One of the legends of comedic history was back for his 19th performance in Iowa on Friday. Bill Cosby, the man responsible for everything from “Fat Albert” and “I Spy” to “Picture Pages” and “The Cosby Show,” came to the Des Moines Civic Center for two sold-out performances.

Unlike the packed audience, the stage was sparse, with only an Oriental rug and a chair with a sweatshirt draped over it.

Although Cosby is 65, nearly everyone in the crowd was older. A few families were sprinkled throughout, but the audience seemed to be 50-and-up or 16-and-below.

Cosby came out on stage and immediately received a standing ovation from many in the crowd. Cosby looked as casual as ever, wearing sandals, socks, sweatpants and a Pennsylvania Athletics sweatshirt. But he didn’t wait long to remark on his friendly confines.

“I’ve been in Iowa enough to be confused. People in Iowa don’t have low self-esteem about anything,” Cosby remarked, setting a theme that he’d follow for the rest of the evening, frequently commenting that since he was in Iowa, it was OK if he forgot a joke or lost track of where he was heading.

Looking very sedate, Cosby asked for a box of tissues and a trash can, but offered an explanation. “I’m not depressed. I want you to know that,” he said. “I’m just old.”

Soon, however, he had returned to the material that has made his career — discussing the nature of marriage and its original depiction in the Bible.

“God made light, and said it was good. If I make a peanut butter jelly sandwich,” he paused, “it’s fantastic, it’s not good! You’ve got to be pretty sure of yourself to just give yourself a ‘good.’ “

Touching on the difficulty of Genesis, he continued to illustrate his problems with the person who wrote down the Bible, totally mangling God’s words. He joked that the idea of Adam needing the help of a mate to care for a garden that was God-made and totally perfect must have been an error in the writing. Ultimately, it led to the power of women in the home.

“Here’s the thing. They eat the fruit off the tree of knowledge and then hide from God. Obviously, the fruit hadn’t kicked in yet,” Cosby quipped, drawing applause from the audience.

“I thought it was hilarious,” said Brian Uhl, 13, of Des Moines. “Some parts I didn’t get, but what I got was great. I thought the part about the wives being the boss was the best. Even though I’m not married, I can still see it.”

Cosby spent the majority of his time discussing marriage and children, explaining that the power of wives is universal. Regardless of who the husband is, the wife will always be in charge, waiting to tell her husband to get off the couch.

“I’ll bet you a year’s salary against your one-day’s pay that because of what [President Bush’s] wife said, he can never eat pretzels alone again … because she’s the boss,” Cosby said.

Cosby took a good chunk of time in the middle of his performance to talk with the people in the front two rows, mostly people in wheelchairs or with health problems. After discovering that a woman in a wheelchair had Parkinson’s, Cosby said “I can’t catch that, can I?” and laughed.

From anyone else, this would seem an act of sheer cruelty, but from this elder statesman of comedy, it just seemed to be good clean fun, and the people he talked to seemed to enjoy it more than anyone.

“I thought he was really best at just interacting with the audience. He had a real rapport with people, even if it seemed harsh at times,” said Michael Dunn, of Des Moines.

Cosby was funny throughout his performance, but somehow it seemed to have been done before. He can be excused for not exactly breaking new ground after more than 30 years in the business, but his performance just seemed a little too safe, without the sharpness that defined his career.

Cosby can be remarkably funny and has been for a long time. Without a doubt, his career has been legendary. The man was on stage Friday, but the legend never quite made it.