The first time you truly comprehend Nick Kroll’s upbringing, his humor takes on a somewhat different tone. His voices abruptly land differently, especially those of the Westchester fathers and older businessmen. You realize he’s not watching those characters from across the room, not because the jokes stop being hilarious.
He grew up listening to them discuss market circumstances over bagels while sitting next to them at Saturday morning breakfasts in Rye, picking up their cadences without making an effort. The household that his parents, Jules and Lynn Kroll, created has subtly influenced much more than their youngest son’s punchlines. They occupy a unique slice of American success that most comedy fans never witness.
| The Kroll Family — Snapshot | Details |
|---|---|
| Comedian Son | Nick Kroll |
| Father | Jules Kroll |
| Mother | Lynn Kroll |
| Hometown | Rye, New York |
| Father’s Founding Company | Kroll Inc., founded in 1972 |
| Sale of Kroll Inc. | Sold for $1.9 billion |
| Father’s Subsequent Ventures | Kroll Bond Rating Agency, K2 Intelligence |
| Mother’s Field | Philanthropy |
| Number of Children | Four |
| Siblings | Jeremy, Vanessa, Dana |
| Brother’s Role | Runs K2 Intelligence |
| Schools Attended | Solomon Schechter School of Westchester, Rye Country Day School |
| Family Religious Tradition | Conservative Jewish |
Jules Kroll is the type of person who appears more frequently in business school case studies than in journals devoted to amusement. He established Kroll Inc. in 1972, a company that effectively created the contemporary corporate investigations sector. Prior to Kroll, conducting due diligence on international transactions involved a patchwork of phone conversations and unofficial favors.
Following Kroll, it developed into a discipline with forensic accountants, retired FBI agents, and discreetly compiled dossiers that changed the way Wall Street and London managed risk. After selling the company for $1.9 billion, he started K2 Intelligence, which is currently controlled by his older son Jeremy, and Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Looking at the trend, it seems as though Jules Kroll never quite figured out how to stop creating things, even when the bank account had long since ceased to demand it.
By many accounts, Lynn Kroll is the more reserved partner, but she is just as important to the family’s personality. In interviews, Nick has characterized her as a devoted matriarch whose philanthropic efforts influenced the family’s ideas on obligation and finances.
Anyone who has spent time on the Westchester philanthropic circuit knows that it’s a unique kind of group that takes giving seriously, is cautious about where money ends up, and is deeply rooted in the long-standing Jewish custom of tzedakah, or the duty to help others. Comedians frequently look to their fathers for inspiration. Typically, mothers are the ones who put in the most effort to shape children into human beings.
Nick was raised in a clearly Conservative Jewish home in Rye. Before transferring to Rye Country Day School, he attended the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester, which is the type of educational path that provides both a solid religious foundation and a trained ease of navigating affluent American surroundings.
Anyone who has seen the parts in Big Mouth that revolve around Andrew Glouberman’s family or the bar mitzvah jokes that have been a staple of Kroll’s stand-up routine for years will see hints of that upbringing without ever feeling exploited. Instead of making fun of the texture, he treats it with compassion.
It’s important to consider the extent to which the Kroll family embodies a specific type of American Jewish business narrative. During the 1970s and 1980s, when corporate America was opening up to new players and international dealings began to require the kind of thorough research he specialized in, Jules expanded his business.
The money in the family was not inherited. It was created in real time in offices full of file cabinets in a way that made Nick’s professional decision—comedy of all things—appear to be both a continuation and a rebellion. He entered an industry that values human attention to detail, which is basically what his father was doing on a large scale.
It’s difficult to ignore the discrepancy between Nick’s upbringing in quiet settings and how his audience typically perceives him. The Oh Hello! and the Big Mouth voice notes A sensibility influenced by parents who, in different ways, take the world seriously permeates everything from his Broadway run with John Mulaney to the fleeting moments of vulnerability in his more recent stand-up specials.
Only they can say whether or not the family ever really anticipated that the youngest of four would pursue a career in comedy instead of joining the company. It’s evident that the Kroll family produced four quite different children, and the youngest one continues to subtly involve his parents and the others in work that takes him well outside of Westchester County.
