Photo: Comedy Central
Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer are not content to walk on stage.
(That wouldn't be any fun, they explain.) When the comedians and pot enthusiasts perform, they like to make an entrance. Jacobson and Glazer proved their commitment to showmanship at the inaugural stop on the Broad City: Live tour in Cambridge, Massachusetts earlier this week. To celebrate the occasion, the two burst out from behind thick black curtains, ran up to face the audience, and danced until both gasped for air.
“This is the portion of the show where we catch our breath,” Glazer said, panting. But the truth is neither she nor Jacobson has much time to breathe deep right now.
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The on-screen partners and avowed best friends created, write, and star in Broad City, which debuted on Comedy Central in January. Like so much that is good and weird in this millennial age, the cultish program is not native to the network. It got started on the web.
Almost five years ago, Jacobson and Glazer dreamed up Broad City and aired episodes of the project on YouTube. As the mythic story goes, Amy Poehler loved the already popular shorts so much that she agreed to executive produce a television adaptation of the madcap series. Her involvement did not invent the Broad City brand of brilliant absurdity. But it gave the funny girls the means to spread the gospel…and a very busy schedule.
Photo: Comedy Central
On Broad City, Abbi and Ilana hang out, hate gum, and transform colorful briefs into brilliant sartorial statements. In Cambridge, the pair premiered a clip from the first episode of the show’s hotly anticipated second season, which returns to Comedy Central in January. As it turns out, Abbi spends so much time in Bed, Bath & Beyond that she has developed secret handshakes with store staffers: “I have a cutting board with your name on it,” one tells her excitedly. In real life—“IRL,” as Glazer is so fond of saying, they are no longer quite so aimless.
“I just don’t have the time—nor the attention span at this point, honestly,” Glazer quipped. “I’ve developed ADHD from all the screens that are in my face all the time.”
But despite their mounting responsibilities and rising star status, Jacobson and Glazer have somehow managed to retain the boundless energy that most of us lose in kindergarten.
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On Tuesday, the duo hardly ever stood still.
Jacobson rolled around on the floor and hurdled herself and her phone into the audience, explaining that she had resolved to take pictures of as many attendees as possible.
Glazer circled her arms like a human windmill, fiddled with her microphone, and shimmied her hips to the tune of “The Circle of Life” for 33 mesmerizing seconds. “What?” she demanded, looking at Jacobson. “I have to keep our friends entertained!”
Later, Glazer offered a series of “micro-impressions” so brief you barely had time to laugh: Alanis Morissette, Beyoncé, Lil Wayne, “a Jewish seal—basically Abbi,” Nicki Minaj ordering at a diner. “NotomatoesI’mallergiccanIgetpicklesonthesiiiiiiiidee?”
At one point, she and Jacobson disappeared entirely. When they emerged again, they were wearing rollerblades and brandishing multicolored ribbons. A man in the front row took one hard look at them and laughed so hard he cried.
Like its televised counterpart, Broad City: Live is not all lights and cameras and airbrushed perfection. It's less polished and more fun. It's hard to decide whether it feels more like an afternoon with your closest friends or how an epic night with Miley Cyrus could end up.
On the one hand, Jacobson and Glazer wear jeans and ripped tops like normal people, and you can't stop smiling because there's nowhere else in the world you would rather be. On the other, Glazer has cultivated a definite talent for twerking, and there are two giant inflatable birthday cakes on stage, which no one explains.
The good news is none of it needs to make sense. At least not all the time.
“Just remember,” Glazer reminded the crowd in her squeakiest baby voice. “No matter what happens, it’s all part of the show.”
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