Nicole Byer
EATING WITH
Whatdidyoueatwhilegrowingup
inNewJersey?Mymotherusedto
makemacaroniandcheeseandit’smy
favouritetothisday.Weonlygotit at
Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.Didn’tyouwaittablesearlyinyourcareer?
I waitedtablesat anIndianrestaurant
thathada performancespace.Sometimes
there’dbedragshows, sometimes there’d
be comedy shows.Wasn’tit onGordon
Ramsay’sKitchen
Nightmares?It was.
Myoldroommate
is in the episode.Didit deservetobe
ontheshow?Yeah,it
wasoneofthemost
disgustingrestaurants
I’veeverbeenin.It was
sogross.You’dpullapartthecoffee
machineandcockroacheswouldcrawl
out.Thecookswoulddropfoodonthe
floor,putit backontheplateandsend
it right out. It has since closed.Whatinspiredyoutotakeupcomedy?
I’vealwayslikeddoingcomedy,but
watchingdudestalkterriblyabout
women,I waslike,“oh,I thinkI’m
funnyenoughtobeona stageaswell.”
I starteddoingimprovfirstand then
found my way to stand-up.Wasthereanearlygigthatyoucelebrated
ina memorableway?Notreally.Most
ofcomedyis,“Wehada badshow,
let’s drink.” You kind of drink a lot.Somecomediansfindthattheirworkcanhelpthem
throughtragedies.Is thissomethingyoucanrelateto?
Yes.I starteddoingimprovwhenmydaddied,soit
wasnicetothink,“okay,forthreehoursa week,I don’t
havetobemeandI don’thavetodealwiththis. I can
go improvise and pretend to be a whale.”Didyoushareonelastgoodmealwithyourdad?The
daybeforehedied,weatepizza.Heboughtminced
beef,becauseI likemincedbeefthewayhemadeit
on pizza. It was a nice night, it was really sweet.Whathasbeena highlightofyourcomedy
careersofar?Sellingoutis cooland
wonderful.InPortland,I didseven
sold-outshows.InDC,I didsixsold-out
shows.Wheneveryoudoa sold-outshow
orweekend,youfeelreallyaccomplished.
It hasn’tallbeeninvain.Youeatshita lot
duringyourcareerandwhenyou do six
sold-out shows you feel great.Dealingwithhecklersis a commonwhen
you’rea comedian.I hearyouhadtoputupwitha guy
yellingaboutchickenrecently?Peoplearealwaysscreaming
at me.I thinkhethoughtI said“realchicken”,butI said
“grilledchicken”.Andhewaslike,“allchicken’sreal
chicken”.ThenI realisedhewasreallydrunk,andI told
himhehadtoleave.Hewaswearinga Christmassweater
thathada pocketforhisbeer.SoI said,“standup,let’s
seeyoursweater.”Sohestoodup,hetwirledaround.
And I said, “perfect, you’re standing. Now get out!”OnNailedIt!, theNetflixbakingshowthatyoujudge,you’ve
seenmanyspectacularcakefails.Whathavebeensome
memorabledisasters?Therewasanepisodecalled“Nicole
at thePole”,wherethecontestantshadtomakecakes
withmeonthem;a womannamedLynettemadethe
grossest-lookingthing.A manputsaltinthecakeinstead
ofsugar,thatwasprettyawfultohaveinmymouth.A
lot of the things that people make are truly outstanding.A manput saltin
the cakeinstead
ofsugar,that was
prettyawfulto
have in my mouth.ThecomedianandNailedIt!hostondealingwith
hecklers,bakingfailsandworkingata restaurant
that featured onRamsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.
36 GOURMET TRAVELLER