There are many criteria upon which a comedy can be judged: wit, relevance, satirical bite. But all of those pale in comparison to the one golden question of every comedy: did it get laughs?
Kroll Show
A-
Season Finale
Comedy Central
In the case of “Kroll Show,” the answer is a definite yes.
“Kroll Show” follows Comedy Central’s model of basing a show around a comedian with creativity and talent beyond the stage — a model that gave us gems like “Important Things with Demetri Martin” … and other times it gave us “Mind of Mencia” (I still have nightmares). But if “Kroll Show” is any indication, Comedy Central has accepted that talent and creativity beat out generic shock humor every time.
“Kroll Show” isn’t like other sketch shows. Instead of having a bunch of random jokes back to back, Kroll has instead created a twisted, anarchic world filled with reality TV-insanity and hysterically over-the-top characters. One of the most interesting things about the show is that all of the characters interact and intersect in some broader story. In the case of the season finale, that involved one of my personal favorite sketches, PubLIZity, a fake reality show about two best friends (each named Liz, of course) who run a public relations firm based on their names (because they’re both named Liz, get it?).
The story this week follows the duo repairing the image of Blisteritos, a snack company whose products are so loaded with flavor, they’re literally blowing the minds of those who eat them — causing around 400 fatalities in the process.
“There’s no such thing as bad press,” says Liz (played by Nick Kroll). The Blisteritos executive (guest star Seth Rogen) responds, “No this is universally terrible press.”
The story also includes C-Czar (also played by Nick Kroll), the star of “Dad Academy,” a show he wants to win so he can see his baby mama. In a twist, Nick Kroll and Jenny Slate (who also plays one half of the PubLIZity Duo) directly address the viewers out of character to talk about their roles and why they love them or where they came from. It’s here that we find out C-Czar’s baby mama is … Liz (Jenny Slate’s Liz that is)! If the story doesn’t make any sense, well that’s kind of the point. The world Kroll has created is one that is just absolutely bonkers. The scene where Liz (Nick Kroll) gets a condition known as “Blisteritos Lips” was particularly surreal.
Good sketch shows are very difficult to come by. Done poorly, they can be annoyingly self-indulgent and (the very worst insult you can give to a comedian) boring. But done well, and we get “Monty Python” s and Stephen Frys. Behind the vulgarity of “Kroll Show” lies a pretty creative mind: Nick Kroll. The guy has always had talent but this series might just be his crowning achievement. It’s over-the-top, nonsensical and possibly genius for a sketch comedy featuring a character named C-Czar.