ok...not a great story for those of you that picked robin williams...if you like him, fingers in ears please and move to the next post without reading this one;
my uncle used to own a famous little comedy shop in studio city before comedy shops were a big thing
his shop was called "bla bla café"
bla bla was Albie backward, and this was my bestest uncle Albie...I used to run and jump into his arms when I was just a pooch
famous comics used to work at my uncles place all the time when they had new material...this was a showcase to experiment...johnny carson, Joanne whirly when she was big...just about everybody on laugh in...dangerfeild...everybody
nobody was paid!...they considered it a favor my uncle did for them if he let them practice at the club
unkown comics used to have to guarantee a door, and were paid a percentage of what they brought
for those of you familiar with the area, it was across the street from the "queen mary" (a drag show) which I believe is still going strong
anyway, whenever robin Williams was in the audience, nobody would perform because he would take the biggest punch in a comics routine and add it to his manic one liners
for instance, that "help me, help me" bit with a fly was the running gag of one of the comics that used to be big in long island...I forget his name but he became a mild success in the industry...anyway, because of robin Williams, it would ruin then entire comedy routine, and it would never look original since robin Williams used the line in his set
this is called "stealing a clowns face" and I don't have any respect for robin Williams as a comic.