Nicole Byer is a rising star in the comedy scene, capturing the heart of audiences on MTV’s “Girl Code” and flexing her improvisation skills as a part of the comedy group Doppleganger.
She came to the Russell House Theatre on Tuesday night as part of a Carolina Productions comedy show and joked frankly about sexual ambiguity, couples therapy and how children learn about sex.
USC’s own improv group, Toast, opened with a hilarious act that lead up nicely to the headliners.
Doppelganger, which consists of actress-comedienne-producer Keisha Zollar, Byer and Saturday Night Live player Sasheer Zamata, has been performing nationwide since 2010.
After pulling an audience member on stage to talk, the group was based around the student’s childhood memories of finding her brother’s bong, her misinterpretation of condoms and costume dress up with lingerie.
Even though Doppelganger has definitely hit its stride in improv comedy, its members admitted they didn’t always expect to perform as comedians. In fact, Zollar said she originally aspired to be a doctor.
While women getting a start in comedy may seem out of reach, Byer offered a little bit of advice.
“Do it every night. Do it as much as possible. If someone tells you no, someone else will say yes. And you ARE funny,” she said.
Inspired by Whoopi Goldberg, Byer struck comedic fame when she auditioned and got the part for “Girl Code.”
After 150 different topics throughout the different episodes of “Girl Code,” Nicole admitted her favorite ones are the raunchy ones.
“I liked d—-,” Nicole said. “Not a lot of my sound bites made it into that one.”
While Doppelganger tours together, they do more than just college shows. “Pursuit of Sexiness” was a Web series created by Zamata and Byer about their lives as “broke, single and (adorably) self-absorbed.”
All three of the comediennes have hit fame recently, and Byer explained that even though she’s active on social media, she feels bad about not being more social.
“I like when people tweet at me and I always favorite them,” she said. “I do read them; I just don’t have time to respond to ‘Do you like my hair?’ I don’t know. I don’t care.”
With the members of Doppelganger pursuing different careers and living across the country, the group won’t be able to perform as much as it normally does. But Doppelganger is still a group of girls having fun while making crowds — and each other — laugh.
And as for Byer’s personal code? “Live your best life. Don’t be a basic b——.”