
Comedian Niles Abston has been steadily making a name for himself as one to watch.
His debut special, GIRLS DON'T TWERK TO JOKES, was filmed on February 15, 2020 in front of 100-plus people at a house in Van Nuys, CA. Overflowing with a sharp wit, it was not just his first special, but also the first hour of comedy heād ever performed. Just days later, he came to Portland as part of the 2020 NW Black Comedy Festival and was one of the Mercuryās picks to see. Two weeks later, the nation went into quarantine.
From that time of isolation, the comedian has emerged with his sights set on big things. Abston is now a headlining act whoās taking new material and his new podcast on the road. Based out of Hollywood, he'll be making a stop again in Portland this Thursday, and is also performing in Seattle for the first time before heading to Brooklyn for his own comedy festival that he is calling Basementfest.
The Mercury recently spoke with Abston over the phone about coming out of quarantine to tour, his now-viral joke targeting Dave Chappelle, and whatās coming next for him.
We lightly edited this interview for length and clarity.
MERCURY: What has it been like seeing the response to your debut special?
Abston: Itās been really dope. A lot of people like it. I was 24 when I shot it, Iām 26 now, because it was literally the day before my 25th birthday back in February of 2020. So it was really before the pandemic.
I donāt even think about it anymore, and I honestly forget about some of the shit I even said on there so itās really funny when people discover it now and theyāre like āYo, this was hilarious!ā Iām like āthat was a whole other person ago.ā
But itās really cool, the response Iāve gotten from it. Whenever something goes viral on the internet, people flock to it and find it. As of this week, Iāve gotten a lot of traction from it, so itās been fun.
Is it your style to have it be that you finish a special and move on to all new material?
Yeah, thatās what Iāve been doing. Just working on all new stuff, putting this new set together. Itās then just really funny for people to discover the old special and then come see me live then say āOh, you didnāt say anything you said on there.ā Like yeah, thatās because that was forever ago.
I wanted to ask you about going viral while also only asking one Dave Chappelle-related question as youāre your own comedian. The clip you posted on Twitter about making jokes about trans people without offending anyoneāhow did you come to write that?
no seinfeld episode has ever started off this good pic.twitter.com/vwTEqwgKaR
ā š PDX (11/4) š SEATTLE (11/6) (@NILES100) October 25, 2021
I wrote that joke like two, three weeks ago. I was just really high and laughing about the whole situation. I even told someone āI really donāt think itās that hard, I bet I can think of one.ā I was literally just on shrooms, I dropped it in my group chat and everybody laughed so I was like āalright, Iām gonna say it on stage.ā
Then I was opening for Roy Wood Jr. at Fort Collins at the Comedy Fort. Itās a really nice new club in northern Colorado and they get really good video of all the comedians so they sent me the set tape. I was wondering if I should share this, so I posted it on Instagram to my close friendās stories.
Everybody that saw it thought it was really funnyāthen one of my favorite comedians, his name is Jay Jurden and heās just the best, he gave it a fire emoji. I was like āif Jay gave it a fire emoji, that must mean itās a good joke.ā
So I posted it and it just went crazy online, so Jay was right.
Now with an even more serious journalistic question, has the woman at the nail spa seen that joke?
Oh no, I donāt know [laughs]. Maybe, thatād be crazy. If some nail salons could reach out to me, maybe I could get some deals.
One of the things I read is that you first got into stand-up because you really wanted to make movies. Is that something you still want to do in your future?
Yeah, thatās all I wanted to do. Stand-up was bullshit [laughs]. I only did this because as a Black dude in the film industry itās very hard to navigate certain places. Whether thatās like being an assistant or an intern, who knows how long that could take. Even just getting that job, a lot of people can only do those jobs because they donāt have to pay rent, or their family has money and all this kind of shit.
I was just like āI canāt be an intern for eight years,ā so I just started doing stand-up to meet people and write. It just kind of formed into me actually liking it. But yeah, filmmaking is the reason I moved to LA., and Iām still doing it. I just directed my first short film this past year after somebody gave me the money to do it because they liked my special. We just submitted the short film to a couple festivals so hopefully we get in.
Whatās the short called?
Itās called Notice To Quit, and itās about two stoners that get an eviction notice. In California theyāre called āNotice To Quits.ā Basically they come up with a plan to blackmail their landlord so they donāt have to pay rent anymore.
When it comes to you traveling around, is it weird still being in the midst of the pandemic, or has it been refreshing to get back out there?
Itās funny, I got popular during the pandemic so I donāt know what touring outside of a pandemic is like [laughs]. So this is normal to me. But itās been really fun. A lot of people reached out to me online, so itās funny getting to actually meet them at these shows and take pictures with these people.
Is it surreal to come back through the Pacific Northwest in a totally different landscape both for yourself as a comedian and for the world?
So itās funny, I went to Portland two weeks before COVID hit. I shot my special on my birthday and then the next week I was in the NW Black Comedy Festival in Portland in February of 2020. I had a great time, I was there for about four or five days. Strip clubs were dope, the food was good, everybody was really nice, the weed was dope. So I havenāt been since like right before the pandemic.
Itās funnyāwhen I was there, I didnāt have any followers or anything like that. I had just shot this special that I didnāt know what I was going to do with yet. I didnāt even have a name for it yet and then now, two years later, to come back to Portland as a headliner on tour is pretty crazy. In fact, Iāve never even thought about that until now. Itās wild [laughs]. Yeah, Iām excited to come back to Portland but Iāve never been to Seattle so thatās something I also really excited about. Iām blessed.
Something Iāve seen you say is that you would want to be in a scene arguing with Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. What would you argue about with Larry if you could?
I feel like we would argue over food. Me and Larry could have a really funny argument over what tastes better. Like if certain restaurants serve certain shit, I feel like me and him could have a funny argument about that. His character is very much like heās the authority on everything that people enjoy, so if he doesnāt like something that means itās bad and Iām kind of the same way [laughs]. So I feel like we could have a funny argument about who serves better french fries somewhere or some shit like that.
In your last special you had a joke about Parasite. Is there anything youāve watched recently that was good that you are working into your act?
Iām working on some jokes about this one movie I liked recently, in fact I literally just watched it this morning before this interview, which is called Shiva Baby. Itās like my favorite movie right now, so Iāve worked on a couple jokes about that. Iām also working on a joke about the old Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, so weāll see if it works.
Do those jokes, Shiva Baby and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, work together?
No, theyāre a little bit spaced out [laughs].
You can see Niles Abston live at the Hawthorne Theater in Portland this Thursday, November 4, and in Seattle Saturday, November 6.