My thoughts on Robin Williams

I wonder what kind of tribute Robin Williams himself would want. I bet he’d want it to be funny. He’d say, “downplay the genius!  What would a funeral on Ork be like"? At this point he would riff, going off in fifteen different directions. Instead of grieving, Orkians would go door to door selling vacuum cleaners. They would recite the Lord’s Prayer in a Scottish accent. Mourners would sing the hits of Gary Lewis and the Playboys.

If Robin delivered his own eulogy he would do it as Kate Hepburn on helium posing as a rapper.

Yes, he won an Oscar but he’d remind you that CBS cancelled him while renewing THE MILLERS.

He’d launch into the auctioneer at his estate sale.

He’d say the title of this piece should be “Good Mourning, Viet Nam.”

He’d announce an upcoming wrestling match between himself and Andy Kaufman.

He’d report back that hell was having to sit through the Emmys. And then he would sing and dance a production number as Heidi Klum.

He would wow you with his fertile and facile mind and distract you from the intense feelings of sadness you felt for the loss of this truly original, truly brilliant comic genius.

He wouldn’t want you to dwell on the darkness he experienced; darkness so black and debilitating that it eventually engulfed him. He fought demons all his life – alcoholism, drug addiction, major depression, Fruit Punch Oreos (okay, he would want me to add that so there was at least one joke on the list) – but the laughter always won out.

Until yesterday.

Robin would turn this into a routine. He would mimic the ten best on-screen movie deaths, he would rattle off fifteen possible sayings for his headstone, he would say he’s making the ultimate sacrifice to boost People Magazine’s circulation.

But he’s not here. There’s no one to make us laugh in spite of our grief.

And so, with apologies to Robin, we remain in utter shock. We even cry. We mourn the loss of an irreplaceable talent, a force of nature, and I think more than that, we mourn the circumstances. No one should suffer such emotional pain and hopelessness. Especially one who has brought such joy to so many.

I knew Robin Williams. I was once in an improv class with him. I’ve written about it on this blog. There were even a couple of times I made him laugh. What I wouldn’t give if I could’ve saved just one of those laughs for yesterday.

Okay, this is where Robin would do ten minutes on walk off music.