When I was 10 years old, my parents took me to a 10,000 seat arena to see a stand-up comedy show. It was the first time I had ever seen stand-up in person, and the comedian was Robin Williams. A few memories of that night have stuck with me for three decades. I remember how much Robin sweat. I remember Bobby McFerrin, then unknown, opening the show, and not really knowing if what he was doing was comedy, music, or both. Before introducing Robin, a local DJ explained that he had been instructed to go to a toy store and fill a box with a bunch of toys. That box was brought out on stage, and during his set Robin riffed on the contents of it. Beyond being hilarious, this seemed like a magic trick to me. Hungry for more props, Robin later took a camera from a woman in the front row, stuck it down his pants and snapped a picture. At the time this was the funniest thing I had ever seen in my life. What I remember most: in the car on the way home, I noticed that my mouth hurt. The sides of my mouth, my throat, even my neck hurt, having been stretched and flexed all night from laughing. I didnt know that was possible. Im not sure its ever happened to me again, actually. And Ive seen a lot more comedy shows since then. 20-odd years later, I had the dumb luck to be booking a weekly comedy show at the UCB that Robin dropped in on. I will reiterate what every single person who ever met him is saying tonight: he was incredibly humble, friendly, kind, and generous with his time, talking to the other comedians outside the show afterwards about their sets or whatever. But the highlight for me was, during the show, Robin stood next to me, off to the side, watching the other comics. And he was completely enthralled, laughing at every joke, nudging me every few seconds, uttering, Oh shit! when a line caught him off guard... And generally just acting like a 10-year-old kid seeing stand-up comedy for the first time. It was surreal. I thought about telling him the story of how I saw him as a kid, but in the situation I was caught up in keeping my cool, and treating him like a human being instead of being a fan with a trite personal anecdote. But the truth is, I might not have been booking that show, and I might not be producing comedy albums and podcasts, making a living in this world today, if I hadnt been introduced to live comedy by one of the most wildly gifted and infectiously joyous performers to ever practice the craft. It is staggering to consider the lives he touched with his talent.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 06:31:34 +0000
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