7. He had his highs and his lows. We gloried in highs but could never share in the depths of those lows.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
8. Williams stand-up persona came at a particular moment in the history of comedy: post-Lenny Bruce, Carlin, Tomlin, Richard Pryor
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Replying to @HeerJeet
9. Just as Joyce wasn't just a novelist but really all novelists rolled into one, Williams was all stand-up comedians in one body.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
10. Williams absorbed Lenny Bruce, Carlin, Tomlin, Pryor and many more. On stage he shifted from one influence to another lightening fast
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Replying to @HeerJeet
11. As a meta-comedian perhaps Williams biggest influence was the TV remote control: he replicated the ever-shifting screen.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
12. Aside from his debt to Jonathan Winters, Tomlin, etc., Robin Williams was also the spawn of Chuck Jones & Mel Blanc.
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13. The protean nature of animation -- it's speed and quick comedic cuts -- that's what Williams tried to mimic.
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14. Plagiarism accusations against Williams need to be taken seriously but also contextualized with his sponge-like absorption of culture.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
15. There was no joke that Williams stole that he didn't also transform.
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16. "Artists are the antennae of the species" -- Ezra Pound. What did Williams's antennae pick up? Rise of sampling and mash-up culture.
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17. Take a look at Williams's classic "Elmer Fudd sings Springsteen" routine: sampling and mash-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vT-VaMXsAw …
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Replying to @HeerJeet
18. To return to the Williams and David Foster Wallace comparison: fierce mental fire that consumes the combustible world & burn out.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
19. Williams and DFW both hyper-sensitive minds who came of age at moment when media sensorium became all-encompassing.
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