Tim Robinson Finds Humanity-and Tests It-in "The Chair Company"

"The world of "The Chair Company," by contrast, is full of characters who possess their own sparks of Robinsonian madness, their own humiliations and self-defeating obsessions. There is the older colleague who was passed over for Ron's job, played by the veteran "S.N.L." writer Jim Downey: following his non-promotion, he makes it his business to enliven the workplace-first by blowing bubbles with a wand he wears around his neck, then by throwing a party."

"There is the janitor who catches Ron taking pictures of the broken chair's wreckage: "Were you taking pictures of my wheelbarrow?" he demands. "Are you the guy that's been saying I'm not allowed to have a wheelbarrow in the office? Why would anybody care? It never goes outside. It's an inside wheelbarrow. I could understand it if it's an outdoor wheelbarrow-that's dangerous. That's disgusting. But it's not.""

"an A24 movie starring Robinson, released earlier this year, whose premise is "guy loses it after a neighbor rejects him socially." It's harder than it looks to conjure the subtle glimmer of surreality Robinson's sensibility requires. Perhaps the fatal error of "Friendship," which was written not by Robinson and Kanin but by the director Andrew DeYoung, was to offer an onscreen world in which Tim Robinson was Tim Robinson and everyone else was more or less a straight man."

The Chair Company builds a surreal workplace by endowing many characters with Robinsonian eccentricities, humiliation, and self-defeating obsessions. An overlooked colleague enlivens the office with whimsical acts and a plea for coworkers to "make mistakes." A janitor defends an "inside wheelbarrow," turning a minor object into an absurd confrontation. The contrast with Friendship is emphasized: Friendship centered Tim Robinson as the lone eccentric against straight characters, weakening its surreal potential. The passage also notes a trend of comedians like Nathan Fielder expanding awkward-comedy sensibilities into larger-scale, ambitious projects.

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