Craig Robinson Got His First Shot in Comedy From an Indiana Librarian
Craig Robinson is as busy as anyone in comedy, jumping constantly from one movie set to another between hits like “This is the End” and indies like “Rapturepalooza” and “Peeples,” in addition to being a commercial spokesman for Dodge cars, and playing clubs nationwide. But TV – particularly NBC – has been very good to Robinson, as he played several seasons as warehouse supervisor-turned-company-exec Daryl on the classic “The Office,” in addition to hosting a season of “Last Comic Standing.”
Now, he’s the star of his own sitcom, “Mr. Robinson,” in which he plays a very close variation of himself, as a music teacher in Chicago pursuing his dream of being a professional full-time musician with a comic edge. Rooted in his own life story, and created by the Cullen brothers who cast him in his first series – the FX cult classic “Lucky” – “Mr. Robinson” has proven to be a ratings hit for NBC, and ends its first trial run tonight with a double set of episodes.
Robinson talked with Carl Kozlowski, host of the Radio Titans podcast “Kozversations,” about the new show, how he got “The Office,” and his method for keeping centered amid the craziness of fame and an insanely busy career. But the two managed to find some unique interview territory in the fact that they both started out in comedy together on the Chicago comedy scene of the mid-‘90s, including a Saturday gig at a restaurant called Wingfield’s in Chesterton, Indiana where Craig learned to master dinner crowds on a weekly basis.
“I just was happy to get the gig. It was an hour outside Chicago and I remember driving there with the ‘70s station on. Donna Summer had the longest song in the ‘70s history (Craig starts singing Summer’s classic “Macarthur Park”) that would take up 20 minutes of the ride,” recalls Robinson. “But I was teaching in Indiana and there was this librarian, a very older white dude who rarely spoke and was a little scary.
“I was hanging out with the secretary of the library and we’d be laughing and he’d always look at us and I said ‘I should go now.’ One day he heard me say I was trying out comedy and this old man said ‘My wife works at a comedy show Friday nights in Chesterton,’ and I got the gig and I met my comedy mentor James Wesley Jackson there. It was $45 a week, worked up to $60 a week. I cherished that check, an investment in me. But it’s also so much fun, learning to work a crowd.”
Robinson also strolled down memory lane, reeling off Chicago bars and clubs he shared the stage with Kozlowski, including three headline appearances with the podcast host’s Chicago Comedy Works shows.
“During the week, we rolled out every night – Monkey Bar, All Jokes Aside, KJ Riddles,” says Robinson. “Telling people nowadays, people say they want to be comics and say they get up once a month. Bro you gotta hit it every night. Exercise them muscles and develop!”
To hear the rest of the interview, click here: http://po.st/LrNrAC
“Mr. Robinson airs at 9pm and 9:30pm tonight on NBC. Watch all six episodes at NBC.com.
