Nikki Glaser has unlocked a new level of success that has her friends and fans blowing up her phone like never before.
No, it’s not that the comedian earned rave reviews for roasting Tom Brady or that she became the first woman to solo-host the Golden Globes in January — it’ll be Nikki Glaser Day on Sept. 1 at Busch Stadium, and she’s being honored with her very own bobblehead.
“I was kind of embarrassed at first,” Glaser told St. Louis on the Air. “There’s going to be a bobblehead, and kids are going to be confused, like, ‘Who is this lady?’”
Glaser swears she didn’t campaign for the honor.
“This was something that was offered to me from the Cardinals as a ‘our hometown girl, we love you,’ and I’m just trying to accept it and not fight it,” she said.
Glaser said she isn’t a huge sports fan, but she’s been to a lot of Cardinals games. That’s because Glaser not only lives here — she’s from here. The 2002 Kirkwood High School grad moved back to St. Louis in 2020 during the pandemic.
She hasn’t left — and doesn’t think she ever will.
“When I'm on both of the coasts, it's like constantly comparing yourself, and everyone's just really chasing that status,” Glaser said. “Here, it just feels a bit more relaxed, and I get back to what's important: having a good time and going out to eat.”
Glaser also values spending time with family.
“[Living here] is just wanting to focus on my family while they're still around and healthy, and want to hang out with me,” she said. “It’s also just being in a town where what podcast [you have], what spots you're doing that night, what parties you're going to, what red carpets you're attending — doesn't matter. That's not here, and that's not what people value here. And it just recalibrates me.”
If she spends too much time on the coasts, Glaser said she’ll start to ask herself questions about the way she looks, the ways she dresses — or even about whether her luggage is good enough to roll down the sidewalks. Being in St. Louis allows Glaser to forget about the drudgery of show business.
“It's not because no one cares about nice things here — they do,” she said. “It's just that it calms my nervous system being here.”
Glaser resumes her “Alive and Unwell” tour Thursday in California, and she’ll conclude the tour with two sold-out shows on Oct. 24-25 at the Fox Theatre. The hometown performances come with some anxiety.
“Whenever you know people in the room, whether it's someone you might run into at the grocery store, your mom's best friend, or your dad's tennis partners — whatever it is, there’s an added pressure of, ‘Oh, there's a lot riding on this.’
“My dad has to go to tennis next week and have conversations with these people, and I don't want to embarrass him,” Glaser said. “I just want everyone to have a good time. … You know, when I'm performing in Baltimore, I leave the next day, and if they didn't like it, OK, well, I don't have to really face them, but here I have to.”
To hear more from Nikki Glaser about her roast of Tom Brady, hosting the Golden Globes, dealing with imposter syndrome and why she can’t make jokes about a Kleenex box or a refrigerator, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
