Little Big Boy
Netflix · 2022 · 67 min
High-energy, deeply embarrassing storytelling from the *Big Mouth* co-creator.
Instead of leaning on the safe comfort of characters or sketch personas, Nick Kroll steps onto the stage as himself, building an hour around the high-stakes comedy of personal humiliation. The engine of the show is Kroll’s willingness to make an absolute fool of himself, specifically through detailed stories about gastrointestinal failures and his status as a self-described late bloomer. One of the strongest segments features his internal monologue being voiced by a hostile, imaginary Jason Statham, who regularly bullies Kroll in his own head. Filmed at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., the 2022 release marked Kroll’s first stand-up special in over a decade, arriving at a point in his career when he was primarily known as the co-creator and voice behind Netflix’s animated puberty comedy Big Mouth. Rather than hiding behind a roster of eccentric characters, he uses this hour to examine his personal life, detailing a first heartbreak at age 33, his journey into pandemic fatherhood, and an awkward hypnotherapy session for snack addiction. Critics noted that while his transitions could feel choppy and the heavy focus on gastrointestinal mishaps was polarizing, the hour succeeded on the strength of Kroll’s expressive physical performance.
The set list
-
Childhood karate class bowel accident
Recalls an embarrassing childhood diarrhea accident, joking that he entered a white belt and left a brown belt.
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Comedian origin story at a seventh-grade party
Shares the story of getting pantsed at his first co-ed party in seventh grade, defining it as his origin story for turning to comedy.
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Inner critic voiced by Jason Statham
Uses a heightened impression of actor Jason Statham as the inner voice that constantly insults him and keeps his ego in check.
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Quitting smoking via hypnosis
Details his experience of successfully quitting smoking through a hypnotist, visiting a second hypnotist later, and confronting the audience's skepticism.
-
Italian road trip with his future wife
Recounts renting a car in Italy (making a Hertz Bologna pun) accompanied by digestive trouble, during which he realized she was the one.
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Crying over an imagined Lowe's commercial
Acts out an emotionally manipulative, sentimental home improvement advertisement that brings him to tears.
How it plays
- Tone
- Vulnerable, irreverent, self-deprecating, and scatological.
- On stage
- Mischievous, self-deprecating buffoonery; impish and debasing himself in heightened, vulnerable fashion while maintaining assured stage authority.
- Pace
- Buoyant tempo with strained yelps, voice-breaking howls, energetic character impressions, and physical acts of clowning.
- About
- manhood and arrested development, gastrointestinal issues and bowel mishaps, heartbreak and dating, marriage and parenthood, hypnosis, family relationships
What the critics said
Positively assessed for its assured performance, sharp vocal characterizations, and willingness to embrace graphic humiliation and vulnerability, though critics noted the pacing slackens toward the end during domestic wife-and-baby anecdotes.
In the room: Noted as a noticeably odd crowd with occasional silence alongside gratuitous whooping, leading to an interaction where Kroll called out an audience member leaving the front row.
Backstory
Initially planned to shoot in June 2020 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. In the intervening years, he turned 40, married, and had a child, shaping the hour's focus on adulthood and arrested development. Filmed in Washington, D.C., where he attended Georgetown University.
Details
- Released
- Taped
- Warner Theatre, Washington
- Runtime
- 67 min
- Where
- Netflix
- Director
- Bill Benz
- Topics
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Oh, Hello on Broadway
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