Sasheer Zamata: I’m so excited to talk to you about your amazing special. I was there in person. You frigging crushed. I’m a proud papa. I’m so happy for you. Did you pick a name? What is it called?
Nicole Byer: It’s Nicole Byer BBW: Big, Beautiful Weirdo.
SZ: Oh, I like that.
NB: Well, you essentially named it. You said it should be a play on “BBW.”
SZ: I did say that.
NB: Which is traditionally a big, beautiful woman. If you’re not in the know of what they named fat-lady porn, that’s what it is.
SZ: Oh, I thought it was a big black woman in porn.
NB: No, big, beautiful woman, because you can’t discriminate against the white fat, the Puerto Rican fat, the Asian fat.
SZ: Well good. I like that it’s weird because that is you. (laughter)
NB: Yes, she’s a little weird.
SZ: I looked through my texts to find other name options that we had gone back and forth on, and there was that long one that was like Big Bold Bodacious Brave Brassy Beautiful Bossy Black Bitch. (laughter)
NB: Yes. I still like it, but I do see everyone’s concern. It is the longest name.
SZ: It is the longest and that’s not... You’ve got to have something catchy because if people try to type it in, they’re like, “Wait, does it start with ‘Big,’ or does it start with ‘Bodacious’?”
NB: Oh, when you said BBW I immediately was like, “What? Big, black waffle?”
SZ: You did say that and I lost my mind. I was like, “I guess, yes. I guess it has to be a big, black waffle.”
NB: Naming things is hard.
SZ: It is hard because then it’s like that’s what it’s called and what if you hate that name, but it’s forever called that thing?
NB: I know. That’s how people end up with dumb names like... Oh, I don’t want to call someone’s name dumb. Okay, Brenda. Actually, I’m Brenda enough. You get a baby you name her Brenda?
SZ: Yes, like a toddler named Brenda. Get out of here.
NB: Get out of here fucking Brenda.
SZ: Although Brenda is a good name for a special. I don’t know why.
NB: It is. “Nicole Byer is Brenda.”
SZ: That could be your next one.
NB: It could be like, “What does that mean?”
SZ: You never address it in the special at all. It never comes up. It’s not a joke, it’s just “Nicole Byer is Brenda.”
NB: I’m now Brenda. That’s my stage name.
SZ: Oh my God. That’s your Sasha Fierce?
NB: Yes, my sassy alter ego’s name is Brenda.
SZ: It’s weird for me to ask you questions because I know everything about you and your special, but what was something that you were the most anxious about leading up to the taping?
NB: Oh boy. Everything, because you were literally with me as I tried to pack my bags incorrectly. Instead of bringing a suitcase upstairs I just brought items downstairs and was packing and then being like, “Oh I forgot something upstairs.” It was very dumb.
SZ: Yes, of course. What was something that you were the most excited about?
NB: I think I was the most excited about not getting it over with, but finishing the first show, because after the first show was done, I knew I could just have fun on the second show. It’s taped, there’s a special, but the second show was for me. I also was excited to put the whole outfit together because I had done fittings but I hadn’t put the hair on, I hadn’t had the makeup on, the shoes, and just seeing everything come together, even the stage was fun too—I was just really excited to tape it.
SZ: How much thought went into the look of it all? Your look and the stage.
NB: I was asked, “What do you want to wear?” I have a stylist, Marko Monroe, who is honestly so wonderful. He is so smart, he knows references. I sent him a bunch of Instagram inspiration just for what I like to look like in general. He’s like, “What are you thinking about this special?” I was like, “Well, I want to be in a suit, but not a boring suit that any old person could have, and purple.” He was like, “Got it.” What we came up with was a purple suit that was bell bottoms with a gold chain, and a leopard-print crop topbecause you got to be brave and show that belly. Then my hair is half up, half down like a Barbie doll from the eighties. I just wanted to be like an eighties business Barbie and I hink I achieved that. Then for the stage I knew I wanted deep purples and fuchsias, and then there was a little pushback. It was like, “But you’re in a purple suit.” And I was like, “Yes.” They were like, “Oh monochromatic.” He was like, “No. The suit will be lighter than the stage. I promise you the suit will pop and so will the backdrop.” And it really did. It looks really pretty.
SZ: It looks so pretty. I don’t think I know anyone who loves purple like you love purple.
NB: It’s a good color. How can you not smile when you see purple? Barney is purple. Barney’s fun. Grimace, he’s a milkshake monster. He’s purple. How do you not smile when you see Grimace?
SZ: What’s that Teletubby’s name?
NB: Tinky-Winky. He’s the best. He’s the only one whose name you know.
SZ: And he has a purse. I mean, that’s a fashionable Teletubby.
NB: Yes. The purple Teletubby Tinky-Winky is the most fabulous, the most fashionable, the most well-known because he’s purple.
SZ: Yes. Now that this hour of material is cemented in time, are there going to be any jokes that you told that you’re going to miss telling?
NB: Yes. There’s going to be a bunch of jokes that I miss telling. My closer, I’ll miss; my opener, I’ll miss. There’s a lot of stuff that got added towards the end because I did two or three weekends of shows to prepare for the special and I just added some stuff here and there that I was like, “I’m not going to get to tour with that and really play with it.” I’ve played with it enough, but I have a throwaway Kelly Clarkson line that really makes me laugh. I’ll miss doing that.
SZ: Yes. I think that also happens after any taping where you finish it and then a week later, it’s like, “Oh, here’s another tag I could’ve added to that, or here’s something I didn’t even think of.” That’s what happened to me.
NB: Yes, that happened to me too. I was like, “Oh, I could’ve done this. Oh, I could’ve done that.” Also, can I tell you? I have to cut so much.
SZ: Because it’s too long?
NB: It’s too long. I have already cut four minutes of it. I lost a whole joke, and it still clocked it at one hour, nine minutes.
SZ: Dang. That’s a good problem. It’s better to have too much than too little.
NB: Yes. That’s how I feel about my life. I’m too much, but that’s okay.
SZ: It’s okay, and I’m too little. Then I just stand next to you, so I can get some of your energy.
NB: Is that why we’re friends? You’re leeching off of my energy?
SZ: I’m not leeching. I’m just a succubus absorbing any remnants of your energy. No, that’s not true.
NB: That’s okay. I’ll share with you.
SZ: Thank you so much.
NB: You texted me and I never texted you back. I’m really sorry.
SZ: Hey, it’s okay. I texted Nicole, “Is there anything you want to talk about in your interview?” and didn’t get a response. But here we are?
NB: Sorry. I just knew you could handle it.
SZ: Or you didn’t read the text, but that’s okay.
NB: It’s the latter.
SZ: I’m going to miss your—I don’t even know if you’re going to include it or not, but there was an encore joke that you said after you finished the special.
NB: I really would love to add it. I don’t know if it will be added because it’s already running long. Tonight, I need to rewatch it and carve into it a little bit more, but I do love that joke.
SZ: Yes. If it doesn’t make it in, you get to still do it and I get to keep laughing in the back. I feel like you do a really good job in your material of addressing important topics, but also keeping it silly. How do you figure that out when you’re writing your material?
NB: Anytime it’s like a hot-button topic, I have a point of view on it. Is there race stuff in the special? Yes, there is. The race stuff I talk about is stuff that happened to me. It’s like talking to friends. You talk to a friend about something that really bothered you, but then you’re a comic and we joke about it back and forth and then you find the levity and you’re like, “Yes, I can make that situation funny.” The first joke I ever wrote was about my dead parents.
SZ: What was that? I don’t know if I remember that.
NB: Yes. “A bunch of my friends are at the age where they’re moving back in with their parents after college, but I can’t move back in with my parents because graveyards have a curfew.” Then the second one is, “I started doing improv and my dad was finally okay with me becoming an actress. I invited him to come to my graduation show, but he died, because he’d rather be dead than see his daughter do object work.” Let me tell you, people don’t like those jokes.
SZ: They’re very well-written jokes. You got to write what you know.
NB: Then you and I know dead parents.
SZ: Is there anything off-limits in your material?
NB: Super traumatic things that have not happened to me. I used to have a domestic-violence joke that I would tell, and I told it at a college. A couple people got angry. I was like, “I don’t have experience with that so that’s out of my wheelhouse.” I don’t know how to find levity in something I’ve never really experienced.
SZ: That’s a good rule for all performers. How often do you want to release more specials? Do you want to do a special-a-year model that some comics do, or do it whenever you feel like it?
NB: I personally don’t want to do one a year. If I released a special next year it would just be all new material and I don’t know if it would have had the time to breathe. Every two years is good, three maybe. I’ll just know when the material’s there and it’s better than the last one. I’m just trying to grow.
SZ: Are there any stand-up-special clichés that you try to avoid?
NB: I don’t want to shit on anybody who made these choices, but I don’t love a lit-up name behind you. A red curtain was not for me, I didn’t want red.
SZ: I noticed you didn’t walk down the streets of New York City and walk into the back door of the theatre.
NB: No, I didn’t want that. I didn’t want any backstage shots of the theatre. You know what you’re watching and if everything comes together, my opening will be something that people have never seen before.
SZ: I hope it comes together. You’re going to go on tour pretty soon. Do you feel excited to try new material?
NB: I do, but also, I have not had any time to write. But I’m pretty decent under pressure, so I’m excited. It’s a work in progress and I hope people understand that. They probably won’t.
SZ: How much do you rely on the audience to help you figure out a new joke?
NB: If they laugh at the premise then I’m like, “Okay, this has a little bit of legs.” If they don’t really laugh at the premise, I’m like, “Okay, they’re not into it now, but maybe they’ll get into it as I get into the joke.” Then if they really just don’t like it, I go, “Okay, maybe that was bad. Maybe I’ll try again.” I don’t want to say I do that to an audience, but I’m performing for an audience. If they don’t like the premise, I have to figure out why.
SZ: I like that. They shouldn’t dictate your whole act.
NB: There’s a couple moments in this where I tell the audience that they’re wrong.
SZ: Sometimes they’re wrong. Do you have a joke where you’re like, this plays different all the time. Depending on where I’m at in the country or where I put it in the show, it’s a different response?
NB: The Black Lives Matter joke when it is all white people, not great. Also, I have more fun with all white people because they get real fucking tight.
SZ: I was going to ask what city is your favorite city to perform in?
NB: I love New York, I love Portland, Austin is fun. Honestly, Oklahoma City and Indianapolis are two of my favorite weekends to play.
SZ: Indianapolis was very, very fun.
NB: Fucking killer. I loved it.
SZ: My hometown.
NB: Your people came out in droves. What’s your favorite city to play?
SZ: I would say D.C. and New York City; Austin, Texas. Those places. I like big cities.
NB: We’re city girls.
SZ: I’m a city girl. I like the coastal elite unless you’re in Texas.
NB: We’re in a bubble, baby.
SZ: Love being in that bubble. You mentioned before that, I don’t know if it’s going to be your next special or a future one, but that you’re dying to do a cabaret show?
NB: Yes, I would really like to do a cabaret show. I just sing songs poorly and we don’t address it and everyone gives me a standing ovation because they’re like, “She tried.” I don’t know if I’ll actually do it because I think it’s a lot of work. Maybe I will.
SZ: I don’t see why not.
NB: It sounds funny, but honestly I really have not gotten past two bits in it.
SZ: Why don’t you start with a short video and then, if you like doing it, you can build it up to an hour?
NB: That is a good idea, friend. You’re always good at just bringing me good ideas. Where are we getting dinner tonight?
SZ: Oh, yes, did we agree on that? You sent me two options.
NB: No, I sent you eight options. Should we just go to Little Dom’s?
SZ: No, you said we’re going to try something new.
NB: Okay. Well, look at the options I gave you.
SZ: I liked both of them.
NB: Boy, this is just going to be an ongoing thing for the rest of our days.
SZ: I know. We’ll keep trying to find other places and we’ll consistently go to Little Dom’s.
NB: I mean, it’s tasty, it’s beautiful. I love it. I love rice balls.
SZ: A rice ball’s good. This interview’s been brought to you by Zoom and Little Dom’s.
NB: Let’s zoom on over to Little Dom’s and get a rice ball.
