Where in the world am I today?: Limon, Costa Rica joining the Island Princess

Prologue: I first met Rob and the other members of The Flaming Idiots at the Edmonton Street Performer’s Festival in July of 1989. Through the early 1990s we seemed to bump into each other regularly at the Edmonton Fringe Festival during what I like to refer to as the ‘Golden Era’ of that particular event. For what ever reason it just felt like a magical time which seemed to last for about five or six years. It was a regular pilgrimage to Edmonton for the Fringe for many performers and I always loved seeing what new bits and pieces the Idiots had come up with in the year between our meetings. Eventually the Flaming idiots shifted their focus towards doing more stage work and we stopped running into each other as much, so it was a treat to run into them this past Summer at the very same event that we had first met at. Following the work did in Edmonton with his fellow Idiots, he took his solo show to a couple of other events ‘Centrefest‘ in Red Deer being one of them. We met again there and took an idea that he and Rick Kunst had and turned it into a couple of video shorts – Clown v. Mime 01 and Clown v. Mime 02. My role in this collaboration was to shoot and edit the video. I was brought in again for the editing on Clown v. Mime 03, 04 and hopefully 05 though I haven’t gotten around to editing that last one yet… At any rate… Rob’s a great guy. Really creative and it’s always a pleasure working with and around him.

STATS

Name: Rob Williams.
Birthday: August.
Place of Birth: Texas.
Started Peforming/Working in the Industry: 1984
Discipline: Juggling mostly. Some whip cracking. Some tricks with the feet.
Website: http://www.robsho.com/
Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/clopshop
Venues Worked: Way to many to sum up easily. Comedy clubs, colleges, television shows, corporate events, festivals, fairs, and theaters. Big and small. All over.

Hot 10 Questions:

1. What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream and why? • Stephen Colbert’s “Ameicone Dream” because it comes with a full days supply of irony.
2. Name one movie that would make it to your Top 10 all-time great films. • Groundhog Day
3. What was your favorite toy from childhood? • G.I. Joe. The old ones that were pretty big. Loved my Joes.
4. Who were your biggest inspirations when you got started? • George Carlin. Richard Pryor. Steve Martin. Saturday Night Live. Python. The Flying Karamozov Brothers. Before that, when I was a kid, my Mom would let me stay up late to watch old comedies with her. I saw all the old vaudeville guys. The Marx Brothers, Martin and Lewis, Hope and Crosby road movies. They really were the foundation for my life’s work.
5. From the world of animation what one character do you most identify with or see yourself in? • My favorite animation might be Wallace and Grommit. I don’t know that I identify with them, but I love them so. My favorite voice to imitate though is Ren Hoek, from Ren and Stimpy. I do it way too often. Still.
6. Name something that scares you. • Not getting a laugh.  A failed moment on stage seems to stretch time and space. Everything becomes a slow motion, pressing silence, except for the crushing of my eyes and the sound of my heart smacking my ribs. I desperately claw for the next joke like I’m slipping down a cliff face. If it comes loose, I plunge down, but keep doing the show. That’s what makes me a pro.
7. Apart from the entertainment industry, name one other job you’ve had. • Oddly enough, I made sandwiches at a bakery. Odd because, if you’ve seen my show, you can see that I still make sandwiches.
8. What’s something you haven’t done yet that you’d like to try? • Write a play.
9. What’s your least favourite thing about being a performer? • I love most of it. The friends, the little adventures, those moments of flow when you’re really having a great show. Least favorite thing? At times I might say the travel. I like to cook, to read, to be with loved ones. Travel is hard on the simple pleasures.
10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? • “Wow, hey, I’m God, and uhm, look, I’m really sorry about the crap down there on Earth. I can’t really control things. All that violence, racism, hatred, all the abuse and ugliness, the destruction, the suffering, the poverty, the hunger, the greed, the pious posturing and the willful ignorance, Fox News, I’m really sorry. It’s all perfect here in heaven, Ella is about to sing and we saved you a seat at the table with Bill Hicks, Lenny Bruce, and your Dad.“

The Nugget:

Pick one nugget of wisdom you’ve picked up from your career in Show Business to share with the World.

“Don’t give up.“

–Rob Williams