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| Cohen (L) and Cooper (R) Dish! (MATT) |
It was Silver Fox Night at the Seattle Paramount Theater when the long awaited AC2 Tour arrived in the Emerald City and not really knowing if this was a sit-down interview or a comedy performance, but actually it was both and surprisingly most were there for Andy Cohen as Anderson Cooper was reduced down to a supporting player. Cooper did confess that this was beyond his comfort zone, and that he was getting better at loosening up.
Both Cooper and Cohen came out in J-crew sport coats and with Cohen wearing jeans and Cooper wearing slacks. We could easily call them the odd couple, but they are NOT a couple, but BFFs. Both Gay and both Silver Foxes and around the same age, In a Montage, Anderson tells Andy's story of growing up in St. Louis and obsessed with Celebrity, while Andy tells Anderson's story of growing up Vanderbilt around celebrities.
Both come out and Cohen, 47, immediately gets into the Tequila, while Cooper, 48, is sipping soda (But later starts to drink out of the Tequilla bottle).
The format was essentially the filmed intro giving the background of each of them, a few minutes of back and forth repartee and then about 40 minutes of Cohen interviewing Cooper, 40 minutes of Cooper interrogating Cohen and finally Q&A with inquisitive, gushing fans. Each AC showed TV clips of highlights of the other: Cohen zingers on his show and Cooper swimming with crocodiles on “60 Minutes.” Parts of the program were scripted, and some of the stories told appear in Cohen's 2014 book, "The Andy Cohen Diaries."
Early on, the ACs bantered back and forth about having been on vacation in Croatia when Cooper got the call to head to Louisiana to cover Hurricane Katrina. The newsman told a wild story about trying to swim back to a ship so he could catch an early morning flight out of Croatia. But Cohen said Cooper should have ignored the assignment: “CNN is using you. You are their bitch.”
Both ACs had Madonna stories. Cooper explained that he was summoned onstage recently by Madonna at Madison Square Garden to dance with her during – of course – “Unapologetic Bitch.” Cohen was on a flight with Madonna three years ago and when he discovered that, he asked a cabin attendant if he could take a photo of the flight manifest listing “Madonna Louise Ciccone.” Actually, the AC2 event was a lot like Madonna's concert last week in St. Paul -- minus the music, dancers, outfits and production. In other words, some catty and bitchy yakking.
Judging by the questions from the audience – more than 50 people stood in line during the nearly 35-minute Q&A -- Cohen was the big attraction. Most of the questions were related to “Real Housewives” individuals (Favorite Housewife) or his talk show (worst guest: Scott Baio).
Both have the same celeb crush: Nick Jonas. Earlier, Cooper did say that gushed over an interview with David Beckham and 60 Minutes chose to leave those parts in.
The nearly two-hour evening – there was no posing for photos except VIP Only (for $354), and Andy's book for sale with no autographs (Unless you were a VIP).
There was a priceless bit that was a filmed surprise for Cohen's 40th birthday a few years ago. Various celebs including Kelly Ripa, Jerry Seinfeld and Susan Lucci read the letters Andy wrote from camp in Wisconsin (he attended for six summers from third to ninth grade) to his mother in St. Louis -- and then his mother read her letters in response. As Cooper pointed out, Andy was the same then as he is now.
The funniest moments may have come at the show’s end, courtesy of some of the writers for Cohen’s talk show. As a takeoff on a popular bit from “Real Housewives,” the writers came up with potential taglines for Cooper. After asking fans not to tweet or video the tags, Cooper read them: “I’ve been rich and I’ve been famous and now I’m both, bitches”… “I might be the silver fox but that doesn’t make me any less of a cougar”… “I don’t keep up with the Vanderbilts; I am the Vanderbilts”… “Climate change may be real but there’s no way to turn down the AC.”
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