Tim Robinson (comedian)

Last updated

Tim Robinson
Born (1981-05-23) May 23, 1981 (age 42)
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • actor
  • writer
  • producer
Years active2011–present
Spouse
Heather Robinson
(m. 2006)
Children2

Tim Robinson (born May 23, 1981) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He first became known as a writer and performer on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2014, before gaining wider recognition as the co-creator, co-writer and star of the comedy series Detroiters (2017–2018) and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019–present).

Contents

Early life

Robinson was born in a suburb of Detroit. [1] His mother worked for Chrysler and his father worked in construction. His parents divorced, after which he said he "kind of grew up with two dads", one of whom was Jewish and celebrated Hanukkah with him. [2] He was raised in the nearby towns of Clarkston and Waterford, [3] graduating from Clarkston High School in 2000. [4] [5] He saw a live Second City comedy performance in Chicago as a teenager, [3] and soon began taking weekend improv classes at its Detroit branch. [3] While pursuing a comedy career, he supported himself with jobs such as working in a toy store and teaching improv classes. [6]

Career

Robinson toured with Second City Detroit's touring company, then joined Second City Chicago. [3] He has also performed at the iO Theater and Just for Laughs. [7] [8] He filmed a 2011 television pilot for Comedy Central called My Mans, but the show was not picked up by the network. [9] [10] In 2012, he was cast as a series regular in the unaired CBS sitcom Friend Me . [11] In September 2012, he made his debut as a featured performer on Saturday Night Live . [12] [13] [14] A year later, it was announced that he would work on the writing staff rather than continue being a performer, making him the second SNL cast member (after Brian Doyle-Murray) to go from performer to staff writer and the first SNL performer to become a writer after originally being cast solely as a performer. [15] His celebrity impressions on the show included Ben Bailey and Bill Cowher, and he also portrayed the recurring character Carl, an elderly retail worker who would always get insulted by Niff (Bobby Moynihan) and Dana (Cecily Strong). [7]

Robinson has appeared twice on late-night NBC talk show Late Night with Seth Meyers as Dale, who acts as host Seth Meyers' "emergency sidekick." His first appearance was during the "Next Week's News" sketch on February 28, 2014, and his second appearance was during the "Celebrity Drunk Texts" sketch on April 8, 2014. In 2016, he wrote and appeared in his own episode of the sketch comedy show Netflix Presents: The Characters . [16] He is also the co-creator and co-star of Detroiters, along with fellow Detroit native and frequent collaborator Sam Richardson. The show premiered on Comedy Central in February 2017. In April 2017, he guest starred on Fox's Making History as Al Capone.

In 2018, Netflix green-lit I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson , a sketch comedy series created by and starring Robinson and produced by the members of The Lonely Island. [17] [18] It premiered in April 2019 and received critical acclaim, [19] [20] [21] [22] as did its second season, which premiered in July 2021. [23] [24] The series was renewed for a third season in May 2022, which premiered on May 30, 2023.

In 2022, Robinson won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for his work on I Think You Should Leave. [25]

Personal life

As a teenager, Robinson began dating his schoolmate Heather, who later became an electrical engineer for Chrysler. [6] [26] They were married in September 2006, [6] and live in Los Angeles with their son and daughter. [6] [27] Robinson is a vegetarian. [28]

Having become an avid skateboarder during high school, Robinson continues to skateboard in his spare time. [2] Robinson is also a lifelong fan of professional wrestling; he has featured wrestling in several sketches on I Think You Should Leave and cast multiple wrestlers in cameo roles in his television shows. This includes Kevin Nash in Detroiters, [29] as well as Brody King, [30] Erick Rowan, [31] Ryan Nemeth [32] and Aron Stevens [33] in I Think You Should Leave.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2016 Brother Nature Ben Franklin
2020 An American Pickle Prosecuting Attorney
2022 Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Ugly Sonic (voice)
Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm Fraptaculan Tim (voice)
2023 Scream VI Quinn's HookupUncredited

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2012 Friend Me SullyUnaired pilot
2012–2016 Saturday Night Live Various characters68 episodes
Writer
2013–2014 The Awesomes Various characters2 episodes
2014 Comedy Bang! Bang! Al SorbinsteinEpisode: "Craig Robinson Wears a Bordeaux Button Down & Dark Jeans"
Late Night with Seth Meyers Dale / Timmy the Late Night Superfan3 episodes
Uncredited
2015–2019 Documentary Now! Young Barnabas Scott / Rick Kenmore2 episodes
2016 The Characters Various charactersEpisode: "Tim Robinson"
2017 Man Seeking Woman Paranormal InvestigatorEpisode: "Popcorn"
Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special Chef RoyVariety special
Making History Al Capone 2 episodes
2017–2018 Detroiters Tim Cramblin20 episodes
Co-creator, co-writer, executive producer
2019 Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell Lip LickerEpisode: "Five-Card Duds"
2019–2020 Our Cartoon President Brett Kavanaugh (voice)8 episodes
2019–present I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson Various characters18 episodes
Co-creator, co-writer, executive producer
2020 Star Trek: Lower Decks Ensign Fletcher (voice)Episode: "Terminal Provocations"
2020–2022 Big City Greens Gregly (voice)5 episodes
2021 Solar Opposites Peter (voice)Episode: "The Apple Pencil Pro"
2021-2023 Teenage Euthanasia Uncle Pete (voice)17 episodes
Ten Year Old Tom Plumber (voice)4 episodes
2022 Human Resources Doug Fredrick (voice)3 episodes
Middlemost Post Gum (voice)Episode: "Inside Angus"
2023 Digman! Swooper (voice)Main role
The Simpsons Mercer (voice)Episode: "Homer's Adventures Through the Windshield Glass"
Krapopolis Hercules (voice)Episode: Prometheus
2023 Invincible TBA (voice)Season 2 [34]

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References

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