, making audiences forget their fundamental assumption that blacks and whites inhabited unrelated realities. In Bill Cosby's reality, we are all the same. Rating: - * Is Bill ever bad? ... This is a new purchase for me, having grown up with Bill Cosby's record. This one in particular. If you haven't heard him, well, you're really missing out. To my recollection, he's the one that got this "tell it like it is" stand-up comedian thing going. Just pee first. Rating: - * One of the all-time greatest comedy recordings!!!! ... I loved this album when I was a kid, and I STILL love it today. I STILL think it's absolutely hilarious! The best moments on the album are definately "Kindgergarten" and "Shop Class" and "Driving In San Francisco". Oh man, I love it. It's so funny. Highly recommended! |
