Robin Williams previously was one of the hardest-living men in show business.

"My doctor is my dealer now," said Williams, who had heart surgery in March. "And he's a lot harder to get hold of."

The 58-year-old Williams chuckled at the irony of hearing warnings throughout his wild life that drugs are bad, only to be told now that unless he takes certain drugs, it could be game over for him.

"You take all these other things that have horrible side-effects," Williams said. "This will really help you, but it could actually cause your head to explode.

"And don't be afraid to try this. One of the side effects is rectal ventriloquism."

Eep. Who does Williams think he is, Jim Carrey?

Anyway, Williams currently is in the middle of his Weapons of Self Destruction tour, which may or may not include rectal ventriloquism, depending on how he's feeling on any given night. The only Canadian stop on the tour is at Casino Rama, north of Toronto, tonight and tomorrow.

Williams' tour was interrupted last spring because of his heart trouble. But now he's trying to round himself back into form as he prepares to tape a comedy special for HBO later this month (it is scheduled to air on HBO Canada Dec. 6, the same day it airs in the U.S.).

Of course, when you're a comedian, even your own heart surgery counts as material.

"It was interesting that I had the surgery at the Cleveland Clinic," said Williams during a session at the Television Critics Association tour. "I woke up, going, 'Where am I?' And they said, 'Cleveland.' And I kept going, 'Why?'

"And the surgery itself, I love my anesthesiologist. I don't remember his name.

"But you go in and they really tell you that you're going to get a cow valve. The grazing is easy."

Williams certainly hasn't done much grazing since he burst onto the comedy scene in the 1970s with an appearance on Happy Days that catapulted him into the lead role on the sitcom Mork and Mindy. He parlayed that early manic success into a major movie career, with films such as The World According to Garp, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Will Hunting, One Hour Photo and Night at the Museum, among many others.

"The reason I'm going back to do standup again is I've run out of the merchandising money from Bicentennial Man," Williams said.

He was asked if he feels like a changed man, rather than a Bicentennial Man, post-surgery.

"That life-expanding experience, walks on the beach with a defibrillator, uh-huh," Williams said. "I think it really opens you up -- literally.

"When I went on the (David) Letterman show -- and his quintuple bypass trumps me big-time -- but at one point, he leaned over to me during the break and said, 'Do you find yourself getting emotional?' I went, 'Oh, yeah.'

"You really do appreciate the simplest things, like breath and friends. You just take it a little slower."

Robin Williams taking it a little slower?

Maybe he has to now. But we'll believe it when we see it.

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