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Show 00 (f) O o Cosby's great Witherspoon or without RIGHT: Cosby is more than a comic; he's a graphic image. Far Right: The huge, domed 15,000 seat arena dwarfs all inside. Below: Jimmy Witherspoon and group rock on as Aaron Jones, undaunted Utonian photog., goes in for the big one. America's outstanding example of Black capitalism, Bill Cosby, opened the series of performer engagements scheduled for the new Special Events Center. Prior to the as always excellent Cosby there came Jimmy (the Spoon) Witherspoon, singer par excellance and his blues/rock band. Witherspoon's performance was practically an alien art form to the Salt Lake audience, who were unprepared for the sheer emotional power a good soul sound has. By the time his music had flowed through several blues numbers into "God Bless The Child," there wasn't an unriveted attention in the entire Dome. A really authentic experience in music. The audience was ready when Cosby came on. Well-warmed and receptive, it practically adopted him when he asked that the blinding spots be killed and the overhead lights be turned on so that he "could see the place." From there on, it was pure laugh and entertainment. Cosby's running humor deals primarily with situations of real life and is peopled by characters so vivid that their very freshness is funny commentary on human nature. When Cosby tells about his wife having a baby, she HAS A BABY. An entire audience learns to share and even participate in Cosby's basic sense of the essential humor in living. 40 |