Back in February I wrote how Robin Williams saved the day by taking over the stage during technical difficulties at the TED conference (Technology, Entertainment and Design). Readers asked to see video but there was none available at the time.
An Epicenter reader has directed me to the BBC's site, which posted the video today.
The BBC World was at TED to tape a special panel discussion on the media when it experienced technical difficulties and had to halt the taping a couple of minutes into the event. As the BBC moderator struggled to fill the dead air while the problem was being fixed, a loud heckler in the audience spoke up and grabbed everyone's attention. Once the audience realized it was Williams, he was encouraged to take the stage.
Although Williams has a microphone in this video, his voice didn't carry very far to where I was sitting in the auditorium. I can now tell that I misheard at least one thing he said. I wrote that he made a joke about Apple's new iWhy? product. But in the video, it's clear he actually said iWife. I like my version better.
(Hat tip: Alexander McLellan)
See Additional TED Coverage
- TED Conference to Tackle Origins of Evil, Theories of Everything
- Surfer-Physicist's Unified Theory Leads to Fame, Backlash
- How Good People Turn Evil, From Stanford to Abu Ghraib
- Disturbing New Photos from Abu Ghraib
- Rock Star-Turned-Physicist Trades Keyboard for Atom Smasher
- Humans Are Just Machines for Propagating Memes
- Scientist Turns Microscope on Herself
- Robin Williams Saves the Day at TED When Tech Fails
