SUMMER 2018 | artsLife 15
els, expounded upon their sturdy friendship,
and dished about newsmakers and pseudo-
stars orbiting in the reality-TV galaxy. They
also took questions from the audience —
some serious, others not so much.
“Over the years, a lot of people have told
Andy and me that they’d just like to hang out
with us,” Cooper says. “So we try to make our
shows like a conversation between friends.
It’s not a heavy evening about politics and
world events. I talk about those kinds of things
all day. Besides, Andy is one of the funniest
people I know.”
Cooper and Cohen aren’t romantically
involved; an early attempt by well-meaning
friends to set up a blind date for the two
went awry. They discovered their chemistry
on stage during a 2014 appearance at New
York City’s 92nd Street Y to discuss Cohen’s
gossipy bestseller, The Andy Cohen Diaries:
A Deep Look at a Shallow Year.
“My manager was in the audience, and
she said, ‘Hey, you guys should take this on the
road,’” says Cooper, who’s also a correspondent
for 60 Minutes. “That had never occurred
to either of us. We were just having fun.”
Since then, the two have done about 40
shows. There haven’t been more because
both men are so immersed in their respective
careers. “We go out when we can,” says
Cooper. “It’s really not work to talk to your
best friend for a couple of hours — and have
people actually show up to listen.”
Cooper, whose button-down image contrasts
with that of the often-outrageous Cohen,
says audiences are sometimes surprised
to discover that he has a sense of humor —
albeit more droll than that of Cohen. “Everyone
expects Andy to be the funny one,” he
says. “But people say that the show reveals
the best version of me that you’ll ever see.”
Still, even when he lets his silver hair down,
Cooper is the more reserved of the two. When
they arrive in a city, he says, Cohen likes to
Cooper, whose button-down image contrasts
with that of the often-outrageous Cohen, says
audiences are sometimes surprised to discover
that he has a sense of humor. The pair are shown
laughing it up on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (above)
and counting down the minutes until midnight on
CNN New Year’s Eve Live (right).