It has only been a little over 12 hours since news broke of Robin Williams’ death and I’m going to try to celebrate him here today rather than dwell on a heartbreaking ending. It took animation to really encapsulate what Williams was capable of doing. His comedy moved so fast and went in so many directions that it was trying to harness lighting to get your mind around it.
I think Aladdin’s Genie may well have been his perfect role because it totally freed him from the physical constraints and let his imagination go wild (albeit in a G-Rating context) with abandon. Nothing captures this so well as his opening number “Friend Like Me” set in The Cave of Wonders after Aladdin finds his lamp. Through moments like these, the joy he brought all ages will live on far after the furor surrounding his death fades.
This was his quintessential comic performance. Which is strange, but also wonderful in a way. I knew he had his demons, but he seemed so happy and full of life, which makes this even more shocking and depressing. Did you know he gave lots and lots of money and time to St. Jude’s? It’s what got him cast as Patch Adams.
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Not only that, but he did six or seven Comic Reliefs with Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg to raise money for the homeless. Often the funniest people are the saddest people, which is a dichotomy that most people don’t understand if they don’t use humor as a defense mechanism.
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