Quick Q&A With Anderson Cooper

How did you and Andy meet?
We were set up on a blind date 20 years ago. We never actually had the date. We had a phone call, and I realized within a minute or two that there was no way I would ever date him. But we became friends, and it definitely worked out better that way.
How did you get the idea to do a road show together?
When his book came out two years ago, I interviewed Andy onstage in New York. It was so much fun, someone suggested that we keep doing it. So we did it once, and then again, and it just sort of mushroomed.
What’s the weirdest audience question you’ve gotten?
Sometimes it can really go off the rails, because people have had a couple of cocktails before the show. We’ve been asked the size of various body parts—although I don’t know why I should be bashful about that, because our new president talked about it.
Do you have a script before you go onstage?
The show is basically just a conversation between Andy and me, with questions from the audience at the end. It changes from city to city, but we generally know what stories work.
Why can’t I find much about the show online?
Sometimes, when we tell a particular story, we ask people not to record it or tweet about it. And people are usually incredibly nice about that. It’s like keeping the surprise of a movie that has a plot twist. There are a lot of stories we would never talk about on TV, and people have been nice about keeping it just among people who have seen the show.
Do things ever get political?
It’s not a night of politics. If somebody asks about election coverage, I’m happy to talk about it. But we’ve found that most people get that stuff 24 hours a day, and what they really want is to laugh and have a good time. When someone asks a very serious question, the audience doesn’t have much patience for that. It’s the last thing they want to hear.
Do you get on each other’s nerves?
Oh, absolutely. I like to have the trains run on time, and Andy is very loose. He talks to everybody, while I’m more concerned about keeping the show moving. But we’ve traveled the world together. We know each other so well, we’re pretty good on the road at this point.