Comedy Bang! Bang!: “Craig Robinson Wears a Bordeaux Button Down & Dark Jeans”

Before the episode “Craig Robinson Wears a Bordeaux Button Down and Dark Jeans,” Craig Robinson had only interacted within the Comedy Bang! Bang! universe once before. Back in the first year of the show he was a guest on one of the few episodes not hosted by Scott Aukerman (the host was CBB season premiere guest Jerry Minor as the long-since forgotten character Cyber Thug). For Aukerman and Robinson’s first time in the CBB realm together, it’s probably a good thing that their interaction appeared on camera and not solely on the podcast, since many of the best jokes rely on Robinson and his reactions.

This is not to say Robinson isn’t a fun guest, he just doesn’t seem as relaxed as someone like (last week’s guest) Patton Oswalt, but he does plenty with a stare or a scream. Most of this stiffness (which is—in all fairness—also a part of some act) comes during the interview portion, which is partly improvised (so that could be part of the problem) as during the clearly scripted parts, Robinson is great. He’s a perfect contestant for the new game “Craig Robinson or Craig T. Nelson?” and he humorously explains that the only thing that he misses about Chicago is the wind—because he likes flying kites and watching hats fall of people’s heads. He even gets delightfully weird during “CBB After Dark,” where he explains that he’s never had sex, but only drawn a picture of two naked people from memory. He’s also scared of monsters. But it’s Robinson’s Office stare repeatedly directed at Aukerman that truly makes his appearance great.

This is also a pretty great Reggie Watts episode, as it turns out his keyboard has been a tool for star vessel training and he goes through an alien portal to help fight an intergalactic war. He struggles with the keyboard, until he is told that music will win the fight. After figuring out his keyboard controls (which destroy plenty of spaceships and alien babies through the power of love), he discovers the war was fought to stop alien school integration. But back at the studio, the aliens have left a Watts clone, who Aukerman must teach about music, banter, and humor so as to not give away the fact that he isn’t the real Watts.