The first cancer fundraiser Nick Kroll ever organized was for dogs. Well, fantasy dogs.
“Pirate Go Rum Presents: A Rocking Beach Bash to Benefit Cupcakes for Canine Cancer” was a benefit organized by PubLIZity, and Hollywood publicists Kroll and Jenny Slate played it amazing Kroll offered. It was one of the series’ sharpest pieces, a skewering of a certain kind of philanthropy in Los Angeles, where sponsorship logos, celebrity selfies and branded sweets often seem as important as the cause itself.
Today, Kroll oversees the kind of fundraising campaign PubLIZity only dreamed of representing. His annual Comedy Against Cancer benefit has raised more than $10 million for leukemia research at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Kroll even considered bringing Liz back to handle publicity for the real event. “Maybe we’ll do a comedy event against dog cancer and see if Liz comes out.”
The anti-cancer comedy originated from the Kroll family. Nearly 15 years ago, his sister-in-law Nicole was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. During treatment, she met Jennifer Rogers, another patient facing the same diagnosis. The two women became close. Rogers’ husband happens to be Tina Fey’s longtime collaborator Robert Carlock Saturday Night Live to 30 Rock. Kroll was already well established in comedy.
Between Kroll and Karluk, there was no shortage of artists willing to help. “So Gene and Nikki thought it would be a great idea to start putting on a show to start raising money,” Kroll says.
Early events benefited the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In 2019, the feature officially became Comedy Against Cancer in partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering and moved to Jazz at Lincoln Center, where it has been sold out every year since. Seven years later, it has become an annual staple in the comedy world, raising more than $10 million along the way.
Kroll curates the lineup himself, and it looks like the guest list at an awards show. John Mulaney, Kroll’s frequent creative partner, makes several appearances. So do Mike Birbiglia, Jim Gaffigan, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Faye, Hasan Minhaj, and Brett Goldstein. Steve Martin comes back every year. Bridget Everett performed this spring. Jack Antonoff and Sara Bareilles provided musical interludes. Kroll is still trying to design one fantasy reservation. “My dream is for Martin Short and Steve Martin to come together in one year to do it together,” he says.
The evening follows a familiar rhythm. There is an all-night vigil, followed by an appeal for donations beyond the already hefty ticket price. This year’s event raised $2.7 million, pushing the Comedy vs. Cancer fundraising total to more than $10 million. Every dollar goes directly toward blood cancer research and treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Then the room changes. Researchers explain how donations have funded their work, and how patients and survivors emerge to tell their stories.
Every year, the organizers present a surprise that the audience would never expect. This year, they admitted a nurse who had been ill with leukemia to the hospital herself. During her treatment, her nurse was so compassionate that she inspired the patient to enroll in nursing school. Without warning, Memorial Sloan Kettering brought that original nurse onto the stage.
Kroll says there were no dry eyes in the house after that encounter, including his own. “It’s an amazing, emotional and fun show,” he adds. “I mean, literally, it’s life or death.”
A room that spent an entire hour laughing can suddenly fall silent. Comedians accustomed to chasing punchlines find themselves watching doctors, researchers and survivors embrace on stage. By the time the fundraising appeal begins, no one needs convincing that the money was well spent.
Kroll attributes much of this atmosphere to another show he produces every month in Los Angeles. “I do a show at Largo called Nick Kroll and Friends,” he says. “I really try to keep that vibe going on Comedy vs. Cancer.”
Largo has long been one of comedy’s favorite rooms, where established comedians come to experiment and surprise each other. Kroll wanted the anti-cancer comedy to feel like one of those nights among friends, even if it was unfolding inside Jazz at Lincoln Center.
“Some of these fundraisers are a little rough and the audience is a little cold,” he says. “The more you can make it feel intimate and personal, the more impactful the whole thing will be.”
Now he’s trying to see if the idea would work in a completely different place. This spring, Kroll and Nicole launched College vs. Cancer at the University of Southern California, where Nicole’s son, Jacoby, was a junior.
Bill Burr, Kate Berlant and Vanessa Bayer joined USC students and alumni at the inaugural event, while students secured tickets by fundraising themselves, with top fundraisers winning spots at the Hollywood premiere.
The evening raised nearly $80,000. Kroll hopes this is just the beginning. The idea is to offer fundraising before cancer enters the students’ lives. “Cancer rates are rising among younger people,” Kroll says. “It’s an opportunity to not only raise awareness but also raise money.” He hopes to expand the model to universities across the country.
Aside from fundraising, Kroll is staying busier than ever. mating season, His new Netflix comedy Big mouth team, follows animals as they navigate sex, dating, and relationships in the wild. Later this summer, he will also produce FX films Adults.
More than a decade after PubLIZity organized a fundraiser for donuts and dog cancer, Kroll has quietly built one of the most successful charitable events in Hollywood. Celebrities still come. People still laugh. By the end of the night, another $2.7 million will go toward cancer research.
“It’s really full circle,” Kroll says with a laugh.
This story appeared in the July 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
