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She demands to show Robinson a stuffed animal.
Id love to see it!
Robinsons work is a shrine to the glories of interruption.
And often they dont.
(In the show, theHot Dog Guy has just crashed his hot-dog-shaped car into a store.)
And yet, no one could be less interested in owning a huge political stage.
He does not enjoy the task of pulling apart exactly what makes his work so funny.
Because theres always one person whos a problem.
Robinson understands that one person intimately.
He is drawn to the types who hes afraid may be him.
His friends describe him as deeply loyal with a powerful work ethic.
They also describe him as painfully ill at ease.
Tim is always incredibly uncomfortable.
Hes a huge hypochondriac, says Richardson, Robinsons best friend and a close colleague.
Youre surrounded by a lot of assholes.
Theyre not as blatantly asshole-ish as youd see in a bigger city or whatever, but theyre there.
Robinsons father worked in construction.
His mother worked for Chrysler.
As a kid, he watchedSNLoccasionally and aBest of Chris FarleyVHS constantly.
After that, Robinson started taking weekend improv classes at the Second City Detroit.
Key was one of Robinsons first improv teachers at the Second City Detroit.
He eventually moved on to the Second City Chicago.
I think I had the benefit of being young and not understanding life, he says.
I did have a bit of Im going to do comedy!
Imgoing to do comedy.
Robinson had never consideredSNLas a job he should even try for.
After a year as a writer and a performer, Robinson became solely a writer.
I was struggling, Robinson says.
And then, once I got main writer, I felt a weight lift off me.
Most crucially, he began working with Kanin, an office mate who shared his sense of humor.
I watchedThe Charactersand was like, This is fuckingdone!
Isnt that the point of that show that you hope to stumble on a good sketch show?
The first season ofI Think You Should Leavepremiered in April 2019.
Often, guest actors take on the role of the misbehaving lead.
In season one,Tim Heidecker plays a memorable jazz aficionadowho destroys a friendly party game.
It cannot make charismatic guest actors misbehaving leads every time and besides, it has Robinson.
But they know who was written with Tim in mind.
Robinson can, if he chooses, downplay his features and blend into the background.
People have said that to us before, Robinson says.
Theres this common thing where theres a wild person and then a structure person.
That is not us.
It heightens it in a worse and worse way.
Thats one of the qualities that I remember seeing in Detroit.
He cant imagine doing a show likeSNLnow.
As Ive gotten older, my anxiety has gotten so much worse.
I dont think I could go on live TV, he says.
Just the spinning out of Youre on live TV right now would freeze me up.
Sometimes those figures are exciting, he says.
But then theres times where Im like, This guys too much of an asshole.
We didnt realize until shooting the first season, Kanin says.
He needs the push and pull between the transgressor and the onlookers.
Im not just yelling at these people who have to stand here and take it.
Im actually the one in trouble.
You end up overcompensating when they call Cut!
Like, This guys really a jerk!
He points at his own face.
Note: An earlier version of this article included Keegan-Michael Key recalling Robinson doing a Lincoln performance.
The anecdote has since been removed, as Robinson became certain he wasnt in the performance.
Key, noting that it was a long time ago, deferred to Robinsons memory on the matter.
I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinsonseason two is available on Netflix July 6.
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