Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Craig Robinson On The Office, Pizza Hut, How He Made It In Hollywood & The Bad Guys

Episode Date: May 6, 2022

Craig Robinson is an actor, comedian and musician. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his new animated film THE BAD GUYS where he voices Mr. Shark. Craig discusses how he paved his own way in Hollywood, his Pizza Hut commercials and what he would order on his pizza, playing Darryl Philbin on "The Office", how he took his career into his own hands after moving to Hollywood, being a teacher before making it as an actor/comedian and more! For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet CVV CLIPS: youtube.com/CVVCLIPS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are gathered. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blaine! Oh, greetings and salutations, my friends. Welcome back to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet, and I am such a big fan of Craig Robinson. What a pleasure to have him on the show. Hilarious in the office. Amazing in Brooklyn Nine-N-N-N-9.

His stand-up so good. of course when he was the doorman, it knocked up. That was just some of the best improv lines ever. And his new animated film called The Bad Guys is out now. And I'm sure you notice this episode is a little bit shorter than our usual episodes. But I'm going to be throwing in more of these interviews on the show as they happen. And with that said, I just wrapped up an amazing conversation with Mike Myers that you'll be seeing next week on the show. So if you could do me a favor, please follow or subscribe wherever you're listening right now.

It helps more than I could possibly explain to you. And if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, please leave a review like this one from our fan of the week, Vicki Zumi, who says, this is my everything. I really got a lot out of this podcast. It inspires me to be a better person. I'm so grateful to have found insight. Well, thank you, Vicki. I'm grateful for you.

You are one of the three things that I'm grateful for today. In fact, I'm grateful for anybody who leaves a review. So if you have Apple Podcasts, if you have an iPhone, it would mean so much to me if you would consider leaving a review. And if you do, I'll read it out here on the show. And if you're listening on Spotify, please go in there and tap those stars for a rating. All right. Here we go. Ladies and gentlemen, the hilarious Craig Robinson.

Craig, what's going on? How you doing, Chris? I'm doing great. I'm doing amazing. Look, so much of this movie is the idea of being scared of something that you don't really understand. I mean, you've got a wolf, a piranha, a tarantula, a snake. Of course, Mr. Shark. Craig, what scares you?

Questions. I'm a Scorpio. Can't get too deep. Is it because, you know, you may not know what the answer is or you just don't want to reveal too much? That's the revealing. I got to keep it mysterious, man. I just listening to the episode you did with Dax Shepard, and you were like, man, this is why I don't do podcasts.

That's the name of my podcast. This is why I don't do podcasts, if I ever create one. Look, I would think that one of the best things about doing an animated film is that you can wear anything you want in the recording studios. So what is Craig Robinson's V-O-Booth attire? T-shirt, shorts, flip-flops. Easy. The flip-flops really helped the voice get going.

Is that what it is? It gives me the, it feels like I'm on the beach. That's the beach. You got the ocean. The ocean, you got the shark. It's all coming together now. Boom. Look, you're on our TV a lot in this household between the office and, of course, the Pizza Hut commercials.

So I'm curious, if Mr. Shark were to order a pizza, what kind of pizza would it be? Oh, easy. That's going to be a meat lover. No onions. Okay, what kind of pizza would Daryl order? Meat lovers, no onions. What kind of pizza with Craig Robinson order? Meat lovers, no onions.

Are you seeing the through line here? I'm guessing it's meat lovers, no onions. Correct. I love this line in the movie about writing your own story, and I feel like you're a perfect example of that. Where do you feel like that really began? for you when you really started to take control of your life and your career. Wow.

You know, when I got to Hollywood, I think there was a time where I decided to approach everything like with rhythm, you know, with music. And that might be, there might have been a turn. I was just, you know, I think there was a time of figuring out. that you can't care. You have to care without caring. Here's what I'm trying to say.

So you have an audition. You go to audition all the time. You prepare for it, but you cannot care about the result. You have to just go do it and let it live and do what it does. Because if you get to Karen in, you drive yourself crazy.

So you have to care without caring. I love that. I think there's also nobody in Hollywood that does what you do. How long did it take? you to kind of figure out like, I'm just going to be me, whether you like it or not. I think so before I got there, I had no choice. I think because coming from comedy doing stand-up, it's under the guys of stand-up,

but I'm really sitting down playing the keyboard. That's where I saw I could separate myself and then just, you know, do what I do. So I don't know how to be anybody else. And I love that your story is like it began with you being a teacher. So do your students ever reach out to you when a movie like this comes out? Yeah, they reach out randomly. Sometimes they'll hit me on, you know, Facebook or Instagram. Mr. Robinson, you know, you're still in inspiration.

Thank you so much. I used to be a student. Thank you for doing what you do. And I say the same thing. Everyone, I'm like, hey, I'm not your teacher anymore. Please don't contact me. I'm kidding. No, it's very nice when they reach out.

Some of them, you know, I remember right away. Some of them takes a little bit. And a lot of them have families now and stuff. And I'm always like, hey, are you still doing music? And they're like, oh, baby, you know. Is there any crossover between you doing music and you being in the VO booth? Like, is there any musical about doing voiceover for an animated film? Everything is music to me.

Every, when I'm saying a line or whatever, especially when I'm trying to memorize something, I have to do it almost like a song, you know, put a rhythm to it. So yes, to answer your question. Craig, you're awesome. Congratulations on this film. Thank you for always being on my television here. My girlfriend, Rachel, sees you probably more than she sees me, I feel like.

What up, Rach. Oh, uh-oh. Uh-oh. Thank you, Craig. You're welcome. Thank you. Was it just me? Or was he hitting on my woman there at the end?

What up, Rach. Big thank you to Craig for making the time to chat with us. I love that line about his student. I'm not your teacher anymore. Of course, thank you for being with us and for checking out this mini interview, this mini view. What, like that.

That's what we're going to call these, mini views. So keep an eye out for one next week. A mini view with Mike Myers, talking about his new Netflix show called The Pentavarit, as well as some of his iconic roles, Austin Powers,

when he played Dr. Evil as well. Wayne Campbell from Wayne's World. It's a great one. I think you're going to, going to love it. Give the show a follow or subscribe wherever you're listening. And if it is Apple podcast, it'd be amazing if you would consider leaving a review on there. And I'll leave you with this quote that I love from Jackie Robinson. Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion,

you're wasting your life. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more inside. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining

more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Ticket banjov but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite.

platform. You've been warned.