As I’ve mentioned before, one of the perks of working on the night staff at The Second City is the opportunity to watch the pros in action every single night. It’s an invaluable learning tool, studying the insanely talented performers as they build a show from scratch and then continue to fine-tune their creations (i.e. characters, beats, scenes, etc.) throughout the course of their run.

The regular Second City-goer spends just one night (2-3 hours, to be exact) getting to observe each performer on stage, from a distance, and usually exit the doors as they say something along the lines of, “[Insert ensemble member here] was really funny.” From direct experience, I can say that more often than not, these conversations have included one guy in particular: Tim Robinson.

Photo by Michael Brosilow/The Second City

I feel extremely lucky to have worked in the building during Tim’s stint on the Mainstage cast (he recently left to pursue other projects). I started just after Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies opened and got to see the entire “process” of Southside of Heaven, the current Mainstage revue. These shows, being the first ones I ever saw at Second City, are very memorable to me and a lot of that is attributed to his great work. No discredit to the other actors on either of the resident stages…they are all rock stars, bringing their A-game night after night, and are an absolute blast to watch; but Tim is an undeniable tour de force. He’s a comedic genius who can find the funny in anything and everything.

Having worked there for almost a year, I think it’s safe to say I’ve seen him on that stage over 100 times and he always nailed it. Especially in the post-show improv set, where the foolproof, battle-tested sketches are replaced with the audience-suggested unknown, Robinson killed. In improv, they say you should always go with the second or third idea in order to stay one step ahead of the audience. “Go from A to C,” they say. With Tim, it’s more like he goes from A to G. Whether it was a line of dialogue, character choice, or tag-out, he consistently came up with the unexpected; things that would even make the performers on stage crack up.

Another thing to note is his fearlessness. He never shied away from saying what needed to be said, most notably when an unruly or “dead” crowd called for it. One night in particular sticks out for me: the show was halfway through the first act and the audience (a collective bunch of sociopaths, it seemed) wasn’t responding to much. Then came the scene in the show where Tim’s character shoots a horse and ends with, “Sorry, folks, had to happen!” There was dead silence after the gunshot, not a laugh or a boo in the house. Nothing. So, instead of delivering his usual line, Tim looked out into the audience and, in character, exclaimed, “Feel something!”….blackout.

Despite his brilliance, the best thing I can say about him is that he is also a super nice guy. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t even know him that well. I remember when I first started working on the night staff, I was very nervous around the performers. I mean, how are you supposed to act around all these people that you look up to so much? Tim made it easy. He always said hello, greeted me with a high five or whatnot, and made everyone feel like a “buddy” of his. He just has that effect on people.

I’ll never forget when my family came into town to see my BenchCo show. I brought them by Mainstage to see the set one night and on our way back to my place, we bumped into Tim as we crossed North & Wells. I introduced my family to him and he was very gracious of their praise. About a week later, I walked passed him as I was setting up the room in Main and he asked, “Hey, how’s your family doing? They seemed really nice.” For a guy of his talent, you’d think he wouldn’t have to be that way. Just an overall class act…

I could go on and on but I’ll simply end with this. Last Tuesday, I worked on his last night. Last nights are a tradition at Second City, where old pals come back to share stories and honor the man/woman of the hour. When fellow Mainstager Tim Mason went up to talk, he told the audience that everyone in attendance will be able to one day say that they were there for Tim Robinson’s last night, as he is undoubtedly going on to bigger and better things. I have no doubt in my mind that someday, I’ll be proud to say, “I was there…”