Ty Watches "The Chair Company"

Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin are on a hot streak right now. I absolutely love "I Think You Should Leave". It is one of the best sketch comedy shows there has ever been. I know that Kanin didn't direct, and I don't even think he is in the movie, but you could see his fingerprints all over "Friendship". He and Robinson had to have written a bunch of that movie together at one point or another. And now they have "The Chair Company" on HBO.

Look, I was predetermined to like this show. I remember hearing about it awhile ago and I was already in at the mere mention of Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin's involvement. Then I saw a teaser trailer and I loved it and had no idea what I saw. It was just a clip of Robinson hanging out in the bathroom and then some shots of him at a computer. I was super intrigued by that 30 seconds alone. Then I saw some people talk about it online, some people got early screenings of the first episode and they had nothing but good things to say about it. I did not watch the premiere on Sunday, but I did watch it pretty much as soon as I woke up on the following Monday. And I loved it. This show is fully inline with the work these guys have done before, but they are taking it a few steps further than they have with their other stuff. You could see this coming, but the way they have pulled it off to this point has been right up my alley.

The whole idea of the show is, Robinson plays a middle America worker at your run of the mill company. He gets promoted for a big job, and on the day he is announcing everything to everyone who works in the office he goes to sit down and the chair breaks into a bunch of pieces. He is clearly embarrassed. Others at the job seem to have moved on from the incident, but not Robinson. He is consumed by what happened to him and this chair. He starts to dig deeper and deeper into the company that makes the chairs and some revealing stuff has already happened in the first two episodes. The show is hilarious, as one would expect, but it is also dark. There are some heavy undertones attached to this simple premise. But what I have loved the most about this show is how insane Kanin and Robinson make the mundane everyday life stuff. Robinson is meeting some shady individuals, but they are old and pretend gangsters. He is always on edge when he is having conversations with this family. His wife is very busy planning their daughter's wedding and their son is focused on getting a basketball scholarship. They manage to take this stuff and make it funny to me. There's a scene where Robinson is trying to sleep at night and he makes some blanket statements about his pillow being the issue. I love that he says it is the worst pillow in the world. I cannot count how many times I have said that about the pillows I used to own. I also like how Robinson is constantly trying to get out of this conspiracy he started himself and simply cannot. It appears he has gone a little too far and has dragged himself far too much into this chair company. And speaking to the mundane, the scenes where he is trying to figure out more about this chair company by doing some internet research have some of the best and funniest facial reactions. This is the stuff I have come to adore about Robinson's acting. He can make these wild faces that never cease to crack me up over and over again. And when he talks to himself, I find myself laughing harder and harder.

"The Chair Company" is off to a great start so far. I am really interested to see where this story goes, and if they will make more when it is all said and done. Robinson seems to be on an upward trajectory similar to what Nathan Fielder has going on right now. They both have unique and awesome comic minds. They make comedy unlike anything else that is out there today. And I'm here for it. I want it to continue. From "The Rehearsal" to "The Chair Company", Fielder and Robinson's version of comedy is better than anything else out there at the moment. Check this show out. It is pretty great. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "I Think You Should Leave" Season Two

I have now watched season two of "I Think You Should Leave" twice now.

It is wonderful. I knew I was going to like it, but I did not know how it would hold up to the greatness of season one. I am done second guessing everyone involved with that show. They are in Donald Glover territory for me. They can do no wrong. They are at the top of the comedy sketch game, and it isn't even close at the moment.

This new season is darker than season one, but damn if it isn't as funny. I also appreciated that they did not bring back anything from season one. I know they took two years off, and they could write new stuff in that time, but on other shows they will bring back popular sketches in a new season. "ITYSL" season two did not do that, at all. This was all fresh, and it is all going to be as memorable. They could've easily brought back the baby showcase they had, with Barley Jarivs, but they didn't. Instead they had Sam Richardson dress in a gold suit and a wig and bring out some "buff boys". The sketch is just as funny and works just as well. They do bring Santa Claus back, but in a much, much darker scenario. That whole sketch involving Santa is fantastic and so well written. Those may be the only "crossovers" that people can point out, but they are very different from season one.

The rest of season two had me in stitches. From start to finish, it just works so well. I loved the sketch that opened episode three with the professor going out with some former students to a restaurant. Tim Heidecker is back, but in a different role, and that sketch takes some dark turns, but damn it if I wasn't cracking up. Bob Odenkirk shows up and that sketch is truly wonderful and uncomfortable. I want to go to Dan Fashes T Shirt store now so I can fight over some ugly button up shirts. I wonder if Jami Taco is still out there stealing lines in local plays in his home city. I wonder if Karl Havoc, who has the absolute best site gag in the whole season, has come to terms with what his show is going to be. I wonder if the guy with the fedora with flaps in the back still has his hat and dice. Also, the attorney reading the text thread in that scene is pure gold. I would buy the hot dog vac that Robinson's character is selling. I would watch "Coffin Flop" if it were on TV. I want to donate to the company that helps guys cover up dripping pee on their pants. It is all so wonderful.

I mentioned Richardson making his return, and he is dynamite. So is Connor O'Malley. He is in two sketches and they are wonderful. I mentioned the pee drip one, but his other sketch is fantastic, and he isn't the focal point. He and his wife are fighting, but Robinson tries to lighten the mood by doing the Blues Brothers dance. It is uproarious. I also really enjoyed the guy talking about how he used to be an asshole and eating sloppy steaks. John Early makes a great appearance in his one sketch. I could literally go on and on and on.

This show is really, truly one of the best things on TV right now. This season will be as quotable and memorable as season 1. There will be meme's if there aren't already. Robinson and Zach Kanin are in a total sweet spot and they are capitalizing on it right now. I saw someone else proclaim that Robinson was too good for "SNL", and they are right. Nothing on "SNL" right now is even remotely as funny as what "ITYSL" is giving us. This show is wonderful and I am so happy it is back for me to watch over and over again. I suggest you watch it too.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.