Why Nikki Glaser had ‘to do a lot of Pilates’ for ‘Someday You’ll Die’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
“I am plagued with shame, depression and feeling different” admits comedian Nikki Glaser. In our recent webchat she continues, “Comedy is a way for me to say those dark things and when I get that relational laugh, well maybe I’m not so weird. Before I started comedy I could have benefited from someone in the spotlight I attributed a lot of perfection to, dispelling some of that perfection.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
Glaser is now an Emmy nominee with her HBO comedy special “Someday You’ll Die” being recognized in the Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) category. Glaser explains the special was “about introducing me to the world as a theater act. I’ve always felt I was on my way towards that and I was never gonna get there. I like the struggle; I don’t like arriving at anything. It was like, now that I’ve arrived there’s something to lose. As soon I was nominated for an Emmy, now everything I do has to be Emmy level. I realized in the business you want all these things and as soon as you get them, it just gets worse the amount of pressure.”
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In the special, Nikki uses her unapologetic humor to discuss deciding not to have children, aging and her sex life. The darkest part of the set was her discussion of suicidal thoughts. She reveals, “I was trying to make it palatable and it was making the audience uncomfortable. I remember being on stage one time and being sick of their reaction. I almost felt offended that they were offended because I felt judged. I lashed out and said, ‘I have a right to say this stuff because I’m gonna kill myself one day.’ Saying the truest and worst thing I had ever thought of somehow blew it open. It’s funny that I’m still learning that lesson 20 plus years in.”
The climax of her performance involves a physical simulation of a sex act which brings all the threads from her set together. Glaser says, “I am not a physical comedian at all. It’s not something I would have ever done in live shows. It’s something that was really made for this taped performance so we could make it cinematic. In terms of preparation for that bit I had to do a lot of Pilates.”
This past year Glaser garnered global attention for her savage performance at the Emmy nominated “Roast of Tom Brady.” She muses, “You’ve got to turn into a real sociopath when you do the roast. That’s the job. Surgeons don’t have much empathy because they have to cut into someone. Yet no one goes, ‘how do they do that?’ It’s so mean they are slicing into someone.’ I don’t think I’ll have something in my career that well received. I was the most popular girl in showiness. And it went away, but for like 3 days I felt like Taylor Swift.”
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