Bill Cosby wants to change the subject.

It's not that the veteran entertainer and social activist is bored of talking about his lucrative career -- which would include wildly popular TV shows and specials and Grammy-award winning albums -- but it becomes quite clear he wants to talk football during this interview.

If you ask him about the Philadelphia Eagles, he'll be glad to give you his theory on what helped turn the team around mid-season. Cosby said head coach Andy Reid probably shared a bottle of scotch with quarterback Donovan McNabb after the team's embarrassing 36-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 23.

"I'm making this all up. I don't know if either one of them drinks," Cosby quickly points out after offering up his explanation. "Andy put the bottle down and he looked at Donovan and says, 'Donovan, from this point on, I'm going to coach like my career is counting on it. You're going to play like your career is counting on it.' And they clinked glasses and smiled at each other and threw it down."

Cosby will be sharing more of his stories -- fictional or nonfictional -- during his stand-up comedy performance at 7 and 9 p.m. this Friday at Eisenhower Auditorium. Laura Sullivan, director of marketing and communications at the Center for the Performing Arts, said the two shows have been selling "very well," with the 7 p.m. show filling up more rapidly than the later one.

One would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't at least heard of Bill Cosby. The entertainer got his start in TV during the '60s, acting in I Spy, an espionage action show. Through this opportunity, Cosby became the first black actor to be featured in an American television drama. Later in his career, he also hosted the educational animated series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.

While this was going on, Cosby proved quite prolific, releasing numerous comedy albums and children's albums including Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs, which won a Grammy in 1972 for Best Recording for Children.

Cosby mentions that during the '70s, there was a point when four of his albums were in the Billboard Top 10 at one time.

"That's amazing because there's no music, no singing," Cosby said. "Here's this guy who's saying things ... and people are identifying with it. I just took my life and began to do a narrative on it -- what I say, what I feel, what comes at me."

By presenting stories anyone with a family can identify with, Cosby allows virtually everyone in his audience to connect with him in one way or another. And by making the content enjoyable for every member of the family without fear of dirty humor, his voice becomes all the more distinct.

"His stuff is always relatable," Ryan Simmons (senior-media studies) said. "He's always got something where you can say, 'Oh I went through that' or 'I know exactly what he's talking about.' "

Simmons, president of the Penn State club Full Ammo Improv, said he appreciates the fact Cosby can get an audience laughing without resorting to "blue" humor.

"When someone can go through an entire career and not resort to blue -- which means go dirty -- he's a god basically. He's really got a gift," Simmons said. "It's harder to do a clean act like Cosby. When you swear, you say dirty things and you get a lot of laughs."

Dan Miller (sophomore-economics and accounting) said many comedians today use dirty language as a crutch to make people laugh.

"Bill Cosby uses nothing as a crutch," Miller said. "He relies on family and everyday life and never hurts a soul with his comedy. He is never offensive."

Miller has been a fan of Cosby's work for several years. He has purchased every Cosby album and saw him perform live in Pittsburgh three years ago.

"I've seen Bill Cosby live and even if you have heard all of his material you'll hear new things. He got up there and just talked and it was still great," Miller said. "He did all new material because he's pretty much getting up and giving a lecture with all this fresh topical humor."

Cosby compares his approach to comedy as simply a form of storytelling and recognizes his brand of humor plays it safe, compared to other comedians.

"What I do is, I do narratives and I stay linear and if you're not smiling, you're laughing," he said. "I don't think I'm putting out old-fashioned schmaltz, but I certainly am not going to go into some of the areas that I feel when I watch other comedians at work. They're sort of like battleships just firing away at whatever, hoping to hit land."

While Cosby certainly is known for his entertainment, he is also a firm activist and advocate for social change. He has written 11 books, his most recent being Come On, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors, which takes an unflinching look at the state of black America and presents ways for blacks in poverty to overcome societal challenges.

Jerry Zolten, associate professor of communication arts and sciences, American studies and arts and humanities at Penn State Altoona, said it's important to recognize Cosby was one of the first black comedians to rise to prominence without referencing his skin color.

"Cosby made no reference to race at all. Cosby was just a comedian, and that was part of his genius," Zolten said. "By being a black comedian who made no reference to being black, he was kind of illustrating that we all have a lot of things in common, regardless of skin color. In that way, I think he was part of that force of bringing black and white people together in new harmonious ways."

Not only can Cosby's sense of humor attract and unite different ethnicities, but his stories cross generational boundaries and stay relevant in a completely different time

and era.

"I grew up on The Cosby Show," said Sullivan. "Now my kids see it and they know who he is, too. He crosses generations."

The Cosby Show is a sitcom starring Cosby as Heathcliff Huxtable, head of the Huxtable family. The show lasted eight seasons from 1984 to 1992 and the show continues to run in syndication, entertaining new audiences, some of whom have been born well after 1992.

"When I'm writing consciously, I am putting whatever it is to be funny in a position so that both [generations] can understand it," Cosby said. "I'm looking forward to leaving the people with great laughter. The college students, I got a lot of good stuff for them."

At 71, Cosby still possesses that quality to tell stories that can be enjoyed by the masses without fear of embarrassment or degradation.

And one story he wanted to share was his take on the Rose Bowl, even by offering advice for any Penn Staters who are still upset over Penn State's loss in the championship game.

"Penn State students should not worry," Cosby said. "Every team they send out there [to California] meets Mickey Mouse and they get all excited and they forget how to play football. If I were head coach, I would never let them go to [Disneyland]. I would keep them in Utah until the day of the game, we'd fly in and win."