“I can go longer! Sorry, I’m giving such long-winded answers,” Nikki Glaser tells me when we hit the 40 minutes allotted for our phone interview. The subject of our conversation? Not her twice Emmy-nominated Max special Someday You’ll Die, not the song she wrote and recorded for the special, and not the viral zingers she delivered in Netflix’s The Roast of Tom Brady, either. (The internet unanimously anointed Glaser the funniest—and most brutal—of all the roasters.) “I could talk about Taylor Swift all day,” she adds. And that’s actually the purpose of our call: to understand how, at such an intensely busy period in her career, Glaser has found the time and unwavering enthusiasm to attend 17 of Taylor Swift’s Eras concerts. By the end of the tour, the tally will hit 22.
In the end, the answer is pretty simple: “It makes me feel so good. I don’t drink anymore, and I try not to do drugs—and honestly, this is just like a really good drug,” she says. “I’m kind of addicted.” Fans have spotted her, time and time again, installed not in the celebrity-heavy VIP tents but in the ticketed seats, wearing bedazzled getups and singing her heart out like no one is watching. It’s pure passion, with a capital P.
“I get a little bit sad at the idea that it s going to run out at some point, and I’ll probably have to replace it with something else,” she reflects at one point in the call. “But it‘s not really hurting anyone, so I just lean into it. The more I embrace it, the less I’m embarrassed by it. At this point in my life, I’m not embarrassed by it at all, or I wouldn’t be talking to you about it.”
Without further ado, Glaser on Swift:
Vogue: What was the first concert you ever attended?
Nikki Glaser: Lauryn Hill when I was in eighth grade. I remember because it was the first concert I went to alone with my friend. I just remember desperately wanting to dance but feeling like I couldn’t because I wasn’t cool enough. I was just really self-conscious about not looking cool at this show. I remember looking at this girl in front of me and watching how she danced and trying to copy it. And I swear to God, to this day, I still do the dance when I feel that kind of insecurity come on.
What’s your first-ever memory of Taylor Swift?
When I first moved to LA, I had a roommate I met off Craigslist and she worked on the Warner Bros. lot and had tickets one day to go see a taping of Ellen. When she came home from it, I was like, “Who was on?” And she said this country artist girl and she had her calendar—it was probably for 2007 or 2008. It was the Taylor Swift self-titled album calendar; we kept it on our coffee table as a joke because we didn’t know who this girl was.
I would flip through it late at night when I would get home from sets and just look at this girl’s pictures. I would eat cereal off of this calendar. I just remember being like, this girl’s so pretty and cute, but it’s probably not the kind of music I would like. What I would give now! I would pay $500 for that calendar.
When did you actually get into Taylor’s music?
It happened in several different stages. The first time I was like, Oh, this is something special, I was moving back to St. Louis after I kind of struck out in LA for the first time. I had just done The Tonight Show, but that didn’t change my life, and I was still babysitting and borrowing money from my parents, and they were kind of like, “We can’t do this anymore for you.” So I drove across the country back home, and we listened to the radio the whole way, and “Love Story” was just playing a lot and I remember being like, This is my song of the summer. I was instantly magnetized to that song.
When did you start going to Taylor’s concerts?
I went to the Red tour. I loved it, but I wasn’t a Swiftie yet. I just remember thinking, this girl is massively talented. I got to meet her backstage after it. I remember all I said to her was, “I can’t believe that was you!” She was in a button-down shirt, pedal-pusher pants, and her hair looked so normal. She just looked normal, but she was just this girl that was flying through the air performing for a stadium. I just remember being like, “I can’t believe that it’s you out there. Like, look at you here, you’re just normal.” And she was like, “Isn’t it crazy?”
She’s just so relatable and cool. I was a fan, but the Swiftie in me had not sunk in yet. That didn’t happen until I was lying in bed listening to 1989. It had just come out, and it was like the way people described doing heroin. It just hit my veins. I remember thinking my life will never be the same; this is a part of who I am, liking this woman is a part of my identity now. It felt like the same way I felt when I found stand-up. Like, I’m never gonna be the same.
At what point did you realize 1989 Taylor was the girl whose face you were having cereal off of years ago?
I don’t think I put it together until I ran into that roommate years later and she was like, “You’re a huge Swiftie now. Remember that calendar we had for forever?” I just couldn’t believe that that was the same person, even though I can remember that calendar so distinctly and it’s so obviously Taylor Swift. As a Swiftie, I want to convince myself that I’ve always been one, since day one. There’s a part of me that feels shame for not getting onboard sooner.
It’s the same way in my relationship: I didn’t know right away that my boyfriend, who I’ve been with for 11 years, was the right one. It doesn’t always have to be love at first sight to be true love.
Other than meeting her backstage, have you spent much time with her in person?
We had an interaction on Instagram that you’re probably familiar with, where I apologized for talking out of line. And then she wrote a comment back. But nothing since that.
How many Eras concerts have you been to?
The final number, unless she adds more shows, will be 22. Right now it’s 17, so I have five more to go to and I’m so excited.
Was it your plan to attend as many shows as you possibly could?
I just feel like she is The Beatles, in terms of a once-in-a-lifetime performer, artist, and songwriter talent, and I would’ve killed to see The Beatles live, so I just need to capitalize on this while I can.
Also it’s the most fun thing that I’ve ever done. Initially, when she announced the tour, I wanted to go to as many as possible, but I was kind of embarrassed by how much I like her—I’ve been mocked for it by my family and friends.
What motivates you to continue returning to shows?
My boyfriend was the one who actually said “I’ve never seen you happier than when you’re at these Taylor Swift sing-alongs”—I’d been going to a few of the Taylor Swift nights at different clubs and music venues where they just play Taylor Swift and you dance and sing with everyone and I had done some Taylor Swift Day parties on Zoom—“you should go to every show you possibly can.”
Have you experienced any backlash regarding the number of times you’ve attended shows?
I might look ridiculous and people can make fun of me, but I honestly think anyone who’s making fun of Swifties is jealous that they don’t like something that much. I really think that’s at the heart of it. Like, they’re too cool to let themselves like something that much, and they’re not even capable of it. I do think it’s a special kind of personality that I have that leads me to be obsessed with things this much, but I am so happy that I have that personality; it’s brought me so much joy. I make the joke that being a Swiftie has brought me as much joy as being an aunt—it’s probably brought me more joy, to be honest with you.
I’m also probably not gonna have kids, and this just felt like the right time to spend thousands of dollars on something I love. When all of my friends were spending thousands of dollars on fertility treatments and kids, I was like, if I’m not doing that, let’s do something fun with it.
Do you notice new things at different concerts you attend?
I am always impressed by how on-point she is and how she can just nail everything. I really find similarities between how I do my act sometimes and how she does her thing. I’ll have a joke written, and I could do it in my sleep, but then I put little flourishes on it to make it fun for myself and to change it up for myself, but you still get the essence of what it is. So, yes, I see differences in her shows, and it’s been well-documented but her dancing has just become more free. She’s become more comfortable within the steps that she’s learned and memorized.
So, has there been a bit of an evolution?
I’ve seen just the comfort level grow. There seems to be more ease with her performing, and I respect how much fun she’s having every time. I’ve really never been able to sense any kind of performativeness that makes me think maybe she’s hiding something, even though “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” well documents that she’s not always feeling the exact way that she presents herself. People always ask how the concerts are different, and I’m like, “They’re really not.” She’s always 10 out of 10 perfect, but with the things she says in between songs, you can tell when she likes a crowd more than another crowd.
Do you have a favorite concert so far?
My favorite is always dependent on the people I’m around, or where I’m sitting. I’ve been everywhere in the building at this point, and I find it the best time to be on the floor; I like being close, and I like just being able to see her arm hair. There have been a couple of times I’ve been in the third row or first row, and those were the most fun because she gets so close that it lands on you that you are sharing the same oxygen as Taylor Swift.
Who do you take with you?
My favorite shows have been the ones that I’ve brought my mom to because my mom has become a Swiftie in the process. She’s been to seven or eight shows with me at this point now. She started out only knowing a couple of choruses from a couple hit songs, and now she knows a lot. My mom’s not the best at memorizing lyrics, but I copied and pasted all the lyrics for her, even, like, things Taylor says in the transitions and abridged versions, and I made a document for my mom to hold and read so she can sing along because it’s an important part of it.
We get emotional at the shows. We’re not a mother and daughter who like to hold hands and hug and tell each other we love each other all the time, it’s just not the relationship we have—but at the shows, I feel like we get a lot of that in. I’m going to get emotional, but Taylor’s concerts have been the best time I’ve had with my mom, ever. And after she is gone, I’ll hold onto those memories forever.
Do you get a rush surrounded by the other Swifties?
I just love her music so much and singing it with other people who love it as much as I do. This is no slight to Taylor, it’s just to speak to the power of her music and her fandom, but I have as much fun at Taylor Swift sing-along nights as I do at Eras.
If you’re a Swiftie who couldn’t make it to Eras, if you saw Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in the theater—I’m sorry, but it felt just as good in that theater experience with other Swifties dancing along to the movie as I did at the shows.
Is there a surprise song that you’re always hoping for?
I never have any goals because I like all of her songs so much that I can’t really be disappointed, but being able to sing “You’re on Your Own, Kid” with her in the stadium was really special—I think that was in Amsterdam.
I’ve been waiting for “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” but I actually think she made the right choice in not putting it in the set. And then, during “Guilty as Sin,” I lost my mind.
Have you connected with any music in a new way after seeing it live?
There have been songs that I first overlooked that I have fallen in love with.“The Lucky One” is so good because it’s about the way I feel about Hollywood and how you’re quickly disposed of and how you kind of have to have an exit strategy for when they decide they don’t want you anymore. You have to learn to really like yourself and have other interests, because your career could be taken from you despite what you do, or what you put out, or who you are, or how talented you are.
I also got to see Phoebe Bridgers and her do “Nothing New,” which is a song that also talks about the same fears. Those songs always really resonate deeply with me. I relate to some Taylor Swift songs on a level that might be more literal than maybe she intends. In “Midnight Rain,” she sings, “He never thinks of me except for when I’m on TV,” and I don’t know that everyone in there can relate to that.
Do you feel seen by those themes?
I always felt that Taylor was always in a good mood performing. Of course, she can’t always be, but she never lets it show in her performances. It’s probably because of her performances that she is happy again. I always felt a little disconnected with her because when I’m depressed, I have to fake it a little bit. And I felt like, why can’t my art take me out of my life the way it does with Taylor Swift?
But then “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” came out, and I’m like, oh, she has to fake it sometimes, too. Those songs have really touched me. I feel like everyone has that kind of connect with Taylor Swift, where she’s been through something specific that they’ve also been through, and that just happens to be the one for me.
Do you have a favorite era?
I am always in the era that she’s in. The Tortured Poets Department really helped me get through preparing for The Roast of Tom Brady, when I was really feeling isolated and alone and unsure of myself and, really, all I was doing was thinking about roast jokes. It was the greatest gift because it was a distraction. It reminded me that I care about other things and that my life is full no matter what happens with this roast. It really held my hand through that really stressful time in my life. And then, even after the roast, even though it went the way I wanted it to, that was really a tumultuous time for me, just handling that level of attention and feeling like I can’t live up to it now. And I just felt like I turned to that album so much.
You wrote and performed a single for the credits of your second HBO special, Someday You’ll Die. Did Taylor influence your own sound?
Without question, I think when I first started stand-up, I sounded exactly like my favorite stand-up, who was Sarah Silverman. I was obsessed with Sarah Silverman in a way that I am with Taylor Swift right now. So when I wrote my first jokes, it was like, what would Sarah Silverman write?
No matter how hard I tried not to think about Taylor, there was no way I wasn’t going to sound like her. I don’t know any other way to sing. I’ve just been mimicking her for so long. My voice teacher has told me I’m not allowed to sing Taylor Swift songs anymore.
What will be your last concert, and are you going to do anything to commemorate it?
It’ll be Vancouver, the last night. I’m hoping it’s the last night, just because if she adds shows—Swifties are predicting that she’s gonna add more in LA, and I hope she doesn’t because I cannot go to those dates that they’re predicting. I really want to be at the last show, on December 8. I’ll probably shed some tears, but I just want to be there to see her wave as she says goodnight for the final time, to thank her for all she has given us, because it’s been so much work for her. I just want to be there to wave at her as she sinks down into the recesses of the stage that one last time.
What will you do post-Eras?
I am going to fly to cities to go to Taylor Swift sing-alongs, which I had done before the Eras tour. I am going to potentially start a Taylor Swift cover band that would either open my own shows on the road, or I would do it as an add-on—a little show when I’m on tour. I am currently also getting really invested in football, or at least trying to. I really find a lot of similarities between the way my boyfriend loves football and the way I love Taylor Swift. Maybe if I really find a way to love it, I can have this thing to look forward to every fall.
