On Robin Williams
It seems so surreal to discover that Robin Williams committed suicide. I grew up watching him on TV and seeing him in the movies. I am truly amazed by the incredible outpouring of shared memories, and how deep his death has touched our souls.
As a kid I remember watching him on Mork and Mindy, and seeing that even being an adult you could be silly and have fun. That could sum up Robin Williams but we know he was much deeper than that. While he would earn an Emmy award for his work on Mork and Mindy, a Golden Globe for Moscow on the Hudson, it was not until the movie Good Morning Vietnam where Robin Williams’ was nominated for Best Actor did his career started to take off.
It safe to say most of the people that grew up or lived between 1987–2014 have seen the majority of his work. He taught us about truth and compassion during war time. He told students to stand on their desks and follow their dreams, he told us the importance of embracing who we are and never lose your imagination, he made us wish we all had three wishes and a big blue best friend, showed us what it meant to be a father and how far someone will go to be there for his kids, and he kind of scared us with Jumanji. (I find Jumanji very unsettling.) But he did all this while making us laugh. And laugh hard. His mile-a-minute speech pattern was like a rapid fire joke-machine-gun. He would continue doing voice work and comedies for years but Dead Poets Society, Hook, Ms. Doubtfire and Aladdin were all staples growing up, no matter what age you were when you saw them. They inspired us, made us sing, made us cringe, made us laugh. They made us feel good.
While Robin Williams was always the comedian, he was a master in drama. For our generation it was his role as Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting that showed a softer, sadder side to Williams. His role as Will Hunting’s therapist, especially the “It’s not your fault” scene resonated deep within so many of us wanting to be loved and accepted.
Good Will Hunting would win at the Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay for Matt Damon (and Ben Affleck), but it also gave Robin Williams another Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the film. For dramatic pieces, Mr. Williams went further with his role in What Dreams May Come, and if you have not seen it I strongly urge you to do so. If you thought dressing up like a woman to be closer to your children was an incredible feat, watch Robin Williams’ Chris Nielsen go even further to be with his wife. It is a visually stunning and heart wrenching, but an absolutely beautiful film about love and life. In retrospect one can understand what drew Williams to the role. The comedian was battling his own demons.
I have been a passive fan of Robin Williams for many years. This means my curiosity always lead me to learn a little here and there about his rise to fame, but it did not mean I saw all his movies, or have a tattoo of Flubber anywhere on my body. Surprisingly, I have seen quite a few including Bi-Centennial Man, One Hour Photo, Death to Smoochy, which are a mixed bag, but still enjoyable to watch. I even saw a couple of episodes of “The Crazy Ones” marking his return to network TV. While the overall premise of the wacky antics of an advertising firm in “The Crazy Ones” did not resonate with audiences, it was the perfect set up for letting Robin Williams improvise freely during any possible moment. And that’s where he shines brightest.
Robin Williams Stand Up Comedian
Robin Williams grew up as an only child in the affluent town of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. (You can Wikipedia his life) He was a shy child, from what I remember learning, and he was constantly pining for his parents attention. It was not until he studied acting in High School that he began to exercise his comedy and acting chops. He would eventually be accepted in to the prestigious Julliard School of Drama and Acting. He moved to Hollywood And it could be said he did pretty well. His television career was taking off in the 80's but it was partially in part of his work and honing his craft as a stand up comedian in the 70's that paved the way.
I use to hear stories about Robin Williams stand up comedy. As a stand up comedian myself I was enamoured by his ability to be funny on the fly. Rumor had it that he would do some of his material and then just turn to the audience and ask them what they wanted to talk about, or more accurately hear about. And no subject was off limits. During one show about Williams, the club owner being interviewed marvelled at Robin’s taking the audience suggestion of “Perestroika” and then riff on Russian politics for as long as he saw fit. With his penchant for voices, and act-outs no subject, no person or place was impossible for this comic genius.
When I moved to LA and started to perform at some of the clubs, I would be in awe that many of the greats shared the stage. Other comics would tell me stories of when so-and-so would drop by, and “this-famous-guy” or “that-famous-gal” would swing by and do a set. One comic said there was a special light for certain comics — a light that would warm comedians not to do material for fear that someone would steal their jokes. He would mention certain names I was already familiar with, who had a bad reputation for doing that, but I was geniunely surprised when he mentioned Robin Williams. He explained himself further that it wasn’t really Williams’ fault. It was just the way his brain would work. He would absorb everything he saw and heard and when the time came to do a television appearance or do a stand up comedy tour he would make it his own. And with his manic energy, rapid-fire speech, and character work he could Robin-Williamsify any topic to be his own.
It is hard to keep up with the demands of show business, but Williams still made an effort to stick to his stand up comedy roots. He performed with Comic Relief and did a few specials, his last in 2009, because he was hoping to get a few more George Bush jokes before it was too late.
Live on Broadway 2002
I only saw Robin Williams’ stand up special “Robin Williams LIVE on Broadway.” I was working at Blockbuster at the time it came out and my mother heard it was hilarious. I got free rentals as an employee so I hooked up my family with whatever they wanted, and my mother had to see Robin Williams! I remember sitting down with my mom watching Robin Williams as he went from joking about golf, plastic surgery, gorilla sex, anthrax, prostate exams, politics, Jesus, etc. He was dirty, he swore and he talked a lot about sex. He was on point and in true form. He ended the set with an incredibly funny bit about viagra and sex, and I guess more appropriate, as a finishing act out he imitated what men look like when they go down on their wives/girlfriends. I am sitting there laughing, but I was partially mortified because my mother was watching this too. But there she was… laughing so loudly she had tears streaming down her face. She would watch it two more times before I had to return it. It is one of the few clear memories I have of my mother. And I have Robin Williams to thank for that.
Social Media and Robin Williams
So while I grapple with the reality of Robin Williams death, I am genuinely relieved to read all the wonderful stories people have about him.
It is very easy to expect people to reduce celebrity deaths to 140 characters. As much as people enjoy Twitter and Facebook, these instances usually bring about quick quips, some are malicious, but many times not intended as such. (I guess it all depends on who died.) Sometimes people, comedians and celebrities focus too hard on being quick-witted. One comedian wrote on Facebook that Mork now finally made it home to Ork. Evan Rachel Wood tweeted “Genie. You’re Free” with a touching screen shot of Aladdin hugging the blue Genie. Both were cute and sentimental, and I honestly have nothing against what was done, I just felt it reduced the great Robin Williams to a clever status, neatly packed in and addressed. But for me, and for many of us, he was more than just a quick punch line. He is so much more than 140 characters. (He has probably played more than 140 characters in his lifetime.) He was our childhood. To our parents, he was entertainment, and relief. Our daily dose of laughter as medicine.
Comic Relief
I was so relieved to see people reach deep down and share on Facebook what Robin Williams meant to them. It is wonderful to see that so many people respected his work on screen but spoke so highly of him as a person off screen. Genuine, caring, sweet.
I read that Robin Williams once entered an open-mic while in Toronto and meekly introduced himself to the host, hoping to get time. “Hi, I am Robin Williams,” he said shyly.
“I know who you are!” the host Jo-anna Downey quipped back, overjoyed. (I cannot find the original post, but I thank you whoever shared that.)
Other Comedians are sharing their run-ins at comedy shows and celebrities are giving us glimpses what it was like working with Robin Williams. A comedian friend, Andre, shared a moment in the crowd with Robin Williams’ stunt double (from Man of the Year), while they both watched him during a comedy night in Toronto. Andre asked if he could get a photo with Robin before he left, but the stunt double said it did not seem promising, as they had an early morning. But before Robin left, he walked up and asked Andre if he could get a photo with him.
Another comedian, Kevin, shared his story about how he had to follow the great Robin Williams after he dropped in to a New York Comedy club. After watching Robin Williams destroy a crowd for twenty minutes, Kevin took the stage and opened with a pretty funny line at the gentle expense of Robin Williams (it was a Flubber joke.) No one laughs, and stare at Kevin like he killed the Pope. Only soon afterwards you hear the distinctive chuckle of the comedy-god himself Robin Williams, does the audience erupt in successive laughter. As though the funniest-man-alive gave his permission to the crowd, and as Kevin puts it “threw me a bone” saving his butt.
Norm MacDonald took to Twitter to share a touching moment during his first Letterman appearance. Even Conan O’Brien breaks the news during the filming of his talk show, and you can see he is at a loss for words.
The Dangers of Being a Comic Genius
For those that could not piece it together, Robin Williams’ genius was also his curse. His ability for making people laugh, crafting jokes out of thin air, improvising his way around a scene were unparralleled, but that gift came at a price. His mania on stage was one end of his Bi-Polar disorder. On the other pole was severe depression. For outsiders like us, it is hard to tell people who suffer from depression, especially when they can be so fun and full of laughter. For comedians, many know we use the art form as a disguise to bigger issues sometimes. Yet even so, so many comedians — local and celebrities, seem so utterly shocked that Robin Williams is gone. Afterall, he had stopped doing cocaine in the 80's (everyone did coke back then), cleaned himself up, and had a successful career. A very successful career.
I guess this is just my way of putting my thoughts on the matter down. I feel sad and confused by his suicide. The day before, on August 10, I was “celebrating” my mother’s birthday. She would have been 66 years old, and I was going over in my head all the memories I could muster of her. And her laughing at Robin Williams was one of them. Then again, she saw his movies too, she was there when we saw Hook, she loved Good Will Hunting. She was the one that let me and my brothers watch Good Morning Vietnam. I guess that’s why this has been bothering me so.
It is hard to imagine the man who played Patch Adams is gone. The same man who made us believe that laughter is the best medicine.
Thank you for your years of laughter and bringing joy to so many of us.
Rest in Peace Robin Williams. 1951–2014
