Robin Williams (1951-2014)

In the past 48 hours, its been hard for me to face the fact that one of the great icons of comedy and cinema has departed from this world. Robin Williams was found dead in his Marin County home on Monday. Since 4pm on Monday afternoon, tributes have been paid on social media networks, late night talk shows, and his stand-up routines have been broadcasted on the radio. The details into Robin's death will be speculated and over-analyzed by the press as is common for anyone famous; hopefully, he will be remembered for his craft and warmth he brought to the world rather than be remembered for his departure.

The constant memory of Robin Williams that's been circling in my head these past two days was my Eighth birthday when my parents took me to see Jumanji. Based on Chis Van Allsberg's children's book, two siblings find a board game which comes to life as they roll the dice and battle with the creatures of the jungle. I remember barreling over in laughs over Williams' bearded presence on the screen and watching in awe as he played a bumbling Errol Flynn fighting crocodiles, running from a heard of rhinos, and acting as a father figure to two lonely children. Since then, I started watching anything he was involved in; from his televised antics on Mork and Mindy to his masterclass performance as a therapist in Good Will Hunting.

I could go on and on over the accolades Robin Williams has received over the years, his personal life, and his generosity with Comic Relief and his USO shows, but the only thing I can say about him was that he quenched our thirst with his presence. Last night, I was watching The Fisher King and during the nude sequence in Central Park, an Au-natural Williams tells Jeff Bridges about the story of the holy grail:  

One day a fool wandered into the castle and found the king alone. And being a fool, he was simple minded, he didn't see a king. He only saw a man alone and in pain. And he asked the king, "What ails you friend?" The king replied, "I'm thirsty. I need some water to cool my throat". So the fool took a cup from beside his bed, filled it with water and handed it to the king. As the king began to drink, he realized his wound was healed. He looked in his hands and there was the holy grail, that which he sought all of his life. And he turned to the fool and said with amazement, "How can you find that which my brightest and bravest could not?" And the fool replied, "I don't know. I only knew that you were thirsty."  

Robin Williams quenched our thirst and knew we were thirsty for humor, for a sense of warmth, for something to distract us from our problems regardless of how big or small they were. He knew we were thirsty and whenever I see a clip of him doing stand-up or catch a glimpse of him on television, I know who I can rely on to pour another cup.