Robin Williams was asked how he could improvise so incredibly fast. His answer lasts six minutes. I have never laughed that loud.

This_Post_Is_Factual · 2014-08-23T03:00:15+00:00

When he mentions entertaining his mother for affection, he wasn't joking. This man had a very sad childhood.

mroosevelt · 2014-08-23T04:23:51+00:00

To me, he explained it in the first 15 seconds with the mom bit.

Troof_police · 2014-08-23T03:31:05+00:00

man, he reminds me of one of my friends. dude is insanely hilarious, quick witted and savvy, but his ex girlfriend recently told me that he's only like that away from home. at home he's really really depressed. threw us for a loop.

edit: changed a word because some of you guys are dicks.

ccxxv · 2014-08-23T01:12:40+00:00

the whole time he was at the actor's studio he would stray away from questions and start doing something funny. it's true what he says, he feeds off of others and himself. you'd see him react to a word or a phrase and instantly go into a new character or joke. it took like 10 minutes to get to question 1.

man is a double genius. first, he has really quick and witty thoughts. many people can have this but very few have the ability to express them in words so quickly. i bet he would've been a fantastic writer too.

EDIT: why not add the link to the full thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IDy5GlUuf8

brodishatva · 2014-08-23T04:35:10+00:00

One part of this, in particular, stands out to me -- early on in the improvisational segment, where he's made a burka out of that woman's scarf, and he's just standing there and people are cracking up -- what he was doing wasn't really THAT funny. It was a cheap joke, and he knew it.

And yet, people were beside themselves, nearly pissing their pants -- imagine being so hilarious, and then so universally beloved and recognized as hilarious that anything you said or did fit that schema that the world had built around him -- could you imagine the kind of prison that must be like?

Robin Williams was a once-in-a-lifetime talent, and yet, it must have been hard for him to "turn it off" for this reason.

mrbaryonyx · 2014-08-23T04:59:57+00:00

Only Robin Williams can insult all three major religions with just a scarf.

L00k_Again · 2014-08-23T04:53:59+00:00

I dunno if there's something wrong with me or what, but I don't get why that's so funny. I loved Robin Williams in all his more serious roles where opportunities to interject humour presented themselves. I was never a fan of his stand up, though. And I always hated interviews with him when he'd jump into characters and not speak as himself. I was far more fascinated by what he as a human being had to say than watching him transition from character to character. I absolutely loved this interview with him: http://youtu.be/DyctIk4YwZk

fundayz · 2014-08-23T01:47:01+00:00

[deleted]

mooshooter · 2014-08-23T08:28:09+00:00

My grandmother was manic depressive. The moments she suffered from mania were very similar to this, albeit not as funny :(. She spoke faster and than any of us could think, jumping from one subject to another based on connections that only she observed. It was really something to witness.

She was also an english teacher with an incredible grasp of language. With this she was able to describe what would happen to her. She said she was inspired, which etymologically stems from the root of having another spirit inside you (she loved to explain the etymology of words). Mania to her was being inspired in it's truest form - being possessed. Imagine an extra spirit inside you, exhausting your faculties at the same speed you are. Everything was moving twice as fast but physically you can only support one spirit. In the moment she's up and witty and eloquent, but once it all ends it's terrible. Her whole body aches. It's as if she was awake for two days straight in only 24 hours, firing on 8 cylinders when her body is accustomed to 4. She would spend days in bed recovering. And emotionally it was just awful. She unfortunately lost her life too soon for different reasons, but her years on this earth were an unbelievable rollercoaster. I can only think of Robin after all of his public appearances just sitting at home on a couch nursing him self back to health. I hope he's found peace now. And I hope he knows he brought so much joy to others like my grandmother. She once printed out a sheet (driven by her mania) of all the famous/succesful manic depressives in the world and Robin was at the top of the list. He of all was a symbol of pride for her and I can't thank him enough.

bullnado · 2014-08-23T05:23:46+00:00

This video is very inconveniently cut before he actually explains it a bit more. Encourage you all to watch the full bit, its much deeper than you get from this slice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IDy5GlUuf8

Blue_crayons · 2014-08-23T06:53:03+00:00

ITT: Robin Williams wasn't that great of a comedian but he was genuine so he's a great comedian

03856056087650356 · 2014-08-23T05:25:19+00:00

I think about 10 to 20 percent of the material is excellent. The remainder ranges from good to beyond my taste range. But it's admirable that he's going for an extreme improv that most performers don't dare. I have great respect for that.

whozurdaddy · 2014-08-23T04:08:27+00:00

His speed was incredible, even after the drugs. He could take you into a scene in his mind in a split second. I noticed too that he would mix things that normally dont go together as a pattern to his humor. He would also run at 100 miles an hour, then take you to a sudden stop. In this respect, his improv was really good. Watching him and Jonathan Winters was great. I would have loved to see him do more with Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles from Who's Line.

poohster33 · 2014-08-23T03:49:13+00:00

"Not an explanation, but a bizarre exploration."

-Robin Williams

irrationalee · 2014-08-23T02:34:02+00:00

I didn't laugh at all. He's a brilliant mind, but I mostly see a guy who's gone nuts.

arcademachin3 · 2014-08-23T02:17:11+00:00

Kindof a sad aftereffect of his passing is that it's hard for me to laugh at his jokes. I know how the movie ends :\

personalmessage · 2014-08-23T10:44:33+00:00

True story, one woman in the audience of this got a hernia from laughing too hard

totaljeanius · 2014-08-23T02:14:52+00:00

His utter humility is so fucking endearing

Gittinitfasho · 2014-08-23T05:52:33+00:00

I knew I'd idolized Robin. I grew up with him and Jim Carrey teaching me how to be funny, how to be liked, how to be entertaining. I'm 26. I never really grieved for a celebrity before, but having dealt with depression for more than half my life,I suspected robins death would hit me hard. I suppose I was pretty shocked, though numb, when I heard what he did. Funny, cause the next way I'd thought I might try to go is the same way he chose. I felt a little kinship there. People throw around the term "father figure" but, my dad was a goofy man too, so robin acting essentially the same, I identified with him. I knew this was what I was supposed to grow up and do.

I've seen a few memorial videos, and the first chips into highs is iceberg was the minute long montage of the jack quote over his other films; most memorably, Hook, as he soars above the clouds. I'd never seen this clip before, and only. One joke had I heard him tell before, so it was all fresh. It hit me hard. I sat there, following along with his train of thought just jiving with him, feeling out the space and trying to guess where he'd go next.

I wasnt disappointed. In both his delivery and reception he was golden. He was a uniquely gifted man, and the world is less flavorful having him gone. I love his erratic physical comedy,and his impressions. He shows a level of empathy that's hard to contest. I love his weird, wide smile, and his nut brown eyes. I broke down during this clip. Laughing and sobbing simultaneously, he let me live in his shoes for a second, and I reconnected to a masterful comedian who had influenced the shaping of my personality, if its not too much to say.

I truly never had a friend like him.

JakeonJake · 2014-08-23T05:14:04+00:00

This man was funnier with a shawl than I've ever been in my life. Watching this makes me so happy, yet knowing how his story ends, it makes me so sad. Even now it's hard to accept that such a great shining light puts itself out. I understand more than most the burden of depression and if you're depressed and reading this now, please know that the sadness will pass and that you mean as much, if not more, than Robin and if you push for one more day or a day after that or a day after then you'll see it for yourself. Your experience in this life is your own and no one else's. No one in the history of the world will know the people you know the way you did or have the same experiences the way you did. And when times get tough know that even when it feels like no one loves you someone does.

PrincessFred · 2014-08-23T04:24:03+00:00

I think this may have been the segment that gave that woman a hernia. That is damn impressive in its own right.

zline34 · 2014-08-23T06:35:45+00:00

Wow, my best friend has been through a lot of similar stuff Williams has went through. He can make a group of people laugh for hours. His parents are both on television, but are now divorced. He recently went through a divorce and turned to alcohol and weed. His ex wife took the house. When we hang out alone it's me that does the majority of the talking, but once we hit a group of people I shut up and watch him perform. He cheated on his wife, and crazy bitches are very attracted to him. He fought in Afghanistan and acts like it didn't affect him, but I can tell deep down the shit he did really eats at him. We're Bros and never talk about emotional shit, but I think it's time we do. I do not want to lose my bro.

Benjammin123 · 2014-08-23T08:32:06+00:00

Thanks OP, great clip.

Norwegianmoustache · 2014-08-23T12:15:07+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IDy5GlUuf8

The whole thing is worth every second to watch, it show just how versatile he really was. He was a true genius, a master of comedy. He cared for all those around him. He was truly one in 7 billion. Rest In Peace Robin, may you find happiness in the afterlife.

ultimomos · 2014-08-23T12:49:50+00:00

I don't know if it's just me or not but everything Robin did seemed so genuine and so sincere. I loved his comedy but I so very much loved his more serious work as well. What Dreams May Come will always be a favorite movie of mine and it was all because of this man's talent to convey a message. I will truly miss him, and I hope that wherever he is, he finds the happiness that he so very much deserves, the happiness he spent a lifetime giving to others.

monkeyfullofbarrels · 2014-08-23T13:03:09+00:00

I often wonder:

People say that autism is a disease where sufferers are not able to filter everything coming in.

It's almost like he was working, every minute of every day to keep all of that from coming out. That can't even be all of it. That's only the stuff that he's decided has a chance of being funny. Obviously, over time, you get to the funny more quickly, but, his mind is definitely going ten times the speed that the most of ours are going.

aura3lux · 2014-08-23T13:08:20+00:00

Man this was such a treat. Thank you.

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