Comedian to bring Robin Williams to life in Longboat performance

The next best thing to a Robin Williams comedy show is coming to Longboat Key.

Robin Williams impersonator Roger Kabler will bring his nationally recognized stage tribute to the late actor to the inaugural Temple Beth Israel’s Men’s Club Dinner and Comedy Show. 

The show will be held Jan. 14 at Temple Beth Israel. 

Kabler has performed "The Ultimate Robin Williams Tribute Experience" all over the country. The actor and comedian grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts, performing in his local community theater with dreams of making it in Hollywood. 

He found early on though that he had the ability to make people laugh, he said.

“When I was around 10, I would watch the TV show, ‘Copycats’ with my father,” said Kabler. “It was made up of all impressionists and I loved it. That’s when I first remember doing impressions. I would do Rich Little doing Richard Nixon and Columbo. My mother would always say, ‘Please just leave me alone,’ but I started at a really early age.” 

Living in both Hollywood and New York for many years in pursuit of his acting career, Kabler realized that his true calling was comedy. He worked in different cabaret shows, opening acts for groups and was on TV shows such as "The Carol Burnett Show."

After roughly three decades of struggling to make it as an actor, Kabler decided to move back to his home state of Massachusetts to become a painter. During this time, he was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

“Shortly after I moved back to Massachusetts, that's when it started to happen,” said Kabler. “I had always done Robin in my comedy act. When he died in 2014, I started to feel very haunted by him. I felt him experiencing life through me. It was scary. Then what happened was people are asking me if I would do a tribute.”

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Kabler’s first show as "Robin Williams" was in December of 2014 at a California casino. He said that first show helped him make the comeback he was trying to achieve for years. As a method comedian, Kabler said it felt like stepping aside and letting Williams do his work. 

In the nine years since, Kabler has performed "The Ultimate Robin Williams Tribute Experience" across the U.S. 

“Cindy Williams from ‘Laverne and Shirley,’ she saw me do a part of the show in Los Angeles,” said Kabler. “She hugged me and said, ‘I feel Robin.’ That was an amazing experience for me, because I know she was very close with him. That was very valuable to me to know that a few of his peers that know me and know what I've been doing have been very, very supportive.”

In 2023, he did around 30 shows. He plans to go on a seven-show tour around Florida this year. He also produced and starred in a 2022 film called “Being Robin,” touching on how he is connected with Robin Williams through acting out different scenes in both Williams’ and his own life.

Kabler explained that he has studied all the material he could find to figure out what made Williams tick. He watched Williams in interviews and on talk shows to learn about his thought process and better understand his improvisational skills. He said he tries to understand the psychology, heart and soul of each character he plays.

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“Robin was a mime, so I had to incorporate that in the way,” said Kabler. “When you watch him, you're pretty much watching a mime with a motormouth. I tried to take note of all his movements.”

"The Ultimate Robin Williams Tribute Experience" is broken into two parts. 

Kabler explained that in the first part the audience is seeing Robin Williams live. Kabler does some of his most famous comedy routines. In the second part of the show, Kabler does impressions of other celebrities and his own comedy sketches. He said in the second part he can play himself after letting “Williams” perform in the first part.

“Both me and Robin have a need to be seen and heard,” said Kabler. “It's a need for attention. It's very hard for me to just sit and be quiet while other people talk. I do need the attention, but not just for the ego, but to make a connection with you. I'm alone in this world, but if we can share a laugh, then we are connected. If we can agree on something that's funny, then we are brothers and sisters. That's the thing that I have in common with him.”