Cooper can't keep a straight face. (CNN)
Anderson Cooper is a serious journalist, whose coverage of the earthquake in Haiti, uprising in Egypt and--most recently--famine in Somalia has been widely, and deservedly, praised.
But Cooper also has a soft, silly side, as evidenced by a Wednesday segment of his CNN show, when the silver-haired host came down with an uncontrollable case of the giggles while discussing the French actor Gerard Depardieu. The actor was arrested in Paris that day after allegedly peeing on board a plane bound for Dublin.
Cooper began the four-minute, pee-and-poo-pun-filled segment with a straight face, but couldn't keep it. By the end, he had lost all control.
Perhaps Cooper is just gearing up for the launch of his syndicated daytime talk show, which will tend toward lighter fare than what is on offer at "AC 360."
You can watch the video that will undoubtedly wind up on "The Daily Show" after the jump:
It's worth noting that Cooper can handle comic material with a far more deadpan approach. In June, he hosted a panel discussion featuring editors from The Onion at New York's Paley Center for Media. The editors brought up an old Onion story that claimed Cooper had been taken as "a wife" by an Afghan warlord.
"He was a gentle lover," Cooper responded.