Last week, comedy's heavyweights donned their finest embarrassing dad sweaters, broke out the bubbly—and the clip reel—and paid tribute to Bill Cosby, who was on the receiving end of the exceedingly prestigious 12th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
On hand to present the longtime-coming award (the family-friendly Cos had twice turned down the honor in objection to the 1998 profanity-laced inaugural ceremony honoring Richard Pryor) were Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, former Cosby Show costars Phylicia Rashad and Malcolm-Jamal Warner and fellow comedian and longtime pal Dick Gregory.
The erstwhile Huxtable's 45-year career was retold via show highlights, memories and, of course, jokes.
When Seinfeld and Rock took the stage together at the Kennedy Center, they recounted the 72-year-old's recent show at the Apollo Theater. Or at least they would have if they hadn't been so sartorially distracted.
"What was he wearing?" Rock asked.
"Something ridiculous," Seinfeld said. "But he did two hours—all-new material."
"I'm not that funny," Rock replied. Seinfeld concurred: "I'm definitely not that funny."
Gregory, on the other hand, was almost that funny, albeit thanks to borrowing Cosby's material.
"When the stock market crashed last September, they was going to repossess my Rolls-Royce," he said. "I said, 'Bill, what do I do?' "
Cosby's foolproof advice: "Don't park in front of the house!"
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Check out which other stars have made the red carpet rounds recently in a look through our Party Pics: Hollywood gallery.