AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The double standard for women in Hollywood - you know, that you have to look good to keep working - it's one of the topics that comedian Nikki Glaser takes head on in her new Hulu comedy special "Good Girl."
(SOUNDBITE OF COMEDY SPECIAL, "GOOD GIRL")
NIKKI GLASER: My career's going great now, but it can't last this long. I know eventually Hollywood is going to kick me out 'cause I'm going to do something horrible, like age naturally.
CHANG: But Glaser, who's 41, is very much still in Hollywood. She has a signature look when she takes the stage - hot, like thigh high boots, short tiny skirt, tight bodice. She basically told me, look, if you got it, use it.
GLASER: I do think that it asks a lot for your audience to just sit and listen to you for an hour. I mean, I'm up there as long as a lot of, you know, bands would be up there or a Broadway show, and they have songs and dances and lighting cues and sound effects and, you know, pyro. And I don't have any of that.
CHANG: And you just have measly jokes.
GLASER: It's just me and a microphone. So there's a part of me that goes, OK, if someone gets a little bit bored during the show, they can just, like, stare at my legs or stare at my cleavage.
CHANG: OK, obviously, she is joking, sort of, because so much of what Nikki Glaser talks about on stage is the absurdity of being a woman.
(SOUNDBITE OF COMEDY SPECIAL, "GOOD GIRL")
GLASER: Shout out to the ladies of the '80s and '90s who underwent cosmetic procedures and sacrificed your faces so that we could have amazing, snatched jawlines. Thank you so much for your service. Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
GLASER: Oh, my God. When I see a woman with just, like, a very - like, she-just-walked-into-a-haunted-house kind of face...
(LAUGHTER)
GLASER: I'm like, thank you, honey. I feel like you should board planes before veterans. Like, I truly...
(LAUGHTER)
GLASER: You sacrificed so much.
CHANG: (Laughter) Oh, man. OK, when you're writing a joke like that, how much are you thinking about how it's going to land on a woman versus a man? Are you even thinking about that as you're writing?
GLASER: I'm really not. You know, I try not to alienate anyone in the crowd. It's like, I just don't want anyone to feel bad about themselves when they leave. And so, like, I'll pull back on anything. Even that joke, like, I always sometimes think, like, oh, is there a woman with really bad plastic surgery in the crowd who might feel, you know, victimized by this joke? But instead, I flipped it, and I was able to do that joke - not even intentionally flipped it, but I was like, oh, no, at the root of this joke, I'm saying thank you so much for doing that.
CHANG: Right.
GLASER: That is so brave of you...
CHANG: Right.
GLASER: ...To go under the knife in the pursuit of looking better, and it went the opposite way. Like, you look a way that is sometimes frightening and unsettling to people, which is the opposite of what you wanted. And, like, I'm so sorry you did that. And also thank you because I don't think I'd be brave enough to do that even if it was something that I had wanted so badly back then.
CHANG: But, wait, like, it's so interesting to hear you say that sometimes you are consciously pulling back because I want to talk about how edgy some of your jokes are. You will go there. Like, you will make jokes about pedophilia, about women who are assaulted and left for dead, about nail salon workers being slaves. And when...
GLASER: Yeah.
CHANG: ...I watch your stuff, I am wondering, like, could a middle-aged male comedian get away with the same jokes as you seem to be able to get away with and not get canceled?
GLASER: Yeah.
CHANG: What do you think? Is there a different standard for you?
GLASER: Absolutely. And they do. They get away with it all the time. I mean, there's not really...
CHANG: No, I mean, I think you're getting away with stuff that maybe a...
GLASER: Yes, I...
CHANG: ...Guy doesn't get away with. Do you think that's true?
GLASER: No, I think everyone can get away with it. I think that a lot of times I will have guys say to me, oh, only you could do - I would love to be able to joke about that, but I could never. And I think that's just kind of a copout for them to not be able to write a joke that is palatable in that way. Like, I'm really proud of myself for working so hard to be able to go there because I just don't - I don't go there thoughtlessly. I really try to put intention behind it so when I bring up these subjects, no one's left feeling like, oh, that was just a cheap joke. Like, I'm trying to say something about it, and...
CHANG: Yeah.
GLASER: I'm not trying to make anyone the butt of the joke. So I think that a lot of times, when men say that to me, I get so mad because I'm like, you're just making an excuse for why you don't try harder to make things...
CHANG: That's hilarious.
GLASER: ...A little bit funnier and more palatable.
CHANG: I do feel that you offer an empowering message, especially when it comes to bodies, body image. Like, you devote about 15 minutes of this 1-hour-long special to discussing the shape of your genitals. But while you're doing that, I feel like you're also trying to say, hey, women out there, it's OK. The way your bodies look, it's OK, and be OK with it. How much are you consciously trying to uplift or affirm people as you're making them laugh?
GLASER: It all comes from a place of, like, I am just trying to say the most shameful things about myself, about my thoughts, about my - the things going on with my body. And it's great to hear people after the show tell me how it made them feel good about themselves, or it made them more confident, and it made them more able to make jokes about themselves. And, like, I think there's, like, a lot of security in being insecure. And I think that there's - so much about the American spirit is, like...
CHANG: We're all insecure.
GLASER: ...That you're supposed to be...
CHANG: That's the great commonality. We're all insecure.
GLASER: Yeah, you're supposed to believe in yourself. There's all these, like, positive affirmations, which are great, but I think that there is something really powerful in admitting what you're insecure about, and it's fine. And I just - I'm very secure about how insecure I am. And I think that's...
CHANG: Yeah.
GLASER: ...My superpower.
CHANG: I love that. You know, I should mention, your dad is sitting in the front row in this special...
GLASER: He is.
CHANG: ...As you're making all of these jokes about your genitals, about your...
GLASER: Yeah.
CHANG: ...Sex life.
GLASER: Yeah.
CHANG: Wait, wait, did your parents have to learn to love your style of comedy, or they've always been supportive of it?
GLASER: They've always been supportive. I don't think that my comedy is necessarily always their style of comedy. I think one time my mom kind of admitted to me, like, I probably wouldn't be a fan of yours if you weren't my daughter. And I...
CHANG: Wow, that's honest.
GLASER: My family's just, like, we can say honest things. And I do understand that. Like, there's just - everyone has different tastes of different kinds of things, and my comedy isn't necessarily for her. I know exactly what she's into comedically, and I'm not really doing that up there, and that's OK.
But I couldn't ask for more supportive parents as - in my career. I always worry about when they inevitably pass at some point, like, what is going to compel me to keep going? I really don't know because it really is - you know, I'm still a little girl...
CHANG: They are your biggest fans.
GLASER: ...Coming home with, like...
CHANG: Yes.
GLASER: ...My test being like, I got an A.
CHANG: Look, look.
GLASER: And they put it on the refrigerator. Like...
CHANG: yeah.
GLASER: Their feedback means more to me.
CHANG: So I want to ask you, Nikki, like, where do you want to go next? You've had several comedy specials at this point. You've hosted the Golden Globes twice. You've done the whole podcast thing. You are legit famous now. What do you want to do now beyond all of that?
GLASER: Skin-care brand. No, I...
CHANG: (Laughter).
GLASER: I want to make a billion dollars. No, I just want to keep having fun and keep doing - you know, what I would like to do - I would like to, you know, be in a Taylor Swift music video someday. Like, if I'm...
CHANG: Taylor.
GLASER: ...Talking about goals, like, that is...
CHANG: Listen up.
GLASER: ...Literally...
CHANG: Yeah (laughter).
GLASER: That, I guess, would be on my bucket list. I was even watching "Survivor" last night, and I'm like, I think I want to go on "Survivor" eventually.
CHANG: (Laughter).
GLASER: Like, that or, like, "Traitors" or, like...
CHANG: Where are you going to get a spray tan when you're out there, though?
GLASER: Oh, you just get tan out there.
CHANG: (Laughter).
GLASER: That's the best - the best part of that show is, I found out from a friend who knows someone that was on the show - that he was like - he asked him, like, why does everyone's teeth get so white by the end of it? Is it because you're not eating, you know...
CHANG: No, it's the contrast...
GLASER: ...Processed foods?
CHANG: ...With their tan.
GLASER: And it's because they all get tan.
(LAUGHTER)
GLASER: Yes. And I would - like, I just - that's the kind of thing - that is the thing that I've loved about my career is that fame opens up a new world of just, like, experiences kind of totally outside of comedy that I'm really enjoying.
CHANG: Well, keep going because I love watching you.
GLASER: Thank you so much.
CHANG: Nikki Glaser's new comedy special is called "Good Girl." It's out on Hulu right now.
GLASER: Ooh, oh, my God, you said it right.
(LAUGHTER)
CHANG: Thank you so much, Nikki.
GLASER: Thank you.
CHANG: That was so fun. Oh, my God.
GLASER: So fun.
CHANG: How are we going to cut this down into 8 minutes? We're going to try.
GLASER: I don't know.
CHANG: We're going to try.
GLASER: Good luck.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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