''Wonderfulness'' (1966) is the fourth album of

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

performances by

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

. The title comes from a

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

used in Cosby's television series, ''

I Spy I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...

''. This was the first of several Cosby albums to be recorded live at

Harrah's Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven go ...

Lake Tahoe, Nevada Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake ...

, by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Seven of the eight tracks are drawn from Cosby's childhood experiences; the last one, "Niagara Falls", deals with a visit to that landmark by television producer

Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-clas ...

, who hired Cosby to star in ''I Spy''. The version of "Shop" from this album differs from the track of the same title on Cosby's previous album, ''

Why Is There Air? ''Why Is There Air?'' (1965) is Bill Cosby's third album. It was recorded at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. It won the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. The final track, "Hofstra", is an expanded re-telling of the "TV Football" ...

''. ''Wonderfulness'' won the 1967 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

Track listing

Side one

#Tonsils – 15:19 #The Playground – 3:21 #Lumps – 1:39 #Go Carts – 5:40

Side two

# Chicken Heart – 12:28 #Shop – 2:33 #Special Class – 1:34 #Niagara Falls – 4:52

References

Bill Cosby live albums Stand-up comedy albums Spoken word albums by American artists Live spoken word albums 1966 live albums Warner Records live albums Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album 1960s comedy albums 1960s spoken word albums {{Comedy-album-stub