Robert L. Hines Explained

Robert L. Hines
Birth Name:Robert Lazarik Hines
Birth Date:17 January 1970
Birth Place:Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Medium:Stand-up, film, television, web series
Education:Chicago Vocational High School
Active:1991 - present
Genre:Observational comedy, character comedy, improvisational comedy
Subject:Family, incarceration, marriage, overeating
Spouse:Reneé Hines
Notable Work:Toby Jones – Toby Jones Big ASS
(viral video series)height: 5'9" (1.75 m)

Robert Lazarik Hines (born January 17, 1970) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for his role as Toby Jones in a series of viral spoof commercials that include "Jones' Good-Ass BBQ and Foot Massage".

Early life

Hines was born in Chicago, Illinois to Vera Mae and Bobby Frank Hines. He attended Chicago Vocational High School on Chicago's South Side. In August 1988, Hines enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves and was a reservist for six years, serving as a Cannon Crewman, Field Artillery.

Career

Working at Cook County Jail

To support himself while honing his skills as a comedian, Hines began working as a correctional officer at Chicago's Cook County Jail in 1994, at the age of 24. He quit the job in 2003 when he was cast to star in the independent comedy movie, Chasing Robert, which featured performances by Andy Dick, Larry Miller, Paul Provenza, Rick Overton and Dan Castellaneta.[1] [2]

Stand-up comedy

Hines started doing stand-up comedy at the age of 21. His first performance was in June 1991 at the Funny Firm, a Chicago comedy club owned by Len Austrevitch, who would later cast Hines in his first film roles. After his set, Hines met local comedians Bernie Mac, Evan Lionel, Daran Howard and Shay Shay (Phillip White). Mac and Lionel booked Hines on the spot for their Monday night show at Chicago's Cotton Club, where Hines continued to appear for nearly a year. All four comedians became mentors and friends of Hines. From 1991 to 1996, Daran Howard tapped Hines to perform in his Laugh Fest College Comedy Tour with shows targeted to historically Black colleges. Hines credits Shay Shay with helping him learn to make his comedy more personal, telling Steven Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, "Shay told me I've got to show them my pain."

In addition to touring and club performances (primarily in the Midwest), Hines has made a number of national TV appearances, including BET's Comic View, Comedy Central's Comic Justice and Fox's Uptown Comedy Club. In 1995, Hines was nominated for the Sammy Davis Jr. Musical Comedy Award by BET's Comic View Comedy Awards TV show.[3]

Toby Jones

In 2008, Hines was cast to portray the character Toby Jones in an internet commercial spoof titled Jones' Big Ass Truck Rental and Storage produced by Big Dog Eat Child— a Chicago sketch comedy group. The character is created by Big Dog Eat Child and based on the sketch they wrote in 2005 of the same name. The ad featured a real web address and Hines' actual cellphone number and was inspired by the local hard-sell TV commercials the creators, BDEC, saw growing up in Chicago. Members of the group had spotted Hines during a stand-up comedy performance at Chicago's Lakeshore Theater in January 2008.

The Jones' Big Ass Truck Rental and Storage video was released in November 2008, and became a viral video sensation, garnering over 700,000 views in its first two weeks of release. Hines received hundreds of calls to his cellphone from all over the world, with many people believing the spot was advertising a real business.[4]

In April 2009, Big Dog Eat Child released Jones' Good ASS BBQ and Foot Massage, and followed with Jones' Cheap ASS Prepaid Legal and Daycare Academy in November 2009. Subsequent releases have included recordings of actual phone messages left on 'Toby's' voice mail, a series of "Ask Toby" advice videos, and spoofs of 'Legal Retraction & Clarification' videos from the 'urban entrepreneur'.[5]

Recognition for the videos (often in competition with real commercials) has often been as wacky as the spots themselves:

During the NBA Playoffs in 2016, Stephen Curry, the all-star guard for the Golden State Warriors, stayed loose before games by dancing and singing with arena employees to the Jones' Barbecue and Foot Massage jingle.[11] The pre-game ritual is apparently linked to Curry's assertion that big players who switch onto him are "barbecue chicken".[12] During a segment that year on ABC's Good Morning America, Hines was asked what he thought of all the media attention he was getting from Curry's pre-game routine, to which he replied, "You're welcome Steph!" [13]

Jail material

In 2012, Hines began devoting an increasing amount of his stand-up performances to material from his days as a correctional officer. Hines had largely avoided the topic earlier in his career due to training he received that urged officers to pursue outside interests and to compartmentalize their work at the jail as a way to avoid burnout.[14]

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
2009Assisted Living (short)Robert
2007Chasing Robert Robert L. Brown
1998Bullet on a Wire Guard
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
2012Vidiots as Toby JonesTV One, Guest
1998ComicViewHimselfBET, Stand-up comedian
1994Uptown Comedy Club HimselfFox, Stand-up comedian
1993Comic Justice HimselfComedy Central, Stand-up comedian
1992ComicViewHimselfBET, Stand-up comedian
Selected Internet Videos
YearTitleRoleNotes
2009Jones' Big Ass Truck Rental and Storage (2) Toby JonesViral video
Jones' Cheap ASS Prepaid Legal and Daycare Academy Toby JonesViral video
Jones' Good ASS BBQ and Foot Massage Toby JonesViral video
2008Jones' Big ASS Truck Rental and Storage Toby JonesViral video

External links

Notes and References

  1. Steven Johnson (March 12, 2010) "Comedian Robert Hines is Chicago, and funny". Chicago Tribune.
  2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1334221/''Chasing Robert
  3. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4319714/''Robert L. Hines
  4. Emily Hiser Lobdell (December 28, 2008) "Jones' Big Ass Truck Rental and Storage". NBC Chicago
  5. Website for "Jones' Big ASS Website and Merchandise Center". Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  6. Daniel Murphy (December 12, 2009) "The Five Most Terrifying Local TV Christmas Commercials". Esquire.com
  7. Jimmy Traina (January 9, 2009) "Hot Clicks". SportsIllustrated.com
  8. Rude Tube "Top 50 Viral Ads" Channel 4, e4.com. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  9. Duncan Riley (December 6, 2008) "Jones Big Ass Truck Rental And Storage". The Inquisitor
  10. Tamara Palmer (June 1, 2012) "The 8 Wackiest BBQ Commercials". Zagat.com
  11. James Dator (May 31, 2016) "Stephen Curry prepared for his must-win Game 7 by singing and dancing to an old viral video". SB Nation.com
  12. Jovan Buha(May 12, 2016) "Steph Curry says big men who switch onto him are 'barbecue chicken'". "FoxSports.com"
  13. ABC News (June 8, 2016) "Stephen Curry Pre-Game Ritual Dance: BBQ and Foot Massage" Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  14. Sarah Terez-Rosenblum (July 26, 2012) "Former Correctional Officer Strikes Comedy Gold". Chicago Sun-Times.