Andy Cohen, host of Bravo's popular chat fest Watch What Happens Live, and CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper are coming to the Bay Area. The handsome TV personalities, both openly gay, are touring with AC2: An Intimate Evening with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. For some attendees, the show might serve as a peek inside their private lives: Cooper and Cohen are best friends.
"The show is like going out to a bar and hanging out with us," Cohen told the B.A.R. "It'll be dishy, a lot of really fun storytelling among friends. We have great chemistry, so we decided to take it on the road. So far we've done eight cities, and it's been great."
The show will allow audience members to line up at a microphone and ask the guys whatever they like. Expect the unexpected. Cohen reports that in Boston he was asked how big his dick was. "I couldn't believe it!" he said. "I said that I was very pleased with it �" I think it was a man."
Cohen spoke to the B.A.R. via telephone as he and Cooper were preparing for their arrival in San Francisco. The duo will appear at the Masonic Auditorium on Friday, Jan. 15, at 8 p.m., and at the Paramount Theater in Oakland on Sunday, Jan. 17, at 3 p.m.
"Being gay has been a non-issue," Cohen said. "I've always been out in my career, 23 years now. It's always been great. I'm privileged to be the only openly gay talk show host on late-night TV."
As such, Cohen has had the good fortune to interview many gay icons, including the incomparable Cher. "It was great," he recalled of the experience. "It's always nice to interview people you love and idolize. Cher was everything I wanted her to be. She was very Cher."
Prior to Watch What Happens Live, Cohen worked as a producer on CBS News This Morning, 48 Hours and The Early Show. He has co-hosted The View and Live! With Kelly, and is a regular on MSNBC's Morning Joe and The Today Show. His platform continues to grow. Sirius XM radio now offers Radio Andy, a pop culture and talk channel that will feature Cohen and some of his other friends.
"Listeners to Radio Andy not only get extended interviews I'm doing with people like Madonna and Seth Rogen, they get every part of my personality," Cohen explained. "My love of music, politics, pop culture and Housewives, with folks like Sandra Bernhard, Bevy Smith, Amy Phillips and Jon Alter."
Radio Andy might have a few things in common with the Anderson and Andy Show. "We'll talk about people we met and people we love," Cohen said. "We know each other's great stories."
Cohen pointed out that what attendees in San Francisco see and hear will not be the same show that greets viewers in other cities. "The shows are different in every city based on what's going on in our lives and current events," Cohen said. "It's a great time and a great date. If you ever wanted to hang out with me and Anderson, this is what it's like. You'll leave happy."
Tickets for AC2: An Intimate Evening with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen ($79.50-$354.50)s: www.ac2live.com