Categories: Comedy

Just for Laughs 2014 – Nikki Glaser was both sweet and filthy at her Off-JFL show

Nikki Glaser @ Katacombes for OFF-JFL, July 21, 2014. Photo by Gabriel Sigler.

Nikki Glaser
July 21 @ Katacombes

Nikki Glaser, co-host of the popular You Had To Be There podcast, has a refreshingly frank take on sex and relationships, which provided the foundation for her great headlining set.
Now 30, Glaser touched on the challenges of maintaining relationships in the digital age, including the benefits of chatting up weirdos on OK Cupid, and her new-found appreciation of the “reluctant porn” sub-genre, which led to a great riff on the increasingly verbose porn industry.

Like Sara Silverman, Glaser has a casual way of delivering the filthiest material with a straight-faced innocence, a potent combination that culminated in a 3-minute treatise on ball sweat, as well as a rant about how proponents of “finger blasting” should take some notes from playing a few rounds of Fruit Ninja.

Nikki Glaser @ Katacombes for OFF-JFL, July 21, 2014. Photo by Gabriel Sigler.

She doesn’t shy away from discussing her depression, which adds some emotional weight to her performance, and displays a type of fearlessness that is rare in today’s current crop of comedians. The crowd was with her all the way, especially on an extended bit about how she wishes she could be more self-righteous about the fact that she barely reads anything other than TMZ.

Opener Sabrina Jalees more than held her own, discussing meeting her wife’s Republican parents for the first-time, and going on a hunting expedition with her new gun-toting father-in-law. Bursting with energy, the audience immediately connected with her, and was compeltley on-board for her short set. Definitely keep an eye out for Jalees – she may just be the breakout star of this year’s festival.

Nikki Glaser performs July 21-26 @ Katacombes, 1635 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, 9:00pm. Tickets are $20, and can be purchased at the official Just For Laughs site.

Gabriel Sigler