Nikki Glaser: A Freak on the Stage and a Lady in the Streets

Nikki Glaser Takes on All Comers, Panty Sniffers, and Dick Dioramas

Nikki Glaser has no qualms about arranging strangers’ penises in themed dioramas (look, Dick is in Paris!) or carrying on a conversation while sitting on a vibrator. As long as it’s funny, Glaser is game to take on any sexual subject matter.

As it turns out, there’s a lot of comedy inherent in sex, which Glaser gleefully explores in her Comedy Central series Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, the first season of which was recently extended for 10 new episodes.  “I’ve always been really open about everything since I started doing stand-up when I was 19,” Glaser said in an interview with The Interrobang. “I have no filter. I always thought that saying the thing that’s most inappropriate or the thing that’s most true would be the funniest thing to say.”

In addition to the aforementioned dick pics tutorial and vibrator convo, the first 10 episodes of Not Safe also includes features on foot fetishists, panty-sniffers, and other taboo topics. Joining Glaser each week is a panel of comedians, weighing in with their thoughts and/or their own funny sexual experiences.

Glaser said that attracting panelists was a challenge in the early going.

“Booking people for the first season was difficult,” she said. “I think the letter we sent out to their agents was like ‘We want to know what kind of sex you’re having!’ That was a mistake. We sent out another letter saying ‘Hey, come in and tell us what you think about some stuff.’

“Now that they’ve seen the show, comedians are way more open to doing it. They know I’m not going to make them talk about things they don’t want to talk about, or do things they don’t want to do. We just want them to chime in on stuff,” she said. “But there were a lot of brave people that first (half of the) season who said ‘I’ll do whatever.’”

Some of those brave people included Patton Oswalt, Kristen Schaal, Pete Holmes, Jim Jefferies, Doug Benson, and Rachel Feinstein.

Glaser brings a confident, affable grace to the show, which allows the panels to freely riff on topics, creating some of the edgiest and funniest comedy on TV today. Not Safe also features pre-produced bits, such as the “Pay Your Tab Cab” where Glaser drove a taxi, picked up men leaving a strip club, and quizzed them on their knowledge of women.

“We made this R&B music video with Omarion. You know how R&B is always about how sex is so smooth and great. I wanted to write a song about the mishaps that happen during sex, so we shot a video that I think really turned out great,” she said. “Last weekend, I spent a full 24 hours at a 24-hour strip club in Las Vegas, and we got some good stuff there.”

To develop topics for the show, Glaser said she throws out the initial idea to her writing team and sees where it goes from there.

“It usually comes down to what I’m interested in. If I’m interested in a piece, it’s going to be better than if I have to fake it,” she said. “We start with that and then the writers pitch out some ideas surrounding that, or I tell them to go write a piece – I want to interview people who like to sniff panties, so let’s figure out a way to do that.”

Not Safe has developed a following on Comedy Central, and Glaser said she is seeing more fans of the show coming to see her stand-up act.

“People aren’t just showing up to a comedy club to see a show. I’m attracting more of a crowd who knows who I am, which makes it exciting,” she said. “I’m pretty much myself on the show and my stand-up is an extension of that. My stand-up has always been about sex. If they go to a show expecting that, they’re not going to be disappointed. That’s always what has interested me.”

However, Glaser’s willingness to talk dirty on TV or on stage shouldn’t be construed as an invitation to creep on her, she said. “I have guys who come over and say nasty things to me out of nowhere, like ‘I’d love to go down on you’ or something gross because they think because I was just on stage talking about it, or I was just on TV joking about my vagina, they feel they can weigh in on it,” Glaser said. “It’s like, no dude, that’s me talking about me. I’m a freak on the stage and a lady in the streets. That line gets blurred a lot.”

While making people laugh is the main objective, Glaser said she wants to have fun talking about sex without being hurtful or mean-spirited. She also hopes to touch on more serious topics involving sex and politics.

“It would be nice to make some statements about some things, to talk about topics like campus rape and Planned Parenthood, and do it in a funny way – that makes people informed, but is also funny. It’s difficult, obviously, making those kinds of things funny, but we’re trying,” Glaser said. “Our goal is to be funny, but also to be informative and promote change with the way we look at sex. My goal is to make people not ashamed of who they are sexually.”

Not Safe with Nikki Glaser airs on Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. EST on Comedy Central.

For more information, visit http://www.cc.com/shows/not-safe-with-nikki-glaser.

 

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