The following is really long and probably really boring, but Im hoping it will be a therapeutic practice to help with my grief over the death of Robin Williams. Read it if youre bored dont read it at all. Its mostly just for me. A few years ago, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, comedy writer, actor, and producer, Bob Zmuda put a band of unbelievably talented New Orleans musicians, dancers, and assorted performers together and reprised the role of Tony Clifton to raise money for the people of Louisiana who had been devastated by the storm. The Tony Clifton character had been played by both Zmuda and more frequently by the late, great Andy Kaufman. A week before his concert at the original incarnation of The Georgia Theatre, Zmuda, as Clifton, and a handful of costumed ladies came to Athens, GA to promote the show. I was working at the 40 Watt Club at the time and the ensemble came in to the venue and just took over the room. I cant honestly say I even remember who was playing on stage at the Watt that night, but Ill never forget drinking shots of Jack Daniels with Zmuda and his bevy of beauties. A week later I witnessed one of the greatest shows I have ever seen in my life. I, alongside Murphy Wolford, for whom I was working at Tasty World at the time, stood on the front row for the entire set. It is rare that I endeavor to the front row of anything these days, but there the two of us were - in a festival seating room front and center. It was genius. Bob Zmuda was and is a comedic genius. Subsequently, that was the same day I met Jerry The King Lawler for the first time. He was on the road with Zmuda and co. as part of the act. Those of you who know me well, know that my love of professional wrestling is on par with my love for music, so it was kind of a big deal for me. Why am I writing about this?, one might wonder. Bob Zmuda founded Comic Relief in 1986. According to wikipedia, Comic Relief, Inc. is a non-profit charity organization whose mission is to raise funds to help those in need—particularly Americas homeless. It has raised and distributed nearly US$50 million toward providing assistance—including health care services—to homeless people throughout the United States. Although Comic Reliefs charity work is continuous, its actual events are held and televised at irregular intervals—and primarily by Home Box Office (HBO), with comedians Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg as the hosts each time. They—along with many other comedians, celebrities, and occasional politicians—perform various segments—both general-purpose and specific to homelessness—of standup comedy, sketch comedy, speeches, live music, and impressions of persons and characters—all in order to entertain and enlighten. There are also documentary segments dealing with real-life problems of homeless people, in order to raise awareness of not only the grim realities but also how many hard-working ordinary people can wind up or grow up homeless. In exchange for contributions exceeding certain key amounts, T-shirts, sweatshirts and other merchandise are typically for sale. Robin Williams IMDb page is ridiculous. A cursory glance of it will produce dozens of titles with which he was involved that most Americans are familiar with. I have seen the vast majority of his work and some of those works I have seen multiple times. There are very common works such as Mork & Mindy, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Birdcage, Good Will Hunting, Happy Feet, and Lee Daniels The Butler. Some of my favorite films of his are, perhaps, some of the lesser known titles. The World According to Garp, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Shakes the Clown, and Death to Smoochy are among those. Upon learning of Robin Williams passing, my mind immediately went to the countless hours of entertainment he provided me throughout, basically, my entire life. I thought of so many of the great characters he portrayed in so many categories from comedy, to tragedy, to drama, to suspense, and beyond. He transitioned from one to the next as deftly as anyone could and few have achieved such success in so many varied roles. I tried to think of what his defining memory will be for me. After brief consideration, the Robin Williams that I will most staunchly remember is his work beside Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg co-hosting Comic Relief. When I first moved to Athens my four housemates and I were all pretty broke and we could not afford cable television. I recall we had a few tv sets and the one in the community living room had a vcr connected. (As an aside, I find it funny that spell check does not recognize vcr.) We had a small amount of video cassettes that we would watch over and over and over to satiate our entertainment hunger. These truly were our salad days. At least a couple of those cassettes were filled with hours of Comic Relief I had recorded during my time I spent in Knoxville, TN. Williams work on those shows was brilliant. Im not sure I have ever seen anyone be able to work off the cuff so adequately and for such lengthy periods of time. As a bonus, those events introduced me to the comedy of Drew Carey, Louis C.K., and probably a few others. For some reason, I still own those tapes and would watch them right now if I had a working vcr. So, one of the great comedic minds of all time has passed and the world is a worse place because of it. I can count on two hands the times I have shed tears over the loss of celebrities I never knew in person. Looking at things that have been said by colleagues of Robin Williams and at his body of work, that will rarely be rivaled, brought me to tears. I dont know why it becomes more common to feel such a deep loss for someone I never met. Perhaps it is because he was such a big part of my life for so long. Maybe its because Robin was the same age as my mother when she passed away last year. I really dont know. I do know that depression sucks and it robs both those who suffer from it and those who witness its effects. Godspeed Captain, my captain. Godspeed Professor Philip Brainard. Godspeed Rainbow Randolph, Walter Finch, and all the others. I was going to go watch The World According to Garp, but frankly, its too depressing right now. Mork and Mindy is on Hulu. Im gonna go watch that. Rest Well, Mr. Williams.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 05:01:27 +0000
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