GREEN & GLOVER: On the carpet

Cos for celebration

Our colleague Sonny Bunch worked the red carpet Monday at the Kennedy Center, where America’s favorite ‘80s dad, Bill Cosby of the decade’s defining sitcom, “The Cosby Show,” was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

One of the first stars spotted by Sonny was Sinbad, who, you may recall, was on that other ‘80s show and “Cosby” spinoff, “A Different World.”

Sinbad explained that Mr. Cosby used entertainment to break social barriers and demonstrated that blacks and whites could work together.

“To watch a brother on TV with a white partner, it was crazy for that time,” he reflected, referring to Mr. Cosby’s role on “I Spy” opposite white co-star Robert Culp. “It meant there were no limits to what we could be.”

“Like Miles Davis, Cosby brought new notes, notes that we had never heard before and might not hear again,” Sinbad continued.

Among the other black artists in the house Monday night was funnyman Chris Rock, who, our spy tells us, had his driver idle by the curb of the Kennedy Center as he waited for Jerry Seinfeld, his partner in an opening skit, to arrive.

Was Mr. Rock hoping to bask in some of Mr. Seinfeld’s glory by walking the red carpet with the star of the defining sitcom of the ‘90s?

Drinking games

Do young Washingtonians really drink that much, or are they just averse to recycling their drinking glasses?

We found ourselves pondering this question recently at the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Fall Fete: A Nautical Affair. The soiree packed in nearly 1,000 of the capital’s dandy young professionals for a fundraiser for the museum’s various educational and outreach programs.

Within two hours, the chirpy smiles on the black-tie crowd were turning into grimaces as bartenders were sheepishly explaining to guests that they could no longer serve drinks because, alas, they had run out of glasses and ice.

We spotted some attendees resorting to tacky frat-party-style plastic cups, the kind these well-heeled types probably had not touched since college.

“And we paid $200 for this?” we heard being bandied about among the event’s “captains,” those who had paid top dollar for “all benefits of VIP plus: access to the Captains-only bar with endless bubbly; possession of the luxurious Captains gift bag; and transportation to the VIP after-party, courtesy of Reston Limousine,” according to the event’s Facebook invite.

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