David Letterman Remembers Robin Williams | Letterman

i guess like a lot of us uh most of us i've been  thinking about uh robin williams uh i believe   we found out uh a week ago that he had died and  um many things come to mind in a situation like   this and of course more questions are raised than  can possibly be answered but i started reflecting   about it uh i knew robin williams for 38 years  38 years which in and of itself is crazy how time and i i met him uh at the comedy store he  and i uh were kids uh along with myself   and and uh jay leno and uh tom dreesen and tim  tommerson and johnny dark and elaine bustler and   and on and on and jimmy walker and we were you  know we were all out there at the comedy store   and we we wanted to you know make people laugh  we wanted to get on the tonight show we wanted   we wanted something because we all felt that  we were were funny and and we would in those   days we were working for uh free drinks some were  working for more free drinks than others but um   uh so what you would do is you would go on  stage and then you'd do your little skits   and then you would come off stage and if there  was a new guy coming on you you'd want to stick   around and make fun of the new guy sure because  we were all worried that oh somebody else is   coming in who's really funny and then we'll  have to go back in my case to indiana yes and i can remember the night my friend george  miller and i who was a very funny comic and was   on this show many times we were at the comedy  store and they introduced uh robin williams   and for some reason in in in the beginning  he was introduced as being from scotland   they said he was he was scottish i see  so now we're we're stumped we don't know   there's a scottish guy really coming to the  united states so we we're feeling pretty smug   about our position right away because it's  going to be haggis and that kind of crap so we're we're relaxed we're ready to go  and and all of a sudden he comes up on stage   and you know what it is it's it's like nothing we  had ever seen before nothing we had ever imagined   before we go home at night and are writing our  little jokes about stuff and this guy comes   in and and and we're we're like you know like  a morning dew he comes in like a hurricane   yeah and and now the longer he's on  stage the worse we feel about ourselves and because it's not stopping and and then he he finishes and i thought oh  that's it they're going to have to put an end   to show business because what can happen after  this and and then we get to see this night after   night after night and and uh we didn't approach  him because we were afraid of him honest honest   to god you thought holy crap there goes my chance  at show business because of this guy from scotland um and and and then like shot out of a cannon  he he goes and he's on the happy days show   and then from the happy day show he gets to be  on mork and mindy now now there's some structure   to his life he's not at the comedy store  every night because he's got an actual job   so the rest of us can pretend  that it never happened but but yet then he he goes from uh morgan  mindy and then he starts making movie after   movie after movie he's nominated uh four times  for an academy award and it wasn't really until   paul and i started the nbc version of this show  which by the way is still running in mexico it is very popular but it wasn't until then uh that i sort of  got to really know robin williams because   he would come on uh to promote movies or  concerts or whatever he was talking about   and he was always so gracious and  we would talk about the old times   and and never did he act like oh i knew you guys  were scared because i was so good and it was   just a pleasure to know the guy and and he was a  gentleman and delightful and even in the old days   he was kind enough to ask me to appear on his  morgan mindy show now this is a double-edged sword because he did it only because he was trying  to help other uh fledgling starting out comics   makes sense right uh the other side of the sword  is i i had no business being on that show i can't   i have no business being on this show well but he was nigh he gave me a job and so i there  and in those days jobs were hard to come by and   there i was and i was on mork and mindy and i  can remember uh between the the dress rehearsal   and the actual taping of the show  the director of the program howard   howard howard shore howard storm storm  howard storm comes up to me and he says   well you've been trying all  week so this is your last chance so so even to the detriment of the show  robin was kind enough to invite me to   come on because he thought why why can't i  spread this around and have some of my friends   uh share in my success which  is exactly what he did he   then was on our show this show and the old  show uh a total of nearly 50 times right 50 and two things would happen because robin was on  the program one i didn't have to do anything yes   i all i had to do was sit here and  watch the machine yeah uh and two uh he   people would watch if they knew robin was on the  show the the viewership would go up because they   wanted to see robin yeah and and believe me  that wasn't just true of television i believe   that was true of the kind of guy he was people  were drawn to him because of this electricity   this this whatever it was that he radiated  that that propelled him and empowered him   uh and then he came on uh when i came back after  my heart surgery right robin was nice enough to to   come on that night and it was very very funny and  very very uh uh appropriate and here's a picture   that i will now uh cherish even more than i had  previously there are four people right there wow   two of which two of which wildly  funny insanely funny uh two are not the uh the uh handsome woman there is mitzi  shore she owned the comedy store we all the   three of us worked there i think robin and i would  be safe to say we started there richard pryor was   already richard pryor but he would work there and  uh the guy in the middle i trimmed hedges yes well   so we would like to uh we put together a uh a segment of robin williams  appearances and uh moreover more than anything it   will uh make you laugh and and and really that's  uh what we should take from this is he could make   you laugh under any circumstances here he is on  our show it's from the gandhian ice collection oh god how you doing mr williams god mrs  thoughtful is very funny you know you're much   more attractive as an older woman hold him okay  i got him all right take it easy dad all right   next my first day on the job aren't you glad you  didn't see this at the surgery hey dave it's me   can't get started to be real funny you had a  television show morgan mindy right and uh the   producers for some unknown reason invited me for  like a little thing on the show that's right you   played uh i know i've never seen it i'm not bring  myself to watch it until tonight you have it here   somebody has stolen my rolls royce using your old  voice is a concept getting it back is the reality   it's amazing when you win the academy  award you have like about a week where   everyone's like hey good will hunting way to  go goodwill hunting academy wood way to go   and two weeks later it's like hey mork how are you god bless you my friend oh well what i will add here is uh beyond being a very  talented man and a good friend and a gentleman   i'm i'm sorry like everybody else i had no idea  uh that the man was in pain that the man was   suffering uh but what a guy robin williams  we'll be right back ladies and gentlemen you

Channel: Letterman

Views: 4,932,721

Keywords: cbs, late show, david letterman, dave letterman, letterman clips, celebrity guests, celebrity interviews, celebrities, late night, late night talk show, talk show, paul shaffer, Biff, the, late, show, david, letterman, comedy, “top 10”, top ten, list, celebrity, paul, shaffer, stupid, tricks, robin williams, mork and mindy

Id: 4bVgilYncao

Length: 10min 25sec (625 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 19 2014