[ arts + culture ]
DARLING NIKKI
Comedian Nikki Glaser is back on the road, and back in Orlando BY SHELTON HULL
W
hen the pandemic took hold in 2003, Glaser never went more than five last year, Nikki Glaser did what days without performing until last year. Her thousands of millennials did: She last gig was at the Comedy Store in L.A. on moved back in with her parents. “I lived with March 13, 2020; she didn’t take the stage them for 10 months,” she says via Zoom from again for months, and even then her workrate St. Louis, where she was born in 1984. “I only declined sharply as lockdowns brought the moved out because I was getting embarrassed performing arts to a halt. “At first, it was a relief,” she says of the to admit I lived with them. And they were getting tired of having me there.” The first break, but the hiatus quickly wore out its thing she got was a karaoke machine, which welcome. Glaser did no live shows at all from she still uses almost daily. “I was living in L.A. or New York for 17 December 2020 until her tour began in July years, since leaving college,” she says. Once 2021. The Orlando show will be her seventh faced with circumstances beyond her control, of the tour, and it marks a return to one of she leaned into it, kinda like relaxing your her favorite places, a city she’s worked nearly body before a car crash. “I’ve finally been a dozen times. Opening for Glaser will be able to relax, and I’m at a point in my career Andrew Collin, her friend, roommate and where I can feel comfortable with what I’ve co-host of “The Nikki Glaser Podcast,” which has aired since March accomplished, as opposed through iHeartRadio’s to continually pursuing NIKKI GLASER Big Money Players (BMP) this thing that is endless.” 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10 Network. Glaser used the forced Hard Rock Live, Glaser first caught the hiatus as an opportunity 6050 Universal Blvd. country’s attention — and to disengage from the hardrock.com ours — as the co-host of nonstop competition of the $33-$45 Nikki & Sara Live (with bi-coastal comedy scene, fellow comedian Sara and she found a new gear in the process. As a vegan with a decade of Schaefer), which ran for 24 episodes on MTV sobriety under her belt, Glaser was better in 2013. She had only been in the business a prepared than most to exercise the mental couple of years at that point, but Glaser rose discipline needed to thrive in this brutal new quickly on the strength of her unique style, which now seems slightly less unique, after reality. The pandemic has been a nightmare for years of others trying to do the exact same almost everyone, everywhere, and comedians thing. Many comedians lean on sex as part of have suffered in their own unique way. Comedians make much of their income on their gimmick, but in most cases, it comes off the road, and the road was closed to them as an act, more tongue-in-cheek than tonguefor most of last year. Less obvious, though, is in- … well, never mind. When Glaser does it, the psychological aspect. Generally speaking, however, she makes it somehow as relatable comedians are in a delicate place mentally, as it is outrageous. It’s less like someone even on a good day, and there haven’t been doing an act and more like a friend dishing any good days in quite a while. The lack of over brunch. If there is one thing that comedians are camaraderie with their peers has left many comedians feeling isolated and vulnerable. absolutely NOT known for, it’s healthy coping And, unlike musicians, comedians can’t just mechanisms. Glaser is a rare exception to that pivot to practice their craft in other ways, rule. “The pandemic made me realize what really makes me happy,” she says. not really. Glaser’s show at the Hard Rock on Friday Glaser does her eponymous podcast almost every day, and she’s a regular on TV, but will offer an interesting glimpse into the next nothing quite matches the experience of stage of her evolution, and we’re here for it. performing on stage. After starting her career arts@orlandoweekly.com
PHOTO BY LUKE SCHWARTZ
orlandoweekly.com
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SEPT. 8-14, 2021 ● ORLANDO WEEKLY
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