Interview with Nikki Glaser
Thursday / October 1, 2026
About Nikki Glaser
Stand-up comedian and Golden Globes host, known for the Tom Brady roast, the special Someday You'll Die and the series Not Safe with Nikki Glaser.
Source: Mike Birbiglia on YouTube
These answers are taken from Nikki Glaser | The Team Captain of Comedy (Plus: Mike’s New Special!) | Working It Out Podcast on Mike Birbiglia's YouTube channel. You! Backstage did not conduct this interview.
What do you enjoy most about comedy?
I like talking about things that people don't talk about. That's my thing. I like it on stage. If it's actually offensive, I don't have any interest. But if it's just, I'm just telling the truth, why are you offended? I love when I tell a joke where I'm like, what am I saying that's offensive here? What are you going "oh" about? Let's unpack it.
My only job, I think, is to talk about things that people don't know how to say themselves, or they haven't heard yet on TV. The things I say live on stage on my tour, they're not going in a special. They're insane. And I'm like, how cool is it that I get to feel safe saying things into a microphone in front of thousands of people? It's a thrill. It feels like shoplifting again. I will go to bed after a night of a show and I'm like, oh my god, if someone recorded that one line and took it out of context, I'm cooked.
How did your career as a comedian unfold?
I remember Amy and Anthony back in the day bringing me to the Cellar, and me being back at that table being like, I don't belong here. I need to get out of here. Estee's here tonight. I've only heard about her. It's a Saturday night and I order food. They're like, "It's fine, Nick. You're with us. We're regulars." They go down to watch Aziz or something. They're like, "Stay here, because your food's coming." I stay there. I'm alone at the table. Chris Rock walks in, and Estee sees me, and he sees the table, turns around and goes and gets a booth. And Estee's just like, who are you? Nightmare. Because I didn't even want to be there in the first place.
I did belong there, but that's always how I feel, is like I somehow tricked someone.
What advice do you have for new comedians?
You need to come out of the gate right away strong. You need the shortest joke possible. "Welcome to the Golden Globes, Ozempic's biggest night." Right away. There's no words between the joke and what it is.
If I'm giving advice to people who are scared to public speak: remember that when you're watching someone public speak, you're not wishing they do a bad job. Everyone's rooting for you. I was a nervous speaker in high school and middle school. I would come in during recess to give the presentations, because I would shake so bad. And I just wish someone would have said, "Nikki, no one's wanting you to be bad. Everyone's just wanting you to be comfortable."
One more thing. I learned it on The Masked Singer. If your heart's just going crazy and you're shaking and you feel like you're going to pass out because you're so nervous, hold your breath for four seconds and then let it out slowly. It'll slow your heart rate right away.
What has been your greatest accomplishment as a comedian?
It's cool to show my family that I made it. I don't think I'm household yet, but I'm adjacent. And so that's a big achievement, because I really didn't think I was ever going to be a household name. I had given up on that long ago. I was totally fine with never being that. So it's just nice that it came up when I least expected it.
You know what's the coolest thing? You get to give the gift of yourself. If you meet people and you're cool to them and you take a picture or something, you get to make people's day.
Has your career as a comedian progressed the way you expected?
I want to be one of the popular girls. I want to be in that play. I want to be one of the best singers in a cappella. I want to be seen as exceptional. And I never was, and now I am, and I don't believe it. Why did it take 40 years? I have a track record of proving that I'm not worthy of being special. I was an A-minus student, A-minus popularity, which is fine, but as someone who wants to be the best, it's very frustrating. But then I made peace with it, and now it's here, and once you get it, I can't even enjoy it, as I didn't enjoy going to the popular kids' house when I did get invited.
I always just attribute anytime I kill it, because there have been times where I'm like, couldn't have gone better, to all these people that helped me. Or I just got lucky that someone else turned that down, and also I had enough time, and also the movies were really good to make fun of. I had Wicked. I'll make any excuse.
Describe your style.
I started out as a one-liner comic. It's only because I've written enough jokes about one thing that I ever even produce a story out of it.
I like having a thing where it seems like I'm making a fat joke, but I'm not. I'm making a joke proving that you're uncomfortable with fat people. I just like when people get offended and I get to go, you don't get to be. It's very passive aggressive.
I have a lot of empathy. I'm trying to write a joke about fat people, and I'm not fat, but I could be. I would like to live in a world where I could be and wouldn't feel like I would be treated less than. And I'm angered by that, and so I want to say something about it. People say you can't talk about that because you didn't experience it. Well, I could have a horrible take. That's still okay, too.
Tell me about a bit or a project that was hard to get right. What was it and why was it challenging?
I've been working on this joke for literally... it hasn't made it into two different specials. When I got off stage the other night, I said to my friends, it's not going in the special. It's one of those jokes that can only take place there, because I think out of context, people could just destroy me over it and be like, I'm on the wrong side of things, or I'm being insensitive. But the truth is, if you were molested, I'm writing it for you.
People criticize people who have plastic surgery. They go, she ruined her face. I haven't broken it yet. The joke is, well, she didn't want this. No one would ask for this. Why are you mad at her? She's trying to look pretty.
In which area would you like to improve as a comedian?
I woke up to a text from a writer that I've worked with for a while, to a group chat. He said, "I was at this party tonight and I ended up talking to this girl, and she asked me what I did, and I said, oh, I write. And she said, what do you work on? And I mentioned Nikki, and she said, oh, I like her, but I wish she wasn't so dirty." And then his friend came up to him and goes, "What were you talking to Lana Del Rey about?" And at first I was like, how dare she? And then I was like, she's one of the best, brilliant artists ever, and I'm entitled to not like things of hers. So she's allowed to be "eh" about me. She just wants me to be less dirty. I took the note and I'm working on it. Not just to appeal to her, but to appeal to people like her, people that I could be sharing my message with, but that are turned off because they're like, oh, I hear she's too dirty.
Telling stories, I've just never done it. I'd be too nervous, because it's such a departure from how I perform. I'd need to know where the punches are.
What are some of your professional goals for the future?
That's my biggest goal: having a really strong vegan message. I do a little bit on stage where I'm like, go vegan. It's not only good for the world, but I just feel better than you.
I stopped eating meat. I love it, but I stopped because I saw the truth. It really hurts me to think of an animal being like, I don't know and I'm scared. That breaks my heart. Animals to me are like babies in that way, that they can't express the fear or pain.
Nikki Glaser's Full Biography
Nikki Glaser was born on 1 June 1984 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for Trainwreck (2015), I Feel Pretty (2018) and Untitled Nikki Glaser/Judd Apatow Romantic Comedy Project.