Krolls One Man Table Read Covers Many Characters at Vulture Fest LA and Announces Season Three

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In total, Nick Kroll serves as the voice of 25 characters on the acclaimed Netflix comedy Big Mouth. Vulture Festival-goers were treated to the sounds of all of them during his ambitious one-man table read. Assisted by show co-creator Andrew Goldberg for stage directions (and time for a brief breath), Kroll performed several scenes from the show that prominently feature multiple characters voiced by him.

Kroll switched with seemingly little effort between his namesake character, multiple Hormone Monsters, the grating but good-natured Coach Steve and many others, backed at one point by a music track as he performed Steve and Rick’s duet “Sex on a Lady.” Somehow, after all of that, there was still time and energy for a Q&A, moderated by Vulture senior editor Jesse David Fox.

The show is the brainchild of Kroll and Goldberg, along with Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett. Kroll and Goldberg have known one another since the first grade, and their closeness showed as they talked about the genesis of the show and how their own childhood memories and friends informed the show’s storylines. For example, Jessi’s first period happening at the Statue of Liberty was based on a longtime friend of the pair who had a similar experience.

And in fact, it was stories like these from female friends, writers, and even voice actors that contributed to the show’s deeper look at puberty for women, Kroll said. That, combined with the research they did in conjunction with Sue Dunlap of Planned Parenthood LA and puberty author Valorie Schafer, made these stories not only unique (“nobody’s talking about what puberty was like for girls,” Kroll noted, “so we got to tell more unique stories”) but also correct and grounded in something substantial. To that end, the answer to an often-asked question: yes, you can watch Big Mouth with your kids. While it was never designed for that, Kroll and Goldberg have both heard of parents who watch the show (with or without their kids) and have found it to be a valuable entry point to otherwise uncomfortably conversations.

It was near the end of the Q&A that Kroll announced that we have more Big Mouth to look forward to in the future, with a third season slated to premiere in fall 2019. “Spoiler alert” (to quote Kroll-voiced Coach Steve), there were no spoilers shared for the episodes to come, though Kroll and Goldberg did let slip earlier that we haven’t seen the last of the retired Hormone Monster Rick. In the meantime, fans can content themselves with the first two seasons of the show, streaming now on Netflix.

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Amma Marfo

Amma Marfo is a writer, speaker, and podcaster based in Boston, MA. Her writing has appeared in Femsplain, The Good Men Project, Pacific Standard, and Talking Points Memo. Chances are good that as you're reading this, she's somewhere laughing.
Amma Marfo

Amma Marfo

Amma Marfo is a writer, speaker, and podcaster based in Boston, MA. Her writing has appeared in Femsplain, The Good Men Project, Pacific Standard, and Talking Points Memo. Chances are good that as you're reading this, she's somewhere laughing.