Cosby performs for first time since fall from grace

Disgraced American entertainer Bill Cosby, pictured, returned to the stage on Monday for the first time in nearly three years, telling jokes just months before his scheduled retrial for alleged sexual assault.

The 80-year-old actor and comedian spent around an hour performing at the LaRose Jazz Club in Philadelphia at an event honouring drummer and jazz great Tony Williams.

He sat on a wooden chair, in front of the jazz quartet, dressed casually in dark pants and grey hoodie inscribed with the words “Hello Friend” spelled out in multicoloured capital letters.

There was no heckling and the audience was generally supportive, clapping and at times laughing, but the fewer than 50 people, filling only half a small venue underscored how far he has fallen from grace.

For a few minutes, he sat behind the drum kit and played some drums, before delivering a very short stand-up routine, joking about getting old and going blind, interacting with an older couple in the audience.

Announcing the event only shortly before it was due to begin, his spokesperson said the intention was to “honour his fans with a historic performance” at what was a public event with tickets sold on the door.

It was the first time Cosby performed in public since May 2015, when CNN reported that he was interrupted twice during a show in Atlanta after a string of women had come forward to accuse him of sexual assault.

He was indicted in December 2015, and went on trial in June 2017, accused of drugging and molesting a former university basketball official at his Philadelphia home in 2004.

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