Robin Williams R.I.P.

...I was of single-digit age when I was first introduced to stand-up comedy. It was the early years of cable television, specifically HBO. The first moment I recall was watching one of the Rodney Dangerfield specials. It was akin to one of the standup variety showcases that would appear on late night TV or basic cable, only with no curb on language or content. I laugh uncontrollably at jokes I likely did not fully understand from Robert Townsend and Sam Kinison amongst others. They were telling mature jokes about sexuality and race, peppering each bit with language I dare not speak in front of any adult. I still cannot figure out why my parents let me watch, though I am certain that they didn't really want it.

In that same era, my brother and I had acquired a copy of Robin Williams Live At The Met. In the same manner as Sam Kinison, Robin Williams' standup was racy and expletive-filled, but his delivery was poetic and alive. His on-stage antics were like an unstable atom waiting to explode. He ran back-and-forth across the massive stage, sweating profusely and firing off bits like a machine gun. Within all of this manic energy resided content that was timely, brilliant and insanely funny. Robin Williams was the first comic I can recall on a stage by himself making fun of the President. I had seen humor aimed at people of power on TV in shows such as D.C. Follies or Spitting Image, but never one man taking on the world. Even at the age of 8 or 9, I was completely floored at what he was saying and subsequently getting away with. Dare I say empowering?

As the world now knows, Robin Williams left this Earth yesterday. The means or reasons are unimportant. The stories have all made a point to mention his battles with addiction, but never seem to mention that one would never know he had such demons had they never bothered to read these accounts. His public persona was fiery, boisterous and constantly firing on all cylinders comedically. To the world, Robin Williams looked to be on top of the world at all times. His passing makes the Pagliacci references ring ever truer to the heavens.

Essentially, death and dying is not a pleasant subject for anyone. We, as everyday citizens, tend to deride celebrity culture on one level or another. While many of us had mourned Phillip Seymour Hoffman's death despite never having met the man, there was inevitably someone out there wringing their hands in anticipation of calling him a "coward" or a "junkie". Awful as people with such intent may be, it has become a common method for an otherwise unknown to be heard for a blip in time.

Robin Williams is a celebrated comic with worldwide acclaim and I am a very part-time blogger with a microscopic audience. Amongst the windfall of sentiments people he worked alongside have and are sending, this is likely to pass quietly into the night. For me, this particular passing stings a bit because Robin Williams was both a huge comedic inspiration for me as well as him being my father's age, himself having passed almost 9 months ago.

It is fairly safe to say that those of us who are involved with this podcast, blog or future endeavors were fans of Robin Williams on one level or another. Where one of us were partial to his standup comedy, another might have been moved by his performance in Dead Poets Society. Robin Williams R.I.P.