How I Stopped Playing Football

Jonathan Winters                                            Robin Williams


As a Freshman in high school, I tried out for the football team. I had shown some potential in junior high, mainly as a halfback.  The first week of practice was rough, mostly involving a lot of running.  Short sprints I didn't mind, but cross country runs I couldn't stand.

I noticed a poster for tryouts about a play called Harvey, the one wherein the movie version, Jimmy Stewart sees an eight-foot rabbit.  I figured, what the heck. Audition and see what happens.  It has to be better than endless running.

But what to do for tryouts?  I tried for the major roles and did not fare well.  There was a small part for a Judge in his eighties, and I thought, this may be my last chance, but how do I approach it?  How do I stand out?

And then it hit me.  I would steal from my favorite comedian.  The incredibly talented Jonathan Winters.  I borrowed and adapted his mannerisms from his Grandmotherly character, Maude Frickert.  And it worked.  I got the part.  Football was history, and theater became a lifelong passion.

Robin Williams later took Jonathan Winters madcap improvisational sills and notched them to the nth degree.  And he showed me that a great comedy talent could also do great dramatic roles.  He taught the balance between letting go and restraint.

Like both of them, I always feel onstage when I am in a group of people.  I do everything I can to make them laugh and smile.  Sometimes it's subtle things, sometimes it's not so subtle.

Like them, I tend to shy away sometimes, particularly one on one with people I don't know.  At parties and some social functions, I feel very uncomfortable and fade into the shadows.  But give me the floor or a mike...hoohah!

Like them, I suffer from some depression.  Certainly not to their degree, but I do know dark moments.  And it's tough to explain to people why.

Now they are both gone.  They leave behind a rich, incredible body of work, performances that I will cherish for a lifetime.  Many have commented on Robin Williams movie performances, which were fantastic and richly varied.  But I will primarily remember him through his television work, and as a stand up comic.  Mork was an incredible bolt of electricity going through the nation's airwaves.  His appearances on late night talk shows were often things of manic beauty.  I liked his most recent series, The Crazy Ones, especially the outtakes at the end, with Robin unleashed.

Robin made me laugh more than any person outside my family and friends.  He was close to my age, and naively I thought he would always be there.  I thought I would always have new Robin Williams performances to look forward to.

Alas, that is not to be so.

Robin and Jonathan, thanks for making me laugh.  Thanks for inspiring me.

Hear that thunder?  Right now, Heaven is splitting its sides with laughter.