Tim Robinson and David Lynch — Same Style, Different Substance

In the world of sketch comedy, Tim Robinson has carved out an incredible niche for himself.

His sketch show I Think You Should Leave is one of those shows people either completely get or completely do not. Robinson’s wild, outlandish characters are often hilarious, but the hilarity rarely comes from a clean punchline.

It comes from discomfort.

That is the key.

Robinson has an incredible ability to stretch a situation just a little too far. A conversation lasts too long. A character refuses to let something go. Somebody reacts in a way that is almost normal, but not quite.

There have obviously been uncomfortable comedy bits before.

But with Robinson, that is not just an occasional device.

That is where his art lives.

Sketches like “Calico Cut Pants,” “Rat Lady,” and “Doggy Door” all lean on the absurd and uncomfortable to get laughs. The joke is often not simply what somebody says.

The joke is that the entire situation feels wrong.

And after the enormous success of I Think You Should Leave, Robinson eventually moved into something much larger and more story-driven.

That is where the David Lynch comparison really starts becoming interesting.

The Chair Company and the Lynchian World

The Chair Company is where Robinson moves beyond individual sketches and into a full-fledged story.

And that story, at its core, feels incredibly Lynchian.

Robinson’s characters, much like David Lynch’s characters, are often well-written precisely because they are recognizable as human beings while somehow remaining just slightly “off.”

They are there.

They are aware.

They can carry on conversations.

They can function in society.

But something about them never feels completely right.

And that is important because it breaks away from the easiest kind of comedy.

Nobody needs to fall over.

Nobody needs to scream the punchline.

Nobody needs to explain why something is funny.

Instead, The Chair Company can make you laugh and then immediately force you to ask yourself:

Why the hell was that so funny?

That is a very particular kind of talent.

The similarities between Robinson and Lynch were more subtle in I Think You Should Leave.

In The Chair Company, they become much harder to ignore.

The world is populated by strange people doing strange things, and even characters who initially seem normal will eventually have some little beat where their behavior drifts slightly outside what you expect from a normal human being.

Sometimes it is a stare that lasts a second too long.

Sometimes it is a phrase that does not quite go where you expected it to go.

Sometimes it is simply the way somebody looks at another person.

Nothing necessarily announces itself as bizarre.

It just feels bizarre.

Lynch Did the Same Thing — With a Different Goal

David Lynch was celebrated by some people for exactly this kind of style and completely rejected by others who simply did not connect with it.

And that is perfectly fine.

That dreamlike world where nothing ever feels 100% the way it should is not for everyone.

Lynch, however, mastered it.

He could take something ordinary and make it threatening simply by changing the rhythm.

A diner.

A living room.

A hallway.

A conversation.

The location did not necessarily matter.

The discomfort came from the people inside it and the strange rules the world seemed to follow.

Robinson is working with some of those same tools.

The major difference is the substance.

Lynch often uses awkwardness and surrealism to create dread.

Robinson uses them to create laughter.

And, strangely enough, that may make Robinson’s version even more difficult to pull off.

He is playing this style to an audience actively expecting comedy.

That means the weirdness has to land precisely enough that the viewer laughs instead of simply sitting there confused.

That balance is incredibly difficult.

I am not saying Tim Robinson has reached David Lynch heights.

Not yet.

But David Lynch did not reach “David Lynch heights” until he created them himself.

If You Like Twin Peaks, Watch The Chair Company

If you enjoyed Twin Peaks and also happen to love comedy, The Chair Company is an extremely easy recommendation.

The twists and turns keep pulling you forward, but it is the atmosphere that makes the comparison so interesting.

That subtle awkwardness that runs through Twin Peaks is echoed throughout Robinson’s work.

Once you have watched both, the parallel becomes fairly easy to see.

And as Robinson’s career grows, I would not be surprised if the Lynch comparisons become louder.

They started subtly.

With The Chair Company, the stylistic connection becomes much more direct.

If you are a fan of the odd, the absurd, and the uncomfortable, you should absolutely check it out.

And if you love those things but somehow have never watched Twin Peaks?

So help you God.

Friendship Pushes It Even Further

The movie Friendship is another great example of absurdity ruling the style.

Robinson plays a deeply awkward suburban man whose attempt to form a friendship becomes increasingly obsessive and uncomfortable.

There are countless moments in Friendship where the atmosphere feels almost Lynchian.

The difference is that the awkwardness is being weaponized for laughs instead of suspense.

That is what makes it so impressive.

David Lynch will never truly be duplicated because some minds are simply too unique.

But Tim Robinson is working in a strangely adjacent space.

Same tools.

Different purpose.

Different substance.

And somehow, completely his own.
— The Monitor