RIP Robin Williams

Twitter has been pretty good about that since last night -- have seen several tweets with suicide hotlines etc.

 

At least one Canuckistani news outlet I checked also had links to suicide hotlines, counselors etc. along with the news.

 

CNN had Dr. Drew on last night and, for the radio nerds, Jim Bohannon interviewed a mental health expert about this on his show last night.

 

Terrible news.

I thought this Cracked article did a good job illustrating how the funniest people are often the most depressed. The comparison to Chris Farley is pretty telling.

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/robin-williams-why-funny-people-kill-themselves/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=new+article&wa_ibsrc=fanpage

 

Marc Maron reposted his Williams "WTF" episode from four years ago where Williams talked pretty openly about depression and suicide. Pretty crazy stuff. He implied that he felt suicidal when he had his heart bypass several years ago, but knew he would never do it because he doesn't have the balls.

Hearing those words from his voice just gave me a chill up my spine. It's worth a listen.

 

Fox News had a doctor on around 9:30. He spoke of suicide prevention and depression.

 

I can't help but think about the lyrics of this Blue Magic classic Three Ring Circus. It reminds me that a smile is a frown turned upside down.

The whistle blows as he makes his rounds
He's seen every town west of Mississippi
He's just a face painted all in smiles
Jumpin' up and down and makin' people happy

Though deep inside a shadow grows
He could laugh and no one knows
There's a lonely man inside

Life is a three ring circus
All of the ups and downs of a carousel
That I know so well

Life is a three ring circus
Just one little ride on a merry-go-round
Goin' round and round and round and round and round

He does the best like the minstrels did
Just to please the kids and keep the people laughing
But no one knows that beneath the clothes
And his turned up nose lives a lonely beggar

He needs the love he spreads around
But in life he's just a clown
Till they bring the curtain down

Life is a three ring circus
All of the ups and downs of a carousel
That I know so well

Life is a three ring circus
Just one little ride on a merry-go-round
Goin' round and round and round and round and round

He needs the love that can't be found
But you're just too blind to see
That the clown is really needy

Life is a three ring circus
All of the ups and downs of a carousel
That I know so well

Life is a three ring circus
Just one little ride on a merry-go-round
Goin' round and round and round and round and round

Goin' round and round and round and round and round

 

Can't access the article at work, but the comparison seems a bit strange. Obviously, there's the sad clown aspect and the drug use, but one guy was 63 and the other was 30ish.

 

Letterman and Ferguson are both in repeats this week.

Those Monday shows are probably going to be quite emotional for both hosts.

 

Celebrity deaths are one of the many things Twitter has retarded.
Maybe fewer knee-jerk "RIP" tweets and more of anything that leads to an actual dialogue about mental disease.
But Twitter has little capacity for that anyway, so what's the point.

 

I think Stewart and Kimmel are as well.

On the WTF interview, Williams said when he was on Letterman after he had his heart surgery, Letterman leaned over to him during the break and said, "Do you find yourself getting overly emotional all the time now?" and acknowledged that he felt the same way after his surgery.