By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Monday, June 15, 2015
In the early 2000s, a mutual friend tried to set up CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper and then CBS News journalist Andy Cohen. Their memories of how the first phone call went differed.
"I will say after a few minutes on the phone with Andy, I realized this was not going to work out," said Cooper, now evening host of "Anderson 360," during a recent phone interview.
"I thought we had a great call," said Cohen, now host of Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" and the brainchild of all those "Real Housewives" reality shows. "I thought we were going to get together."
While love didn't blossom, they did become best buddies. So much so, they are basically goofing around on stages across the nation, including Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Saturday, June 20. (Buy tickets here. As of Friday, it appears a bit more than 2,000 seats have been filled out of a 2.750 capacity.)
Neither man sings or dances or tells stand-up jokes. Instead, they will interview each other and take questions from the audience.
"I interviewed him after his second book came out," Cooper said, "and we had so much fun. People were just laughing, having a great time. You know what? Let's take this on the road! We've done Boston, Miami and Chicago. It gets more fun every time we do it. It's like hanging out with us in Andy's clubhouse, the live version."
"We push each other in good ways," Cohen added. "I think for Anderson, in dangerous ways. We like to see how far the other will go in telling stories we usually tell behind the scenes privately to each other. We constantly try to embarrass each other."
And there's a multi-media element. Each throws out pictures and videos of the other in the big screen. "We never know where the night is going to go," Cohen said.
Cohen, as the pop culture maven, dishes and laughs and drinks on his show "Watch What Happens Live." While Cooper will giggle and joke around a bit on his CNN show, he's usually the sober guy, conveying news about ISIS or the latest natural disaster.
Cooper, in describing his first impression of Cohen, said he felt Cohen was a bit too loosey-goosey for him.
"The way you tell this story, you make yourself sound like G.I. Joe!" Cohen said.
"I was obsessed with G.I. Joe as a child!" Cooper noted.
"And every costume possible!" Cohen teased.
"My childhood was spent in costume," Cooper said. "And I tried to shave G.I. Joe's head. His hair wasn't short enough for me!"
Although Cooper and Cohen are not romantically involved, they have vacationed together despite very different vacationing styles.
"He really goes far to take a four-hour nap!" Cohen said.
"We did our show in Miami," Cooper said. "He got down there two days before me. He told me to meet him at the pool. It was like a 'Real Housewives' reunion. He was holding court. He knew everyone there. I took one look, went to my room and didn't leave until the show."
"We come together for meals," Cohen said. "We get along well at meals."
Another commonality between the two is comedienne Kathy Griffin, who had her own show on Cohen's Bravo network and co-hosts the New Year's special every year on CNN with Cooper. Would they be able to entice her to pop in as a surprise guest?
"If someone wrote Kathy a check," Cohen said, "that's very motivating."
Cooper admits the audiences tend to be more "Housewives" junkies than CNN lovers. "It's mostly a girls' night out," Cohen said.
"Occasionally, you see a husband with a bewildered look on his face in the audience," Cooper said.
The CNN veteran admits to being a "Housewives" fan. "I was a very early NeNe Leakes fan," he said. "I went on 'Ellen' talking about her before Ellen had even seen the show. In fact, I am probably the only anchor ever drunk dialed by NeNe. She was in a car with Andy and Andy gave her my number. She was yelling about being tardy to the party."
CONCERT PREVIEW
Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen
8 p.m. Saturday
$75-$350 plus fees
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta
About the Author
