There’s a special kind of electricity that arises when you’re talking to someone on the brink of their next-level moment. For Nikki Glaser, the rightfully acclaimed host of Not Safe on Comedy Central, that moment was when The Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe aired. That network understands how to get the masses talking, and advance word had been spreading about the utter annihilation of conservative mouthpiece Ann Coulter, particularly by Glaser and sometime-Nashvillian Jewel. So it was a fortuitous confluence of events that found Glaser talking to the Scene an hour or so before the special aired, and before profiles and links started springing up left and right, introducing heaps of the uninitiated to this distinctive comedic voice.
Putting aside her skills on the dais, Glaser is a remarkable figure — with her sexually forward, defiantly feminist voice, she uses her reach for the purposes of both liberation and education. She’s a dynamic entertainer, as well as someone who’s fighting the good fight against abstinence-only obstinacy, and she’s one of the funniest comedians working today.
Can we talk about Ann Coulter for a second? What with the internet all abuzz about your demolishing her at the Rob Lowe roast, I want the real-real. I have always disliked what she stands for. But I also feel sorry for her. I think she must have had a lot of trauma in her childhood to make her into the evil person she is. And as someone who has suffered with mental illness myself, I can see it on her. She needs help. But she is an adult who signed on to do something that she should have been well aware would be a bloodbath, so I don't feel sorry for saying the things I said. But I do have empathy for how she must feel about herself inside.
What is it like, having become a spokesperson for sexual honesty and forthrightness? Or rather, do you consider yourself a spokesperson? I don't think I'm a spokesperson, because I'm not being paid by sex for speaking openly about it. But I’m proud to have developed a weak filter for my own privacy in that realm of my life. I think I would have benefited from my brand of honesty as a teen. My goal is to put myself out there to make other people feel less weird about their proclivities, and to also inspire them to do some weird stuff as long as it doesn't hurt anyone and brings them joy. I also feel better when I share stuff that I used to keep secret. The laughs and positive responses make me feel less weird, too. It works out for everyone.
The amount of disrespect and horror that all women have to deal with is overwhelming and unacceptable. Because your show Not Safe deals with sexuality in a direct and up-front manner, has the tone of your feedback from the public been similarly direct? People can be really mean. But the positives are so positive. It's a double-edged sword to have Twitter, where you get constant feedback about everything. You have to take the good with the bad. But my show has made many idiot men angry. But those fuckheads are just angry that a woman is on TV talking, so there was no winning them over to begin with. I love infuriating those losers.
Have you ever run into any standards-and-practices problems with sketches or topics that you really wanted to cover and that scared the network? Yes. You can't talk about body parts going into any other body parts. Penetration is always a problem. You can talk about penises and vaginas separately, and how they are doing their own thing. But when you start talking about orifices and fluids, things get sticky — pun intended.
Other than Dan Savage, who are your heroes and heroines of sexual sensibility? Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, Liz Phair, Ani DiFranco, Howard Stern, Lena Dunham, Jonathan Ames. And the fact that I can't name more makes me realize there need to be more.
What do you think is the best cure for shame? Exposing yourself to books and comedy and music from people who have no shame. Go to therapy so you can learn how to stop seeking other people’s approval — especially your parents.
Email arts@nashvillescene.com
