In an era when ironic and cynical humor reign supreme, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer are breathing life and honesty back into comedy with their new television show “Broad City.” They held a conference call Thursday with college newspapers from all around the country to talk about the show and its accompanying live tour.
“Broad City” chronicles the absurd misadventures of the dysfunctional duo, who play dramatized versions of themselves, as they stumble through life as broke 20-somethings living in New York City. While many comedies rely on caustic and sarcastic sensibilities to evoke laughter, Jacobson and Glazer play up their roles as good-hearted underdogs to make the best out of hairy and often bizarre situations.
“Being snarky and sarcastic has been ‘the thing’ in comedy for a while, but we’re definitely always sincere,” Glazer said.
In just five episodes, the characters have solicited dog Xanax from a veterinarian, purchased marijuana from children and cleaned a Craigslist pervert’s house in their underwear to earn money for tickets to a Lil Wayne concert. Jacobson said many of the scenes are exaggerated for dramatic effect, but most of them are based on real-life events she and Glazer have lived through.
“We have a spreadsheet where we keep track of all this stuff that’s happened to us, and even though a lot of it is dramatic, we want to do a good job of portraying our point of view of New York, and we stay pretty grounded,” Jacobson said.
While the show often uses the absurdities of physical humor to maximize its comedic output, it balances its outrageous characters with more subtle and nuanced wit. Glazer attributed this balance to the joke-writing skills she and Jacobson honed as members of the Upright Citizens’ Brigade, an improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles and New York City.
“We don’t have any kind of political agenda, but being balanced is one thing we consciously aim for, and it’s kind of like stand-up in that way. It’s like a conversation between you and the audience, and we’re responding to all the things the audience likes and laughs at,” Glazer said.
The show was first conceived as a web series in 2010, three years after Jacobson and Glazer had first met at the UCB Theatre in New York. In 2011, the two comedians created a Kickstarter campaign to turn “Broad City” into a television show. The project failed, but was soon revived by UCB alumna Amy Poehler, who signed on as an executive producer and helped pitch the show to FX. The company passed on the show, so the trio pitched it to Comedy Central, which agreed to broadcast its first season.
“There are three acts of creating the show — writing, shooting and editing — and Amy’s been involved in all of the acts all the way,” Jacobson said.
Poehler’s influence has attracted an abundance of starpower to the show. Fred Armisen, Rachel Dratch and Janeane Garofalo have all appeared in the first half of the season, while Amy Sedaris and Poehler herself have confirmed they will be featured in subsequent episodes. Among the most prominent celebrities featured on the show is Hannibal Burress, who plays the recurring character of Glazer’s deadpan dentist/lover, Lincoln. Burress acts alongside many of Glazer’s and Jacobson’s friends, who Comedy Central agreed to feature on the show.
“Comedy Central’s been really great — it’s like working with your best friends all the time,” Jacobson said.
“Broad City” has drawn comparisons to HBO’s “Girls” and has been described as a female version of “Workaholics,” Jacobson said. The Wall Street Journal said the show captures the essence of “sneak-attack feminism.”
Jacobson and Glazer said they are honored by the acclaim, but are not defined by it.
“That was like a huge, great thing to have said about us, and that word is awesome, but we don’t have any agenda; the show is a comedy about people, and if that’s a reaction it gets, then that’s great, but hopefully it gets a wider range of reactions too,” Jacobson said.
Glazer and Jacobson said they don’t know whether “Broad City” will have a second season, but the show has already been met with praise by critics and audiences, so they are optimistic about their chances. Jacobson said their commitment to honest humor has rewarded them with popularity.
“There’s not really anything we won’t cover – it’s really all about how you cover things, not what you cover,” Jacobson said.
Glazer and Jacobson will lead a live tour of “Broad City” from March 5 to April 5. New episodes of the show air every Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. on Comedy Central.
“Being snarky and sarcastic has been ‘the thing’ in comedy for a while, but we’re definitely always sincere.”