Robin Williams RIP

Ehh wrote:

He threw a thousands things at you per minute and not one of them was actually funny.

When I was 10 years old I had this tape recording of Robin Williams Live at the Met.

I would listen to that shit over and over and laugh my little ass off.

Maybe the manic stuff is a little stupid now, but that old routine still holds a place in my heart.

Robin Williams was an amazingly funny perceptive genius whose life was a gift to all.

Even though I of course had no personal relationship, his passing is particularly sad for me.

nikeman wrote:

Heartbroken. A true comedic genius. We shared the same birthday (albeit 16 years apart). RIP.

So you share the same birthday as Don Knotts and me as well. Robin Williams and Don Knotts are two most unfunny people that ever lived.

RW was good in dramatic roles only. Patch Adams, Good Morning Vietnam, that RV Movie, Popeye, Mrs Doubtfire, Mork and Mindy? Funny if you're an unsophisticated 10 year old or my grandmother. He was no funnier than Rip Taylor.

Sad that such a well liked and nice guy with a seemingly good family views suicide as an option.

One of my favorite dramatic parts he did was as a traumatized father who's wife had been shot and killed in a botched robbery in the series Homicide: Life on the Street, the episode did an excellent showing both his suffering as well as the POV of one of the perpetrators.

If you can find it on video: its called Bop Gun (6 Jan. 1994)

highly recommended.

hokaman wrote:

Robin Williams and Don Knotts are two most unfunny people that ever lived.

Certainly I never found Don Knotts funny but not finding Robin Williams funny strikes me as unusual. Who is funny to you?

None of us know what his reasons for killing himself were. If he made a serious effort to fix his problems with "help" (which I put in quotes because the people who call themselves the help are worthless 99% of the time), and it did not work, then he was justified in ending his anguish. That the act was "selfish" does not make it wrong—life is a choice, not an obligation.

Conundrum wrote:

hokaman wrote:

Robin Williams and Don Knotts are two most unfunny people that ever lived.

Certainly I never found Don Knotts funny but not finding Robin Williams funny strikes me as unusual. Who is funny to you?

Please don't humor these awful people by responding to them.

hokaman wrote:

nikeman wrote:

Heartbroken. A true comedic genius. We shared the same birthday (albeit 16 years apart). RIP.

So you share the same birthday as Don Knotts and me as well. Robin Williams and Don Knotts are two most unfunny people that ever lived.

RW was good in dramatic roles only. Patch Adams, Good Morning Vietnam, that RV Movie, Popeye, Mrs Doubtfire, Mork and Mindy? Funny if you're an unsophisticated 10 year old or my grandmother. He was no funnier than Rip Taylor.

Sad that such a well liked and nice guy with a seemingly good family views suicide as an option.

You forget just because you do not find it funny does not mean its not funny - its just not funny to you. I can't stand Jerry Lewis movies, that does not mean they are not funny because a lot of people do find them humorous.

Yes, yes, yes! That was a terrific performance. It also speaks volumes that Johnny Carson specifically chose Williams (along with Bette Midler) to be a guest on his last Tonight Show.

BS wrote:

One of my favorite dramatic parts he did was as a traumatized father who's wife had been shot and killed in a botched robbery in the series Homicide: Life on the Street, the episode did an excellent showing both his suffering as well as the POV of one of the perpetrators.

If you can find it on video: its called Bop Gun (6 Jan. 1994)

highly recommended.

I remember him showing up unexpectedly at a small comedy club in New York after he had returned from Poland after making If Dreams May Come.

He went manic, obviously coked up, and started ranting for 10-15 minutes about how his movies sucked. I mean he was right but it was indicative of how unhappy he was at that point in his life.

He once said : "Suicide is a permanent solution to temporary problems."

Sad he didn't think of that at his darkest moment.

I sympathize with his troubles and unfortunate passing, but I didn't find him very funny... and neither did a lot of people. We have a tendency to upgrade ppl once they pass though, so suddenly he's now really funny... he was def over the hill in his comedy career, he was getting close to Bill Cosby level..

+1

Conundrum wrote:

Certainly I never found Don Knotts funny but not finding Robin Williams funny strikes me as unusual. Who is funny to you?

Hey Conundrum, I'll try to answer this. I am not a troll, by the way.

I didn't really find Robin Williams very funny, but he is one of my favorite actors of all time. I cannot really put my finger on why I loved him so much, but Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society and so many other films were personal favorites. I love his dramatic acting. I think he had a real talent for comedy, it just wasn't my taste. Maybe how some people don't like Bill Hicks, but others love him.

I have never been big on the physical comedy thing; maybe that is what it is. I do realize that others love it; I am not saying that I am "right." It is just an opinion.

Another example is Will Smith. I love his dramatic acting but cannot STAND his comedy. Remember the Fresh Prince episode when his dad bails on the trip and he cries? That was pure class-A acting genius on a crappy B-list daytime sitcom. Video is here:

Hard to explain but hope that makes sense.

Don't worry, he won't understand... he has RIP goggles on, no matter what RW is now the greatest comedian that ever lived

You would find him on basically any top 10 list of all-time stand up comedians, and I'm not talking about just lists created after the news yesterday.

If he's not your kind of comedy, I understand. I also understand that, like any celebrity, people are going to gush about him after he dies. I don't usually do that when celebrities pass but Williams was one of my favorites.

To act like there was some sort of consensus that he was not funny and that he is only being spoken of fondly because of his death is insulting. He was an all-time great on 1/1/2014 and he is still one on 8/12/14.

Anyway, this article has a couple interesting facts about him:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/11/robin-williams-facts_n_5670220.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000595

StartOver wrote:

Don't worry, he won't understand... he has RIP goggles on, no matter what RW is now the greatest comedian that ever lived

This is a normal, if exaggerated, response in these situations. I don't find him, or any comedian for that matter, funny. I am too mature (too cool for school) for humor it seems. But I don't speak for the rest of the world - who may have thought him funny and others as well. What I thought was funny when a child and likely as an elderly adult is something that is temporal - had to be there, or a function of something else at the time.

One of my favorite Robin Williams movies was Bicentennial Man. A little humor, a bit of poignancy, a dreamer - a silly little movie really. But I enjoyed it and laughed and cried a bit. That is what movies and entertainment are supposed to do - reach out to our emotions. As a youngster I thought Mork was a little over the top, but so were the Three Stooges (to me). Humor gets stale after a while when there are no more surprises - listening to Fat Albert (Cosby) 40+ years later doesn't have the same effect as it did then. That doesn't mean it wasn't funny (is humor timelesss?) then, but my sensibilities have changed - not sure that it is for the better. Cynicism can be a dangerous thing, as we mature it can take over our emotions.

Personally I would not want to be a comic. Too much negative feedback/criticism from those who want to find something NOT funny, rather than from those (seemingly the minority?) who want to see/hear/feel the humor.

I liken Robin Williams somewhat to Peter Sellers, comics who did some drama - Robin perhaps moreso - but also had dark places in which to hide. Both died too young. Some found them funny, some did not, such is life.

bladerunner wrote:

lease wrote:

I thought his work in a lesser-known film, "One Hour Photo," was outstanding. A good, not great, movie overall, but I "bought" his character pretty completely.

Completely agree. He was creepy. Also, he was really sinister in "Insomnia" with Al Pacino.

He did those two movies and "Death to Smoochie" in 2002.

To me that was the last year year that he had really good roles but he had plenty of work every year since.

I saw his comedy as high energy and he would throw a thousand jokes at you. If only 10% were good, you still laughed a hundred times.

But in 2002 he really got into a dark place with those three films and his performances were brilliant.

Here is a scene from Smoochy where he is threatening to kill himself in front of a crowd:

One Hour Photo trailer:

Insominia - Al Pacino is the cop. Robin Williams is the killer. Phone conversation:

I actually didn't think you were a troll. I was curious though to understand what you found funny. Another poster here basically claims since he has matured and is no longer a child he no longer finds comics funny. (Which I find kinda sad.)Humour is very individual specific. I have a bright friend who could never understand why so many people found Seinfeld funny but then again some of the slapstick stuff he would find hilarious I just didn't get. And this was a very smart guy.