What Makes Alec Robbins Laugh

You might know Alec Robbins as the cartoonist behind Mr. Boop, the award-winning webcomic that asks the age-old question: “What if Alec Robbins were married to Betty Boop?” Or you might know him from his work on some of the more iconic alt-comedy TV series of our day, like Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Eric André Show, and I Think You Should Leave. These days he’s Narrative Director at Squanch Games, and you can keep up with his other comics and games work at his website. For today’s edition of What Makes Me Laugh, I asked Robbins about his favorite comedians, the works of comedy that changed his life, his favorite episode of The Simpsons, and more.

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WIREDMegan Farokhmanesh

Tell me about your favorite living comedian and your favorite dead comedian. (For our purposes, “comedian” can encompass comedy writers and actors.)

If we're talking just laughs, I think nobody hits me with a higher joke-to-laugh ratio than Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge. He has complete mastery over the character and we have literal decades of material to track his arc over the years. It's so flexible—they've made it work as fake talk shows, sitcoms, audiobooks, live shows, webcam feeds, everything!!!—and the collective theater of it is amazing, where everyone just sort of agrees that Alan Partridge is a real guy. We wouldn't have stuff like On Cinema without it, and I don't think it gets enough credit. "This Time With Alan Partridge" from a few years back felt unreal with how MANY perfect jokes are layered into each episode back to back to back.

Now if we're talking favorite standups... I don't even know anymore. Standup is in a dire place right now. If you asked me 15 years ago I'd have a laundry list but now I can barely even summon up a single name. I prefer to think about Alan Partridge.

You’ve shared a bunch of your favorite film and TV comedy performances on your website; are there any live performances that stuck with you the same way?

Long ago I saw a performance from Rory Scovel when he did a show in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he pulled out an extended bit playing a guy who was very slowly getting more and more confident in his new job as a hotel lounge pianist who lied about his credentials. It was this beautiful, perfect wordless routine with a real piano on stage, where we got to see each day of this guy with no piano skills casually getting more and more bold with his terrible piano-playing. The laughs were so subtle—just the performance of a guy getting more comfortable with nobody calling him out on his bullshit piano skills—but the crowd was fully on board and it took the room by storm. I think about it all the time.

Another bit that never leaves my mind despite only ever hearing about it secondhand is an old shtick Todd Glass apparently used to do where he'd get onstage at a standup show wearing a full fake police officer uniform. He would play it like a real cop trying standup for the first time, all awkward and stilted, and then partway through the set he'd time it so his walkie would go off with another cop demanding he immediately come to the scene of a nearby crime in progress. The gag would then be that Todd is just trying to ignore it and continue with his jokes, getting more and more flustered because his character is so excited to do standup. I don't know if any footage of it exists, but it's always been unbelievably funny for me to just IMAGINE it.

In a similar vein: is there any work of comedy that you feel changed your life? Tell me about it.

I caught reruns of Mr. Show on cable, either Comedy Central or Spike TV or something, and it altered my brain chemistry. There was such a flow to it and the energy felt so different from anything else I'd seen by then—it was my first peek into alt-comedy outside of Adult Swim. Which, speaking of, I used to tape entire blocks of Home Movies and Venture Bros or whatever on VHS and rewatch them over and over. Adult Swim was a lifeline for me in my early teens. It all had such a mystique to me back then, like there was so much more to dig up in a way that it felt infinite. Couple that with early-2000s internet access and it set me on a life course centered around always trying to find the weirdest, funniest stuff possible. I tend to gravitate towards stuff that either experiments with form (like Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Look Around You, or Tim and Eric) or takes its story and characters very seriously (like Venture Bros, Party Down, or Alan Partridge).

Are there any books, movies, TV shows, etc that aren’t explicitly comedy but have nonetheless shaped your sense of humor?

I think Southland Tales and Neon Genesis Evangelion may be two of the biggest non-comedic influences on my sense of humor. They're both very ambitious, metaphysical passion pieces that feel so singular and insane. I love it when I can push comedy into a direction like that. I want you to feel a little insane, and to think I'M a little insane.

You’ve worked with some of the funniest people alive today. What have you learned from them?

My career has been insane so far. I like to joke that I've worked for Tim and Eric and Tim and Eric, meaning Robinson and André for the latter two. The nicest people are also usually the funniest. To me there's been a direct correlation. Tim Robinson is a true sweetheart and always goes to bat for a fellow Michigander. If I had to put into words what I think the greats I've worked with all share, it's the ability to clearly communicate what they want to do artistically and the humility to know it's not going to be possible without a team of hardworking crew members that feel taken care of and excited to push that vision to fruition.

I've also worked with some real assholes! Almost every time without fail they have no idea what they want and no appreciation for their collaborators. Though there have been some competent assholes, too. But let's focus on the dreamboats!!! It was a dream come true getting to write and direct dialogue for Ken Marino, one of the funniest living actors if you ask me.

Can you tell me about something, whatever it is, in the recent or distant past, that made you lose it laughing?

The Hangover joke in Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie. Joke of the year. Absolutely killed me and everyone else in the early screening we saw. Perfect synthesis of pivotal plot-point, cutting commentary, and just a clean, funny gag.

Also, while I won't go to bat for Hacks as a whole, Laurie Metcalf's appearance got me good. They brought back her bit character one last time for the final season and her entire monologue just had me dying. I can't believe we don't put her in more stuff. I'm ashamed I always forget how funny she is until she's back on a screen in front of me again.

Are there any lines of comedy that have wormed their way into your permanent lexicon? Sitcom jokes, dialogue from your favorite comics, tweets, whatever it may be… for instance I am constantly muttering “I do believe you are not from around here” from this Simple Town video.

Around our home we're constantly quoting Adam Scott's "I've got a shirt going" from the little-seen Season 3 revival of Party Down. I can't believe they pulled off such a funny "everybody is high on mushrooms" sitcom episode. We also love the "I'm hopping mad and I want something in the middle!" Network parody from the finale of This Time With Alan Partridge. Sorry to keep referencing Alan Partridge in this interview. Oh, and another one that ALWAYS pops into my head, for years and years now, is Nick Frost's misheard "Judge Judy and Executioner" from Hot Fuzz. I love how exasperated he is as he delivers it.

Is there anything you're working on now that's making you laugh?

NO!!!!! Actually, I have this little pet project I've been kicking around about a fake gaming YouTube channel, and a couple little scripts I'd like to find time to film. There's also some video game stuff cooking. I'm always doing too much. Right now I actually just need to focus and pick one thing for the time being.

Finally: favorite Simpsons episode?

Sorry, this is SUCH an easy answer but it's absolutely You Only Move Twice. Hank Scorpio kills me. “Sorry it's not in packages" is one of my favorite Simpsons lines, I think you can sense that influence in some of my writing. Another super easy answer is 22 Short Films About Springfield—specifically, I love the Mr. Burns/Smithers tandem bicycle bit, which never seems to get as much love as Steamed Hams.