Internet Security, music, and Dad Jokes. And pets - it's a blog, after all.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
R.I.P. Robin Williams
Thanks for making us laugh. And for so much more.
It's a sadly common feeling, that one that makes puppies cry in the middle of the night, and people walk off stage in their prime. Very sad indeed. But time's up.
It’s very surprising to me how few people realize that comedians and funny men, you know, the “class clown” types, are hiding a completely unhappy and miserable human being behind their comedy.
You could see it in Mr. Williams’ eyes, if you looked closely. His facial expressions never matched the things he was saying. Speaking funny, but still miserable behind the façade.
To all those that don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a little learnin’ for you:
That guy we all know, that one who is super funny and always cracking jokes? He does that as a defense mechanism, not because he’s super happy and funny and content. He was the quiet kid, or the fat kid, or the socially awkward kid who didn’t get along with anyone very well because he didn’t know how to. One day, he did something funny, and people laughed. He liked it. It was better than anything he’d ever had before, so he kept doing it. He kept doing it for so long that he couldn’t stop, because he secretly feared that all of the people that now liked him only liked him for the clown, and if he stopped being the clown, they would stop liking him. In a lot of cases, they were correct.
Think about the jokes they tell, and the routines they come up with. They aren’t coming up with thi stuff off the cuff. It takes time and effort and planning and practice to be that funny. Lots of it. Meaning they spent a lot of time carefully crafting a public persona that is entirely different from who they really were.
If you have a friend like this, be careful. Some day, if the clown goes away for a time and he starts being serious with you, listen to what he says. He’s finally showing you who he really is, and the worst thing you can do in this situation is even accidentally do something that would indicate to him that you are rejecting him.
People were so shocked when Chris Farley killed himself. Think about that one. What was his schtick? It was essentially a buffoonish fat guy who fell down a lot and did a lot of stupid, outrageous things.
This was created as a defense mechanism, folks, because as a kid, he FELT LIKE he was nothing more than a buffoonish fat guy who did stupid things. See, if he creates his comedic image around that, and accentuates that, then when people laughed at him for being fat and buffoonish, he could tell himself that it was part of the act, not a reflection on himself. He owned it, and then set it apart from himself, as a defense mechanism.
Makes you wonder about Gabrielle Ingelsias, doesn’t it?
I’m not saying that all funny people are broken like this, but a lot of them are. Robin Williams was a poster child for this broken-ness. If we can learn anything from him, let’s all learn that maybe that funny guy we all know isn’t nearly as OK as he pretends to be. Maybe we should all be careful about keeping these guys around just to feed off their humor, and recognize that they are people, too, that need more than to be laughed at.
4 comments:
Actually, one of my favorite performances was his rendition of Popeye.
That must have been a hoot for the cast and everyone.
May he RIP...
It’s very surprising to me how few people realize that comedians and funny men, you know, the “class clown” types, are hiding a completely unhappy and miserable human being behind their comedy.
You could see it in Mr. Williams’ eyes, if you looked closely. His facial expressions never matched the things he was saying. Speaking funny, but still miserable behind the façade.
To all those that don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a little learnin’ for you:
That guy we all know, that one who is super funny and always cracking jokes? He does that as a defense mechanism, not because he’s super happy and funny and content. He was the quiet kid, or the fat kid, or the socially awkward kid who didn’t get along with anyone very well because he didn’t know how to. One day, he did something funny, and people laughed. He liked it. It was better than anything he’d ever had before, so he kept doing it. He kept doing it for so long that he couldn’t stop, because he secretly feared that all of the people that now liked him only liked him for the clown, and if he stopped being the clown, they would stop liking him. In a lot of cases, they were correct.
Think about the jokes they tell, and the routines they come up with. They aren’t coming up with thi stuff off the cuff. It takes time and effort and planning and practice to be that funny. Lots of it. Meaning they spent a lot of time carefully crafting a public persona that is entirely different from who they really were.
If you have a friend like this, be careful. Some day, if the clown goes away for a time and he starts being serious with you, listen to what he says. He’s finally showing you who he really is, and the worst thing you can do in this situation is even accidentally do something that would indicate to him that you are rejecting him.
People were so shocked when Chris Farley killed himself. Think about that one. What was his schtick? It was essentially a buffoonish fat guy who fell down a lot and did a lot of stupid, outrageous things.
This was created as a defense mechanism, folks, because as a kid, he FELT LIKE he was nothing more than a buffoonish fat guy who did stupid things. See, if he creates his comedic image around that, and accentuates that, then when people laughed at him for being fat and buffoonish, he could tell himself that it was part of the act, not a reflection on himself. He owned it, and then set it apart from himself, as a defense mechanism.
Makes you wonder about Gabrielle Ingelsias, doesn’t it?
I’m not saying that all funny people are broken like this, but a lot of them are. Robin Williams was a poster child for this broken-ness. If we can learn anything from him, let’s all learn that maybe that funny guy we all know isn’t nearly as OK as he pretends to be. Maybe we should all be careful about keeping these guys around just to feed off their humor, and recognize that they are people, too, that need more than to be laughed at.
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