Robin Williams.

Very sad to hear about Robin Williams death. Very sad. 

I was lucky enough to see him perform live. While he was filming 'Man Of The Year' in Toronto, he stopped by a bunch of small shows. There was a rumour that he was going to stop by Spirits Open Mic. He did. The host of the show, Jo-anna Downey, told me later that when he came in he introduced himself.

"Hi. I'm Robin Williams."

"I know who you are!"

I thought that was a really nice story. A man who everyone knows, still introducing himself to the host of a bar show in Toronto. Robin went up, in a room that was packed with about ninety people, and did about twenty minutes. 

He was very famous before I was born. I came into a Robin Williams world. I and most people I know grew up on him. First time I can remember seeing him as a kid, was on a rerun of Mork And Mindy. Robin Williams as Mork was reading about Superman. He was upset about Superman's powers. Mork didn't think that his powers were good or strong enough, so he started writing a letter to him. I can't remember exactly what he said in the letter, but as he's writing it, Mindy walked in.

"Mork, where are you sending that letter?"

"Metropolis!"

Man, that made me laugh so hard as a kid. I still love that. I quoted it for years. Metropolis! 

I write this because of the huge talent and influence Robin Williams has been, but also I write this because being a comedian, most of us have problems that a lot of times we try to solve on our own. We put on a front. We pretend that we are fine. We give so much away. Not just going on stage in front of strangers. We give ourselves away when we are down on ourselves because a festival didn't book us, or a show, or movie. Whatever the case may be. We give so much of ourselves to others. We put our happiness in the hands of random chance, an audience, or booker. We doubt ourselves constantly. 

I've been in so many conversations with comedians about being depressed. About being sad that we're not in this position or that. About not being on a certain show. All kinds of things. A lot of times people will say, 'If I was doing this or that, I'd be happy.' Would you? Would being the star of a movie, being super famous, or having tons of money make you happy? Happiness can't only come from the outside. We are shown that time and time again. 

Everyone needs to talk to someone when they need help. There's no reason to face problems on your own.