Robin Williams Just Gave You A Pretty Great Guide To Being A Nerd

Thankfully, Robin Williams can’t type as fast as he speaks. Last night, his Reddit AMA — organised to promote his new TV show, The Crazy Ones (also starring Buffy icon, Sarah Michelle Gellar) — saw him curb the signature stream of consciousness that’s been endlessly mined for laughs by the likes of Family Guy and countless impersonators.

Instead, the surprisingly entertaining session touched on behind-the-scenes stories from his classics Jumanji, Good Will Hunting and Mrs Doubtfire (“One time in makeup as Mrs. Doubtfire, I walked into a sex shop in San Francisco and tried to buy a double-headed dildo. Just because. Why not?”); support for his excellent box office bombs Hook and Patch Adams; a few personal stories, including the weird way he used to cheer up Steven Spielberg during the filming of Schindler’s List; and his love of C.S. Lewis, Tom Waits ballads and Keith Jarrett piano solos.

Most surprisingly, though, the session revealed Williams’ endearing love of geeky ephemera, particularly video games and anime. He basically gave you a pretty great guide to being a nerd.

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Anime recommendations:

“I heard you’re a fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion! Are there any other anime series that you enjoy?” asked Redditor Deto15. “Oh god, Ghost In The Shell. Akira. Blood: The Last Vampire. But mostly Ghost In The Shell…” replied Williams. “I think I have a copy of [Fullmetal Alchemist] but I’ve never seen it! But I love Cowboy Bebop!”

Williams even went on to admit that he’d love to play Ghost In The Shell‘s old man Chief Aramaki in a live action version of the anime. Obviously, that lead an excellent Redditor named ‘metametamind‘ to create this:

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Gaming recommendations:

Remember that time Robin Williams made a Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D ad? Turns out he’s really, actually a fan of the game, and not just a marketing stooge.

Williams was asked if he named his daughter Zelda after the game series. “It wasn’t actually me”, said Williams. “It was my son Zachary who came up with the idea. But once we heard it, we said it was great… My other son, Mario, sends his greetings.”

After putting in his vote for Ocarina Of Time as the greatest game of all time, he was asked if he’d played current juggernaut GTAV yet. “No! I haven’t. I’m still waiting for the next Call Of Duty. I don’t usually play online, because getting my ass kicked by an 11 year old is very humbling… I’m playing a game called Battlestation Pacific.

“I’m looking forward to the next Xbox,” he said, moving on to his thoughts on the next generation of consoles. “I can’t imagine the graphics being any better. It will be like these characters are living in your house. I’ll have to be doing duck and cover just to get to the bathroom! For the WiiU or the PS4, at this point I haven’t seen them yet but I might have to check into the cyber wing at Betty Ford.”

Then someone referenced the ‘What year is it?’ meme, which Williams sadly didn’t really understand ’cause he’s 62 years old, and he replied: “We believe it’s 2014? We’re jumping now to different decades. The time portal will close soon! Another great game – PORTAL. That one is INSANE>”

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Actually, I just re-read that whole thing and it sounds exactly like a nutcase Robin Williams skit. Forget everything I said at the top. In any case, I’m easily impressed when old people like things other than Mozart or David Lean.