Patrick Ryan

USA TODAY

Conan O'Brien paid a loving tribute to Robin Williams on his show Tuesday, a night after he broke the news of the comedian's death to his Conan studio audience.

"It's an impossible thing to process, obviously, and here we are now, 24 hours later," O'Brien said, taking a moment to honor the "fantastically funny" Williams. "Everybody knows that side of him, but what I think a lot of people don't know — you're starting to hear all the stories come out now — is how crazily generous (he was). He was so generous, such a nice person."

O'Brien goes on to dub him the "best talk-show guest ever," and remembers when he was going through a rough time and Williams bought him a bright orange-and-green bicycle with shamrocks on it. "So I called him up and just said, 'Robin, I'm really floored by this bike,' " he says. "And (Williams) went, 'Does it look ridiculous? ... Do you really look stupid riding it?' And I said, 'Yeah, I'm going to look really stupid,' and he said, 'Well, that's good then.' "

"He had just that amazing spirit of fun," O'Brien says. "The generosity, but also the fun at the same time." He went on to play clips of interviews he had with Williams through the years, including one especially amusing (and profanity-laced) Irish dance the two performed together.