Keep the funny coming

After finishing an 8:00 pm show, Nikki Glaser is still full of energy. She heads to the green room to relax for a few moments and wait for her next show to start.

She plops down on a cushiony chair, smiles, and extends her hand to greet me.
“Hi, I guess you’re the interviewer and I’m the interviewee,” she says with enthusiasm. Our interview is just one of many she will encounter in her newfound career as a professional comedian, and Glaser is ready to answer any question thrown her way.

Exercising her comedic chops at the Funny Bone Comedy Club in Bloomington on a Saturday night in December, Glaser kept the audience alert and roaring with laughter with her honest and sometimes crude humor.

Glaser, 24, began her comedy act as a freshman in college at the University of Kansas. She broke onto the public scene during her senior year as a finalist on the hit reality show “Last Comic Standing.” She was surprised she was chosen to be on the show.

“I went to the auditions thinking it would be fun. I didn’t think I’d make it.” Glaser said. She, along with the audience members at the Funny Bone, is glad that she did.

Tom Sekerak a Bloomington resident and frequent patron at the Funny Bone said, “It [the show] was really great. Nikki was really funny.”

Only five years into her career, Glaser’s confidence, stage presence, and humor seem effortless.

Drawing from her personal experiences and learning from those she considers influential in her field, she describes her comedic style as brutally honest, mixed with a little shock humor. “I talk about things people don’t normally talk about,” said Glaser.

She puts a new spin on many topics like family, relationships, drinking, race, and sex. Glaser turns these, oftentimes, uncomfortable topics into funny, relatable jokes.

Noting Sarah Silverman, Conan O’Brien, and Doug Benson as her comedic influences, Glaser says she wants to eventually break into acting. She says her ultimate career goal is to be a late night talk show host or a writer for the Conan O’Brien show.

She says teaching could be a back up plan. Glaser, who describes herself as bubbly, nice, disorganized, and scatterbrained, reminisced about her short-lived stint as a substitute teacher one summer. She likened teaching to comedy, explaining that it was just another stage on which to perform, with one major difference— “you have to know stuff, and teach stuff,” laughed Glaser. “It’s kind of like a club. If they [the students] don’t like you, or you don’t like them, you don’t have to see them again,” she said jokingly. She quickly admitted that although she jokes about children, she really does like them.

Whether it’s performing in the classroom or on stage, Glaser has dealt with hecklers. She recalled at the beginning of her career being heckled by a group of army men. She left the stage only to erupt with tears seconds later. “I remember calling my mom one time, in tears,” said Glaser.

However, those days are long gone. She remembers a time she took on a heckler who yelled out from the audience for her to take her top off. A quick-witted comment quickly put the heckler in his place. “I’ve learned how to handle hecklers now,” Glaser says with a smile.

Describing her job as a constant party with the ideal schedule that fits her lifestyle, Glaser is focused on paying her dues and perfecting her craft while making a name for herself within the world of comedy. She knows the path she has chosen is one that requires thick skin and perseverance.

Glaser insists she’s in it for the long haul. “I can’t do anything else,” she said. “It’s [comedy] all I know.”

Tickle your 'Funny Bone'

“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the stage your M.C., Brian M. Frange!”
As the lights dimmed and those words blased over a loudspeaker by a smooth sounding anonymous voice, a hush came over the audience. They settled in for what promised to be a night full of comic relief at one of the newest attractions in Bloomington— The Funny Bone.

Frange, 22, energetically walked onto the stage and set the tone for the night by telling jokes, and interacting with the crowd. He had one goal in mind—warming them up and getting them ready for headline comedian Nikki Glaser.

Frange, a recent IU graduate, has been working at the Funny Bone since its opening. He is the first person the audience sees. “I still get nervous,” he admits.

Realizing every crowd is different, Frange has to do more than tell jokes and introduce the comedians. He must also read the crowd and figure out what makes them react.

If reading the crowd and figuring out how to get them excited and laughing is a mission, then the Funny Bone has successfully completed it. It’s evident from the laughter echoing throughout the building and the increasing crowds the club attracts. “It’s a great club,” says Frange, “but not enough people know about it. We bring in so many great comedians.”

Owners of the local club, Jared and Dayna Thompson, ensure that patrons will get nothing but the very best. “We’ve handpicked every single comedian who’s been on our stage,” said Jared Thompson. He says the key is choosing comedians he and his wife think are funny. Thompson says booking extremely popular and high dollar comedians like Dave Chapelle or Jerry Senfield is nearly impossible because “Some people have graduated from playing clubs."

That hasn’t stopped Thompson from recruiting great comics who still work the club circuit to visit Bloomington. With comedians ranging from Christian Finnegan, Dustin Diamond, and Jimmie “JJ” Walker, to “Last Comic Standing” finalist Nikki Glaser, the Funny Bone has attracted some popular and prominent club comedians who offer laughs to local residents, students, and visitors.

But, if you’re looking for just one type of comedian and routine, you won’t find it at the Funny Bone. With a diverse line-up that stretches across gender, racial, and age barriers, this club ensures everyone is represented.

“We don’t have a set audience. We work really hard to make sure the majority of people in Bloomington, whether they’re students or townies, are represented on stage at some point,” said Thompson. “Almost the entire city of Bloomington has been represented as far as race, or age group or gender in at least one of our weeks if not multiple weeks, and that’s really important to us, because we don’t want to get pigeon-holed as a club that only does this or only does that.”

In addition to having “college night” every Thursday, where tickets are half priced, another opportunity the Funny Bone offers is a comedy open mic night—“B-town’s last comic standing.” This competition is like the hit reality show, where people who think they have what it takes to be a comedian compete to become the last comic standing. “You would think that in a town this small we wouldn’t have that many local comedians that are funny, but man, we do. We have a good roster,” said Thompson.

Brent Smalley, who traveled from Indianapolis to compete in the open mic night, is just one of the local comics Thompson speaks of highly. He is a two-time winner of the competition and performed as an opening act for Glaser.

With only 13 weeks under its belt – the club opened in September – the Funny Bone is quickly making a name for itself within the community. “We have people who come every week,” says Thompson. He recalls one night the club had 165 people, and had to turn away 20 or 30 people. “Our base of people is growing every single week,” he said.

This is the success Thompson and his wife hoped for when they came up with the idea to open a comedy club in Bloomington. “It has far exceeded our expectations,” said Thompson. “It has been very fulfilling to know that had we not pursued this, thousands of folks would not have witnessed what has happened inside the club thus far.”

Thompson says the club started out as a crazy idea when he and his wife decided to stay in Bloomington after she finished graduate school at IU. Both were intrigued with the possibility of owning their own business while providing the town with something new and different. “We sat down and thought, what is Bloomington missing?” said Thompson. A comedy club is " what we thought we could bring to Bloomington, that we could add to [the town].”

Thompson says that although Bear's Place provides comedy one night a week, his club is different. “[People] are coming here because they want to see comedy. We’re bringing a completely different show than you’ll see anywhere else in town.”

Audience members agree. Scott Lagarbe, who attended the Glaser show said, “this is my second time coming. I’ve had a great time.”

It was obvious that Amanda Banks, a local resident, enjoyed her time at the Glaser show too. Banks who erupted with laughter during various parts of the night said, "I love the Funny Bone."

“We want people to come here because they love comedy, and the people that we bring are hilarious,” said Thompson.

Young or old, black or white, it’s clear the Funny Bone wants to provide much needed laughter for its audiences. “It's the perfect time for it. Laughter can cure a lot of what ails you,” said Thompson.

Maria Sylvester, who could be heard laughing across the room during the Glaser show, summed up her experience at the Funny Bone: “They did a great job! They gave me a laugh when I really needed one.”

Thompson believes comedy has an important place in society and will remain that way for years to come. “America will always look to comedy to help cope with whatever is going on, good or bad,” he said.