Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind Page #7

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he would come back

to the ranch

and be with us.

He was quiet.

He was very quiet.

When he was home,

he would shut off

and recharge.

I was supposed to be

making a home

and taking care

of my son,

but I had

no sense of order.

I didn't know how

to manage a household.

So, I interviewed

Marsha as a nanny.

She was

very organized,

and she took very

good care of Zachary.

She was organized

the way we weren't.

And so it was

good to have that

kind of "tuck-tuck."

It worked.

Robin's managers were

now taking care of him.

I was no longer involved

with his day-to-day

material making.

He would spend more

and more time away, working.

(cheers, applause)

Arthur Grace:

I got a call from the director

of photography at Newsweek

to do a cover story on Robin.

They just sent me

out on the road

to be with

Robin Williams

for a month.

He was on the road

working on his material.

We traveled together in lousy

little cigar-tube planes.

He was not getting quote

"first-class treatment"

in travel

or anything else.

He was

in the airport terminal

like everybody else,

and he was

always polite

and always talked

to the people.

I couldn't believe

they were paying me

to hang out with him.

I'm a fool to do

your dirty work

Oh yeah...

Grace:

Before the show,

he would go

into his private room

and get ready.

I'm a fool to do

your dirty work

Robin would stand there,

looking down,

his arms hanging loose,

completely quiet,

completely silent.

The first time I saw it,

I thought he fell asleep,

and I almost

went over and said,

you know, "Robin."

He was just quiet

and still, Zen-like.

(heart beating)

(breathing slowly)

(muffled cheers, applause)

Announcer (on P.A.):

Ladies and gentlemen,

-Robin Williams!

-(cheering continues)

Let's go!

Let's move it!

Let's move it!

And then, like he was--

(snaps fingers)

...somebody launched

him out of a rocket.

Dirty work no more

I'm a fool to do

your dirty work, oh yeah

He put so much energy

into the show,

so much of himself

into the show.

When he came off stage,

he was just dripping...

exhausted,

mentally and physically,

emotionally exhausted.

He left it all on the stage.

After we'd check

into a hotel,

he was full

of energy again.

He didn't wanna

go to sleep, so, okay,

so it's midnight,

and there's

this after-hours place,

and out into the night

we'd go.

And then the next day,

get up, go again.

I'm a fool to do your dirty

work, oh yeah...

Robin:

There's a real

incredible rush, I think,

when you find

something new

and spontaneous.

I think your brain

rewards that with a little

bit of endorphins going,

"If you think again,

I'll get you high

one more time."

Dirty work, oh yeah

Grace:

The cover came out,

did well.

And then I got a call

from him saying,

now he was

at the Metropolitan

Opera House.

He's actually gonna

step out on that stage,

in this environment,

in front

of 3,800 people,

and make them laugh

for 90 minutes?

This is like

being a gladiator.

I don't wanna do

your dirty work no more

I'm a fool to do

your dirty work, oh yeah

Whoa-ho-ho!

What the f***

am I doing here?

This is incredible.

I'm scared shitless.

I can't lie.

How do you get to the Met?

Money. Lots and lots of money.

God damn.

I wonder if Pavarotti's

at The Improv going,

"Two Jews walk into a bar.

(laughter)

Yes."

We'd done-- I don't know--

20 or 30 shows on the road

for six months,

maybe eight months.

We had really

worked on this.

The show that

we taped at the

Night at the Met...

there was 25%

that I'd never

heard before.

-(applause)

-The whole country's intense.

You wanna know why

the police are intense?

Because we're intense.

We're armed

and they're armed. Yay!

God, in California,

everybody's got handguns,

even ladies who are

just carrying .22's,

just makes a small hole.

(mimics gunfire, splatter) Ah!

I got tired of carrying my mace

'cause I used to mix it up

with my breath freshener

and go, pssh,

-"Oh, there goes the day."

-(laughter)

It's to the point

in California where we're

gonna come home and go,

"Honey, I'm home!"

"Easy, dear."

"Hold it, honey."

"Dad, I gotcha."

"Hold it, boy."

"Watch out, dear."

It's Family Feud:

The Home Game.

There are guys

who won't go on the stage

at The Comedy Store...

unless they have

their eight minutes

written out.

Robin did

a two-hour show.

A nuclear bomb--

it's basically

a man's way of saying,

"I'm gonna f*** up

the Earth, yeah."

A woman would never

make a nuclear weapon.

They would never make

a bomb that kills you.

They'd make

a bomb that makes

you feel bad for a while.

See? It'd be

a whole other thing.

That's why

there should be

a woman president.

Don't you see?

That'd be a wonderful thing.

(cheers, applause)

Be an incredible time

for that.

There would

never be any wars,

just, every 28 days,

some intense negotiations.

(laughter)

That'd be

a good thing, yeah.

(Spanish accent)

This is Carlos,

who for years

was my stand-in

when we made--

(Spanish accent)

We-- he and I are like this.

We are.

Which one is me?

(both chatter)

I love you so much.

I love what you stand for,

-even when you're sitting.

-Thank you very much.

Robin and I both

did sets at Catch.

He had rented

a townhouse.

and I didn't

know him very well,

but I wanted to.

And he said,

"I'm gonna go home.

Do you wanna come by?"

I say, "Sure."

So I walk him back

to his townhouse,

and Zak,

he's crying like crazy.

Robin's-- you know,

he's trying--

so I was like,

"May I? Can I?"

Simple little effleurage

with the index finger

on the base

of the skull of the baby,

and Zak starts

to quiet down,

and he quiets down

and he falls asleep

in my arms.

And then I handed him

back to Robin

and he just looked

at me like I was--

you know,

like this genius.

And that was

the first time

we connected

in a different way that

wasn't about comedy.

It was about...

being a father

and being a friend.

It was really-- yeah,

I remember that so well.

Everybody wanted

something from him.

I had no agenda.

I just liked him.

Velardi:

Oh, here's Robin!

He's used to this.

(laughs)

-A piece of cake.

-You know...

You know...

It's a strange sorta thing.

Won't you follow me?

Grobel:

The end of your

first Playboy interview

you spoke

of your future,

and it said,

"I'll settle for Valerie and me

living on our ranch in Napa."

And it's like--

so much for your seer-like

qualities, you know?

Robin:

Yeah. Yeah and that--

you know, obviously that

fell apart, again,

'cause it wasn't

strong enough to hold.

I had this wanderlust,

you know, and so did she.

Velardi:

Robin and I

had drifted apart.

I wanted out.

I no longer

wanted this life.

It's not what

I had signed up for.

I wanted Robin

and the fun that we had,

and then it turned

into an industry,

and I was less

and less a part of it.

Robin wanted

to further his career,

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