Interactive session with Williams
By Saba Mohtasham
April 1, 2010 9:00 p.m.
The stage of Jan Popper Theater was set with two stools and one table holding six unopened water bottles, and it was soon to be joined by Academy Award-winner Robin Williams.
On Thursday, the Campus Events Commission held an intimate event with Williams and a roomful of students. Quietly publicized solely to the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and local improv comedy groups, the 90-minute gathering was an evening where students pursuing careers in the entertainment industry could pick the comedy legend’s brain.
Moderated by Professor Tom Nunan, Williams shared his life experiences, from his recent controversy involving the Australian prime minister to his trouble with alcoholism. He repeatedly stated his appreciation for life as an entertainer.
“I’m fulfilled,” Williams said. “Especially now that I’m sober, because I can remember what I did.”
Campus Events Commissioner Joanne Lin kicked off the event by emphasizing how interactive the session would be. Perhaps she was encouraging the students to have their questions ready, but it also foreshadowed how animated Williams was to be on stage.
He constantly broke out in impressions of everyone from Jack Nicholson to Elmer Fudd and sporadically rose from his stool to showcase his physical humor, such as bits of his character’s dance in “The Birdcage.”
While seated, he reflected on his own days as an undergraduate. Before attending Juilliard, he was a political science student at a men’s college. When he went looking for girls, he found improv, and the decision to switch majors proved simple.
“Cut to, I was great at improv theater and really bad at economics and political science,” Williams said.
The majority of the evening consisted of answering students’ questions. The second the session opened up, Marcus Moreno, a first-year theater student clad in a Popeye T-shirt (one of Williams’ many characters), sprang out of his seat to ask, “Where exactly does your funny come from?”
Williams’ response had a balance between seriousness and comedy, much like the whole evening, as he quoted the famed doctor Oliver Sacks and then quickly transitioned to being influenced by his mother, whom he described as a terminal optimist and a Christian Scientist who had plastic surgery.
Many of the students expressed his influence on their lives, with one student even saying the film “Hook” contributed to his life philosophies, to which Williams replied, “I got to sword fight and fly.”
He reminisced about fan favorites such as “Mrs. Doubtfire,” and on how he prepared by developing her voice and shaving his hairy hands. He joked about how that voice has led to people suggesting he portray Internet sensation Susan Boyle.
Though the event, which has only been organized for UCLA and a previous session at New York University, was put on by Sony to promote Williams’ recent HBO special, “Weapons of Self Destruction,” the night was about more than that for Williams.
“It’s exhilarating just to hear what’s out there, to hear what the future will be,” Williams said. “(The students who attended) know what they’re going into; they’re not ignorant of it. “¦ You think you’re going to change the world and keep that up.”
He never even so much as mentioned the title of his HBO special, which is his fifth stand-up special, but kept the night strictly about answering the students’ questions. He was even reluctant to end the night after multiple prompts by both Lin and Nunan.
While the theater could have accommodated more people, the night was tailored to a specific audience size, as per Williams’ request.
“He wanted this to be a small, intimate event where it could just really be him talking about comedy and acting and performing with students one-on-one,” Lin said.
Williams communicated his desire to keep the event personal, evoking a loud applause from the crowd.
“I want this to be for us, not for YouTube,” Williams said. “I want it to be something personal and alive, now.”
Along with the abundance of life experience he shared, Williams made it clear that he is far from finished with his career as a performer. Though he has had his share of controversy, he noted he isn’t as fearless as comedians such as Chris Rock, but it’s something he’s working on.
“I’m not that fearless yet,” Williams said. “It’s coming.”
