-You know our next guest from NBC's "The Office"
and films such as "Pineapple Express"
and "This Is the End." He hosts "The Masked Dancer,"
which premieres Sunday, December 27th, on Fox.
Please welcome back to the show
our friend Craig Robinson, everybody.
-Hey! What's happening? -Oh, my God.
-How are you doing?
-I'm doing -- Craig, oh, my God, it's so good to see you.
I can't -- I can't help but notice
I'm featured on the wall there behind you.
-It's good to see you, buddy. [ Laughter ]
Oh, yeah, yeah, these are my Seth Meyers
high school/college photo travel posters.
[ Laughter ]
-You know, I don't think -- I think we printed, let's see,
I think 20,000 of those and only sold the one.
[ Laughter ]
-These guys, they help with, you know, anxiety.
You know, there's a lot of anxiety in the world right now.
These guys calm me down, man.
They all have their own personality.
-Based on those, you must be happy that I'd been growing
the hair longer during these trying times?
-Bro, the episode where you,
at the very end of "Closer Look,"
where you had the white suit and you were being James Spader.
-[ Laughs ] -Oh, my God!
First of all, it was second-to-second brilliance
but at the end, "This has been 'A Closer Look.'"
Dude, people don't know -- people don't talk about
Seth Meyers enough, all of the talents you got, man.
You go in to any voice.
-Oh, you are a fan of -- see, I would say I'm a very middle
of the road impressionist, but this is very kind.
That's very kind. -No, no, you do them good, man.
Give me Giuliani. Give me Giuliani!
-[ as Rudy Giuliani ] See, I don't think my Giuliani
is particularly good.
-Mitch McConnell.
-[ as Mitch McConnell ] Oh, lovely to have
Mr. Craig Robinson here. [ Laughter ]
-Lindsey Graham.
-[ as Lindsey Graham ] You know, I'm --
I'm very troubled by the fact that --
where'd he get those pictures of Seth Meyers?
-Evil German voice!
-[ German accent ] Mr. Robinson,
we are very happy you're here. [ Laughter ]
But we do have some questions about your masks.
-Bernie Sanders!
-[ as Bernie Sanders ] It's very troubling for me.
-Dennis Miller!
-[ as Dennis Miller ] Craig Robinson on the other hand.
[ Laughter ]
-Okay, okay, okay, you win.
[ Laughter ]
You don't get enough credit, homes.
-[ Normal voice ] Thank you, my friend.
You are my friend!
-Look, I love the sea captain.
-See, now, this is good to hear
'cause nobody gives the sea captain any respect.
-But the quarantine duck. Oh!
-Well, see. -That was -- That was the one.
-So Ira -- see, you know, I feel as though
we can bring Ira back in the new year
because we did establish he's from Brooklyn,
and there's no reason why he couldn't join us in the studio.
-Please bring him back. Also, I Googled the movie,
"Internal Issues," and it hasn't been made!
-[ Laughs ] -It's our name now!
[ Laughter ]
It could be a movie, a podcast, a band, a super power.
-This is -- -"Internal Issues," man.
-As interviews go, this is my favorite ever.
[ Laughter ]
-Aluminium!
[ Laughter ]
-Craig, this is so kind,
but I want to talk about you too.
I mean -- -Wait, wait.
How did the rabbit thing go?
Hopping up to the kids?
-Oh, okay, so for those who aren't
Craig Robinson-level fans of the show,
my dad said he was going to visit --
the next time he visited my kids because they like
the white rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland,"
he was going to dress up like the white rabbit
and, Craig, you mentioned this,
so we wanted to let you know exactly how it went.
Boom. Look at that man.
Look at him!
-Wow! -[ Laughs ]
-What a nice family, man, good for you, good for you.
-How have you been through this?
Are you staying healthy through quarantine?
I remember you saying you're a vegan.
Are you still a vegan?
-I had Popeye's chicken today.
[ Laughter ]
So today I wasn't.
[ Laughter ]
But I've been -- yeah, I've been working out,
going to the park and stuff.
I started writing a musical. -That's great.
That's right in your wheelhouse.
-Yeah, yeah. "Jersey Goys."
-Oh, boy. -But look here.
[ Laughter ]
It hasn't been done yet!
"Internal Issues"!
-Oh, oh, wait, I have something else.
Now, this is very exciting.
"Masked Dancer" is very exciting.
It makes sense you'd be doing it.
You were a contestant on "The Masked Singer."
Don't take this the wrong way. I feel like you were
the fastest guest person ever on the show, yes?
-I wasn't a contestant. I was a guest host.
-That makes more sense.
-I hadn't watched the show before I got to be
the guest host, and now, I'm hooked on it
and I can't wait for people
to get hooked on "Masked Dancer."
-Now, this was you in a mask, Craig.
And I feel like, compared to a lot of the masks on the show,
this is not a lot of face coverage.
-Yeah, it's just some cardboard with some eye holes poked in it.
[ Laughter ]
-People just -- People knew right away.
And now, though, this is --
I'm guessing on "The Masked Dancer,"
does it -- is it harder to guess people?
Because you're not hearing their voice, right?
-I think so.
It's hard for me to guess the singers.
So, I think so, even though, had I been watching the show,
I would have known Patti LaBelle's voice.
-Sure. -So, but what they do,
they give you extra clues, okay, in the clue package,
and then when the -- there's clues
in the dance routine, and then there's also,
they remove the voice modulation,
so you get to hear one word from the character.
And that word is also a clue.
So, it's hard, but they make it
so if you're watching, you can follow along.
-Now, this show,
both "The Masked Singer" and I'm assuming
"The Masked Dancer," these are very joyous affairs.
Yet, the secrecy is taken very seriously.
Like, when one of the contestants comes in,
they take great steps to keep them anonymous, yes?
-They -- When they get to set, they have on a black hoodie
that they can see through, obviously, but you can't see.
They have a shirt that says, "don't talk to me."
No one is allowed, you know, they go in their trailer,
they're there all day.
They take two or three cars. I think they ride in the trunk.
If you ever need a body hidden,
talk to the people at "Masked Dancer" and "Singer."
They are good with the secrecy.
-Are you a good dancer, Craig?
I'm going to jump to the conclusion that you are.
-Maybe you don't remember a party we attended,
a post-"SNL" party.
Oh. Oh. -[ Laughs ]
-Anyway. I don't think that happened.
But, look, I am a good dancer.
I have some strong moves.
Not a lot of strong moves anymore, but, you know,
I got this one that's kind of a step mixed with salsa,
and the funny thing about it, Seth,
is I don't know that I'm going to do it.
I never think about doing that move.
So, when the music hits me, right, that's when it comes out
and I start, you know, it's really -- it's interesting.
-This is very exciting for the good people at Peacock.
They're about to get "The Office,"
which I don't need to tell you
is more popular now than it's ever been.
-Peacock!
-[ Laughs ]
-But I think other people are maybe a little upset
because it's -- you know, in order for this to happen,
it's coming down off of other streamers,
and people are reaching out to you to see
if you can do something about this.
Correct? -Oh, yes.
There's one person on Instagram that keeps contacting me,
saying, "Please don't let them take
'The Office' off of Netflix."
And, you know, I want to answer back,
but I kind of like them thinking I have that power.
-[ Laughs ]
-Yeah, they're saying like every couple --
I don't know how many -- every couple of weeks maybe.
Please don't take "The Office,"
and she said it to me like I'm doing it.
"Please don't take 'The Office' off of Netflix."
I don't have anything to do with that, ma'am.
[ Laughter ]
If Peacock...
Peacock is getting it. -[ Laughs ]
I want to -- I mean, it must be so rewarding
that people continue to find "The Office" --
I feel like it's a show that, one, people who watched it
when it first came out continue to watch it.
Young people find it all the time
and love it as much as anyone ever did.
How -- And it just must be fantastic
to have been a part of this thing that has endured so long.
-They never paid me. [ Laughter ]
It was -- it was a dream that you -- a dream come true.
But the interesting thing about me being on "The Office,"
I love deadpan humor.
Like, my guys are like Leslie Nielsen,
and Peter Sellers, Harvey Korman,
you know what I'm saying, the deadpan comedian, right?
Love it. Something crazy is going on,
and you're just acting like nothing's happening.
So, "Office" is all deadpan, right?
I saw the English version on a plane one time.
I don't know how I came across it.
Loved it.
Didn't see it.
Then saw a picture of David Brent on the side of a 7-Eleven.
I was like, "Oh." I figured out how to watch --
I was like, "Okay, BBC," yada, yada,
and then fell in love with the show
and then ended up, you know, it came around, did the audition,
and it was like, "Be deadpan," what have you.
It just was like serendipitous for my life.
-You're so good in that.
You're the best thing in "Brooklyn Nine-Nine."
I say that as a dear friend of Andy Samberg,
but you just blow him out of the water
every time you're on stage with him.
Every time you're on screen with him.
-Bro, the -- we're like two 5-year-olds.
You ever see two kids just meeting and just start playing?
-Yeah. -That's what it is.
-Man, if Samberg is acting like a 5-year-old,
he's grown up since I last saw him.
[ Laughter ]
It is always so good to see you, Craig.