+
KANSAN.COM
ARTS & CULTURE
7A
+
Kansas alumna's new comedy promotes feminism
Nikki Glaser, a University alumna, explores topics of feminism and sexuality in her show "Not Safe with Nikki Glaser."
Contributed Photo/KANSAN
▶ COURTNEY BIERMAN
@courtbierman
Nikki Glaser is a University alumna whose new show, "Not Safe with Nikki Glaser," premiered on Comedy Central on Feb. 9.
"Not Safe" follows Glaser as she "investigates the issues the rest of us are too timid to ask about through a mix of panel discussions, field pieces and social experiments," according to Comedy Central. The show is mostly about sex and relationships, but it treats the topics with respect.
Glaser said she wants her show to reduce what she called the "sexual stigma" by using her own experiences to relate to the audience.
"I'm trying to be a voice for girls to look to not feel so weird about how they feel, how awkward they feel, at any age that they're feeling that way," Glaser said.
Having grown up in St. Louis, most of Glaser's friends headed off to Lawrence after high school. Glaser spent her freshman year at the University of Colorado at Boulder studying English. She decided to transfer to the University after spending a weekend on campus during spring break.
The Jayhawks were in the Final Four that year, and Glaser said it was "the best weekend of her life."
Glaser started doing standup comedy when she was a freshman at Boulder, but only performed once. When she transferred to the University, she began to do standup in Kansas City, Mo., Olathe, Topeka and Wichita.
After a couple of short-lived podcasts and a two-season run on an MTV talk show called "Nikki and Sarah Live" with her friend Sara Schaefer, Glaser began making guest appearances on Comedy Central shows like "@midnight" and "Inside Amy Schumer. She also had a small role in the movie "Trainwreck" with her friend Amy Schumer as
a baby shower guest.
In an interview with the New York Post earlier this month, Glaser spoke about losing her virginity at age 21. She attributed this to the fear she had of boys and intimacy throughout most of her adolescent and teenage years. However, the fact that she was a late bloomer only piqued her curiosity.
"I wanted to know everything about sex because I wanted to be prepared when it did go down. And because I wasn't having it, I was just like 'What is it about?' and 'Am I going to be bad at it?' and so I just wanted to hear anything about it. I think that the curiosity just stayed with me even though I've already had sex, thank you very much," she said.
I think we're just focusing on being as funny as we can.
Nikki Glaser KU Alumna and Comedy Central star
"Not Safe" is unconventional. The pilot episode, titled "Carpe Do'em," featured a segment where Glaser tries to figure out if she's "friend zoned" any of her friends. To find out, they were hooked up to a lie detector while Glaser asked them questions like, "Have you ever wanted to sleep with me?" It's easily one of the most family-friendly segments of the three episodes that have aired thus far.
While her new show is edgy, she said there are moments when she masks how uncomfortable she is.
"I have feelings and I definitely have times where I'm really embarrassed or have to put on a brave face or take a deep breath or yell cut and say, 'Hey, can you give me a break here?' she said.
to be called a "sex comic." She prefers to call herself a "curious perv" who simply likes to talk about sex.
"Not Safe" is a show about sex, but Glaser doesn't like
Kansan: You've said in interviews that you didn't have sex until you were 21, which is a little bit later than average. How did you develop your no-nonsense, sex-positive style?
Glaser: I think that I developed it because I didn't lose it until so late. I was very curious about it before then because I hadn't lost it.
I felt ashamed, and I think that if I wouldn't have felt that kind of shame, then maybe I would have had an easier go at things sexually than I had. It was kind of a struggle for me and I wish it wouldn't have been.
Kansan: Do you think young girls watch your show?
Glaser: I hope so. Not like young,young — like I don't want 10-year-olds watching and I don't want 12-year-olds watching. I wouldn't mind a 15-year old watching it, or even a mature 14-yearold. I know those kids are watching porn,I know those kids are seeing violent films and tons of sex — so they know what's happening,and I would like to give them a different perspective on that stuff.
I did the James Corden show recently and the winner of "MasterChef Junior" [Addison Osta Smith] was on the show. She's an 11-year-old-girl, and she's so cute and she just was so smart and we became instant friends. We were hanging out, and she was like, "I want to watch your show!" and I was like, "I want you to so badly, but you can't! You absolutely cannot! I forbid you from watching it!" She has to wait, because it is too much for her, but there are some messages within it that I can't wait for her to be able to understand. There's nothing in it that is going to send the wrong message
or that's going to send a kid down the wrong path.
Kansan: You're incredibly fearless on the show, and it kind of seems like you have no sense of embarrassment, but have there been any moments where you have to mask how uncomfortable you are?
Glaser: Yes. For Sure. On one of our upcoming episodes I give my parents a lie detector test and I ask them about their sex life. It was really stupid of me, because a lot of these ideas I come up with in the writers' room, and I'm just trying to make my writers laugh or we're all trying to make each other laugh.
And then the cameras are on me and I'm sitting across from my dad and there's a question in front of me that is just the most embarrassing question that you could ever think of asking your dad, and it's like, "Why am I doing this to myself?" You can really see me squirm in that piece.
Kansan: Is there anything off-limits in your comedy?
Glaser: I don't like to make fun of people who can't help the way they were born or the way they look or things they can't change or help. I like making fun of people who make decisions to be s-----, or make decisions to be a certain way.
I think we just had a joke that I didn't want to say that I took out of the script — like a short joke about Peter Dinklage. And I was like, "I don't want to say it." I don't like little people jokes. I just don't. I kind of avoid jokes about people's looks and things that they can't help themselves.
Kansan: Do you feel like you're still figuring out the tone of the show?
Glaser: Yeah. Our first goal with the show was to make it really funny, and I think that we've done a lot of silly things, and a lot of experimenting with how goofy we could get and how ballsy
we could be and how gross we could be.
You know, just trying different things and seeing what sticks. When you're starting with a new show, you just throw a bunch of s--- at the wall and just see what sticks — especially when you're after "Tosh.o" when it's like a male-dominated audience, and you're trying to get those viewers to stay and watch you even though they may think that females can't be funny, or whatever bias they may have. Luckily, we've been successful and they've enjoyed us.
Now that we've gotten their attention, we'd like to turn the show into more of a place where we can get on our soapbox and take a more feminist approach or a more political approach, and really make some points. For now, I think we're just focusing on being as funny as we can.
- Edited by Mackenzie Walker
Business Specialist
With over one million policies under administration, $ se^2 $ is a Third Party Administrator (TPA) which provides Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) solutions for the financial services sector. $ se^2 $ is committed to helping clients successfully navigate the diverse annuity and life insurance market place. $ se^2 $ provides a broad array of traditional and alternative service options to lower costs and increase service choices with high quality and innovative service solutions, while allowing firms to focus on core sales, distribution, and block management.
$ \mathrm{se}^{2} $ seeks up to 20 Business Specialists to join our expert Financial Services Team. Successful applicants will begin employment on April 11th or May 16th, 2016 and will go through an intensive eight week training program focused on financial service, insurance business processing and technical solutions servicing $ \mathrm{se}^{2} $ clients. After successfully completing training, the Business Specialists will be assigned to select functions within the organization based on company need and the Business Specialist's demonstrated strengths. These positions will work out of our Corporate Office in Topeka, Kansas.
Consider joining our progressive team in our nationally recognized company to enjoy a competitive compensation and benefit package, including health/dental insurance, profit sharing, 401(k), incentive/bonus payments, tuition reimbursement, fitness membership, and more.
Qualifications: Strong quality and customer orientation, ability to grasp, assimilate, and apply concepts, effective communications, problem solving, and team work. Bachelor's degree (in any field) preferred.
Visit our website at www.se2.com for more information. Apply by completing the online application on our website in the Career Section. EOE
+