Cooper, Cohen pal around at Cobb Energy

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,” Cooper, now evening host of “Anderson Cooper 360,” said 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 on June 20.

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 multimedia 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.

Although Cooper and Cohen are not romantically involved, they have traveled 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.”

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.”