Bill Cosby performed at a jazz club in Philadelphia on Monday night, the first time he has performed publicly since 2015, when numerous accusations of sexual misconduct began to build against the entertainer.
Taking the stage at the LaRose Jazz Club in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood to a mostly African-American crowd of about 50 people, Cosby wore a grey hoodie with the words “hello friend” written in colorful letters. The freewheeling performance had him scat-singing with upright bass accompaniment. He
He spun tales about his quiet Uncle William who loved to drink and the birth of his younger brother when he was a kid growing up in public housing. And the 80-year-old riffed on the themes of aging and his struggle with blindness.
“You laugh when blind people walk into things. And guess what? Blind people laugh when sighted people fall down,” Cosby said. “Ha ha ha ha.”
Bill Cosby, sitting on a stool in a hoodie at a Philly jazz club, telling stories and working the crowd. No mention yet of his looming trial on sexual assault charges. pic.twitter.com/D7qldKi79B
— Bobby Allyn (@BobbyAllyn)
Cosby’s representatives invited the media to the performance just two hours before it started.
“Be-dee-bum. Ba-de-do-wee. We-bum. Ve-Vo. Dee,” Cosby scatted. “That’s it,” said Cosby, as the bass line mimicked his direction. “Just round it out. Round it out. Not too many notes. Just keep it there.”
The room lit up with laughter after an exchange with Mekhi Boone, an 11-year-old drummer who relieved Cosby from his drumming duties.
“Who am I?” Cosby asked the boy.
“Bill Cosby,” Boone replied.
“And what do I do?” he said
“A comedian,” Boone said.
“I used to be a comedian?”
“Used to” is the operative phrase. Cosby’s comedy career was shaken after dozens of women accused him of sexual abuse stretching back decades….
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