10 Robin Williams TV Appearances You Must Watch

By Douglas Scarpa /

8. Stand-Up Specials

Robin began his stand-up career in the 1970€™s, after moving to the San Francisco area. It was in the dark and dingy comedy clubs of San Fran and Los Angeles where Williams honed his craft. His stand-up can be described as controlled insanity wherein Robin frequently bounces from one subject to another with his frantic energy. Robin got his first television stand-up special in 1978 -- titled Off The Wall and aired on HBO. An additional two HBO specials followed with one in 1982 and 1986€™s infamous Live at the Met. Williams continued to do stand-up shows throughout his career but would not return to television with his routine until 2002€™s Live on Broadway -- again broadcast on HBO. It was a glorious return for Robin, whose act touched on a plethora of subjects -- from politics and sports to women and sex. Williams had one last stand-up special on HBO, Weapons of Self-Destruction, in December of 2009 -- another witty and funny performance. Robin was revered as a legend within the stand-up world, even being voted the 13th greatest stand-up act of all time by Comedy Central. Surely, any and all of Robin€™s stand-up performances were superb.