"Nick Kroll"

Hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett kick off the SmartLess episode with their morning rituals—fast-forwarding baseball games, Wordle variants like Quordle and Octordle, coffee, bacon, and avoiding depressing news by opting for walks instead. They transition to guest Nick Kroll, a comedian with Georgetown history roots, whose father built a risk mitigation firm tracking dictators' hidden fortunes like Saddam Hussein's or Baby Doc Duvalier's. Kroll voices around 80 animated characters and co-created Netflix's long-running Big Mouth from puberty stories with first-grade friend Andrew Goldberg.

Comedy Origins and Improv Breakthrough

Kroll bombed his first college comedy competition at Georgetown with an unprepared pants-wetting bit that devolved into simulating masturbation on stage. Winner Mike Burbiglia invited him to a sketch show audition, sparking his passion: after reading sketches in a dorm, Kroll knew comedy was his path despite majoring in history. UCB's arrival blew his mind—seeing Bucket of Truth sketches by Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, and others at GW and early NYC shows like at Solo Arts. He joined UCB workshops via brother Owen Burke's roommate connection, committing fully: "I'll do anything to get close to this."