The Chair Company Review: Tim Robinson's Hilarious HBO Series Is A Deranged Comedy For Our Deranged Times

"We're all trying to find the guy who did this." This line, uttered by a flustered man dressed in a hot dog costume, has become one of the most iconic moments from "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson," the hilarious Netflix sketch comedy series created by Robinson and Zach Kanin. The moment arrives after a hot dog-shaped car crashes into a clothing store, causing chaos. The customers and staff inside try to regain their bearings and start asking, "Who did this?" Who crashed this hot dog car into the store? Suddenly, the man in the hot dog costume (played by Robinson) pops into frame, trying to join the crowd. It's obvious to everyone that Robinson's character is the guy who crashed the hot dog car — he's wearing a hot dog costume! And yet, Robinson's hot dog man keeps insisting he wasn't involved.

The sketch is unquestionably funny and has filtered into the pop culture consciousness, with Robinson's hot dog man crying "We're all trying to find the guy who did this!" becoming a catch-all meme when public figures try to shift blame away from themselves. It perfectly sums up the type of characters Robinson tends to play: chaotic, insecure men terrified of admitting they've done something wrong. They aren't (usually) behaving this way because of confidence in their actions or belief that they're actually correct. Instead, they're so horrified over the idea of being embarrassed that they're willing to blatantly lie in order to hopefully escape ridicule. (The first "I Think You Should Leave" sketch, where Robinson plays a man at a job interview who literally breaks a door rather than admit he's opening it the wrong way, also sums this mentality up perfectly).

While the joke is always taken to the most absurd possible place, this sort of individual — the person who keeps insisting they're right while everyone else around them is wrong — seems synonymous with our current deranged American era. While conspiracy theories have always been present in America, the last two decades have seen them become mainstream, with leaders in industry and politics screaming about easily debunked hokum. Robinson has a knack for turning this very disturbing modern phenomenon into laugh-out-loud comedy, and he's done it once again with "The Chair Company," an unhinged dark comedy about a man tumbling further and further into a conspiracy that could all be in his head. But he can't admit that, because admitting that would mean admitting he was wrong — and what could be more embarrassing than that?

In "The Chair Company," created by the "I Think You Should Leave" team of Robinson and Kanin, Robinson plays Ron, a family man living in suburban Ohio, tasked with designing a new shopping mall. When we first meet Ron, he's out to eat with his wife Barb (Lake Bell), his son Seth (Will Price), and daughter Natalie (Sophia Lillis). Barb proposes a toast to Ron, saying: "The way that you have weathered the ups and downs of these past few years ... we all know it hasn't been easy for you."

It's the first of many hints that something isn't quite right with Ron's life, a suspicion that only grows as the show progresses. After an unfortunate incident during a work presentation (critics have specifically been asked to not reveal what the incident is), Ron begins to come unglued and unhinged. He found himself embarrassed in front of his coworkers and boss (Lou Diamond Phillips), and embarrassment is the worst possible thing that can happen to a Tim Robinson character. Rather than admit anything resembling defeat, Ron starts looking for someone to blame for his misfortune. In other words, he's trying to find the guy who did this.

While the topic of QAnon never comes up in the show (at least not in the 7 of the 8 episodes made available for review), Ron's collapsing reality feels like the perfect reflection of that troubling conspiracy theory, whose proponents see society overrun by a borderline supernatural evil that will be vanquished by those who know the truth. "The Chair Company" holds a mirror up to a world where people have become conspiracy theorists convinced that if they spend enough time online, and post on the right message boards, they'll uncover a truth that "ordinary" people are oblivious to. Ron begins performing what he thinks are deep-dives through the internet (they're actually pretty simple Google searches) that have him uncovering what might be a worldwide conspiracy tied up to a mysterious company.

Or maybe it's all in his head.

On paper, this concept sounds bleak and dark. And yes, there is an inherent darkness to "The Chair Company." But the show's sense of humor is so absurd that it turns an uncomfortable topic into something uproarious. Robinson and Kanin embrace the type of paranoia prevalent in classic conspiracy thrillers, with an unapologetically silly twist. What if an "I Think You Should Leave" character suddenly stumbled into a film like "The Parallax View" or "Three Days of the Condor"? It might look something like "The Chair Company."

While Ron is your prototypical Tim Robinson oddball, "The Chair Company" is also populated with a gaggle of strange characters who seem to be on a similar weirdo wavelength (legendary comedy writer Jim Downey even shows up as one of Ron's co-workers). The most notable and memorable supporting character is the mysterious Mike Santini, played by Joseph Tudisco in what can only be described as a breakout role (his other credits on IMDb are mostly bit parts and background extra characters). Working as a security guard at a diner where every customer seems to be constantly fighting (??), Mike is an older guy who gets mixed up in the conspiracy (when he's not watching pornography or listening to Jerky Boys-like comedy tapes where two guys with New York accents scream at each other).

As Ron, Robinson finds a way to make a potentially unlikable character sympathetic — something Robinson is very good at. We empathize with Ron, even pity him, all while he grows increasingly erratic. He is the modern loser; the type of guy who has awkwardly stumbled through life so much that he's convinced someone must be holding him back. His failures and mistakes cannot be due to his own character flaws. No, someone has to be blamed for this. What keeps "The Chair Company" particularly compelling, though, are the hints that maybe, just maybe, Ron is actually on to something here. What if he's right? As Joseph Heller famously said, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."

"The Chair Company" is better constructed than Robinson's recent film "Friendship," which I thought was sporadically funny but slightly uneven. Robinson's style of humor seems better suited for the medium of TV, and works well in this episodic structure. That said, if you're not a fan of Robinson's style of cringe comedy, you likely won't find anything new in "The Chair Company" to grab hold of.

But if you are a fan of Robinson's work (as I am) you can expect "The Chair Company" to send you into near-hysterics. There are several moments here (I'm not going to spoil them since describing them simply won't do them justice) that had me laughing so hard it literally brought tears to my eyes. Since I wasn't provided the final episode, I cannot say if "The Chair Company" sticks the landing and wraps things up in a satisfying way. But the series is so fast-paced and amusing that I enjoyed the ride. 

What can I say? I just find Tim Robinson incredibly funny. He has the gift of making nearly any situation amusing (one of the show's biggest laughs for me came during a quick moment in the first episode, where Ron is having trouble getting to sleep and yells "I swear I have the worst pillow in town!"; it's not even really a joke, but Robinson sells it perfectly). At the same time, the darkness lurking under all the humor makes "The Chair Company" far more interesting than one might expect. It's the deranged comedy for our deranged times.

/Film Rating: 8 out of 10

"The Chair Company" premieres on HBO on October 12, 2025, and will be available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes of the eight-episode season will debut weekly leading up to the season finale on November 30.