Comedian Nick Kroll had a strong fan base show up for his Thursday night show at College Street Music Hall. The crowd consisted of deep fans from his days on the hit series The League, through his Comedy Central skit show The Kroll Show and to his current comedic occupation as the epicenter of the hit Netflix original Big Mouth.
The crowd identified with Kroll’s ability to create comedy out of pure absurdity, specifically in regards to the awkward turmoil puberty. His childish and adolescent sense of humor has drawn his core base, along with his physical humor and how seemingly random his content is. All these attributes have combined themselves seamlessly on Big Mouth, an animated show centered around the development of a group of quirky pre-teens in middle school. The main draw to the show is how the characters’ changing bodies are personified in a character entitled “the Puberty Monster.”
As one attendee so poetically put it Thursday night, “Puberty is funny”
Kroll’s opening act Thursday night was, to be honest, was even funnier than he is. Sam Jay, a writer for Saturday Night Live, warmed the crowd up so much that it might have overcooked their attention spans. She effortless jumped from topic to topic with ease, all while speaking from a perspective that was noticeably bereft in the audience. Some of the highlights of her act included jabs at the #MeToo movement, her sexuality, white feminism, childhood trauma and a wide array of other serious topics. Though raunchy humor in these subjects is seemingly hard to swallow, Jay’s nonchalant and confident approach were the centerpiece to her radiant and infectiously funny set. The way she maneuvered and controlled the crowd may have added to the trouble Kroll had with grabbing their full attention.
Nick Kroll started off his set strong, with jokes about the one thing all Nutmeggers can agree on: the horrid traffic that haunts I‑95. Being a Westchester local, Kroll is all too familiar with the archaic and torturous roads of Connecticut.
We should “kill anyone in a Range Rover coming from New Canaan” to ease the endless traffic, he suggested at one point.
Kroll spoke extensively on his breakup, which occurred nine years ago, and the pitfalls that came along with. This included a depressing story of how his girlfriend at the time broke up with him due to “not being attracted to him.” These disheartening tales recurred throughout the entire set, and though self-deprecation and vulnerability are two key parts to a great set, it seemed more like a therapy session than a comedy show at times.
When Kroll wasn’t venting about his romantic deficiencies, he went for more juvenile humor, touching on farts, his distaste for children, and even vaping. Most of these jokes were truly hit or miss, with some relying on the clever wit that has garnered Kroll the position he has so deservingly acquired in the comedy world, and others left me wondering what my mother was going to make for dinner when I got home.
The issue with his set in my eyes is that his teenaged hilarity is genius when it comes out of the mouth of a dorky animated 12 year old, yet seems a little depressing when paired with the real life stature of a 41-year-old man. It’s just easier to relate to a fictional teenage kid than a middle-aged man complaining about his breakup in 2010.
Though there were very vivid and clear ups and downs during the show, I’d still call it a success for Kroll. His fans were engaged in the set, and even though it wasn’t my cup of tea, it was impossible for him to tell a joke without some group of admirers cracking out laughing. Kroll did hit some deep strides of success during the show, specifically in the latter half of the set. When speaking on the relationship sons have with daughters, and when tying all of his dispiriting stories of his failed relationships, Kroll was at his strongest.
This set was meant to test out new content, and that is exactly what happened. Some were silencing moments lacking genuine humor, and others drew me back to the early days of Kroll’s work, which made me a fan. His set may have had ups and downs, but in the end the positives weighed out the negatives for Kroll.
