Drama, Comedy & Music Are All Just As Delicious For Craig Robinson

It's been a busy 2016 for Craig Robinson, so much so that he's only now making his way to our shores after rescheduling his June tour. Between performing around the US, making movies and dipping his toe in the dramatic pool, the comedian hasn't set aside too much specifically for his Aussie audiences. "Right now there's not enough time to go 'Oh, this'll be for Australia,' but a buddy of mine told me about an artist, and that I have to play one of his songs because people will just go crazy." He's keeping his cards close to his chest on that one, but he promises satisfaction. "We'll do some covers, some top 40 stuff, and it'll be a lot of fun. It'll be stuff that people recognise and know. It won't be anything where you're gonna be like 'Oh, what's going on here?'"

Along with his backing band, The Nasty Delicious, Robinson pairs his inimitable humour along with a world class pianism and compositional ability. "I got a degree in music," he casually informs, "I got a degree in secondary music education, so I know a couple of things. Not too much, but a couple of things.

"We're bringing love, and fuck, and dancing, and jokes and good times."

"When I started music, that was the first love. My mother played first chair cello in college, she plays the minister's music in church, she plays the organ, she sings like an angel, so it's in my blood, you know?" Robinson himself was exposed to the craft from a young age. "One of my earliest memories is playing and running up to the piano," he reminisces. "My grandmother would keep me when my mother or father was at work and my sister was at school, and I would be banging on the piano and then I'd run up to the kitchen and say 'How was that, Grandma?' and she'd say 'That was beautiful, baby' and then I'd run back and play some more. And now I can vividly see myself at that age - I'd bang from the bottom of the piano to the top and then all the way back down. So yeah, that was my first love."

This passion has aided Robinson throughout his near-two decades of acting and comedy, to the point where his roles in such titles as The Office and This Is The End have called for Robinson specifically for his musical abilities. "Music is my partner." He says of the string to his copious bow. "Even if it's something like breaking down a script, I want to figure out the rhythm, you know? What's the rhythm to it? How is it like a song? How is it so I can dance to the words and learn it like that?"

The Sausage Party star is also planning a foray into some more serious music ventures, saying, "I got some things that I'm working on that are for down the line that won't be as comedically involved. I mean, there's a comedic involvement in everything I do automatically, but it's the music that I'll look to do. I'm doing a special next year and that will, you know, kind of cleanse me so I can move along to the next level." He adds of these new projects, "I can multitask, so to speak, but I have these visions of doing some other things and I have to get through this act first, I think, to get to that next level."

This won't be the first time Robinson has stepped out of his comfort zone. Earlier this year he starred in the dramatic coming of age tale Morris From America, which tracks a single father who moves his son from the US to Germany. He also recently popped in the critically acclaimed TV thriller Mr Robot, playing corrupt prison warden Ray Heyworth. "I enjoyed it. It was very intense," he recalls. "I enjoyed actually being able to breathe a little bit more, you know? I mean, comedy is so rapid fire with the timing, but with drama you get to make more of a meal out of things. It really goes to a deeper place. It's exciting."

Robinson has received a flurry of nominations, awards and recognition for Morris From America, but it hasn't stopped the love coming in for his stand-up and music. He was recently asked to present Nile Rodgers with the Ebony Icon award for African American excellence, and was specifically requested by none other than Rodgers himself. "He reached out to me himself to do it because he said the only people he's been to more shows to than me are Prince and U2."

Being a favourite performer of one of the most prominent musician/producers in the world is a big podium, but Robinson and The Nasty Delicious are ready to give it all to their audiences in Oz. "We're bringing love, and fuck, and dancing, and jokes and good times. We are coming to see you and to party."