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.”
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.”
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