10 Times Robin Williams Completely LOST IT

#10: Breaking De Niro

“Awakenings” (1990)

During “Awakenings,” we got to witness the dramatic chemistry between Robin Williams and Robert De Niro as they gave it their all in this biographical drama. Behind the scenes, however, you get to see the funny side of the duo as Robin does what he does best – break people. During a scene, Robin fumbled with his line and ended up spiraling into a giggling fit, flexing a ridiculous voice during a prolonged joke. By now, Robin’s already cracked, and it’s not too long before De Niro joins him, giving a full-blown belly laugh the likes of which nobody has ever heard. Whenever Robin went into a laughing fit, he always took others down with him.

#9: Directing Robin

“Old Dogs” (2009)

How often did it happen that you had to stop Robin from acting? During the filming of “Old Dogs,” Robin got so into character that he kept going even after the scene was done. Eventually, John Travolta had to come back on screen to pull him out of the frame. It seems blasphemous to tell Robin to stop when he’s on a roll, but you can only imagine how awkward it must’ve been for him to realize that he was still going after his time was up. Still, it’s once again a testament to Robin’s acting - giving 1000% long after the cameras weren’t on.

#8: The Perfect Flub-Up

“Mork & Mindy” (1978-82)

When Robin got his big break on the sitcom “Mork & Mindy,” it was clear that he and Pam Dawber had a natural comedic chemistry on-screen. As you can imagine, the fun only continued behind the scenes. During the filming of an episode, Robin fumbled his line so hard that the scene was halted, and he couldn’t improvise his way around it this time. But while he smiled awkwardly, Dawber was laughing loudly, clearly thinking it was the perfect flub-up. Even when Robin can’t pick himself up after a mistake, he still manages to tickle our funny bones; what we wouldn’t give to be able to go back and see the show’s filming process live.

#7: The On-Screen Slip

“The Birdcage” (1996)

In this overlooked classic, Armand Goldman - played by Williams - is panicking while trying to carry a pot of soup out to his dinner guests. He momentarily slips before getting back up, yelling at his son before walking back out of the kitchen. According to co-star Hank Azaria, Robin's slip-and-fall was unintentional, but he did so well at picking himself back up that they kept it in the film. If you get a closer look, you can see all three actors on screen trying their absolute hardest to hold back their laughter, and you can hear Robin’s voice cracking for a moment. We’re lucky they kept this blooper in; it’s comedy gold and must be preserved.

#6: Robin vs. the Pelican

“Jumanji” (1995)

Remember the scene in “Jumanji” when Alan tried and failed to shoo a pelican away before it stole the board game? Would you believe they had dozens of takes of this conflict? The director told Robin to come up with something funny on the spot, so what did Robin do? What he did best – go bonkers. He tried multiple methods to intimidate the bird, most of which he couldn’t help grinning through. In one take, the pelican bit him, so no matter the technique, Alan was destined to lose. In the end, they went with the standard screaming take, but we still have the found footage of this titanic battle of the ages.

#5: Breaking Phil Hartman

“Saturday Night Live” (1975-)

In a hilariously iconic “Saturday Night Live” sketch, Robin Williams plays a frustrated director trying to film a scene between Phil Hartman and Jon Lovitz, but Lovitz keeps messing up his line. Earlier in the sketch, Robin had an actual flub-up with his line, but quickly caught himself with his famous improvisation. For a brief moment, we saw cracks in the mask as he momentarily broke character, only to immediately save face. Along with that, he also accomplished a miracle that day – causing Phil Hartman to break character, a feat that’s barely ever been accomplished. There truly wasn’t anyone that Robin couldn’t break, especially not himself.

#4: Multiple Introductions

“Patch Adams” (1998)

Between the animal antics and Robin’s flatulence incident, it’s a miracle that anyone was able to do “Patch Adams” with a straight face. One of the biggest examples was while filming Patch meeting Mitch, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character. What happens when you put two actors renowned for their conflicting genres together in a room? Both Williams and Hoffman kept cracking up as their characters tried to one-up each other, and multiple takes were needed before they finally got the scene right. First impressions are definitely important, but Patch and Mitch had to go through several because their actors left each other in stitches every time.

#3: The Coat Slip-Up

“Mork & Mindy” (1978-82)

Once again, the show that gave Williams his start also gave us one of his funniest bloopers. Mork and Mindy have just come home from an unsuccessful house hunt for Mork. Our favorite Orkan goes to hang up his coat, only to miss the rack entirely. Mork’s lack of coordination is enough to send both him and Mindy rolling with laughter - more so when the coat falls to the floor. Only Mork would be quirky enough to try to hang a coat on the wall and miss, but the fact that it happened by accident makes it all the funnier and makes Robin and Pam’s laughter all the more genuine.

#2: Rolling With the Ripped Pants

“Night at the Museum” (2006)

Among Robin’s many talents is his ability to roll with the punches. For example, while filming “Night at the Museum,” he ripped his pants while dismounting from the horse -you can audibly hear them tearing. Rather than halt the scene, he stayed in character the whole time, trying to keep things rolling. Eventually, he can’t contain it anymore and cracks a joke about his predicament, sending himself and the rest of the crew howling with laughter. Once again, we tip our hats to Robin for trying to save face as long as he did, but who could resist chuckling at a wardrobe malfunction like that?

#1: The Farting in Sleep Story

“Good Will Hunting” (1997)

During one of their sessions, Sean tries to teach Will why being perfect isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He eases the tension by telling a story about his late wife and how she used to fart in her sleep. At that moment, everyone started laughing, including the camera guy - hence the shaking screen. What makes this even better is that Robin completely ad-libbed that story, so his and Matt Damon’s laughter on screen was genuine; the moment was so unexpected yet perfect that they had to keep it in the final product. Even in a drama, Robin still found a way to make us smile, and seeing him laugh was even more heartwarming.

Was your smile bigger than Robin’s? Let us know in the comments.