I don’t know exactly when it happened, but my dog is pretty much deaf. It’s either that, or h’s mastered the art of selective hearing after nearly 15 years on this Earth. While I can’t get him to go outside without a nudge, and I have to stomp to make sure he’s still breathing some days, he did hear me when I was watching The Chair Company shortly after the first episode of Tim Robinson’s new show premiered on the 2025 TV schedule.
No, it wasn’t because I was groaning or rolling around after inducing too many cringe-inducing moments from the show about an embarrassed man getting to the bottom of a conspiracy. Instead, there’s a joke early on in “Life Goes By Too Fucking Fast, It Really Does” that made me laugh so hard that he somehow heard it and gave me the biggest WTF look I’ve seen in years.
Ron Trosper Waking Up To Complain About His Pillow Just About Killed Me
I find Tim Robinson’s unique brand of comedy equally hilarious and unsettling, which creates a dynamic that few comedians, outside of maybe Nathan Fielder and his over-the-top Rehearsal, can accomplish. The perfect blend of humor and cringe, something critics are loving about The Chair Company, creates so many unforgettable moments in the premiere, including a scene early on where Robinson’s Ron Trosper wakes up in the middle of the night to yell:
I swear, I have the worst pillow in town. This thing is made of god damnned metal.
Like a lot of Robinson’s best jokes, this one comes out of nowhere and legitimately caught me off guard. Maybe the shock in my laughter alerted my geriatric dog and forced him to look at me like that. There’s no buildup and there’s no reaction, as the scene just ends and the episode moves along as if it never happened.
The Jokes In The Chair Company Are Off The Rails
The jokes throughout the first episode are off the rails, random, and so damn funny. If the rest of the season is this absurd, this could very well be the best thing Robinson’s ever been a part of (this is coming from the guy who thinks Ugly Sonic in Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is peak comedy).
From the “worst pillow in town” line to the conversations about inside and outside wheelbarrows and Ron eating a deviled egg two days after he brought it home from a restaurant, the humor is off the charts. I honestly can’t wait to see where this goes…
But I Have A Feeling This Show Is Going To Stress Me Out
As is the case with pretty much everything else Robinson has been involved with over the years, including the must-watch I Think You Should Leave, I have a feeling The Chair Company is going to stress me out for the next several weeks. I don’t know if it’ll reach the level of discomfort I felt during Friendship when that film dropped on the 2025 movie schedule earlier this year, but the season is still young.
In the first episode alone, there was the embarrassing chair incident that kickstarts the whole show, an awkward interaction with a waitress at a restaurant, and an unnerving conversation with a female coworker that could go in so many different directions. I’m biting my nails just thinking about it…
I’m going to keep watching The Chair Company with my HBO Max subscription, but maybe I’ll do it without my deaf dog’s judgmental eyes on me.