Cardiac Comic

The irony of having to interrupt a comedy tour called “Weapons of Self Destruction” for open heart surgery can’t be lost on an omnidirectional brain such as Robin Williams’. He ought to have been in SoFla seven months ago, but instead took time to get one valve repaired and another...

By Sam Eifling

October 15, 2009

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The irony of having to interrupt a comedy tour called “Weapons of Self Destruction” for open heart surgery can’t be lost on an omnidirectional brain such as Robin Williams’. He ought to have been in SoFla seven months ago, but instead took time to get one valve repaired and another replaced with bovine cardio tissue that he claims has turned him off beef. Even a self-destructive personality knows his limits, apparently.

At least he enjoyed the privilege of aging — to a ripe 58 and counting — unlike some other too-fast, too-coked comics. He’s still a perfectly capable wit, even if his past 15 years of cinema have seemed like a guy named Robin Williams doing impressions of Robin Williams. But ignoring Flubber and Patch Adams and Aladdin (and Hook and Ferngully and Jumanji and all the other family-friendly mugging), Williams is most natural riffing on race, sex, drugs, celebrity, and the news. Appearing on both Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel, Williams claimed his surgery had given him mood swings and compared the procedure to receiving an implanted vagina. If you go, expect plenty of such ribaldry, and allow yourself to gaze back at his career as a case study on the origins of dirty grandpas. See Mrs. Doubtfire crack dick jokes Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (5747 Seminole Way, Hollywood). Tickets cost $75 to $150, and are available at the venue’s box office, on ticketmaster.com, or by calling 954-523-3309.
Wed., Oct. 21, 8 p.m., 2009

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