We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cory Robinson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cory below.

Cory, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Probably around age 12. When I was 11 I was in middle school, fat, and awkward. But I had a good sense of humor. I was always cracking up my mom’s then-boyfriend (now husband) and making my friends laugh in class. One of the more popular kids dared me to enter the local talent show and I won. I was pretty much hooked after that, and had aspirations to do this for life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Cory Robinson, and sometimes I go by “Showtime.” I got into this industry by accident and am still here due to stubbornness. The product I provide is laughter, in its many forms. I also act, do voiceover, and produce live comedy shows from promotion to afterparties.
What sets me apart from other comedy show producers is that I book and run a show with the audience in mind. I book a diverse show full of comedians from different backgrounds so that the joke topics don’t intersect that often. I book comedians I worked with and trust, and who have worked with each other. I put the strongest comics towards the end and the most energetic and engaging personality at host. Soon as I figure out how to get enough people to see how well this combo works, I’ll have asses in the seats.
I’m most proud of my persistence. Comedy can be, ironically, a very depressing industry. And the fact that I keep coming back for more is kind of a badge of honor.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There used to be these hell-gigs called Tribble Runs back in the day. They were these mini-tours thru the middle of nowhere for 3-7 days. I’m talking Medford, OR, New Plymouth, ID, Winnemucca, NV: places like that. I had one gig where I drove up from Oakland, CA to Portland, OR a day early to pickup the headliner. I got him and we headed towards the gig, and there’s a rockslide. The gig was about 3 hrs east and the rockslide was halfway there. We had to go 90min back, across a river, then go the whole distance again. We were 3 hours late for the show but still did it. The booker was PISSED…at US! Like it was our fault that there was a rockslide. But the club loved us, tipped us, fed us, and put us up for the night at no charge. And we still had 3 more gigs to go on that trip.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Society could do a world of good to support artists by simply treating being an artist like an actual job. It takes long hours to be creative. We’re mental alchemists in the sense that we take an idea from thought to the physical world, but no one feels like they should have to pay for it. Or better yet, no one feels like you should be paid to learn. Any other job has an apprenticeship or a training period. But for some reason, people think of artists as children finger-painting. We have a very difficult job, made even harder by the inherent lack of respect that our job gets. People always tell artists to “go get a real job!” And we HAVE TO in order to survive.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.robinsoncomedyservices.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coryshowtime/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crshowtime831
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CRShowtime1
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/tibbz66

Image Credits

Jim McCambridge