Nick Kroll
He uses weird voices and frantic character work to dramatize personal humiliation.
2 specials · 2017–2022
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Nick Kroll populates the stage with voices. He doesn’t just recount a memory; he acts it out from every angle, leaning on sudden posture shifts and large facial expressions. If he needs to externalize his own self-doubt, he might deliver his inner monologue doing a gruff Jason Statham impression. He will occasionally duck out of sight behind a stool just to laugh at his own bit. It feels like watching an animated show performed by a single person.
Specials
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High-energy, deeply embarrassing storytelling from the *Big Mouth* co-creator.
Netflix · 67 min
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Oh, Hello on Broadway with John Mulaney
Two delusional septuagenarians put on a very bad Broadway play.
Netflix · 1 h 42 min
On stage
Most of his audience arrives expecting exactly that. Kroll operates primarily as a television creator and comedic actor, treating standup as an occasional detour rather than a daily discipline. He plays theaters to crowds who found him through Big Mouth or The League, delivering a looser, live-action version of the comedy they already watch on screen.
He leans heavily into bodily humiliation, treating a childhood stomach disaster and an adult heartbreak with the exact same dramatic commitment. The stage work thrives when he can bounce between personas or act out a dialogue. When he drops the voices to tell a plain story about his mother or his love of snacks, the momentum dips. He needs a character to hide inside for the material to really hit.
He came up through the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York, and that sketch-comedy background is still the engine running his standup.
Turning points
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2009–2015
Breakthrough as Rodney Ruxin on The League
Kroll secured widespread mainstream recognition starring as cutthroat fantasy football participant Rodney Ruxin over seven seasons on FX.
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2016–2017
Broadway Premiere of Oh, Hello
Kroll teamed with John Mulaney to transfer their geriatric Manhattan characters to Broadway for an acclaimed 138-performance run that was subsequently filmed for Netflix.
At a glance
Fans also like
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John MulaneyFrequent creative partner with whom Kroll co-created the acclaimed Broadway hit The Oh, Hello Show, co-stars on Big Mouth, and shares a deep foundation in high-concept character humor.
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Jessi Klein
Longtime stage collaborator who co-hosted the live stand-up show Welcome to Our Week with Kroll and co-stars alongside him on Big Mouth.
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Aziz AnsariTouring contemporary who brought Kroll on his nationwide 2008 Glow in the Dark comedy tour as both comedians developed their early stand-up careers.
Podcasts
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OH, HELLO: The P'dcast · co-host
An in-character comedic audio series featuring Kroll and Mulaney reprising their Broadway alter egos Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland.
Also on screen
- Cavemen
- 2009–2015
- The League
- 2013–2015
- Kroll Show
- 2017–2025
- Big Mouth
- Oh, Hello on Broadway
A clip to start with
Why Would Anyone Want a Cat? - Nick Kroll