Tim Robinson (born May 23, 1981) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for co-creating, co-writing, and starring in the Comedy Central series Detroiters (2017–2018) and the Netflix series I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019–present), and for his work as a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live (2012–2014).
Tim Robinson | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1981-05-23) May 23, 1981 (age 41) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Spouse | Heather Robinson
(m. 2006) |
| Children | 2 |
Robinson was born in Detroit on May 23, 1981, the son of a mother who worked for Chrysler and a father who worked in construction.[1] His parents divorced, and he grew up with 2 fathers, one who was Jewish and celebrated Hanukkah with Robinson.[2] He grew up in the nearby towns of Clarkston and Waterford,[3] graduating from Clarkston High School in 2000.[4][5] As a teenager, he saw a live Second City comedy performance in Chicago,[3] after which he started taking weekend improv classes at Second City Detroit.[3] After high school, he pursued a comedy career while supporting himself with odd jobs, such as working in a toy store and teaching improv classes.[6]
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.[1][7] He filmed a 2011 television pilot for Comedy Central called My Mans, but the show was not picked up by the network.[8][9] In 2012, he was cast as a series regular in the unaired CBS sitcom Friend Me.[10] In September 2012, he made his debut as a featured performer on Saturday Night Live.[11][12][13] 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.[14] His celebrity impressions on the show included Ben Bailey and Bill Cowher, and he also portrayed the reoccurring character Carl, an elderly retail worker who would always get insulted by Niff (Bobby Moynihan) and Dana (Cecily Strong).[1]
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.[15] 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.[16][17] It premiered in April 2019 and received critical acclaim,[18][19][20][21] as did its second season, which premiered in July 2021.[22][23]
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.[24]
Robinson began dating Heather, who later became an electrical engineer for Chrysler, when the two were teenagers in high school.[6][25] They were married in September 2006,[6] and have a son and daughter together.[26] They live in Los Angeles.[6]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Brother Nature | Ben Franklin |
| 2020 | An American Pickle | Prosecuting Attorney |
| 2022 | Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers | Ugly Sonic (voice) |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Friend Me | Sully | Unaired pilot |
| 2012–2016 | Saturday Night Live | Various Characters | 68 episodes Writer |
| 2013–2014 | The Awesomes | Various Characters | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Al Sorbinstein | Episode: "Craig Robinson Wears a Bordeaux Button Down & Dark Jeans" |
| 2014 | Late Night with Seth Meyers | Dale / Timmy the Late Night Superfan | 3 episodes Uncredited |
| 2015–2019 | Documentary Now! | Young Barnabas Scott / Rick Kenmore | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | The Characters | Various Characters | Episode: "Tim Robinson" |
| 2017 | Man Seeking Woman | Paranormal Investigator | Episode: "hot boi skater" |
| 2017 | Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special | Chef Roy | Variety special |
| 2017 | Making History | Al Capone | 2 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | Detroiters | Tim Cramblin | 20 episodes Co-creator, co-writer, executive producer |
| 2019 | Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell | Lip Licker | Episode: "Five-Card Duds" |
| 2019–2020 | Our Cartoon President | Brett Kavanaugh (voice) | 8 episodes |
| 2019–present | I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson | Various Characters | 12 episodes Co-creator, co-writer, executive producer |
| 2020 | Star Trek: Lower Decks | Ensign Fletcher (voice) | Episode: "Terminal Provocations" |
| 2020–2021 | Big City Greens | Gregly (voice) | 4 episodes |
| 2021 | Solar Opposites | Peter (voice) | Episode: "The Apple Pencil Pro" |
| 2021 | Teenage Euthanasia | Uncle Pete (voice) | 7 episodes |
| 2021 | Ten Year Old Tom | Plumber (voice) | Episode: "The Principal is Banging My Mom / Elderly Gerbil" |
| 2022 | Middlemost Post | Gum (voice) | Episode: "Inside Angus" |
Some of the names here will be familiar only to die-hard fans; others, like Murphy, defined what was funny for generations of viewers.
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series | |
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