Nikki Glaser's Real Name: Nikki Glaser

Quick answer: Nikki Glaser performs under her own name. She was born on June 1, 1984, in Cincinnati, to EJ and Julie Glaser, and she grew up in the St. Louis area. She became known for celebrity roasts, especially Netflix's The Roast of Tom Brady (2024). She has hosted the Golden Globe Awards, and her stand-up specials have earned Emmy nominations (People; Biography.com).

Real name and early life

People reports that Nikki and her sister Lauren were born 18 months apart in Cincinnati before the family moved to St. Louis. TV Insider also gives her birthplace as Cincinnati in 1984. Nikki is commonly a short form of Nicole. A full first and middle name circulates in online databases, but it is not documented in the reference sources used here, so this page uses her public name.

Biography.com says she graduated from Kirkwood High School in 2002 and attended the University of Kansas. She often drove to Kansas City to perform stand-up there. She graduated in 2006 with a degree in English literature, partly to honor her parents' wishes.

Career highlights

In January 2009, while working temp jobs, Glaser got a same-day call to perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno when a guest dropped out. Biography.com says she had to relearn a two-year-old set in minutes, and the appearance boosted her career. She went on to Last Comic Standing, Conan, and Comedy Central's @midnight. With Sara Schaefer she co-hosted the podcast You Had to Be There (2011–13), which led to MTV's Nikki & Sara Live! (2013). She made her film debut in Amy Schumer's Trainwreck (2015) and then headlined Comedy Central's Not Safe with Nikki Glaser (2016).

She became known for sharp sets at celebrity roasts, including those of Rob Lowe and Bruce Willis. Her 2024 set at Netflix's The Roast of Tom Brady went viral. She competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2018 and finished third as "Snowstorm" on The Masked Singer in 2022. She hosted HBO Max's dating show FBoy Island and its spinoff Lovers and Liars.

Biography.com notes that she hosted the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in January 2025. At those awards, her HBO special Someday You'll Die was nominated for best performance in stand-up comedy. The Television Academy lists Emmy nominations for Someday You'll Die (2024) and, in 2026, for hosting the 83rd Golden Globes and for her special Nikki Glaser: Good Girl, both as performer and writer.

Name notes for searchers

Glaser is her family surname. She has used the name Nikki Glaser throughout her career in stand-up, television, and podcasting. Her younger sister, Lauren Glaser, was born in 1986.