Since The Office ended in 2013, musician, comedian and actor Craig Robinson has been just as busy as the rest of the NBC series' cast. He’s starred in films like Dolittle, Dolemite Is My Name, and Sausage Party, as well as TV shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Killing It and his now-defunct sitcom Mr. Robinson. Still, with all of this work on his plate, he manages to do frequent stand-up sets around Hollywood and its surrounding cities. Case in point, he has six nights booked for this week alone. So in this age of streaming specials and what is perhaps the emergence of more new stand-up than ever before, why hasn’t he released a special himself? As a fan of the man’s comedy for over a decade, I had to get to the bottom of it.
We spoke recently on behalf of his newest film The Bad Guys, and found ourselves discussing the current state of comedy in the industry. When I asked if Craig Robinson was developing a set with a full-length Netflix special in mind, or if there was any discussion of such a thing internally, he told me this:
There’s always talk of that. And, you know, I can’t really, uh, speak on that move at this juncture (laughs).
While Craig Robinson may have dodged the question, this in itself is quite telling. As you can see in the video at the top of the article, it seemed as if he was bashfully keeping a secret project close to his chest, and one can only hope it’s some sort of full-length special. When I asked why he gets on stage night after night despite his success in film and television, Robinson said the following:
That’s the heartbeat. Going up and performing, for sure… there’s definitely some soul involved and some curiosity of each crowd. You know, what is this crowd going to inspire? And, staying sharp. I would do it if no one’s there, so what does that tell you?
Well, that’s just wholesome as hell. If he’d be doing it regardless of the presence of an audience, he really is doing what he loves. It’s kind of unfair to call what Craig Robinson does on stage “stand-up,” as it always involves a musical element. He told me that he’s a musician first and foremost, as his mother exposed him to the art form while he was still “in the womb.” He was even a music teacher for a number of years before making it in Hollywood. A typical set of Robinson's involves laying down a sexy, soulful track on the keyboard, while interacting with the audience and, of course, telling jokes. If you haven’t checked out his stuff, do so:
It should be mentioned that Craig Robinson's new animated film The Bad Guys has taken down some top contenders at the box office, and you can tell by his explanation of Dreamworks’ pitch that he’s rather proud of the project. The film is a lot of fun for all ages, and you can see it now in theaters or on home video.
As for the potential streaming special, Craig Robinson already promised me we’d speak about it when the time comes, so I’ll keep you updated! One would assume that it’s coming to Netflix, which currently boasts a massive list of original comedy specials (despite its recent comedy-related controversy). Subscribe to Netflix now to check those out, and we here at CinemaBlend will keep passing on news about the worlds of comedy and entertainment!
