Nikki Glaser, You Look Good in Red | St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals are thrilled to welcome St. Louis native and Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe, and Critics’s Choice Award nominated comedian Nikki Glazer to the ballpark for Nikki Glazer Day at Bush Stadium. St. Louis native Nikki Glazer, thank you so much for stopping by to chat with us as we celebrate Nikki Glazer Day at Bush Stadium. I’m thrilled. It’s so nice. What’s the estimate on the number of friends and family you have here today? We have a um box that seats 30 and I think we’ve pushed it to like 42 plus kids. It’s an array of like my family and then my boyfriend’s family and then uh comedians from St. Louis like Greg Warren, Sean O’Brien, Tim Convi, and then um uh Bobby Jac like a bunch of comedians and then just friends from high school. Like I’m I have two friends up there who I have not really talked to in maybe 10 or 12 years that I’ve just were like you should come out. This would be a great time to reconnect and to see what I’ve become. Please. It’s like the best of both worlds. Family reunion and like high school reunion, right? Like it is. It’s so fun. It’s just it’s it’s so fun to have an event like this where like that I I’m usually performing in places that kids can’t really go to. So, it’s like really nice for my nieces and nephews to see what a big deal I am really. That’s what it’s all about. I just want them to know. Yeah. I asked my um we were on the Metro Link on the way here today and I was talking to my niece Poppy and she was like, “Uh, why are you famous?” And I go, “Why do you think?” And she was like, “Cuz you’re nice.” And I was like, “Well, actually, not being nice has been a big part of why I’m famous.” I was like, “Do you know what a roast is?” And she she thinks I’m a singer, and I’ll keep it at that. So, that was great. That’s fantastic. Yeah. But today, but my nephew Arlo was like, “I bet one person is going to ask for your autograph today.” And I was like, “Oh, I think it’s going to be more than that.” And I’m I don’t really care about that kind of stuff usually, but now every time someone asked me, I go, “Add another one.” Now it’s nine. And so, I’m keeping I’m keeping track now. Yeah. Let’s talk a little bit of Cardinals baseball. Did you have a favorite Cardinals player growing up? you know, like the first one that I remember caring about and paying attention to was of course Mark Magcguire because it was like I was in I think eth ninth grade um when that whole thing was going on and it just I moved to St. Louis when I was six and it was the first time that I felt like St. Louis was known on this like kind of global stage where it was like we were the biggest thing in town and you know it was a little prior to Nelly coming out and like so I just felt like it was just you just really felt the energy of the city in a way that I hadn’t before then and it was just so exciting and he’s just you know you know if the Incredible Hulk was orange I mean he’s an insane person and it was that was just such a fun moment to like every day you’d go to school and be like what is it going to happen tonight like it was just this buildup so I just I felt like that was a really good representation for what you know the Cardinals do to this town. Like it it can make us the happiest town ever and it can make us the s like we really Cardinals are like it’s the heartbeat of the city. It really is. Well, I was just going to ask you like how would you describe because I know you travel a lot so how would you describe like this city’s connection with its baseball team to someone who’s not from St. Louis? I mean really I feel like it’s we bleed red like most people but it’s like it is you know everyone cares about it whether you’re just kind of like a cursory baseball fan or like or you’re a huge baseball fan like everyone seems to be invested in it at the same time and it really does like you can tell when we’re doing well because there’s just a energy in the city. everyone’s in a good mood and then when we’re not my boyfriend is steely and angry for about six months and it’s not you at least it’s not me not you but yes exactly and so it I feel like it’s just yeah the Cardinals are the heartbeat of St. Louis and um toasted ravioli is what clogs that heart. So or or calms it calms it whichever. Yeah. Like comfort food. Comfort food. So let’s talk about that first pitch that you just threw. That was a nice first pitch. Like what’s the leadup like to for a first pitch? Like is it exciting, terrifying, nerve-wracking? They ask you and I say no. And I said, “Can I please just sing the national anthem?” Which to most people would be like, “Why would you want to do that?” And I’m not good at either of those things. But it at least one thing seems easy. like throwing a pitch seems kind of easy and it’s just this one shot and you can mess it up so badly. I just there’s a lot of pressure on that. You can’t do it again, you know? It’s it’s just and it’s just such a classic thing to make fun of celebrities that like think they’re cool and they go out there and they just make a fool of themselves. And we’ve all seen like the the worst pitches and you just are hoping not to end up on that reel and have that be your like legacy. It really honestly is the thing that I in my career have been like most nervous about because it’s it’s live. in front of a st. Usually when I’m on stage, like everyone’s in the dark. I can’t see them. And this is like every you can feel everyone looking at you. And and I’m not athletic. I mean, I was on Dancing with the Stars. I got voted off first. Like every time I was on American Ninja Warrior Celebrity Edition, I was got last place on that. Any kind of athletic endeavor I’ve ever gotten to do because of, you know, what I do for a living, I’ve always failed uh really badly at it. So this time I was like, “Okay, I’ll practice.” But I was like, “Oh, if I practice and then I’m not good, then it’s like even sadder.” cuz she tried. So, there’s this weird thing of like you either want to not try at all and then do badly and you go, “Well, it’s cuz I didn’t try or you try and you maybe could do well because you try, but also if you do bad and you try, it’s really embarrassing.” So, this time I tried and my boyfriend and I um pitched a lot like uh over the weekend. I was uh on the road and we were doing it in between shows and I felt like it really actually practice actually does make perfect. I mean, it wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely not embarrassing and I can breathe the rest of the day. Well, again, it was a good pitch. Like, I would have assumed that you practiced. So, you you didn’t play any sports growing up at all. I played field hockey, but just because my friends did, and I was told by my field hockey coach that she had never met anyone who likes being on the bench more than me, cuz I just like to cheer from the sidelines. I I really I like doing Yes. I team sports really stress me out because I I I like to be in charge of if I do well or don’t do well, and then it’s all on me. If I fail, I’m the only one who suffers. So like with a team I always felt like really embarrassed when the ball would get you know uh hit to me and then and I swam. I was a good swimmer because individual like and then I can I can run and stuff like that but no not I like if someone throws something at me I just like duck and cover cuz I just don’t even want to try to catch it. That’s just going to be so embarrassing. Which environment do you feel like is more competitive in the end? Pro sports or professional comedy? Um you know I think in both in different ways but obviously like sports are you know innately competitive but people people don’t understand comedy is so competitive show business is competitive you know there’s only so many TV shows or movies or you know just spots in people can’t really uh contain all the there’s too many comedians and you can only know a couple at a time and there’s the thing of the same with athletics of aging out of it. you know, you’re really only hot for a minute and then you have to kind of reinvent yourself and and you know, it’s it’s a lot of pressure. And I think I think they’re very similar. There’s a lot of people weighing in on what you did and telling you what you should have done differently, people that don’t have really any business doing it, but they’re fans, so they care and they know a lot about comedy or a lot about baseball. So, I think it’s very similar. And but I don’t have a team to to disappoint. That’s that’s the different thing. And but I will say that when I do things like the Golden Globes or um yeah, just mainly when I’m like hosting a show, that’s when you get a writer, a writing team. And that’s when it really feels like, oh wow, this is so much better than just being a lone wolf. Comedy is just so about just you’re on your own. You’re on the road alone. You live and die by each joke that you write. And when you’re working and collaborating with a team of writers on a television show you’re making or you know the Golden Globes, I just felt like after I did the Golden Globes set and I felt it went really well, I got to celebrate with a room of people who cared just as much as I did. They weren’t happy for me. They were happy for themselves, too, because it was it was a team effort and I was like, “Oh, there’s something to this team thing.” It was really rewarding. So, you have found a team sport that you had, I think. So, how do you sort of balance then being a fan like of a professional sports team while also kind of realizing like what some of these athletes do go through as people who are public figures whose performance is always in the spotlight? I mean, I just try to be sympathetic and not judge and just kind of go uh you know, like I just know we all get the the twisties, you know, like Simone Biles, like sometimes you just can’t do what you can do like and and I just have empathy for when things go really poorly. And also ask a lot of questions of my boyfriend about like why do we like this guy? Why is he so great? Because sometimes it’s about personality. I’ I’ve realized a lot of athletes, people love them because they’re just great guys and it’s what they say off the field and also really I don’t know the athletes I’ve known I um I’m always interested what they’re going to do next because it is such a short lifespan and you got to have plans for what happens when you age out of it. And I think it’s so great that so many of these guys have been able to go into podcasting or you know broadcasting and stuff like that. But it’s it’s like I I have a lot of I’m glad that my career it there is an age limit. Like it gets harder when you get older because people don’t like to watch old women on TV. But um but you can find a space for it. But it’s I I have a lot of empathy for athletes. But I feel like you could be the Taylor Swift comedians. You could just have a career that like Thank you. That’s what I’ve always wanted. Thank you so much. Even though she’s younger than me. Age is just a number. It is. It is. I wanted to ask that I’m focused on deeply. Yeah. You’re right. No matter how much many times we try to tell ourselves, it’s just a number. It’s just a number that Yeah. keeps going up every year. Yeah. I wanted to ask as well about um two organizations that I know are close to your heart because a portion of each theme ticket sold on Nikki Glazer Day is going to be donated to the Stray Rescue of St. Louis and the St. um Lewis Aven Rescue. So, why are you passionate about those organizations and and how did you originally find out about them? Well, you know, I I got two rescue dogs about 10 years ago and then I’ve gotten two more since then in the past uh year. I just actually was fostering this summer and then today was the day that we said we want to adopt him. And so I just, you know, working with these organizations, um going in and seeing what they deal with, what they see, if you even go on like the the stray rescue uh Instagram and just see kind of like the horrible situations they’re going into and pulling these animals out of. I mean, it’s great that we rescue and we uh adopt and we foster these animals, but these people that are on like the front lines of it are seeing some really grim stuff. And it takes a really strong person just psychologically to go in there and do that and to have such a huge heart to love animals that much to have to witness these animals in these conditions and and to keep doing it because it’s never ending. You know, it’s not like they just solve the problem of, you know, these breeders or whatever’s going on. It’s just it’s every day there’s a new case that they have to go in and find these puppies that were abandoned and it’s just I just my heart goes out to people that already have such big hearts for animals and then their heart gets broken over and over again at what they witness and so I just think I just want I just want to give them everything. I’m always um I’m just I’m a vegan. I love animals. And then um aven rescue not many people think about you know cats and dogs and that’s great but then there’s a whole other side of there’s like lots of birds that are adopted and birds live parrots live forever so people get them as like Christmas gifts because they seem oh there was a cartoon cockatu in this movie and my kids liked it so they get a cockatu they live like 75 years and so the kids go to college and they just don’t know what to do with this thing. It kind it bites people because it’s not they’re not really domesticated. They’re not supposed to be in cages. And so there’s a lot of birds that are just abandoned. And so, and I love birds so much. And so when I found that there was a local rescue for birds that are just really grassroots, like out of their they’re just like having cages in their in their houses. You go over to this rescue and it’s in someone’s house, I was just really um inspired by the work that they do because it’s really hard and not a lot of people care about birds because they’re just like, you don’t think about birds when you think about animal rescue. So I love Star Rescue St. Louis Aven Rescue. And so I’m just so happy that they’re getting some Cashola today. Well, at the Cardinals, we definitely care about birds. So Yes. Exactly. Yes. I think that’s where you got Fred Bird. Exactly. Was the alien rescue. He was found in a hoarder’s house. Yeah. He doesn’t like to talk about it. No, it’s Yeah. Yeah. He has to process that trauma someday, but until then, he’s just going to keep smiling and waving. Well, thank you so much for shedding a spotlight on that and thank you so much for representing St. Louis on the national stage. It was such a joy. Thank you so much. I will. It’s so
Comedian Nikki Glaser dishes on sports, the competitive nature of professional comedy, and the nerves of throwing out a first pitch in an exclusive sit-down interview with Cardinals Insider during her Busch Stadium visit in September 2025.
