OT - Nanu Nanu no more... Robin Williams has died | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT - Nanu Nanu no more... Robin Williams has died

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August_West said:
Yes an absolute genius. Carlin was too but in a totally opposite manner . Carlin was a guy who had thought out twisted observations that nobody would think. Incredible. But prepared ahead of time mostly.
Williams however operated on a different plane entirely in that pretty much everything was improvised on stage. His mind was that quick. Being a total improv comic in my opinion is the single hardest thing to do in show business.

In 1978 I watched this at 11 years old with my father when it first aired and have kept a VHS copy ever since. He may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I can promise that his approach to this show is mind blowing for how he does it. A mortal comic couldn't last 4 minutes . A fact that is shown in this video when he plucks john Ritter out of the audience late in the show for an improv session. Ritter was in his prime on threes company at the time and was a talented and very funny guy in his own right. Williams makes him look like he is standing still as far as being quick on his feet with material.

He is coked out of his mind here. ( hey it's the 70's ) but is still incredibly sharp and his just a study in psychic energy.

As 8893 once a generation. I don't even know if that is accurate. I can't think if anyone like him in any generation. He will be missed.

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The only comic talent who compares with Robin Williams in my memory is Jonathan Winters. Sadly while Williams has a rather extensive
catalogue available for viewing; Winters has very little. Williams acknowledged him as a mentor wayback; he played the big egg on Mork and Mindy. Try "The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming" and "It's a Mad, Mad World."

Ernie Kovacs had the inventive wackiness, but not the improvisational ability. I say this despite the fact that Kovacs had a daily comedy
hour long show in the fifties broadcast live. These daily shows are lost, what is available are his later comedy specials. They are very good,
but, not the quality of the daytime shows. His movie catalogue is very thin, but try "It's a Mad Ball" and "Our Man in Havana."
 
He had an amazing mind and was an amazing comedic talent though his style wasn't exactly my cup of tea. I thought he was an absolutely brilliant dramatic actor, that aspect of his talent was always underappreciated.
 
zymurg said:
The only comic talent who compares with Robin Williams in my memory is Jonathan Winters....

Ernie Kovacs had the inventive wackiness, but not the improvisational ability."
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Winters is to Williams what I think Kovacs is to Letterman.

If I were limited to watching just four people, those are the four I would chose.
 
Devland said:
I apologize for my post. This hit too close to home and my emotions got the best of me.
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No need to apologize, you were right.

Listened to Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy comedy tapes non-stop growing up. "Prime Minister Botha, white courtesy phone...does the name Custer mean anything to you?" RIP Robin, you were a genius.
 
I'm huge fan of stand up and I still can't fathom how Robin Williams was wired. He was exhausting and I loved his style. He did this Ghadafi bit that still slays me to this day.

 
.-.
superjohn said:
Letterman just doesn't fit in with those heavyweights.
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I think he does although I don't know Kovacs. Letterman's legacy suffers since he's been mailing it in for the past 10yrs or so, but even in doing that he's managed to turn mailing it in into an entertaining bit. And occasionally, when a guest is really Hollywood stupid Letterman will sharpen his caustic fangs and rip them up like the old days.
 
Samuel F. "Sam" Pickering (born September 30, 1941) is a writer and professoremeritus of English at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.[1] His unconventional teaching style was an inspiration for the character of Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams in the film Dead Poets Society.[2] Pickering specializes in the familiar essay, children's literature, nature writers, and 18th and 19th century English literature.[3] Pickering has published many collections of non-fiction personal essays as well as over 200 articles.
 
Sprague03 said:
Samuel F. "Sam" Pickering (born September 30, 1941) is a writer and professoremeritus of English at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.[1] His unconventional teaching style was an inspiration for the character of Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams in the film Dead Poets Society.[2] Pickering specializes in the familiar essay, children's literature, nature writers, and 18th and 19th century English literature.[3] Pickering has published many collections of non-fiction personal essays as well as over 200 articles.
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Pickering is the man, and rode (rides? I think he might have retired) his bike to CLAS for class. The only 8am class that you had to be a senior to get into.
 
superjohn said:
I can appreciate that he changed some things and early on he was pretty funny it's just that his show has been brutally bad for a while now.
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Like I said, a young man's shtick.
 
RIP to one of the greats. Grew up with his comedies and really appreciated his talent as a dramatic actor as I got older. It's rare that a celebrity death gets to me, but this one does.


Internet culture is especially annoying at times like these. Lots of people trying to come up with poignant internet eulogies for the guy. Can't just be sad, gotta be the most sad

tweet.gif


Huffington Post rated this tweet the "Most Heartbreaking", so good for Evan Rachel Wood I guess.
 
.-.
I was reading the CNN article on his death and this passage just kind of floored me:

"There had to be two people in the room" with him, his friend Bob Zmuda told CNN's "New Day." "Then you were an audience, and then he came alive."

But one-on-one, Zmuda said, Williams "had no social skills. He couldn't handle it... I knew this man for 35 years and yet it was like I was in an elevator with a stranger."

A lot of these comedians are so funny with such great stage presence but are incredibly introverted and struggle socially when they're off-stage. Just a crazy dichotomy.
 
Strummer said:
He was one of these guys where I didn't love most of what he did, but I especially loved some of what he did.
Good Will Hunting/Genie from Aladdin/Dead Poet's society/World According to Garp.
RIP. "It's not your fault."
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Great list there- I'd also throw in the Fisher King, a role that in many ways seems to have encapsulated him as a person.
 
Sprague03 said:
Samuel F. "Sam" Pickering (born September 30, 1941) is a writer and professoremeritus of English at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.[1] His unconventional teaching style was an inspiration for the character of Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams in the film Dead Poets Society.[2] Pickering specializes in the familiar essay, children's literature, nature writers, and 18th and 19th century English literature.[3] Pickering has published many collections of non-fiction personal essays as well as over 200 articles.
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This was the first thing that came to mind, having taken a class with Pickering as a UConn student
 
superjohn said:
http://morningafter.gawker.com/cowa..._source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow He has a huge public forum and this is what he says about Robin Williams before he's even put in the ground, what a lowlife.
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I think it might be more like one of the comments on that page:

"My first thought is that maybe Shep has lost someone to suicide and is still harboring a lot of guilt/anger at the loss."

I know I have dealt with this personally and initially I kinda felt the way the same way. But who knows, he may also be just a low life.
 
.-.
Not sure what it requires to be a dick when someone dies. Suicide does hurt those around you. But unless you have been in that kind of pain and hopelessness, I don't think we can judge. My heart goes out to those of you who were close to someone who killed them self.

But all I know is hearing about Robin's death really got to me. One of the greatest comics ever, a great actor and yet could not find a reason to live. Depression (real chronic) is a powerful disease.

BTW, people I heard all talked about what a great, giving, attentive friend he was. I would hold Bob Zmuda's opinion at bay. He was present and helped countless struggling comics, was there at Superman's bedside regularly to help his old Juliard roommate Chris Reeves
 
David 76 said:
Not sure what it requires to be a dick when someone dies. Suicide does hurt those around you. But unless you have been in that kind of pain and hopelessness, I don't think we can judge. My heart goes out to those of you who were close to someone who killed them self. But all I know is hearing about Robin's death really got to me. One of the greatest comics ever, a great actor and yet could not find a reason to live. Depression (real chronic) is a powerful disease. BTW, people I heard all talked about what a great, giving, attentive friend he was. I would hold Bob Zmuda's opinion at bay. He was present and helped countless struggling comics, was there at Superman's bedside regularly to help his old Juliard roommate Chris Reeves
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My brother worked at Junior Seau's restaurant for a few years. Although Seau wasn't always an angel in personal life, my brother said he would treat everyone like they were the most important people at the restaurant (from the parties of 40, friends of Charger executives running up huge liquor tabs right down to the bus boys). He always tried to be a part of the restaurant and not just have his name on the building.

He once went to a charity golf outing and was the life of the party afterwards in his usual flamboyant way, but he also made time to go pose for pictures with the maintenance crews taking care of the course after the gofers were done, thanking them and signing anything they'd hand him. He seemed like he was on top of the world. Two days later he shot himself.

There is the caveat that Seau's concussions led to some brain damage, but it shows how people in severe mental anguish can mask it so effectively.
 
zymurg said:
The only comic talent who compares with Robin Williams in my memory is Jonathan Winters. Sadly while Williams has a rather extensive
catalogue available for viewing; Winters has very little. Williams acknowledged him as a mentor wayback; he played the big egg on Mork and Mindy. Try "The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming" and "It's a Mad, Mad World."

Ernie Kovacs had the inventive wackiness, but not the improvisational ability. I say this despite the fact that Kovacs had a daily comedy
hour long show in the fifties broadcast live. These daily shows are lost, what is available are his later comedy specials. They are very good,
but, not the quality of the daytime shows. His movie catalogue is very thin, but try "It's a Mad Ball" and "Our Man in Havana."
Expand ...




These 2 together was pure genius in the comedy world especially with Carson…..the "prozak" mention before commercial was so telling……...The guy was wound tight but so quick it was beyond real……..funniest guy ever and this is a sad time to lose him! Was real good on a Law and Order gig a few years back too…….talented dude!

RIP Robin you will be missed
 
Chevy Chase:"Robin and I were great friends, suffering from the same little-known disease: depression. I never could have expected this ending to his life, and to ours with him. God bless him and God bless us all for his life! I cannot believe this. I am overwhelmed with grief. What a wonderful man/boy and what a tremendous talent in the most important art of any time – comedy! I loved him."
 
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Mau, Thank for that. Priceless. Robin's love for Jonathan is just so obvious.
 
amory said:
RIP to one of the greats. Grew up with his comedies and really appreciated his talent as a dramatic actor as I got older. It's rare that a celebrity death gets to me, but this one does.


Internet culture is especially annoying at times like these. Lots of people trying to come up with poignant internet eulogies for the guy. Can't just be sad, gotta be the most sad

View attachment 6530

Huffington Post rated this tweet the "Most Heartbreaking", so good for Evan Rachel Wood I guess.
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Thanks. This pretty much encapsulates what I have been feeling for a few days now.
 
.-.
My best memories of him were his St Jude appeals. You could see his passion for helping.
 
Sprague03 said:
Samuel F. "Sam" Pickering (born September 30, 1941) is a writer and professoremeritus of English at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.[1] His unconventional teaching style was an inspiration for the character of Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams in the film Dead Poets Society.[2] Pickering specializes in the familiar essay, children's literature, nature writers, and 18th and 19th century English literature.[3] Pickering has published many collections of non-fiction personal essays as well as over 200 articles.
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I'm still in shock at Williams' untimely death. I'm not going to get into whether suicide is selfish or not. I will concur with a couple posts above (I think liking posts in thread of this nature is in bad form. It might be just me but I can't like anything about death). I consider him a genius as well and I'm ecstatic that his work intersected with my life. But as was also said above, some demons cannot be outrun. What makes the situation worse is that he recently went back to rehab to maintain and continue (not achieve) his sobriety.

I took a Pickering elective in college (200 level Short Stories if memory serves), basically because Dead Poets Society was one of my favorite movies up to that point. I would have regretted it for the rest of my life if I'd paid $100,000 for a college education and didn't seize the opportunity meet the inspiration for John Keating (Carpe Diem, as it were). What I found was not even close to what I expected. The basis that Pickering provided was his teaching style and his desire to make his students think for themselves. That is probably the biggest similarity between the Keating character and Pickering. Of course it is a far bigger expectation for 16 year olds (in the movie) than 21 year olds at UConn. He also has a Tennessee drawl, not a classic Yankee accent like the character. In fact, I feel that part of his style is the result of a clash between his southern upbringing and his 21 years (at the time) in Southern New England.

Pickering is not self-serving (especially with regard to the movie) and he is fully aware that he doesn't have all the answers. In fact, he would probably agree that he has no answers because there are no right ones...just degrees. As I said, he wants people to think for themselves. He never brought up the topic on his own and he downplayed his role as the inspiration. That said, his was the only English class at UConn that I truly enjoyed and looked forward to...well except for English 105. I normally prefer longer hair, but there was something about My TA's short dark red hair. She was HHHHOTTTT!!!!!
 
Gurleyman said:
My brother worked at Junior Seau's restaurant for a few years. Although Seau wasn't always an angel in personal life, my brother said he would treat everyone like they were the most important people at the restaurant (from the parties of 40, friends of Charger executives running up huge liquor tabs right down to the bus boys). He always tried to be a part of the restaurant and not just have his name on the building.

He once went to a charity golf outing and was the life of the party afterwards in his usual flamboyant way, but he also made time to go pose for pictures with the maintenance crews taking care of the course after the gofers were done, thanking them and signing anything they'd hand him. He seemed like he was on top of the world. Two days later he shot himself.

There is the caveat that Seau's concussions led to some brain damage, but it shows how people in severe mental anguish can mask it so effectively.
Expand ...

I think that last bit is a huge part of it.

There are a lot of theories and guess work concerning suicide in general. I think the only universal quality is that the suicidal individual is in a tremendous amount of pain, and has reached a point where they feel there is only one way to remedy that.

The majority of suicide victims don't publicize the fact that they want to commit suicide. They keep their pain inside. Friends and family often have no idea.
 
intlzncster said:
The majority of suicide victims don't publicize the fact that they want to commit suicide. They keep their pain inside. Friends and family often have no idea.
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^This. It has a lot to do with shame in so many ways.
 
.-.
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