Photo by Greg Gayne

This week, Comedy Central is premiering Kroll Show, a new half hour sketch series from stand-up, actor, writer, improviser, SXSW Comedy alumni and all-around comedy genius Nick Kroll. You might recognize Kroll as Ruxin on The League, or from his appearances on Conan, Comedy Central, and John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show. Or you might know one of the alter egos –  Bobby Bottleservice, El Chupacabra, Gil Faizon, Fabrice Fabrice – from his special Thank You Very Cool and from Comedy Bang Bang.

Kroll is a great storyteller, the kind who can turn an unfortunate pants-pooping accident into a lovely little story. He’s virtually unparalleled when it comes to creating fascinating characters, so it makes sense that his eponymous sketch series is more than a montage of YouTube-able shorts – it has serialized plotlines, recurring characters, and hilarious throughlines (like the first episode’s adverts for the San Deigo Diet, or the second’s faux reality show Armond of the House).

While this is the first season of Kroll Show, the series features plenty of bits Kroll fans are already familiar with, like John Mulaney’s cantankerous George St. Geegland:

The show includes Kroll’s own Bobby Bottleservice character, great cameos from Jenny Slate, Jon Daly and plenty more (the “Sex and the City for Dudes” sketch in the premiere episode, for example, features Ed Helms, Jason Mantzoukas, Adam Pally, Owen Burke, Seth Morris, Jon Daly and Brian Huskey).

Head over to Comedy Central to watch the full first episode.

Kroll Show officially premieres Wednesday, January 16 at 10:30 p.m. ET / PT.