Joke's on Bill Cosby as Seinfeld, Rock pay tribute
By Brett Zongker, Associated Press Writer
Mon Oct 26, 8:07 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld will salute fellow funny man Bill Cosby on Monday night with the nation's top humor prize at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, along with two co-stars from "The Cosby Show," Phylicia Rashad and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
Tribute performances will range from standup to orchestra and jazz as Cosby receives the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Carl Reiner, Sinbad and Wynton Marsalis are slated to perform, as well as Willie Nelson.
On the red carpet before the show, Sinbad said he has always looked up to Cosby for breaking racial barriers and creating new opportunities for black actors and comedians.
"First of all, to have a brother on TV — with 'I Spy' — with a white co-star, that was unheard of," Sinbad said.
Rashad flew from London where she is in rehearsals for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" to be part of the show at Cosby's request. She said she expects plenty of "Cosby Show" memories.
"It was so much fun, it really was golden," she said on the red carpet. "I looked forward to waking up every morning and rushing to work."
Warner, who played Theo on the "Cosby Show," said he has been in touch with his TV dad ever since the show. Now, he said he is far enough removed to watch himself in reruns and said the show is a testament to Cosby's genius.
"He always said in 20 years he wanted the show to still be relevant, and here we are," Warner said.
Cosby made an entrance on the red carpet and applauded dozens of fans who responded with clapping.
Cosby, 72, has won other big awards, including the Presidential Medial of Freedom in 2002. Still, the Mark Twain Prize is special, he said, because Twain was the "quintessential American writer — because he held his language and his love for words in perfect American form."
He has insisted that performances at the tribute be free of profanity and that the show reflect his emphasis on education. He planned a special nod to his beloved Central High School in Philadelphia, with fellow alumnus James DePreist conducting an orchestra that will play their high school's alma mater.
First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, the vice president's wife, also attended.
"The show is very, very important to me," Cosby said in an interview. "It makes me aware that as a monologist and a writer and a performer, I've done some wonderful work."
The tribute will air Nov. 4 nationwide on PBS.
Of all his accomplishments as a comedian, actor, author and television producer, Cosby said he is most proud of "The Cosby Show." He said he carefully crafted the hit TV show the way he wanted it to look.
Seinfeld, who took over Thursday nights on NBC after "Cosby" went to reruns, said he learned how to make the jump from standup to television by watching Cosby.
"The way that he would take reality and silly putty it, I think was the biggest thing I learned from him," Seinfeld said. "It was the idea that this may be how this thing is, but you can make it into something completely different in the way you talk about it and make it into something fun."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091027/...or_prize_cosby
Joke's on Bill Cosby as Seinfeld, Rock pay tribute
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