Bill Cosby: Himself

Bill Cosby: Himself. 1982 20th Century Fox and Jemmin Inc.
Written, Directed, and Starring Bill Cosby
Buy Bill Cosby: Himself at Amazon.

Filmed in Hamilton, Ontario circa 1981 or 1982, this probably is the best movie Bill Cosby ever made, since it's nothing but what he did best for so many years: stand-up comedy.

Starting out with some crowd-pleasing drug and alcohol jokes, complete with the well remembered sequence where he simulates a hardcore drinking finally throwing up, Cosby briefly steps out of his family friendly performance with one memorable joke about the appeal of cocaine:

I said to a guy, I said, "Tell me, what is it about cocaine that makes it so wonderful?", and he said, "Well, it intensifies your personality." I said, "Yes, but what if you're an asshole?"

The so-called "adult" material doesn't last too long, as Cosby follows up with the "Dentists" routine, and transitions into the fatherhood comedy after that, much of which was used in future episodes of The Cosby Show. Yes, this one performance fueled much of the early run of one of the biggest sitcoms ever, although Cosby never dared depict any one of his TV children vomiting after drinking too much, and then, thanking the toliet bowl.

Sometimes, though, I wish he had!

Highly recommended for nostalgic reasons, as this was a huge favorite for me as a kid whenever HBO would show it, and they used to show it a lot!