Live 2002 Manassas VA

Live 2002

Robin Williams

Columbia Records, 2002

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/02/2003

Robin Williams is a fucking genius. Let's get that out in the open right here and now.Sure, in his career as an actor, he's had a few movies which couldbest be described as "forgettable", but at least they paid thebills and earned Williams time in the school of life - lessons heshowed paid off when he finally won an Academy Award a few yearsback.

But maybe I should simplify my opening statement. Let's try thatone more time: Robin Williams is a fucking comedic genius. When you boil it all down to the bare bones,Williams is a standup comic extraordinaire, taking the modernfoibles of life and making us laugh at them, no matter how tragicthey might be.

Live 2002, a two-CD set taken from Williams's first tour in16 years, captures that essence well - but it also reminds us thatWilliams is a comic who is best experienced in the flesh.

If you saw Robin Williams Live On Broadway when it aired on HBO, or youpurchased the DVD, you won't have to worry about hearing the exactsame show on this set. Honestly, I can't hear anything which camefrom the tour-ending show in New York - though I would have likedto have had that set included on the second disc, which featureslocal bits from many of Williams's stops. (More on that later.)Same material, yes - though there are enough nuances in theseperformances which differ from the Broadway performance that willkeep things interesting.