John Paul Filo/CBSDon't let his antics fool you, Robin Williams is alive, well and ready to get his show back on the road.
"I have one new valve and a repaired valve," the 57-year-old funnyman told David Letterman tonight in talking about the heart surgery that sidelined him for more than two months.
"I have a cow valve, which is great, and the grazing's been fun—and I give a good quart of cream, too, my friend."
Williams' quip-laden appearance on the Late Show coincided with his announcement that performances of his one-man stand-up show, Weapons of Self-Destruction, will resume Sept. 30 in Bloomington, Ind., and continue through Nov. 28.
Tickets from shows that were postponed will be honored at the rescheduled gigs.
Meanwhile, back to the meeting of the "brotherhood of the zipper chests."
Williams told Letterman, who underwent quintuple bypass surgery in 2000, that he first noticed something was wrong when he started experiencing shortness of breath while touring earlier this year.
"I realize now, shortness of breath is kind of code for heart problem, just like exhaustion is code for alcoholic," joked the actor, whose next big-screen appearance will be in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, opening May 22.
"They put me on this drug which I found out later on was a rat poison," Williams continued. "It's called Warfarin, and it's designed to keep your blood thin, but who was the rat that went, ‘This would be good for humans?' "
On a less facetious note, Williams expressed his appreciation that he is doing well after such a close call.
"You do get a second lease on life, and it's a gift, you know, thank you," he said, "and thank all of you. It's, like, a great thing."