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NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > ROBIN WILLIAMS’ HEART JUST NOT THAT INTO PERFORMING ANYMORE
ROBIN WILLIAMS’ HEART JUST NOT THAT INTO PERFORMING ANYMORE
March 6 2009
Miami, FL – Robin Williams has long been one of American’s and the world’s most beloved comedians. For decades the performer has entertained audiences with his trademark frantic and frenetic style and created iconic comedy performances that entertain generations. Like all artists though decades of performance have not done wonders for Williams’ comedy which in recent years has fallen far from its peak days.
Now, with the announcement that he will be postponing his recent comedy tour ‘Weapons of Self Destruction’ to undergo emergency cardiac surgery, his heart is finally telling him what his soul knew long ago; I’m just not that into this anymore.
“I'm so touched by everyone's support and well wishes,” said Williams in a statement. “This tour has been amazing fun and I can't wait to get back out on the road after a little tune-up.”
The ironically named ‘Weapons of Self-Destruction tour has been a sell out for nearly all of its 80 play dates, much to everyone’s surprise.
“No one knew what to make of Williams when he first came on the scene and for a lot of years after that his act was just as confusing, startling, and spectacular. Through the 1980’s he built a career like probably no other comedian before him had. Going from wild exuberant silliness to sombre and thoughtful drama with seemingly little effort, and
then came ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’,” said Scrape TV Humour analyst Doug Cutter. “While not a terrible movie, it was without a doubt Williams’ biggest box office success up until that point and whether he became enamoured of that or the studios boxed him in, his career seems to have been irrevocably altered by that movie.”
Williams won an Academy Award for his performance in ‘Good Will Hunting’ which was released some years after ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ but was seen by many as a cumulative reward for previous performances.
“It’s very rare that a comedian is recognized by the Oscars largely because they star in silly and immature comedies the likes of which Williams has been churning out over the last 15 years. His performance in ‘Good Will Hunting’ was fine but lacked the depth of roles like those in ‘Awakenings’ and ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ and one has to think he was given the trophy as much for those roles as the one he actually won it for,” continued Cutter. “Of late his movies have been neither dramatically interesting nor funny and it leaves one to wonder, especially as you sit
there and remember his great past performances, why he is in this movie and why are you sitting watching. He made the rare transition from comedy to drama but now doesn’t appear to use either of those disciplines.”
Williams is expected to fully recover from his surgery, at least physically, but it is unclear if his heart will be rejuvenated or weakened by the health scare.
“It would only be speculation to try and assess his long term medical health without knowing the particulars of the case. If he did suffer a heart attack that could limit his life span depending on the severity but if it was something like an arrhythmia that they were able to catch it may not have a significant
effect on his health,” said Scrape TV Medical analyst Dr. Phillip Waites. “As far as his mental health goes, that’s a different thing altogether. Near death experiences can have a significant impact on a person’s mental and emotional well being, sometimes
negative but quite often positive. It did wonders for David Letterman just to name a recent example but like his physical health it’s really impossible to determine beforehand. It’s unlikely I think that we’ll see another ‘Fisher King’ but hopefully we won’t see another ‘Patch Adams’.”
Williams’ next movie will be ‘Shrink’ in which he stars alongside fellow former great John Travolta.
“Travolta had a career near death experience and for a year or two made some good choices but then fell back on the same soft headed choices that had put him such a difficult position in the first place so that might not be
the best example from which to work,” continued Waites. “When people are in need of significant emotional and mental healing and look towards a peer rather than a doctor for help but for Williams Travolta might not be the best person from whom to seek advice. For him there may be no redemption though. His heart hasn’t been in it for a long time and finally it’s stepped and screamed to him that fact, hopefully he’ll listen this time.”
Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent
NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > ROBIN WILLIAMS’ HEART JUST NOT THAT INTO PERFORMING ANYMORE
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