Comedian Nicole Byer Shares Her To-do List When Visiting a New City — Pole Dancing Class and Local Restaurants Included

Whenever comedian Nicole Byer travels to Vancouver, there’s one thing she’s always focused on: the traffic signals. “The walking man looks like he’s waving at you,” she told Travel + Leisure in a Zoom interview. “He looks so happy — and I genuinely love that.” 

Before she started stand-up, Byer visited the Canadian city frequently with her best friend, Saturday Night Live alum and Home Economics star Sasheer Zamata, for the Vancouver International Improv Festival. “I love the city in the spring — it’s so pretty,” she added.

These days, the New Jersey-born host of Netflix’s Nailed It is constantly on the road for shows, and especially loves her visits north of the border. “Everyone’s so friendly, they’ve got health care, and they seem nice,” she said. “Honestly, I think we’re just a little jealous of Canada.” 

So the 37-year-old has teamed up with Destination Canada for a "Canadian Crash Course," schooling travelers in how to “fall face-first into winter in Canada,” all with the playful spirit of her fearless-style of humor. 

Case in point: How to lean into ski culture, no matter your skill level.

“If you're athletic, hit the slopes, and if you're not, stay inside, wear something really cute and sit near a door that's opening and closing,” Byer said. “You get the cold, but you can have a hot chocolate, maybe with a little Bailey’s in it. It’s a good time for everyone.” 

Those who complete her comedic four-part course by Dec. 29, 2023, can put their learnings to the test with a quiz in order to enter a contest to win one of 50 roundtrip flights to Canada this winter. (Complete details are available on Destination Canada’s site.) 

Byer has toured the country, often for Canada’s iconic Just for Laughs festival shows (catch her at the JFL Festival in Vancouver in February 2024 along with Bill Burr, Ronny Chieng, and Wanda Sykes). One recent standout stage moment was doing crowd work in Toronto with “one of the most fun audiences I’d had in a long time.” 

When she’s off duty, the comedian takes her curious spirit to truly understand the personality of each city. 

“My favorite thing is to learn from each what the locals eat,” she said, enjoying the “really great French food,” including poutine, in Quebec. She also looks for vintage and thrift shops, with one of her all-time favorites was in Edmonton. “I left like this fabulous fat lady died and her family donated all her stuff because they had everything in my size,” she said.

Byer also has a unique way of diving into each local scene. “When I’m in a city for a weekend, I’ll find a pole dancing studio,” she says. “It’s fun to see how different areas do their classes.”

Always traveling does have its challenges, but she has figured out hacks. “I do not like packing,” she says. “So I always have my bags packed already — living is adapting to the world.” 

The company she keeps on the road is also crucial. If she’s alone, she prefers plane trips, but loves spending quality time on road trips when it’s with “a really fun friend.”

Coming off the recent success of the Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell movie Good Burger 2, streaming on Paramount +, how would her costars fare? “Kenan would be a very good travel buddy,” she said. “He’d be very low-key and down to do stuff. But Kel would be the leader and be like ‘We’ve got to do this now.’ And Jillian Bell is just a nice time — she’s so fun!”

So in her own travels, where does she go for a true good burger? “Au Cheval in New York City was incredible,” she says. “And their Caesar salad was good too. I was like, ‘Is this what getting old is? Marveling at a Caesar salad?’ But it was so good!”