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00:00Hello, my name is Peter White. I'm the Executive Editor of Television at Deadline. Next up,
00:10we have some good, clean filth with Nikki Glaser, whose latest comedy special, Someday
00:15You'll Die, aired on HBO and is now on Max, and it became the streamer's largest audience
00:20for a comedy special in its history. Before I chat with Nikki, let's watch a clip.
00:25I'm almost mad at my sister for having kids because the way I feel about my niece and
00:29nephew, like, if anything ever happened to them, like, I would... I'd be okay. Like,
00:34I'd be okay eventually. Like, at first, it would be the worst. Oh, it'd be awful. But
00:40then, like, a Taylor Swift album would come out. Like, I would kind of, like, rebound.
00:44I would have moments of, like, I'm back to my old self. But my sister, no Taylor Swift
00:48will get her out of that, you know? It's over for her if something happens. That's extremely
00:53risky.
00:54Nikki Glaser, Emmy-nominated Nikki Glaser, should I say. Thank you for joining us.
00:59Yeah, thank you. Please add that to my name now. It's nice. I may never be a Mrs., but
01:06I am definitely an Emmy-nominated Nikki Glaser.
01:08How did it feel? How did it feel?
01:11Oh, man, it felt so great. It felt surreal and, you know, like, there are these just
01:16little moments in your career where you're like, oh, I guess I'm not, like, a fraud or
01:21something. You know, like, I think most people should feel like frauds in this business.
01:25I think it's a healthy way to feel. And I only trust artists who think they're tricking
01:29everyone truly and feel less than. And so I think that, like, yeah, there's just been
01:36these moments that I can kind of track where, oh, I got on Last Comic Standing when I was
01:40doing comedy for, like, two or three years. And because I was on a show called Last Comic
01:45Standing, I was like, oh, I'm a comic now. Like, you don't really know when you're supposed
01:48to call yourself a comic. Then I was on Dancing with the Stars. I'm like, I guess I'm a star.
01:52And then I was on Celebrity Jeopardy. I'm like, OK, I guess I can say I'm a celebrity.
01:56Like, you don't know when you can say this stuff. And then being Emmy-nominated, that's
02:00just like, well, that's official. This isn't even just a name of a show. This is I mean,
02:06it is the name of a show, but it's it's it's it's really official. And it feels I you know
02:12what? This imposter syndrome has got to go like you can't really walk around being like
02:17I'm tricking everyone when you're nominated for an Emmy. I mean, I must be really good.
02:21I I'm like David Copperfield levels of like a magician, an illusionist. If I've gotten
02:29this far with no talent. So it's one of those things now that I'm like, OK, Glazer, you
02:34better get on board with everyone else and believe in yourself. And so it was it was
02:38really nice. Like, I kind of I let it sink in or at least I'm trying to let it sink in.
02:42So someday I'll die. You kick off pretty strong. I think one of the first lines is anyone else
02:49secretly hoping your friend loses a baby? You go straight in there, right?
02:53I just got right into it. You know, I think it was that joke in particular. I mean, the
03:00whole basis of the joke is it came from a real feeling of like, I have this really great
03:05group of girlfriends who have all waited until their late 30s, even early 40s to start having
03:11kids. I mean, they've all gotten married and stuff way before me, but the kid thing
03:14is always they were delayed on that.
03:16And I was grateful for it. And then they all start having kids. And, you know, we have
03:20these annual girls trips, not even annual, like we do it like three times a year where
03:23all my girlfriends from high school and college and I have this great group of girlfriends
03:27that all meet up. And I was thinking, oh, man, like this one that we're planning coming
03:33up, if she gets pregnant, she can't go.
03:35And she was kind of struggling to get pregnant. And I was like, maybe one more struggle and
03:39then she can get pregnant. Like, I really had that thought of like, can this one not
03:43take like and obviously I don't want that if someone would have asked me literally,
03:47you have the power to make this not happen. I would have never said, yeah, like, let her
03:50not have not get pregnant. And I'm really grateful that the person I wrote that joke
03:54about is about to give birth like today. And so I am happy to say that my joke had no influence
04:00on the real world. It was just a joke. And this special is, I feel like for me, an exploration
04:06of my darkest thoughts, which has always been kind of the impetus for any kind of joke
04:10I'm writing is like, what's something you thought you'd never tell anyone? But these
04:14are really things that I thought I can't even I really I felt bad even telling my therapist
04:19some of this stuff. And especially just a secret part of you, a dark side of you wanting
04:24your friend to not get pregnant so that she can go on girls trip to Cabo because she's
04:29the only one of your friends that speak Spanish is a funny, dark thought that I had.
04:33And I thought I won't tell anyone. And then you say it one time on a show because you're
04:37feeling a little loose. You're PMS saying and you're just, you know, sometimes you're
04:41on stage. I think a lot of these jokes that are the darkest, craziest came out in because
04:47of a defense mechanism of like, oh, the audience didn't like what I just said. I'm going to
04:50say something that you really don't like and you're going to hate me. And then all of a
04:54sudden you say that thing that you think is going to really turn the crowd against you.
04:59And then they laugh and you go, wait, oh, wait, you guys, you guys laughed at that.
05:03The thing that I thought would maybe get me canceled if someone is recording in here.
05:07And I remember that joke was one of them of like, I just said it on a whim and you're
05:11saying what other people, you know, other people might also think, but not say out loud,
05:15you know, you hope so. You hope that you're striking some kind of chord within people
05:19that maybe they don't even see within themselves. The bottom line is it's OK to have really
05:24sinister, selfish thoughts. I mean, it's like we're human and that's our survival instinct
05:32kicking in is that I want my girlfriends to be available to me because it is essential
05:36for my survival. So it's it's a very human feeling that I am threatened by a baby. I
05:43just saw a picture the other day on Instagram of this like hippo. It looks like it was carrying
05:48a little baby hippo in its mouth. And I was like, oh, that's so cute that they carry him
05:51around. And it was like, no, that's that's its father murdering it. It said, you know,
05:57the male hippos attack the babies because they threaten their virility within the within
06:03the pack. And I go, oh, my God, that's that's kind of the same instinct I had. But I didn't
06:09follow through with it. I just made a special around it.
06:11I was going to say, next up, you can be the next David Attenborough.
06:15I do. I feel like that is I think that's what stand up comedy to me is, is a study and commentary
06:22on the human species at our best and but most often our worst.
06:27And the special culminates. You start telling a story about how you are fantasizing about
06:32having a gangbang. Yeah. Which we you know, we think is just an amusing story about your
06:37fantasies of a gangbang. But then it sort of turns into this interesting allegory for
06:41life, right? How life essentially is screwing you from all ways.
06:45I think the the fact that I was finding myself watching these and really feeling again, it
06:51comes from a place of like, what's wrong with me that I'm enjoying this and then really
06:55looking into it and saying, what is it about this that I like? And it really was me being
07:00like these girls are kind of really impressive. Like I obviously when I watch porn, I project
07:05myself into it like I say it in the special, but I'm not enjoying it because I'm like,
07:09good for her. I'm like, I'm picturing that's me. So I go, why would I want to be that?
07:14And I think the reason I wanted to be that is because this girl is impressive. She's
07:18doing a feat. She's handling so much. And then I was like, oh, that is like my like
07:24I am that in many ways. You know, all the directions I'm pulled in. I'm podcasting and
07:28I'm doing stand up and I'm hosting F Boy Island. And like it just it felt like that a lot of
07:34times. And then I think it was one of my friends who was helping me kind of craft what the
07:40hour looked like as a whole and as a whole, by the way, is another name for my special
07:46H.O.L.E. But as a whole, I know I was really thinking they said, why don't you relate it to
07:53everyone? You know, I think in stand up sometimes I just think me, me, me. And and I just
07:58hope people connect it to themselves the way I do with porn. But instead, sometimes you
08:02guys spell it out and go like, actually, we all are. And I thought that was a really
08:05interesting idea that that one of my friends had. I forget who. And I'd love to give them
08:11credit. But they were like, yeah, every girl does this. Why don't we make it like things
08:15that every girl can relate to? And that was a really fun thing to work out of. Like, what
08:19is each penis going to represent in a woman's life? Getting your real I.D. was, I think,
08:25my favorite penis, because that's a thing that's like looming over all of us that we're
08:29like, what is you know, what are we going to how is that going to happen?
08:32Yeah, that felt like the hardest. I agree. The timing of Someday You'll Die was
08:37impeccable. So you kill it. The roast of Tom Brady on May 5th. And I know you sort of said
08:43the text messages were rolling in like someone in your family had died. Yes. And then
08:48Someday You'll Die is released less than a week later. So it feels like kismet there.
08:52Right. I wish I could say that I planned it that way, because I wish I had that much
08:58foresight and attention to detail with my career. I wish I was a little bit more Taylor
09:03Swift and masterminding things. Absolutely coincidental. And honestly, the special got
09:09pushed because I was just having such a hard time editing it. And that was such a laborious
09:14process. And that's why I'm so excited that my editor is also nominated for an Emmy because
09:18he worked his butt off for me and took his time and was really yeah, that's always a
09:25really tough process for me is editing because stand up I always was really loved because
09:29I don't like to look at myself and review what I've done. It's very ironic that I expect
09:33people to pay money to come see me and I don't even like watching myself. So I put it off.
09:37And then when I do, I just find so many things wrong with it. And then you realize in the
09:41edit, wow, I have a chance to do creative stuff in here. Like I get to make jokes in
09:46this edit that weren't there that night. I just saw all the potential suddenly, especially
09:50working with Guy Harding and realizing how good he was and how dedicated he was to making
09:57it as funny as possible and trying everything. So it took a really long time to edit. So
10:01that date just kept getting pushed. I think it was first was to come out in March. And
10:05so thank God I I have such a hard time watching myself and I'm such a perfectionist because
10:11it timed out amazingly and had so many eyes on it because people, I think, were for the
10:17first time seeing me at the roast or they'd been aware of me but didn't know really what
10:22I was about. And and then all of a sudden they're like, I guess we'll check out what
10:25else she does.
10:26Right. And, you know, the joke about your overnight success taking 20 years because
10:29you've done plenty of roasts, right? You know, I've seen Baldwin, you know, very famous men
10:34as well. Rob Lowe, Bruce Willis. I guess the the fact that it was on Netflix, the fact
10:38that it was Tom Brady was in live live that night, that Sunday night because there wasn't
10:44a ton of press leading up to it or anticipation. I mean, I was preparing for it so much and
10:50talking about it and people didn't really even know that it was happening. I mean, it
10:53was certainly talked about, but not like we can't wait for this Sunday. But everyone seemed
10:59to have nothing to do at that moment on Sunday night. And the news cycle was really dead
11:04that week. Like, I really I got so lucky. So much of this business is just luck and
11:09timing. And if anything would have been going on that week, someone would have gotten divorced,
11:15some celebrity or something political. But it was just dead. And so the roast really
11:20stayed in the news in a way that I mean, it felt like the Super Bowl in terms of how much
11:24people were talking about it for days after. And because it fell on a Sunday, it was live.
11:29And it just it really had that like Super Bowl feeling to it. And you know, just the
11:33fact that it was, you know, football related.
11:36Someday You'll Die is nominated in Outstanding Variety Special Pre-recorded. A very weird
11:43and wonderful collection here. Nikki Glaser, Billy Joel, Dave Chappelle, Billy Joel, I'm
11:48coming for you. Yeah, right. Like, when have you ever been in that list of a group like
11:53that?
11:54It's incredible just to, you know, to compete against just one of the greatest recording
12:00artists of all time is is such an honor to like be in the same category as him and then
12:06and then just such a comedy legend like Dick Van Dyke and such a current comedy legend
12:11in the making Trevor Noah and then Chappelle. I mean, it's it really I couldn't ask for
12:16a better grouping of people and it feels pretty nice to be the only woman. There's there's
12:21less female comics than male comics. We all know that. And it just feels cool to to just
12:27to be nominated. I mean, that that that phrase really rings true. Whether I win or not, I'm
12:33just like, I still get that. I'm Emmy nominated. And that's really that's really what you want.
12:38It's the same. I feel the same way about like Deadline, like a Deadline announcement is
12:42almost more valuable than the show itself. I will have a show that airs and no one will
12:47know, but I will get so many more texts on the day the Deadline article comes out than
12:51when it actually premieres, which I'm sure you guys are all aware of.
12:54I appreciate that. Talking of Deadline, you told one of my colleagues recently after after
12:58getting the nomination, things that you'd like to do, you'd like to act with Julie Louise
13:03Dreyfus, you'd like to host SNL and obviously you'd like to sit in the VIP box at a Taylor
13:08Swift concert. Yeah. My question is, have any of those three people called you to make
13:12those things happen?
13:13No, but I will say that the second one seems to be there's like there's just there's interest,
13:23I think. I think I can say that. And you know what? If I can't, I don't care because
13:27if that prevents me from getting it, then I don't want it. But yeah, I'm being looked
13:32at in that light. And I think I would kill it. And I'm I'm excited for the opportunity
13:38if it happens. If it doesn't happen, I'm also excited to not have to do that as well because
13:43I hear it's very stressful and a lot of work. So it's like one of those things where it's
13:47like it'll be great if I do it, but my career is just fine if I don't. I'm at that point
13:51now where I'm getting things offered, where I'm like, oh, it's a dream. But like, it's
13:56so much work. Like, I don't even I just got done working so hard on the special and the
14:01roast and I kind of want to break. But that this is like put so much attention on me that
14:05more stuff is coming in. And and you just got to strike while the iron and and I am
14:12am hot.
14:13I guess it's champagne problems. Right. Absolutely. It is. And yeah, it's it's it's a great time
14:20to be me. It really is. And I'll look back on this point in my life and think that that
14:25was the heyday. When I write a book someday, these will be the chapters that you'll probably
14:31skip because there's no like drama in it, really.
14:33Well, yes, I look forward to reading The Downfall afterwards.
14:37Yeah. This is around Chapter 13. Things are really starting to take off. And then, yeah,
14:42around 15 will be rehab. 17 will be my second stint in rehab. And then we'll close out with
14:48my untimely death. It's always in the cards.
14:52Exactly. Well, Emmy nominated Nikki Glaser, thank you for joining us today and good luck
14:57in September.
14:58Thank you so much. This was fun.