Nicole Byer's harrowing experience with racism in comedy club

Comedian Nicole Byer shared a disturbing experience with racist hecklers during a past show in Appleton, Wisconsin, on Jesse Tyler Ferguson's Dinner's on Me podcast.

Byer described the atmosphere as having "bad vibes" and recounted a specific incident where an audience member yelled, "Smile, we can't see you" at her Black feature act, prompting her to respond, "What the f**k?"

Byer expressed her discomfort and hatred for the experience, saying, "I really hated it there... The vibes fucking sucked."

Byer said she then “walked out on the floor” and asked a server, “You’re not going to say anything?” and the employee responded, “What?”

“I was like, ‘Oh my God,'” the Nailed It! host said. After the event concluded, she refused to do meet-and-greets, despite the fact they had been sold with the tickets.

“I told my agent, ‘I’m just not meeting these people. I’m sure that there’s nice people in this crowd, but overall garbage. Bad people, bad vibes.’ I couldn’t believe that man said that.”

The comedian continued by saying that there were "no repercussions," which was the worst aspect of the encounter.

“It just blew my mind,” she said, adding that it made the event feel “scary.”

Later on, she heard from a friend about Appleton's past as a "sundown town," a term used to describe communities that upheld anti-Black segregation policies even after legislation enforcing such policies was repealed.

She was convinced after the incident and the ensuing realisation that "I will never go back to Appleton, Wisconsin."