Nick Kroll has been walking red carpets after his role in the highly anticipated Don’t Worry Darling, and on September 28th, after dozens of shifts in his career and personal life, his first solo Netflix original comedy special has finally been released.
Known in comedy circles everywhere for delivering some of the funniest and crudest humor, as well as for his incredible vocal range of impressions and characters, Kroll has been doing comedy since college and has IMDb credits dating all the way back to 1998, making this special a long time coming.
Sausage Party (2016)
Sausage Party has a very obscure reputation, but one that fits right in line with the type of crude, vulgar, and wildly raunchy humor that the movie’s cast and crew have come to be associated with. Despite controversial responses given its Disney-like appearance and juxtaposed grotesque content, both the film’s target audience and the cast and crew have expressed immense satisfaction with the outcome.
The R-rated animated movie follows a group of anthropomorphic grocery store items attempting to discover the truth about what happens when they are chosen off the store’s shelves. Nick Kroll plays the role of Douche, a hilarious and spiteful self-explanatory character determined to get his way, who has decided that if he can’t get his happily ever after, no one can.
Fifty Shades Of Blue (2012)
An obscure, shameless parody of the movie Fifty Shades Of Gray, this three-minute comedy sketch starring Selena Gomez and Nick Kroll is right up his alley in terms of oddball, slightly grotesque humor, and surprisingly well produced given the sketch-comedy essence of its content.
This incredibly short film has a 6.2 on IMDb and over six million views on YouTube, where it is listed in full on the Funny Or Die YouTube channel. This video is nothing if not hilarious, and although it exists on a completely separate realm from most of his other work, it is definitely a notable and underrated piece of Kroll’s filmography.
Adult Beginners (2014)
Adult Beginners follows Nick Kroll’s deadbeat character as he attempts to fix his life by helping his sister take care of herself and her family.
While the movie has a much more cynical and flat tone than the average comedy film, the sincerity of the characters and their real, ironic, and absurd situations turns it into the funny, charming, and heartwarming story about growing up that it is.
Despite being a slightly more serious role, Kroll’s innate ability to find the humor in anything is one of his many talents, and it shines through spectacularly in this film.
Thank You Very Cool (2011)
Thank You Very Cool was Nick Kroll’s first hour-long comedy special, a Comedy Central television special filled with jokes and skits that would later go on to become the makings of his overall career in other shows and sketches.
Though he often jokes about the lack of viewers that this special received, it was clearly a big enough hit to warrant television offers and miscellaneous other material. This comedy special showcases the beginnings of his career and his comedy, and the ways in which Kroll’s humor and delivery have evolved since is something to be admired.
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017)
Despite his mostly adult repertoire, Kroll has also taken on a number of children’s roles in movies such as Sing, The Secret Life Of Pets 2, and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. Captain Underpants was a widely acclaimed DreamWorks animated feature that scored an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and enthralled audiences everywhere with its fun, funny, and charming characters and storyline.
Kroll, who plays the character of Professor Poopypants, does so with so much absurdity and enthusiasm that one can’t help but applaud his performance. Parents and children alike were big fans of the movie, no doubt in partial thanks to Kroll’s hilarious antagonistic role.
The House (2017)
Though he once again takes on the role of the movie’s antagonist, Nick Kroll’s slapstick businessman villain plays the perfect foil to Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler’s main characters in The House. The movie, which follows Scott and Kate’s creation of a secret casino in an attempt to pay for their daughter’s college tuition, is a classic Ferrell comedy that falls right in line with the rest of his work.
Nick Kroll brings as much to this part as to any other, as his huge personality takes over the screen in every one of his scenes. In his role as Bob, attempting to shut down the protagonists’ efforts, he is as much of a perfect over-the-top movie villain as could be.
Human Resources (2022 – )
The spinoff series to Big Mouth, Human Resources focuses instead on the monster world that impacts the inner workings of people’s brains and all the absurd things that make people feel the way they do. Though it is often heavily focused on mental health, it loses none of its predecessor’s hilarious, grotesque humor, and adds a bit more of a sitcom feel to the show.
Borrowing several characters from the original show, the two series now jointly expand on their world, allowing even more exploration of the concept of anthropomorphizing emotions and mental states. The show has received high praise since its release last year and is now expecting a second season soon. Human Resources also features some of the best quotes and hilarious moments, all wrapped up in a nice little hormone-fueled bow.
Oh, Hello On Broadway (2017)
Side-by-side with John Mulaney, the two actors, comedians, and college friends donned gray wigs, glasses, and elderly apparel, taking on the roles of a couple of senile New York men and showcasing their wacky day-to-day adventures and interactions. These two caricatures, which both men have gone on the record to confirm have existed for decades, are two of the funniest and most absurd characters to ever grace a Broadway stage.
From small skits to a two-man Broadway show (and now a Spotify podcast), Oh Hello! was soon picked up by Netflix, with a singular live performance of the show recorded and added to the streaming service shortly after the show’s closing date. The magic of the performance on Netflix is that not only does the viewer get to see some of this team’s funniest work, but they have the honor of viewing some real Broadway moments, character breaks and giggles included.
Kroll Show (2013 – 2015)
Often considered one of the best comedy sketch shows of the last decade, Kroll Show was titled after the creator and main actor and featured Nick Kroll in a variety of reoccurring sketches alongside his comedic counterparts and friends, acting out absurd and nonsensical situations of every variety. The show had him in his element, performing in outrageous roles in costumes and as hilarious characters one could only hope to dream up on their own.
Kroll Show ultimately ended up being one of the main pieces of Nick’s work that launched a lot of his other career paths. In addition to showcasing his incredible range and hilarious acting abilities, it also ended up inspiring many of the characters seen in his more recent works, as any fan will see strong resemblances to certain Big Mouth characters and the origins of his Oh Hello! character, as well.
Big Mouth (2017 – )
Currently his most famous work, Big Mouth was released as a Netflix original adult animated series in 2017 and will release its sixth season this October alongside its spinoff’s season renewal next year. The show, based much around the lives and mishaps of the show’s creators and writing team, details the crude, messy, and hilarious adventures of a group of middle schoolers as they navigate puberty and all the chaos that follows suit.
While Big Mouth‘s vulgar humor has proven somewhat controversial, at times, the show’s fans are diehard and it has recently been renewed for a seventh season. Big Mouth has also won several Emmys and other awards for its outstanding voice work, music, and attention to mental health awareness.
