In Little Big Boy, Nick Kroll unleashes the potential of his own weird, eccentric voice

Little Big Boy seems like an apt name for a comedy special once you realize that the person behind it is none other than Nick Kroll, the beholder of a maniacal, mischievous energy that is very difficult to replicate. This is the 44-year-old comedian’s first Netflix special and first special in almost a decade. A lot has changed since Kroll’s last special. For one, the comedian has really come onto his own as a bonafide comedic voice spurred in large part due to the all-out bonkers madness of Big Mouth, the animated Netflix show about adolescence that Kroll created and stars in as a voice actor. In that sense, the timing of a Nick Kroll comedy special couldn’t have been more apt, simply because it promises, if nothing then at least an escalation of that very same voice.

On that part alone, Kroll awes and flounders in equal measure throughout the runtime of the one-hour special. Straight off the bat, it’s not hard to make out how excited the comedian seems to be on stage — we realize that this is indeed a big moment for him, which might explain why he constructs the special as a journey that culminates into his manhood. Still, at first it’s hard to exactly wrap your head around the frequency of fart and poop jokes that arrive from every imaginable direction. Look, I came in with the full expectation that given Kroll’s reputation, the special was bound to devolve into a raunchy mess. But I’m not sure I see the appeal of the comedian’s scatalogical interests although there is no one who takes to it more easily than the comedian, outline his stories evocatively and passionately, Kroll kicks off the special with an unsavory trip down memory lane, recalling the story about how he shat his pants as a young, impressionable kid, which is used as a segue to underline most of Kroll’s embarrassing life events, including getting his heart broken for the first time at 32.

If the special still feels wobbly despite an economical length and Kroll’s unbridled charisma, it’s only due to its tonal shifts. By that I mean, that the comedian alternates the special between doing a string of voices and a more straightforward storytelling arc. The first approach is exhilarating to witness: besides doing exaggerated versions of himself, Kroll also mimics a naughty four-year-old who just doesn’t want to go to bed, his mom and his dad. Each of these impressions lean into a brand of silly that is trademark Kroll. In fact, more than anything, these portions of the special really highlight Kroll’s amazing grasp at his own body language and facial expressions to mine humor. You get a sense that when he’s doing these performances of anyone but himself, Kroll readily comes alive on stage to an extent that it’s easy to mistake these turns as his material.

That is to say that despite how assured and energetic these portions of Little Big Boy are, they can’t make up for the scattered direction of his material. It’s the second approach of Kroll’s special that proves to be a letdown considering it sits at odds with his own reputation. The bland retelling of his life with his wife during the pandemic and his baby proves to be a bit of a bore, even when Kroll does his best to infuse them with as many poop jokes as possible. The problem here is foundational, which is to say that Kroll seems to have little idea about what about these recollections exactly lend themselves to jokes. Is it just supposed to be funny because he’s saying it or is he saying it because these anecdotes are actually funny? This is the question I found myself stuck with for much of the special. That alone, seems like a waste given how weird the general energy of Kroll’s demonic special really is. For a special that’s called Little Big Boy, I wish Nick Kroll just stuck to the eccentricities of his own voice.

Poulomi Das is a film and culture writer, critic, and programmer. Follow more of her writing on Twitter.

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