Surreal Night On AC360

CNN Celebrates Anderson Cooper’s Birthday With Actual Dog And Pony Show

by Frances Martel | 9:01 am, June 4th, 2011

On the tail end of Friday’s show, Anderson Cooper probably expected to wrap up the show with some hard news. What he got instead was cake, circus animals and Rob the Juggling Clown. The special occasion? The anchor’s birthday, for which his colleagues decorated the set with old photos of him and brought him some light entertainment.

“This is like an acid trip or something,” Cooper joked as he was approached by a pony– but not just any pony, a “pony with a dog on it.” The pony walked around on two legs for a while, with the dog still on it, before Cooper walked over gingerly to pet it. Meanwhile, somewhere behind him, the juggling clown was juggling (and being a clown) and reporter Isha Sesay had appeared with Cooper’s favorite cake. All in all the sort of classic cable news moment that viewers– and probably Anderson Cooper– won’t forget.

The birthday greeting via CNN below: