Robin Williams : It was a horrible, one, two sucker punch to the gut yesterday when I found out that Robin Williams had died and then a hour latter heard it was suicide. The depths to which he had to sink to determine death was more attractive than life are for me unfathomable. Factor in he was financially sound and venerated around the world and it makes this tragedy even more mystifying. For the record I never sat through one episode of Mork and Mindy. I didnt and still dont for that matter watch sitcoms ( Seinfeld is the only exception I can think of, off the top of my head ). Because the whole Nanu nanu thing was lost on me I had little to no expectations when I tuned into Robins first comedy special on HBO. At a point early in the show Robin asked the first few rows to step back( as he undid his pants ) because he had something very special he wanted to show them. WTF ???This was racy stuff back in 1978 and I was hooked. I havent missed one of his televised stand up specials since. His Live on Broadway is one of the best sets of comedy I have ever witnessed and set the bar for the medium In my opinion. When Robin acted in his 2nd movie ( didnt see Popeye) I again had serious reservations. What does this Mork guy doing thinking he can act. In the World According To Garp, Robin turned in the best performance by a comedic actor I have ever seen. Garp is one of my top 5 favorite movies and informs my life to this day. Live a life. Robins performance as T.S. Garp is nuanced, poignant and utterly magical. Robin should have received the Academy Award (again my opinion )and wasnt even nominated. More than likely that sitcom snobbishness that I was referring to earlier. If you havent seen this movie, seek it out. It is a work of high art that I treasure. In spite of my love of comedy, I have only gone to see 3 acts perform live in my life- Monty Python, the Smothers Brothers and surprise - Robin Williams. Veronicas Mom and I went to see Robin at the Universal Amphitheater roughly 25 years ago. As we were walking through the parking lot we passed Billy Crystal and I wouldnt say a word to him. At that time I felt he was riding Robins coat-tails and just hated his You look marvelous routine. Funnily enough as I write this, I am in the process of reading Billys autobiography Still Foolin Them. My opinion about the two comedians has switched180 degrees. For years I have felt Billy has been doing the cutting edge comedy and Robin , the sad clown was just going through the motions ( like Letterman another sad clown ). Robins manic act was unsustainable. How do you keep topping yourself doing that and there was a discernible decline. I never once watched his new sitcom, I felt it was beneath him. Two months after the Universal show, Kathy, Veronica and I went to the San Diego Zoo. At the petting Zoo I was looking through my viewfinder and had a Holy sh*t moment. Robins nanny ( who latter busted up his family, married him and had 2 kids ) picked up on this moment of recognition and said Robin doesnt like that. I was inadvertently filming Robins Son , who was looking at some ducks. I told her Oh sorry (Im telling you this because transferring the video to disc, the computer split the film up into 8 parts for some crazy reason.Its not allowing me to download the entire clip unless I download 8 clips and Im not doing that ). Turned off the camera, and I got to tell Robin I thought he was the funniest man in the world ( a belief I firmly held at that time ).Kathy then asked if hed mind and pointed to the video camera. Robin smiled broadly, sidled up to me and threw his arm around my shoulder ( he was much shorter so this took some scrunching ). I got to riff with Robin Williams for a good 30 seconds ( Im happy to report , I held my own ) and then Kathy got the camera rolling and got in on the fun while I guffawed. To this day this is still one of my favorite California, coincidental, celebrity encounters. Robin, it breaks my heart you died this manner. Youve left the world a sadder place. I hope you found the peace you were seeking. Tell the angels to back it up a couple feet and well finish our conversation one of these days. Look Mom, Im flying. RIP Robin Williams
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 20:08:54 +0000
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