Bill Cosby’s status as a legendary comedian took a huge hit after becoming embroiled in a criminal sexual assault case, but returned to his stand-up roots this week with an appearance at a Philadelphia jazz club.
The former sit-com star took the stage at the LaRose Jazz Club in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood to a mostly African-American crowd of about 50 people, according to NPR.
For nearly an hour, Cosby told jokes and stories about his past. At one point, a child in the audience came onstage for an exchange with Cosby, who asked the 11-year-old boy if he knew who he was.
“You used to be a comedian?” the boy responded.
“I used to be a comedian?” Cosby said with mock exasperation, according to Philly.com. “You can sit down now.”
One thing the actor didn’t address was his recent mistrial for sexual assault. After a ten day trial and six days of deliberation, the seven men and five women of the jury were unable to come to a unanimous decision. During this trail, the comedian was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault stemming from a 2004 incident involving former Temple University basketball staffer Andrea Constand.
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Born and raised in Compton, California, Jessica Bennett began her career as an intern at The Oakland Post, and later, The Source Magazine. She went on to write for respected hip hop publications such as DJ Booth and Hip Hop DX before becoming the Urban Editor of pop culture website, Wetpaint.com. She joined Ebony as the Entertainment Editor August 2017. Bennett has interviewed such names as Vanessa Williams, Spike Lee, Tyra Banks, Forest Whitaker, Magic & Cookie Johnson and several others.