Column: Cosby to ‘Mork’

by Woody

Cosby, Carlin, ‘Crazy Guy’ and Mork

Bill Cosby was the first comedian I fell on the floor for. In fact, the first LP – that’s what we called long play albums back in the ’60s when I started out as a child – I owned was not by the Beatles or The Beach Boys, but rather Cosby’s “I Started Out as a Child.”1-coz

I remember in third grade our assignment was to recite a poem or short story from memory: I performed “The Water Bottle” off that album to great laughs.

In turn I listened endlessly to Cosby’s ensuing LPs “Why Is There Air”, “Wonderfulness”, “Revenge” and “To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With” which hit home because I had two brothers.

The next stand-up comedians who could make Nestles Quick shoot out my nose were George Carlin and Steve Martin. I’m not sure if my older brothers ever actually listened to Martin’s “Let’s Get Small”, “A Wild And Crazy Guy” and “Comedy Is Not Pretty!” albums, but they heard me mimic the routines.

I even went to a Carlin performance at UC Santa Barbara in the late 1970s wearing an arrow fashioned as though it had been shot through my head – one of Martin’s trademark props.

Sitting a few rows from the stage with my similarly arrow-headed friend Brian Whalen, Carlin spotted us, stopped in mid-joke, and adlibbed, “You guys are at the wrong concert.”

And then along came Robin Williams. He was so hilarious that a number of freshmen in my dorm, myself included, sometimes wore rainbow suspenders like his alien character in “Mork & Mindy.”1-mork

Williams just got funnier and funnier. And while he never replaced my first comedy crush, Cosby, he may have given me more total laughs simply because he could squeeze 30 minutes of punch lines into three frenetic minutes. Remarkably, Williams’ serious work might have surpassed his funny stuff.

Williams tragically succumbed to the demons of depression Monday, his death at age 63 leaving fans with figurative arrows through the heart. Here are some of his – and his film characters’ – words from the heart . . .

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“You know what music is? God’s little reminder that there’s something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between all living beings, everywhere, even the stars.” – Robin Williams

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“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” – Robin Williams as John Keating in “Dead Poets Society”

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“(If) I’d ask you about love, you’d probably quote me a sonnet. But you’ve never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn’t know what it’s like to be her angel, to have that love for her.” – Robin Williams’ character Dr. Sean Maguire in “Good Will Hunting”

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“Listen, you hear it? Carpe. Hear it? ITAL(whispering)ENDITAL Carpe. Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” – again as John Keating

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Now, more happily, I would like to share some wisdom from a different Williams – Marcella, my daughter’s former fourth-grade teacher and now a family friend, who upon celebrating her birthday this week shared some “What I Know Today” thoughts:

“Tend to the pieces and parts. The whole will take care of itself in good time.

“Make time to do the stuff you like to do and figure out what those things are.

“Be sure you aren’t good at everything you do. If you are then you’re probably not doing much. Don’t get stale. Learning is essential.

“Know the difference between a situation and a crisis. Either way, things can always at least feel a little better with a snack, a sweater and a nap.

“Endings herald beginnings and a little creative destruction now and then clears the decks for a solid foundation to build anew.

“Know the difference between building a resume and a eulogy. Do both. Be responsible for good work and a good life.

“Be brave. Live big. Love more.”

Carpe diem.

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Wooden-&-Me-cover-mock-upWoody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Check out my new memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece”