They were given a standing ovation before they even said any words. On Oct. 15, Bravo producer, host of “Watch What Happens Live” and Clayton High School graduate Andy Cohen returned home to St. Louis with longtime friend and CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper for “deep talk and shallow tales” at the Fabulous Fox Theatre.
The “Welcome Home Andy” message which blared across the Busch Stadium backdrop as the two television stars entered the stage probably helped arouse the standing ovation. But the mere presence of these two people would have been enough to bring a crowd of over 4000 to their feet regardless of the backdrop.
The premise of the show was that there was no show. The show was so rebelliously self-aware in its lack of design that the first topic Cohen and Cooper discussed after the crowd settled was how Cohen and Cooper simply came to converse for an audience. It was, as the billboard described, “an intimate evening with Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper,” but at its core, the night was a storytelling session.
Why would anyone pay to watch two people talk to each other on a stage?
The balance of Cohen and Cooper’s energies is dynamic, the vitality with which the two celebrities live is contagious, and the harmony of Cohen and Cooper’s uncontrollable laughter while telling stories of a deep-rooted friendship resonates through a theater.
For Andy Cohen, life is a never-ending party and the entertainment business is the party’s piñata.
At a young age, Cohen caught his first glimpse of the entertainment business. The entertainment business wore colorful feathers; not a single speck of its frame was dull. It was extravagant, overflowing from the base to the brim with candy.
Plenty have swung at the piñata and struck out. Cohen knew early that to penetrate the bright, elusive animal containing an ocean of flavors, hard work would be imperative.
To be happy, Cohen didn’t have to be l’invité d’honneur — he never needed to be hallowed — he simply needed to be in the room where the most eminent of people intersected, where human fireworks kindled together.
Ever since Cohen slashed open the surface of the entertainment business 26 years ago, his party hat has been tightly glued to his head.
Anderson Cooper, meanwhile, commands a room with his poise. The “Silver Fox” is awe-inspiring in person because Cooper’s face, though generally stoic, is a tapestry of adventure.
Cooper epitomizes wisdom through worldliness. He is calm, confident, and like a fox, always ready to hunt. For Cooper, hunting means tracking the most interesting story happening in the world, and instead of simply thinking about that story, becoming immersed in it — inhabiting the story.
Among Cooper’s adventures, he has flown to numerous war-torn countries, greeted hurricane Katrina, and has been face-to-face underwater with a crocodile.
The level of intrigue generated by Cohen and Cooper being in the same room made subject matter of the actual show secondary. The audience was thrilled to welcome home Cohen, who has been vocal throughout his career about his love for St. Louis, and to cheer on Cooper, who moderated the Presidential Debate at Washington University the previous week.
Cohen and Cooper had always talked about doing a show together. They knew they had onstage chemistry but the two could not progress past brainstorming. The idea for a show bloomed when Cooper’s agent, who had previously booked Bill O’Reiley and Dennis Miller for a tour, saw Cooper interview Cohen in New York for Cohen’s second book and was interested as to the type of audience the onstage personalities of Cohen and Cooper would attract.
The crowd of people at the Fabulous Fox Theater included Cardinals players Kolten Wong and Jhonny Peralta, as well as former Cardinals players Shelby Miller and Jon Jay.
Also in attendance was overnight St. Louis sensation Ken Bone, who asked a question in the Q & A which ended the show.
For Cohen, the idea of a homecoming was exciting. The St. Louis show would be the first AC Squared event with Cohen’s parents in the crowd, as well as dozens more of Cohen’s family members.
Cohen personally invited eight of his former Clayton High School teachers to the event.
But how did Andy Cohen, a man with Greyhound blood flowing through his veins, enter the fray of being a celebrity? What were the inner-workings of his mind when he was younger?
Cohen’s ideas of success and happiness formed while Cohen lived in Clayton and remained consistent throughout his life.
“I think in a weird way I envisioned everything that has happened,” Cohen said. “I wanted to be myself on TV and that’s exactly what I am. I think it’s totally logical that I work in news and work in entertainment and produce a reality soap opera.”
Cooper, who did not personally know the childhood Cohen but who has a strong pulse on Cohen’s existence through a decades-long friendship, echoed the idea that Cohen’s fundamental identity has undergone little change during Cohen’s life.
“The guy Andy was when he was seven years old is the exact same guy he is now. Andy was obsessed with celebrities then, and he still is now, so at his core, he’s the same person he’s always been,” Cooper said.
It can become easy to forget the human elements of celebrities. Cohen, like the rest of us, admits to feeling tired and cranky from time to time. But in general, Cohen, who is living his childhood dream, has an elevated sense of happiness.
“I’ve always over-indexed on the happiness scale,” Cohen said. “My resting mood is happiness. But I’m not saying I’m Mr. Sunshine all the time.”
Without closely examining Cohen’s character, it could appear as though Cohen’s heightened happiness simply formed of his becoming a celebrity. The truth about how Cohen attained happiness is far deeper than any superficial desire for him to be recognized, however. Cohen’s happiness is a result of him living in the moment. While climbing the ladder, Cohen released excessive desire and bathed in the present.
“I always felt like I was at the top. If you are happy in what you do, it will lead to further success,” Cohen said. “I was always happy in what I was doing. That’s important. I wasn’t always thinking ‘what’s the next thing.’ And I think too many young people think that way. It’s too much about where you’re going and not where you are. I think if you just calm down and focus on where you are, you can be in a really good place. If you focus too much on what’s next, you might lose sight of what’s going on, and you might also become one of those horrible people.”
Cohen’s undying belief during his climb upward that he was successful serves as a valuable lesson not only for people who want to work in the entertainment business, but also for any ambitious young adults whose dream jobs entail promotions.
To be happy, Cohen balanced his internal and external worlds — he never lost sight of his dreams, but he did not allow his dreams to impede his embrace of reality.
“When I started at CBS news, they hired me as a desk assistant and at first I was convinced I needed to be a producer. They said no, you’re 22, you’re going to be a desk assistant. And that’s what I was and I was happy,” Cohen said. “It’s not like I didn’t want promotions, but I still wasn’t ruthlessly elbowing my way up. People don’t like people with sharp elbows.”
Happiness does not alleviate nerves. For the AC Squared show in St. Louis, despite the thousands of public appearances for Cohen, the adrenaline still flowed for him before taking the stage in his hometown.
Before the St. Louis show began, Cohen said, “I do feel like there’s more pressure doing the show in St. Louis. I just want the show to be sharp. I want it to be as good as it can be.”
Cohen’s popularity has surged to such heights that he has been forced to develop a technique for meeting people enamored with him on the street.
“What I do is I take the camera from people who stop me on the street and take a selfie. I’m taking selfies all day long. I’m fast, I get a good angle, I know how to do the photo, I bang it, and I hand the photo back,” Cohen said. “It’s a quick transaction. People just want a selfie. They don’t want the interaction, they just want the proof of purchase. I have no problem with it when people stop me. If I ran into someone who I was excited about running into, then I would do the same thing.”
Cohen’s world is rich. Life is a party for the Andy Cohen on television, the Andy Cohen on stage, and the Andy Cohen from Clayton High School. Cohen is a personality, not an actor. What people view of Andy Cohen is Andy Cohen.
As Cooper said of Cohen, “Andy is completely genuine, so what you see on television is exactly who he is. Andy and I have been friends for 25 years. He’s a lot different than I am. I wish I was more like him. He’s the life of every party. There’s nothing better than traveling around, hanging out with your friend and chatting.”
