Comedienne Nikki Glaser talks about comedy debating and subway voyeurism

Nikki Glaser has a lot on her plate. In addition to her stand-up and writing gigs, the New York comedienne is a popular tweeter and posts a hilarious Instagram photo stream of people slacking off on the subway. She also hosts a podcast, “You Had to Be There,”with collaborator Sara Schaefer, which MTV recently optioned as a talk show called The Nikki and Sara Show, to air starting in February 2013.

Nikki Glaser on-stage

Nikki Glaser on-stage
 
Nikki Glaser has a lot on her plate. In addition to her stand-up and writing gigs, the New York comedienne is a popular tweeter and posts a hilarious Instagram photo stream of people slacking off on the subway. She also hosts a podcast, “You Had to Be There,” with collaborator Sara Schaefer, which MTV recently optioned as a talk show called The Nikki and Sara Show, to air starting in February 2013.

Her time in town at Just for Laughs sounds equally busy. It includes a slew of stand-up shows, a performance on Marc Maron’s podcast “WTF,” a set for HBO Canada’s Funny as Hell and a battle on CBC’s The Debaters, which she says she’s particularly excited about.

“It’s a fun format to get writing in a different way than I’m used to. I like being given a topic and told that I can just go off on it,” she says. “It’s fun to go toe-to-toe with another comedian, and write on a subject and have an argument, but it’s going to be mostly jokes. I’m going to try to be as funny as possible, of course.”

This marks Glaser’s second time at Just for Laughs, which she hasn’t attended since 2007, when she was just a baby vampire comedian.

“I love the city — I just want to walk around and explore and eat lots of good food. That’s my priority — to eat well. And I am excited to see some shows, you know. I’m going to be there as a fan as well,” she explains. But, ever the busy bee, she admits, “I’m also hoping to take some pictures of people riding public transit in Montreal. That’s pretty fun.” ■

The Debaters is July 28 at 2 p.m. at L’Astral (305 Ste-Catherine W.), $31.50

Leave a Reply