Category: Craig Robinson

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Fan report: Craig Robinson at CMU

Tallyhead “Thedutchkelly” filed this report from Craig Robinson’s Central Michigan University show.

I just got back from Craig Robinson’s show at Central Michigan University. His performance capped off our 56-8 win on Homecoming so the audience was a little rowdy, but I had a great time. I got there early and had a front row seat for the show.

Except the Q&A, the entire show was him singing and playing his keyboard. He sang us a lot of fun songs and made us sing with him.

The guys sang a song to the girls about how much they respect and admire them, while the girls sang about how we are princesses and divas! We sang “Summer Loving” from Grease and then he gave the girls a solo on “I Will Survive.”

Craig yelled at us for not participating, then started “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics, saying “I know how to get everyone singing, especially white people!”

I asked him what his favorite episode to shoot so far was. He started laughing and talked about the Christmas episode that they shot last week. He didn’t say much except that when Michael came down the stairs singing it was impossible to hold it together.

He sang us the jingle from Local Ad, then someone asked him about Creed in real life. Craig said he is real cool, but he always has some Creed stuff up his sleeve.

Someone asked him to play the Office theme and someone else asked for a hug. He even sang Happy Birthday to someone in the audience.

He talked about his movies and upcoming projects. He said that he was coming out with a CD soon with his band the Nasty Delicious.

The show was about an hour long with a ton of audience participation! It was R-rated, but still a great time.

This was such a great experience, I highly recommend it.

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A.V. Club interviews Craig Robinson

The A.V. Club interviews The Office’s Craig Robinson.

An excerpt:

AVC: Was Darryl originally conceived as a regular Office character?

CR: I think he originally was supposed to be on the sidelines. They created the character, so I don’t know what their thoughts were. They definitely created the character for me. After about three years, they made me a regular.

AVC: How did you feel about Darryl breaking up with Kelly?

CR: I was like, “What’s next for Darryl if he isn’t dating Kelly?” I’m fine with it, though, because these writers always have something up their sleeves. I never know what the story is going to be until I’m at the table read. I’m always looking forward to what’s next.

AVC: At the same time, having you date Kelly was a way to get more screen time.

CR: Like I said, I’m happy with what’s going on over there. They always give me a chance to shine. I can get out there and score 40 points, or score five or 10, so I’m cool with it.

AVC: One of the best moments from this season was a long shot of your character walking to his car after Kelly dumped him. What kind of direction were you given on that scene?

CR: Randall Einhorn, the director, was like, “You walk out and you can smell the flowers. You can taste the air — it’s so fresh.” We shot it several different ways. One was the way you saw, and another was me busting out the door like a kid who just got out of school for the summer. My arms were up and I’m screaming. We kept with the subtlety, though, and I loved the way it played.

AVC: How much input do you have into the character?

CR: Once we are filming, we have some leeway to play around, but I just go with what the writers are going with, and play it out.

AVC: One of my favorite scenes is when Darryl is talking to Michael Scott about the fluffy fingers that all the gangs do. Is it difficult not to laugh when you are doing an incredibly ridiculous scene like that?

CR: Yes. You have to stop and start again every once in a while. That’s the beauty of working with Steve Carell, because it makes you a better actor, especially in those scenes. You are like, “I’m just going to hold it. I’m just going to hold it.” Sometimes you can make it through entire takes.

AVC: One of the running gags of The Office is Darryl teaching Michael Scott about black culture, which he’s woefully ignorant about. Where do you think Michael Scott gets his ideas about black culture before he seeks out Darryl?

CR: I think he just watches television and movies and assumes everything from there.

AVC: Do you think Michael Scott looks up to Darryl like he’s the cool kid he wants to impress?

CR: Oh, absolutely. Michael idolized Darryl in so many ways.

AVC: Do you think Darryl has some level of affection for him?

CR: Darryl treats Mike with kid gloves. He knows he doesn’t mean harm, but it’s like, “Yo, you go too far each and every time.” He tries to keep the kid gloves on him, but at the same time, he has to exercise patience.

Tipster: Kenna

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The Weekend Tally

Tidbits about ‘The Office’ show, cast, and staff for the week ending August 16.

Tidbits

Events this week

For a complete list of events, subscribe to the OfficeTally Calendar.

Tipsters: Joy, Kristina, Valerie, Kelly, Paul, fishosaurus

P.S. A reminder that OfficeTally prefers not to post news or comments related to personal issues or gossip about The Office cast and staff. Thanks!

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The Weekend Tally

For a complete list of events, subscribe to the OfficeTally Calendar.

Tipsters: gaetan, John, Anna, Rob, Sue, McKenna, jims_penguin, PhillyJim, Melissa, Meredith

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The Weekend Tally

  • Blog update: Mindy — Sour Candies.
  • Article: Hollywood panel discusses strike. The panel included The Office’s Executive Producer Greg Daniels, who said “The executives were so glad to see us … all I’m getting is a feeling of relief to be back to work. There’s a great spirit of gratitude for everyone on my show.”
  • Article: Nesting With a Vengeance (and a Deadline). “Angela Kinsey, who plays Angela Martin on the television comedy “The Office,” is seven months pregnant and “trying to prioritize” all the improvements she is making on her 1950s single-story home in Los Angeles.”
  • Article: Look To The Stars Asks Melora Hardin. Melora feels each person can make a difference to the world.
  • Article: Sox-ing it to LA. Which Office cast members were in attendance at the exhibition game between the Red Sox and the Dodgers?
  • Photos: “Joining other fellow comedians in reading excerpts from the book Comedy By The Numbers, special unannounced guest Kate Flannery showed up to lend her voice to the book reading.”
  • Video: Mose is actually a teacher? Michael Schur turns up on ‘Miss Guided.’
  • Spoiler updates: I’ve backfilled a few interesting spoiler tidbits, including information on the upcoming episode ‘Night Out’ and the possibility of new webisodes! Go to “Season 4 spoilers/news” in the sidebar. Over there. —–>
  • Upcoming event: Craig Robinson plays a series of dates at Zanies Chicago, St. Charles, and Vernon Hills on May 8-10.
  • Upcoming event: Brian Baumgartner participates in The American Century Championship golf tournament, July 8-13 at Edgewood Tahoe, NV.

For a complete listing of events, check out the OfficeTally Calendar.

Tipsters: liezl, Kim, Chillis