I really loved the character of Mork as a kid. Why? Well, was there ever another character like him in the history of television? Did any other actor bring such an innocence and imagination to a role the way Robin did? Did anyone make gibberish cool before Robin did? It became somewhat cool to be a little bit weird.
I heard the news on a leg machine at the gym and almost broke down into tears a few minutes later. It was perfect that I heard it the way I did. The news was as senseless as me 'working out' my spindly little legs. Seriously, I don't think I've moved that weight past 90 pounds for over 13 years. I didn't want to know the why, or the history or the blurbs I just wanted to remember the gut wrenching laughter he gave all of us.
It was almost impossible to shut down the noise of how the world reacts to anything these days; fingers orgasmically swiping over Chinese made plastic were finding any and everything they needed to find out about the man.
The last thing I wanted to see were TV tickers concisely summing up an abstract event such as this. Talking yap yaps and sentimental time travelers wiping the sawdust from their eyes to proclaim whatever it was they needed to proclaim for whatever motives that rumbled softly underneath their adulation. Not that the praise and love wasn't warranted, I just couldn't hear it; it would make it too real.
I remember that Happy Days episode when Mork the Alien appeared for the first time. My eyes lit up. I mean, yeah the Fonz could turn on a jukebox with a bump of his elbow but this guy...this guy was freezing people with his finger! His finger! As ridiculous as it could have been, it was real, it felt real, I believed it completely. The only reason it worked, the only reason it became a successful spin off series is because the man behind it believed it so deeply, so profoundly that it made it safe for everyone to join him in his belief, in his wildly imaginative world.
I was weaned as an aspiring Comedian on HBO Comedy Specials. Eddie Murphy's 'Delirious' made me want to do it. George Carlin at Carnegie made me see how smart and clever you could be. Bill Cosby 'Himself' made me see how you could be a storyteller. 1982's 'An Evening with Robin Williams' made me see how there was no such thing as rules or boundaries. That it didn't have to follow a straight line or make sense all of the time. That you could surprise an audience with a voice out of nowhere over and over again. That you could be proud of your chest hair. Well, I'm Israeli so I think that was built into my DNA along with being a Hummus connoisseur.
My beloved girlfriend made a comment earlier this evening of how ironic it was that someone who brought so much laughter to the world could be in so much pain and be so depressed. Unfortunately that's par for the course with most comedians. I get it. I understand it. There's this need to keep people laughing; this indomitable force that drives many comedians to seek out that persistent distraction of laughter. It drowns out the pain. For most Comics making a joke in the face of tragedy or gut wrenching pain is a knee jerk reaction, a defense mechanism. The deepest pain usually makes for the funniest material.
I understand that tweak of the mind that makes you unconsciously or consciously become a different character with a different voice every minute while in a conversation with someone. I'm not sure that I can explain it but I get it and though I can't put words to it I know that the way Robin acted in almost all of his interviews seemed perfectly normal to me. It was hardcore honesty. One could say he was putting a plethora of masks on to hide his true self. I would say it was his true self expression. He knew how to deliver the truth in ways nobody ever had.
It pains me that I've never had the opportunity to meet some of my heroes. How I never got to shake hands and say thank you to Jackie Gleason, Richard Pryor & George Carlin. How I really wanted to look into their eyes and with all my heart let them know how their art brought me such joy and inspiration. Now Robin. Guess I'm gonna have to track down Eddie Murphy tomorrow. I'm not worried about Prince, that dude's gonna live to 250 and transform into a daffodil space ship before flying away.
I heard the news on a leg machine at the gym and almost broke down into tears a few minutes later. It was perfect that I heard it the way I did. The news was as senseless as me 'working out' my spindly little legs. Seriously, I don't think I've moved that weight past 90 pounds for over 13 years. I didn't want to know the why, or the history or the blurbs I just wanted to remember the gut wrenching laughter he gave all of us.
It was almost impossible to shut down the noise of how the world reacts to anything these days; fingers orgasmically swiping over Chinese made plastic were finding any and everything they needed to find out about the man.
The last thing I wanted to see were TV tickers concisely summing up an abstract event such as this. Talking yap yaps and sentimental time travelers wiping the sawdust from their eyes to proclaim whatever it was they needed to proclaim for whatever motives that rumbled softly underneath their adulation. Not that the praise and love wasn't warranted, I just couldn't hear it; it would make it too real.
I remember that Happy Days episode when Mork the Alien appeared for the first time. My eyes lit up. I mean, yeah the Fonz could turn on a jukebox with a bump of his elbow but this guy...this guy was freezing people with his finger! His finger! As ridiculous as it could have been, it was real, it felt real, I believed it completely. The only reason it worked, the only reason it became a successful spin off series is because the man behind it believed it so deeply, so profoundly that it made it safe for everyone to join him in his belief, in his wildly imaginative world.
I was weaned as an aspiring Comedian on HBO Comedy Specials. Eddie Murphy's 'Delirious' made me want to do it. George Carlin at Carnegie made me see how smart and clever you could be. Bill Cosby 'Himself' made me see how you could be a storyteller. 1982's 'An Evening with Robin Williams' made me see how there was no such thing as rules or boundaries. That it didn't have to follow a straight line or make sense all of the time. That you could surprise an audience with a voice out of nowhere over and over again. That you could be proud of your chest hair. Well, I'm Israeli so I think that was built into my DNA along with being a Hummus connoisseur.
My beloved girlfriend made a comment earlier this evening of how ironic it was that someone who brought so much laughter to the world could be in so much pain and be so depressed. Unfortunately that's par for the course with most comedians. I get it. I understand it. There's this need to keep people laughing; this indomitable force that drives many comedians to seek out that persistent distraction of laughter. It drowns out the pain. For most Comics making a joke in the face of tragedy or gut wrenching pain is a knee jerk reaction, a defense mechanism. The deepest pain usually makes for the funniest material.
I understand that tweak of the mind that makes you unconsciously or consciously become a different character with a different voice every minute while in a conversation with someone. I'm not sure that I can explain it but I get it and though I can't put words to it I know that the way Robin acted in almost all of his interviews seemed perfectly normal to me. It was hardcore honesty. One could say he was putting a plethora of masks on to hide his true self. I would say it was his true self expression. He knew how to deliver the truth in ways nobody ever had.
It pains me that I've never had the opportunity to meet some of my heroes. How I never got to shake hands and say thank you to Jackie Gleason, Richard Pryor & George Carlin. How I really wanted to look into their eyes and with all my heart let them know how their art brought me such joy and inspiration. Now Robin. Guess I'm gonna have to track down Eddie Murphy tomorrow. I'm not worried about Prince, that dude's gonna live to 250 and transform into a daffodil space ship before flying away.
We are all eternal beings. We never truly die. The light energy that chose to be Robin Williams this time around has been a blessing to all that have had the honor of witnessing his immeasurable genius as a progressive lifetime. It is normal to grieve on a planetary level the passing of impactful political or spiritual beings. We all deeply value and recognize the justice, morality, wisdom and servitude of those political/spiritual beings who gave of themselves to advance us to higher levels.
If so, then we must all also value those light sources such as Robin Williams who selflessly gave over and over of himself so that we could see the justice, morality and wisdom within ourselves through the brilliant conduit of laughter.
Godspeed Robin.
Godspeed Robin.
I'm gonna go find someone now and freeze them with my index finger.
