Comedian Nicole Byer is bringing her tour to New York City for the New York Comedy Festival.
Byer will be bringing her new one-hour act to the famed Apollo Theater on Nov. 10.
“I’m very excited because I’m playing the Apollo. The Apollo is f–king historical, it’s a huge deal,” said Byer. “New York is always going to be my home even though I live in LA. I’ve never played the Apollo before. I lived in Harlem for a long time, I would walk past the Apollo. It’s world f–king famous and it’s really cool.”
Originally from New Jersey, Byer got her start in comedy in New York City. She became a cast member of the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) in 2008, where she really started to hone her craft.
“I’ve never really been good at anything else. When I worked in retail or when I was waitressing, I would make people laugh. People have always said I was funny,” said Byer. “I was in New York and I just found UCB and then I was like, oh,this is what I’m good at and this is what I wanna do.”
Byer has since become well known as the host of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated competition baking series “Nailed It!” and has also been co-hosting TBS’ “Wipeout” alongside John Cena and starring in NBC’s comedy series “Grand Crew.” She was also featured in the MTV series “Girl Code,” and continues to do standup throughout the country.
She is also the host of five podcasts, including the popular podcast “Why Won’t You Date Me?” where Byer talks to friends and guests about their love lives while trying to get to the bottom of why she’s still single.
“It is a lot, but I’m very lucky that I like everything that I do. It is work, yeah I do complain because that’s life, but at the end of the day, I get to have a lot of fun with a lot of different, really funny, incredible people,” said Byer. “I have an incredible assistant named Lindsay, who helps with my scheduling. Before I was scheduling all of this myself — touring, working, writing —that was really overwhelming. But now that I have sent help, it’s a lot easier. At the end of the day, I really love what I’m doing so it doesn’t feel like wild that I do it all.”
Her experiences in her other projects do sometimes bleed into her comedy, and so do bits of her personal life. But there are certain things that Byer often keeps off the stage.
“I have a ton of stuff that I keep very, very personal and private. I think it’s really important to have things for yourself and have things that are just for you,” said Byer. “I learned that not too long ago, but I was like, oh, yeah, I don’t have to share absolutely everything, but I do share the stuff that I think people would relate to and stuff that isn’t super important to me.”
That said, there are some things that Byer is willing to share, and she’ll be bringing them to the stage. Those who come by the for show can expect to have a good time, Byer says, and not have to worry about themselves or their lives.
“I think [the audience] can expect to have a really nice time and, for like an hour and a half, not think about the sh-t that’s going on in their life,” said Byer. “I talk about like love and relationships and things that have happened to me over the last like year or so. I really proud of this hour and I’m really excited to share it with people.”
You can follow Byer on Instagram @nicolebyer. For more information or to buy tickets to the show, visit apollotheater.org.
