Robin Williams blends celebrity impersonations and Shakespeare in unearthed '90s clip
Only Williams could pull off Sylvester Stallone as Hamlet.
Robin Williams—the comedic genius
We all know the late, great Robin Williams was a comic genius. Many people also know that he was classically trained in theater. In a recently unearthed clip from 1991, Williams combines those two talents, leaving people splitting at the seams even decades later.
Williams was a guest on “The Tonight Show” starring Johnny Carson, when he and Carson began chatting about William Shakespeare, who Williams quickly quipped was a “man with a second grade education, [who] wrote some of the greatest poetry of all time, and sometimes I think, maybe not.”
Carson then asked Williams how he felt about other actors playing Hamlet (for context, Mel Gibson had recently starred in the role). Williams, being no stranger to the Bard’s work, then went into one of his delightfully creative frenzies, managing to effortlessly slide into the voices of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jack Nicholson while throwing out verses like it was nothing.
Needless to say, the whole thing brought Carson into a fit of laughter.
The clip, which was posted to Twitter, left people wholeheartedly appreciating Williams all over again.
“The man could simply just start speaking & the talent would flow. Every single interview I've seen is just pure comedy. This man is sorely missed,” one person commented.
“One of a kind, there will never be anybody like him again. So sadly missed,” wrote another.
ROBIN WILLIAMS opens his improvisational box of tricks for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show in 1991, and digs out William Shakespeare.
— Michael Warburton (@MichaelWarbur17) October 30, 2022
A genius always missed. pic.twitter.com/iTZfZMUxCL
“The man could simply just start speaking & the talent would flow. Every single interview I've seen is just pure comedy. This man is sorely missed,” one person commented.
“One of a kind, there will never be anybody like him again. So sadly missed,” wrote another.
“Johnny was such a great host. [He] could just relate and say a word or two and let the genius shine,” wrote one person.
Williams had a gift for lighting people up. He might be gone, but his brilliance keeps on giving.