'Robin Williams, what a concept'
It’s still the 21st of July in the USA (just), and it would have been Robin Williams' 74th birthday. The send off delivered by Billy Crystal at the 2014 Emmy Awards is an all time classic speech.
Billy’s Crystal’s speech captures in just a few short paragraphs what Robin Williams meant to us, particularly those who remember the 70s and 80s.
It strikes a magnificent balance between solemnity and hilarity, personal detail and galactic scale.
It’s so short, and Crystal doesn’t have time to say everything Robin Williams was, and so he focuses on the one thing he was to so many people around the world. He was funny. When I was a kid, watching Mork & Mindy with my Dad, he was the funniest. I’m not sure I understood every joke, but between the nanoo nanoos and the world land speed talking records, I couldn’t take my eyes away. None of us could. It was heartbreaking to lose him so young, and it’s interesting listening to Crystal’s delivery. The audience doesn’t laugh at his first joke about the rodeo ride, not because it’s not funny, but because they are not yet sure there are going to be jokes, and they’re sad.
But that joke sets the tone, and from the time of the baseball story, the audience knows it has permission to laugh. The fact that Crystal shares his personal moments of Robin Williams awe, that we get a peak into a celebrity friendship where one world class talent can’t help but be floored by an even more miraculous world class talent, it’s a lovely middle section.
And then to round it out, Crystal turns towards the heavens, and delivers as an astronomical finale, literally in this case, and finds an original way to say what so many good eulogies say in the last paragraph — that the person will endure, that their legacy goes on, that we will find ways of sharing and remembering their light.
Crystal finds a star for Robin Williams, and then finishes things with my favourite last line in any eulogy:
‘Robin Williams — what a concept’.
Billy Crystal — what a masterpiece.
for Robin Williams: 'For almost 40 years he was the brightest star in a comedy galaxy', Emmy awards - 2014
25 August 2014, Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, USA
Billy Crystal’s tribute to Robin Williams during the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.
He made us laugh. Hard. Every time you saw him. On television, movies, nightclubs, arenas, hospitals, homeless shelters, for our troops overseas and even in a dying girl’s living room for her last wish. He made us laugh, big time.
I spent many happy hours with Robin on stage. The brilliance was astounding, the relentless energy was kind of thrilling. I used to think that if I could just put a saddle on him and stay on for eight seconds I was going to do ok.
Robin, Whoopi and I were once in Shea Stadium in the broadcast booth with the great Tim McCarver. It was Comic Relief Day for the New York Mets. Robin knew nothing about baseball. I asked him, ‘What’s your favorite team and he said, ‘the San Franciscos.’ So he was a little lost in the conversation, so I got an idea and said, ‘You know, Tim we got a great Russian baseball player with us.’ I looked over to him and his eyes got all bright, his ears perked up like he was like a little dog that was inside all day and the master said, ‘Hey, you wanna go for a walk?’
So I said, ‘What’s baseball like in Russia?’ Without missing a beat he said, ‘Well, we only have one team. The Reds.’ The next pitch, the batter fouled one off and it came screaming back at us, we ducked down and it slammed against the wall. Robin turned around, it bounced into his hand, he stood up and he screamed, ‘I love America! I’m gonna defect!’
He could be funny anywhere. We were such close friends. He would come to all of our great family functions—weddings, bar mitzvahs, that type of thing. He would sit with my older immigrant relatives like he was one of the guys and he would tell them about his journey from his little shtetl in Poland to America. One uncle of mine said to him, ‘I came to America after World War II and I hitchhiked. And Robin said, ‘I waited until there was a 747 and a Kosher meal.’
As genius as he was on stage, he was the greatest friend you could ever imagine—supportive, protective, loving. It’s very hard to talk about him in the past because he was so present in all of our lives.
For almost 40 years he was the brightest star in a comedy galaxy. But while some of the brightest of our celestial bodies are actually extinct now, their energy long since cooled.
But miraculously, since because they float in the heavens so far away from us now, their beautiful light will continue to shine on us forever. And the glow will be so bright, it’ll warm your heart, it’ll make your eyes glisten and you’ll think to yourselves, ‘Robin Williams— what a concept.’
David Letterman also made a lovely tribute to Robin Williams that is on Speakola.
The Speakola podcast celebrates great speeches with me interviewing speakers and replaying great speeches. I’d love to get Billy Crystal on. 😀 One of my proudest episodes was getting Andrew Denton on to talk about his eulogy for satirist John Clarke.
You can catch a documentary ‘But Also John Clarke’ made about satirist John Clarke’s life by daughter Lorin Clarke at Melbourne International Film Festival. It’s been made from conversations Lorin recorded with her dad, and is largely told in his own words. The 15 August Melbourne screening at The Forum is SOLD OUT. I’m going to The Astor on Sunday 17th. The film then tours regions around Victoria and returns for a morning session at the Forum a week later. It’s going to be great.
A milestone - 10 years of Speakola
I thought I’d mention that the Speakola speech library is turning ten in the next couple of weeks. In the countdown to our birthday on 5th August, I thought I’d have a bit of a subscription drive. If you have thought of subscribing, and the site has provided either inspiration, knowledge or perhaps even a home for a speech of yours, it would make a huge difference to get a few more paid subs.
We’ve had 6.497 million site visits, and 8.3 million page views in those ten years. There are 3000+ speeches on the site. I’ve compiled and curated it all myself.
If subscriptions aren’t your thing, a straight donation on Paypal or Donorbox would also be gratefully received. If it’s A$50 or more, I’ll comp you paid status here at Substack. Thanks to all who have supported and encouraged me over the years. It’s taught me more than anything else I’ve ever attempted.
Best wishes
Tony Wilson