I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson review: Total Madness

I Think You Should Leave, Netflix’s new sketch comedy series starring Tim Robinson, is equal parts hilarious and nonsensical.

The new Netflix original series I Think You Should Leave is based around social gatherings and chance meetings, usually taking a turn as someone or something drastic happens to shift the conversation.

The most immediate thing to notice is the immense amount of guest stars the sketch series holds. It boasts Saturday Night Live greats like Vanessa Bayer, Cecily Strong, Will Forte and Andy Samberg, along with great comedy actors like Tim Heidecker and Sam Richardson. There’s even a surprise appearance by Steven Yeun, in one of its more bizarre and lengthy sketches.

Some of the jokes and sketches land with genius precision, while others completely fall flat and only amount to a chuckle or a smile from the occasional line.

But at the same time, each sketch lasts for a manner of minutes, so it’s on to the next thing before it wears out its welcome. Their three or four-minute runtimes before moving on do a lot to salvage the weaker moments, always moving and always leaving on a high note.

Two sketches, in particular, are stuck in my mind. They’re incredibly simple, but they comment on social norms and when things spiral out of someone’s control. These both don’t go completely insane like some of the others, and so their grounded awkwardness turns into fascinating comedy.

Tim Robinson is wonderful throughout, unafraid to go to very strange places to get a laugh. He manages to balance being at his best as the straight man in sketches and as the unhinged person in the sketch, strangely able to bounce from one to the other and make it work in the same episode.

Here is the trailer, in case you missed it:

By its end, the six episodes come out with more hits than misses, saved by moments of complete chaos or a line that saves an entire sketch. There’s more than enough good laughs in here, even if there can be some difficult or downright strange choices to get there.

Sketches are so quick and short, though, where it never becomes a major issue. If something isn’t working, the show appears to know itself and moves on. But it always makes sure to land their endings, which makes I Think You Should Leave a rather impressive series.

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson is now available on Netflix. It runs for six episodes.