We Spoke to Nick Kroll About TV, Feces, and Weirdos

Nick Kroll has been infiltrating screens for the past six years as a supporting player in some of television’s best comedies, including Community, Parks & Recreation, and most notably The League, where he portrays hypercompetitive douchebro hero, Ruxin. Now he has his very own show, creatively titled the Kroll Show, and it sees our man playing characters like delusional Guido, Bobby Bottleservice, vapid reality-TV PR stars “PubLIZity” (alongside former SNL alum Jenny Slate), and obnoxious scions of privilege, “Rich Dicks” (with friend and frequent collaborator, Jon Daly). Unsurprisingly, Kroll Show has caught fire, and just last week Comedy Central renewed it for a second season.

We talked to Nick about the process of physically transforming into some of pop culture’s most repellent people, his run-ins with overzealous fans, and the unusual places he’s heard George Clooney has defecated.

VICE: Hey, Nick. I’m in Toronto right now, and I have to say your “Wheels, Ontario” sketch was pitch-perfect, right down to the Degrassi fonts and producer names.
Nick Kroll: [laughs] Thank you.

What has the reaction to the show been like when you’re out in public? Are people coming up to you and shouting quotes from different sketches yet?
Yeah, there’s the public reaction and the Twitter feedback. It’s interesting because people have their favorites already. The most common comment I get is, “I would watch a whole show of…" Like, “I would watch a whole show of ‘Wheels, Ontario.’” That’s the goal, to create, a bunch of mini series. A bunch of mini shows. Creatively, for us, it keeps it really interesting and fun, moving from character to character and world-to-world. And I think as an audience it keeps it fun, because you’re just constantly moving back and forth and getting an opportunity to see different characters and worlds develop.

So “Wheels,” for example, resonated in a way that we were really pleased with. I don’t think anyone had parodied Degrassi yet. Jon Daly and Joe Mande wrote that sketch. Jon has always been obsessed with Canada and Joe grew up watching a lot of Degrassi. Then our editor, Dan Longino, is a HUGE Degrassi fan. So font choice and producer names like "Sara Paige McDonald," comes from years of watching it.

You’ve been on a lot of popular television shows and had roles in some movies, so you’re pretty recognizable. Have you had any strange encounters with people in public?
There are definitely dudes who know me as Ruxin who come up and ask me for fantasy football advice. And I follow football, but I don’t really know the intricacies of your team or your league to know what you need help with. I mean, the funniest thing about being on TV is—and I used to do this to celebrities when I would see them—there’s an assumption that because you spend a lot of time with someone, you’re friends with them. I think the other funniest thing that happens is when dudes come up to me and go, “Bro, I don’t want to be a fag, but can I get a picture with you?” The only gay thing about wanting a picture with me is having to call out that you don’t want to be one. And then grabbing me around the neck to pull me closer for a picture. That’s the only gay thing about this encounter.

You transform very convincingly into a bunch of different and disparate characters on the show. Do you ever go on the road and feel like being someone else and acting differently?
No, I think maybe being in the characters provides that outlet for me. I mean, there are times when I’ll be out at a bar talking to a girl and say something like, “You know, it’d be much more effective if I were like Bobby Bottleservice right now.” But no, I think, generally speaking, I am much more likely to get all those impulses and terrible things that live in my head out in the character form. That’s probably a healthy outlet for me.

Fair enough. Which costume and make-up is the most fun to get into?
Well, I don’t particularly like getting into any makeup. [laughs] So, fun is relative. I mean, becoming a woman is crazy. It’s given me a ton of respect and pity for women, because getting in high heels and Spanx and a bra and two hours of makeup is intense. And not that comfortable. So the fact that women do that every day—I mean, granted, they’re not necessarily wearing Spanx or filling their bras—it’s still a lot. High heels are the worst. They’re probably the worst part of any costume, anywhere. So the fact that women wear them every day is kind of amazing.

Your show seems to get away with a lot of crazy shit. Has the network stopped you from doing anything?
Not really. Comedy Central has been supercool about letting us run with anything throughout this whole process. It’s just a question of, as long as you don’t say certain words, and there are very few of them, they’ll kind of let us do whatever. You can talk about just about anything on TV. We had an issue with the Euro guy. There’s a bit where I’m like, “We call black footballers monkeys.” They’re like, “you can’t do that.” I was like, “That’s what they do.” They’re like, “Well, send us the article.” So we literally typed in “black footballers monkeys” and a New York Times article came up and we sent it to them. They were like “OK, great.” So they’ve been very logical. But there was one thing, Nash Ricky the interrupter guy, and at the end of that there’s an interview where I’m like, [Nash Ricky voice] “I love the internet. I love pussy.” And they bleeped “pussy.” So you don’t know what he’s saying there and that’s a little frustrating, because it’d be so funny to hear, “Well, I’m sober. I love Jesus Christ. I love pussy.”

It seems like the basis for a lot of your material—be it on The League or Kroll Show—comes from hangouts with your pals, many of whom are comedians. Do you think the new generation of comedians are more collaborative, as opposed to the generation before you guys, who seemed more antagonistic and competitive.
Yeah, I’m not sure. I can just speak to my friends’ experiences. I can’t tell you how many people who play douchebags on TV are actually incredibly nice, thoughtful people. It might be that playing these characters is an outlet for it. Or maybe it’s because all you do is spend your day looking at douchebags, so it’s fun to play them.

So your friends pretty much always get along and you guys don’t play pranks on each other, but what’s the shittiest “bro” thing that one of your friends has done to another?
My favorite story is…have you heard the story about Clooney?

No, I haven’t.
Richard Kind is on the show in a sketch called “True Life: I Have a Ponytail.”  Richard didn’t tell me this story, but I’ve heard it before.

Supposedly Richard Kind had a cat, and George Clooney - who was a close friend - would go into the kitty litter every day and scoop the cat’s poops out. So for like a week, Richard Kind was like, “My cat hasn’t pooped!” and he was worried about the cat, or whatever. And then at the end of the week, Clooney squatted in there and took a dump.

[Laughs] Oh my God.
Richard Kind came back and thought that the cat had finally “unclogged.” Richard didn’t tell me that, but it sounds like the funniest fucking story I’ve ever heard.

[Laughs] Alright. Is there anything else you want VICE readers to know about your show or about you?
For the VICE readers out there…I think the beauty of our show, hopefully, is that it’s pretty sharp, harsh comedy about where society is. I think VICE does such a good job of celebrating the grotesque. And I think that the Kroll Show does that a lot.

Follow Jordan on Twitter: @JordanisJoSo

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