Bill Cosby opened his show Saturday night before a full house at the Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce with a riff on the city. When the audience was unable to tell him wherefore the fort or its size, he made it clear “This is not special class.”

The audience roared. And roared throughout the hour and 45-minute show, talking back to the comedian, clapping and apparently having a good time.

Cosby, 71, built his show around Thanksgiving, which seemed a bit odd in the middle of March. Delivered from a chrome and leather chair positioned center stage, he railed against vegetarians who insist on eating foods that “taste like” instead of vegetables.

A story about tofu sausage with insides that looked like the inside of a vacuum bag, brought down the house.

Longer bits on deep-frying turkey, eating so much that “muscles and tissues began ripping” and an attempt to get the recipe for a coveted stuffing were hilarious.

Cosby took the audience back to a 1960s Christmas when he, his wife and children visited a Vermont tree farm to cut their own Christmas tree. His wife thought his sawing down the blue spruce was romantic.

Sliding from his chair onto the floor of the stage, Cosby pantomimed his attempt at cutting down the tree until he heard his wife say: “Is that a wolf?”

His family returned to the farmhouse, he said, while he wielded the saw cutting air just to show the wolf who was boss.

“Animals do not eat crazy meat,” he explained.

When he joined the family in the farmhouse, his wife asked what they would do about the tree.

“I’m a millionaire,” he said. “I am going to hire someone with an electric saw to cut one down and I am going to hold your hand while he is doing it.”

There was a lot of advice for the newly married, especially for husbands who may have needed a little coaching when it came to the fairer sex. And if you thought chess was a game of skill and strategy you would have been wrong.

“It’s about marriage,” Cosby told the crowd. “The queen moves all over the joint. The king moves one square always cowering behind something – a simple pawn. She’s out there killing all his friends and he can’t even capture anybody without getting into trouble.”

Dressed in a simple gray sweatshirt with primary-colored letters spelling “Hello Friend,” khaki slacks and Hush Puppies, he seemed a slightly older Dr. Huxtable.

He is a master at comic timing and his symphony of eye-rolls, eye popping and silly smiles were irresistible.

– Marilyn Bauer

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 at 10:41 am and is filed under Community events, Entertainment, Fort Pierce. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.