The Watch - Ep. 21: 'The Andy Greenwald Podcast' With Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer

Episode Date: February 18, 2016

'Broad City' stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer join Andy Greenwald to discuss the upcoming third season and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Andy Greenwald podcast. Hello, my name is Andy Greenwald. This is my podcast. Now exclusively part of the Bill Simmons Podcast Network and can be found only on the Channel 33 podcast feed. You might ask yourself, where can I subscribe to this feed? And you might know by now, but I'm going to tell you. You can subscribe to Channel 33 on iTunes, on Stitcher, on SoundCloud.

And if you do so, you get my show, shows like this one. You get the Watch with me and Chris Ryan. You get the Juliet Show. You get all sorts of fantastic audio entertainments just delivered straight to your earbuds. I recommend it. As always, I want to thank the band Churches with a V for my amazing theme music. And I want to thank the Mighty Earwolf Studio for hosting today's show. Guys, my guest today, big one, excited about it. The stars, creators, writers, the public face, the everything of Comedy Central's Broad City, Abby Jacobson and Alana Glazer. Broad City, for those not in the

know. Come on, you're in the know. You can subscribe to Channel 33. You know about Broad City. Broad City returns for third season tonight, Wednesday, February 17th. That's the day. Season 3, 10 p.m. and we'll air at 10 p.m. on Wednesdays thereafter. I've seen the first three episodes of the new season. They are terrific. They are tremendous. It was so fun talking to Abby and Alana about the difference between their public selves and their private lives about what to expect in season three, about working with Hillary Clinton. And honestly, a little bit of personal deep dives for me. Talk to them about the difference between Jews from the main line of Philadelphia and Jews from New York and the benefits of organic produce. Now, I promise, it wasn't too much about those last two things,

but just enough to keep me engaged and interested. Yeah, I want to thank Earwolf for hosting us. I want to thank Abby and Alana for joining me and Comedy Central for making it happen. So let's get into it. Abby Jacobson, Ilana, welcome. Thanks so much for joining me here. Thanks for having us. We're recording this on a Tuesday or third season's premiering. We're going to put this up tonight, so we'll say tonight, Wednesday. Wow. So cool. Third season is so good. It's so wonderful the episodes I've seen I love it. Thanks. It's so cool to talk like we've seen them a lot

that's probably a good thing. Like 20 times but we haven't talked to a lot of people that have seen them. It's crazy that it's out there. We don't want to spoil much if anything. Big shocks, big twists. The afterlife the whole time. I did want to start. There are a couple things I want to talk about in relation to the third season but there was one thing that I got to bring up front. I hope this isn't a spoiler. But in reading press that you guys have done and listening to you guys, people are always trying to say that you are a comedy duo in the

spirit of previous comedy duos, right? Like the New Yorker said, well, there's the Nichols in May. The New Yorker said one of you was the banana man and one was the feed, which I thought was an interesting phraseology. The new season. No idea what that reference means. I think it's like old voodoo. I'm like, what? I was born in the 80s. I was like,

I didn't read that article, but what I have no idea. I didn't either. It's. Definitive banana man. Is that, and one of a I think they said you were the classic banana man. Sure. What? We're always saying,

I'm embarrassed when I don't know. I'm like, do I not know my like chops or whatever, but I'm just like, I would be the feed? Yeah, which I guess means you feed the banana man when the banana man's hungry. Okay. So, but then it said you subvert that. Anyway, I wasn't agreeing with it. I don't want to be on team banana.

Was this a recent article? No, this was the... This was written in the 20s, this article. That article was written in the pre-Holacost. It was high society. magazine, a lot of prohibition ads. No, but in the new season suggests a different dynamic that I kind of wanted to drill down on because this is my podcast

and this fascinating me. And day. Where you guys said, classic mainline Jew and New York Jew. Now, can I come clean? Please. I'm a mainline Jew. You are? But I've lived in New York City for 17 years now.

Hold on. So who am I? You are mainline. You're mainline. So this is what I want to know. I feel like you were speaking to me, and now I want to speak to you about what this was so we can share it. So I'm 10 years here too.

So what are we? But you're both mainline. New York Jew but Long Island Jew. Neither of you is a Nebish. Neither of you is a Nebish. And you could have been if you were born in New York, but you're not. Define this. Define this for us.

Nebish is like hunched fucking back like Woody Allen. It's like pushing up your glasses, which I do. I do all of it. I don't want to, but I do. The difference here is a mainline Jew like we both are. Yeah. Needs to ask what kind of Jew they are. Oh.

Whereas this gal over here, you know who we all are. Your higher class. Because we're not thinking about that. I sniff it out. I sniff out your Judar. I have Judear like unreal. You knew me.

I sniff out your shade of Jewishness. Your waspier, your higher class. Your names are shorter and sound whiter. You're whiter. Well, it's in, it's, it comes out. We bring it up, I think the first time with Susie Esmond's character, Bobby, in season two. where that it's because Alana and the show

gets it from her mom these thoughts and whereas like honestly I think Alana said it to me which I'm like yeah I guess I am a mainline Jew and I'm a different Jew than you I'm farther out

That's what I was going to get to You're from like horse country No I'm from Wayne Isn't that new where the Devon horse fair is Isn't there always like? Oh my God there's a Devon! There's a Devon Bowling Lanes I've heard about Devon Bowling Lanes

The Devon Horse Show Devin Horshow. Yeah, I'm from Wayne, but that's like... I'm sorry to blow up your spot here. Okay, so those 15 minutes separate you. Wait, horse country is like Lancaster. I have a question, Andy, like, you found that dynamic more prevalent in the first three episodes than season two? No, no, you mention it in these episodes, and I just felt like that was a dynamic.

You do? You specifically say, I am a New York Jew. I think about death all the time. Yeah, in St. Mark's end of season two. Oh, I'm so sorry, that was season two. I was mixed up the ones I was watching. But we do talk about it a bunch in season three. I'm sorry, what show are you guys on?

Right. Oh, okay. Rod City, Brad City. Yeah, yeah, we do talk about it in season three. And we probably go deeper with it, but I was just curious if, because I didn't remember the first year. We definitely go all your impressions. Oh, my good. Alana impersonates me and my mainline doing us a lot of this season.

That's what I was going to say. So one of the more interesting things. Oh, so we do. Right, right. In episode two. Did you guys, did you guys know the difference before you got to New York? No. Well, you speak, please.

I think, yeah, I mean, I watched Woody Allen movies. I didn't feel like I did not grow up with a lot of Jews except for camp. Okay. I went to high school with hardly any Jews. And I feel like I'm like a Christmas celebrating Jew. I'm pretty reform, you know. So I knew I wasn't like hardcore. It's like there's such like fine shades that are just like, you're white.

You know, that's basically what it is. You're white people. But whatever, if we're doing this, we're doing this. I also, in, I grew up in Long Island, like, out east. I didn't grow up with Jews either. But I guess camp and shul, Hebrew school. And then my cousins were out in the, but there's, like, real, real goyish parts of Long Island, which is where I grew up because my mom, like, didn't want to deal.

So, all right. But, like, it's different, though. I don't know. You guys, like, played sports heartily. And I was, like, the one person who didn't well. Yeah, I think I was born in the wrong place on that one. I didn't. You didn't either.

I didn't. assimilate in the sports world. Cool. Gotcha. Well, we can come back to Jewry. Thank God. Yeah. The deep Ashkenazi pod that I've always wanted to do.

Yeah. I'm happy to do it, but maybe we should save it. That's so funny. Okay, so back to the, this is something I know that happens in the new season, and I feel like we can give it away because I think you can put it online, which was the opening scene of the premiere. It just went out. It just went out.

So people can check it out, even if they're not, you know, they haven't watched the season premiere yet. And this is some bathroom time. This is a pretty brilliant split screen. Dirty girls. There's a lot of this this season. and there's another one. It's unreal.

I, well, okay, I have a big, big picture question and a small question. The small question is, what's the, what's the pitch meeting on that? Like, do you have a whiteboard and you're like, here are the things that we could do in a bathroom? Here's the things I've always wanted to do in a bathroom. Go. Well, it was a really, I think it started with us being like, how can we start the season exactly where we ended last season? And show time in a way. And we were pitching all this stuff.

And then the bathroom came up. I feel like it was a little chia thing. like on the toilet. Like I feel like, I thought it was maybe Lucia, but someone just honed in on toilet and we were like, that's our level. And then it was, that's us. And that's very rarely something that's ever seen. Like, no one ever is going to the bathroom in shows or movies.

It's like a thing that like it just exists. And no, you don't see it. So we're like, all this interesting stuff happens in a bathroom. And this is a way for us to show like, well, sometimes we'll be together in mine. and sometimes we'll be together than hers. And we wrote it and have seen it so many times, and every time I watch it, because your eye goes, you can't tell which one to watch.

You need to watch it so many times to see, because there's always two things happening. There's like Easter eggs in there. And they play off each other. The full sentence is left to right, you know? But you can really only focus on one. Is there stuff in there that's going to come back in the season? Yeah, maybe.

Yeah, I thought I, okay. Well, I won't spoil any further. I had some thoughts on that. But the reason I also, really appreciated it. Not only is it incredibly funny filmmaking, but it speaks to the intimacy that you guys are so good at communicating on screen. And

one of the things that I've been fascinated by watching is that, you know, you guys are always able to make each other laugh and you work very closely together. As the show has gotten more successful and more and more people have become involved in it, translating that intimacy to a larger audience has to have been one of the, I don't want to call

it challenges, but can I call it challenges? Sure. Okay, I'm looking at you, challenges of what you guys have had to sort of see through in this journey. So in this season, for example, you're running the show for the second straight year yourselves. Is that correct? And you have your room.

Okay, let's start this. Is there a sensibility test for your writers to be able to write for you guys? Like when people come in the room and they're pitching you ideas, like is there a, how do you know it's an idea that it will work for your very specific, very intimate humor?

Our, like, writing situation has gotten more and more concentrated, not more and more various or diverse. It's like our writer's room has gotten more concentrated, and then our consultants are like our, like, we just really work with our best friends and our people. So first of all, it starts from a familiar place. Okay.

Yeah, and then I think we, there's no formula. I think it's we're constantly going with our gut of what is going to be right, what feels right and what doesn't. The intimacy thing, I love saying, I love talking about that that's a challenge. And I think it's in the writer's room and then even on set, because sometimes we write and we're like detached. And we know it's, we know that we're going to be the actors that will do it. But we write these things. And then we're like, oh, that's the fuck are we doing.

Yeah, there's like a lot of very literally intimate things. And then, but when we're on set, it's another thing of like, well, right now we're here. with this crew that we've pulled and we found like this separate family that we work with now three years in a row. And so it feels like this intimate thing that we're doing with our friends that happen to have all these different jobs. And so we're so comfortable that like right now it's about to air and I'm like, oh, I'm a little nervous, you know?

So it's this thing that we keep doing with different groups of best friends and then it when you say you're, what is making you nervous, the thought of... Take your clothes off. And shitting in front of 70, pretending to shit in front of 70 people. Pretending was key. Yeah. But also just putting the show up. Just for legal reasons.

Comedy Central wants you to say that. But you guys are dogma in 95 types. Yeah, it's nuts. It's like, it's just, you know, we come from this comedy when we were coming up was like, you know, now it's like alt. like alt, alt comedy is in like Geico commercials. It's like very mainstreamed. And it's like awkward and like whatever,

Denny's commercial or whatever. But like when we were coming up, comedy was like alt comedy was like still fresh. And commitment was is the key. Just be willing to do it. Be willing to go out there. Put yourself out there. The idea that vulnerability is strength.

And we've stuck to that. And it's just like, commit, here we go. Dive in. Get into a hole. in a, that episode where Abby's in a hole, it's literally in a cemetery. She's like sharing ground with dead people. I, like, couldn't leave all day

because I had the thing on my, I had like this whole thing on my foot. Not a happy camper. It was, like, very scary. I was in a, I was six feet under for seven hours. We wrote this, we got to do it. I don't like the way those numbers out of.

With my pants down. The other thing I just wanted to say was regarding like knowing what works is like a good example is one of hook. So Paul Debbie Downs was really horny season two in the writer's room. And he was like, when hook! Just like pretending to proposition the room all the time.

And it just, it's like repetition. Like, if something just keeps coming back and we keep giggling at it, it's like, all right, this is funny. It's just like, what keeps coming around? Because you can throw a million things out and be like, that's the thing. And it's all arbitrary to an extent. It's just going with your gut. Whether that's funny and we put it in and then on set, it's funny. Yeah.

And we're making the crew and us laugh still. And it's like we're just trying to. We're just hoping to trust that everyone else will think it's funny. I guess it's easy as an audience member to forget about the levels of intimacy that are involved here because, you know, you're saying you guys can make yourselves laugh and talk about what you might do, whether it's fake shitting or taking your clothes off, and it's a safe space. The alt-comedy attitude that you're talking about, the sort of yes and of improv, like that, if you're in a black box theater in front of, you know, 40 people who are super into it,

that's kind of a different kind of safe space. And you're like, weird. We're like Alan Ginzburg, right? This is weird, right? And then it's like, I'm putting this on the, like, Comedy Central is always like my first channel that I would go to. It still is. It's like, I'm putting this on that. I feel like that there's another step in there, which is doing it in a, with a crew, in a public place.

You guys use New York City as the canvas, basically. So if you're humping a tree, that tree's in Prospect Heart. And there's another step in there, production prep, which we're talking about it to Department. and we're like, yes, I would like jizz to come out of that tree hole, and we want it thick, a little translucent, and you better take this seriously because this is, you know, it's, there's like back email chains about like, this looks too and appropriate, no, no, no, no, no, lumpier. It's like, what?

Wait, Alana, sorry, I just, you said humping the tree. Yeah. And I was like, oh my God, you have, like, I didn't even, like, put that together, that you have, like, a thing with trees. It happens again. When? Episode two. Oh, God, my brain is...

Outside the car. Yeah. That's so funny. You know that moment? Yes, but I'm mostly struck by the fact that you guys forgot that there was a tree humping. Because when we were on that panel in L.A. last year, I basically started with tree humping and ended with tree humping. And I apologize for that. It drew, it draws attention.

I didn't forget about that tree humping. I didn't forget about that one. Oh, the secondary one. Because that was like a full relationship with the tree. There's one this season that I didn't. connect to that one. The tree was used in the second one. It was...

The tree... The tree was... It was casual. The tree... I think the tree in Prospect Part died after that because it was like so heartbroken that we like left.

We were like, by bitch and we just all left. And it like got all this attention and then it all that. It rotted. And it like just sat in its own felt. There's a moment in the premiere

when you're... There's some running in public, let's put it that way. And in the background there's just like a... A Steve door guy like sitting in the background watching

you and he has a smile on his face like he thinks this is the funniest thing he's ever seen. And I wondered if that, and there's no word that you don't need to focus on that guy. But I just wonder how often you are doing your, this is your job, this is your serious work, this is your art. You've spent, you know, dozens of man hours on the tree semen, just figuring it out. And then there are people in New York City watching this, and they're taking, they're having their own reactions to it. So I wonder what that could possibly be, because people here have seen a lot of stuff, but they rarely

see trees ejaculate with cameras around them. And I just felt like it was useful to use this stuff. I think it's more special when cameras aren't around. You're like, can you believe? Can you believe? But it's, I feel like the cameras almost normalize it. Right, because they're like, well, freak shows on. Because then they're like, oh, I see. Oh, this is for profit. Yeah. Versus this is somebody having a breakdown, which is the best kind of sight of. In the New Yorker profile that I was mentioning, they referred to you guys at that moment, which was before season two aired, as being in kind of a fame puberty, that people were sort of figuring it out.

coming up to you, but it wasn't overwhelming. I have to think that at some point it did become, if not overwhelming, at least definitely welcoming. There was a lot of press in that first season, and especially right after it. And anything with the first season, it's as much about the promise as what it is. The third season, I'll say it again, the episodes I've seen are so funny and so realized. Thank you so much. I'm so stoked.

So it is the thing. But I wondered how you navigated that, where you were getting this attention for the promise that you held for as much as anything that you had given the world. world yet. It tripped us out in the writing. The writing was hardest this year and the shooting was the easiest and most fun. Interesting. And the writing, I think part of that was because of those external stakes we've been talking

about today. Tripped us out. Yeah, it's definitely like a different world than when we were making the web series. It's different when we shooting the season was different because it's like, oh, people know the show now. When they see those orange things on the trees, they walk, buy they're now like what's going on and so that's it makes it like just a different process but also I mean I don't even know if you're asking but we like are also like sort of fly

under the radar we look like a lot of people still you know I feel like just taller skinnier people who you like normally would see on like TV and movies or like models when there's a model you're like oh that's a model you like no right but like I'm like five feet tall you know there's there's New York provides this like blanket of anonymity and also even nobody gives a shit too, which is nice. Right. But it's funny like with the context of writing where it's like nothing changed physically, but the context around it changed that was like tripping us out. And it's funny.

It like wasn't real, but it's like real to us. And it is real like that reception and the stakes. Yeah, it adds pressure for sure to like this season in writing. There was like these pressures because there was a, we had a couple months in between, whereas the first, when we wrote the second season, there was no break. There was like a day after we were finished editing until when we started writing again. So we were like, whoa. It was almost a continuation. And the third season, we like all came in and we were like, okay, so we love the 20 episodes we've done so far.

People seem to really love them. What, okay, let's start again. But it's like, I don't know. it's like, it is real, like that feeling, that reaction that we had, but also just in our heads. We didn't have to have, you know, I know. Just to myself, when I'm anxious about stuff, I'm like, you don't have to even feel this way, but you just are and that's okay, you know, like, whatever, talking myself through something. Just thinking back about the writing, it's like, I don't know.

It didn't have to be that hard, but it was, but I think it's. I feel like, is it ever a challenge to keep the think pieces that are going to be written out of your heads when you write the jokes? because it's obviously an amazing thing to be obsessed over, I would imagine. People are listening to what you guys do. They're laughing at it. It's not like they're watching it just for insightful social commentary. But this stuff happens.

I mean, this is the reactive culture we live in anyway. And I would have to think that Think Peace culture is sort of the poison to comedy, especially when you're just creating it. Yeah, it's interesting. We read them. I don't know if that's – I think it's actually positive. I can't help it. I'm like a cutter.

So I like look at most things. Look at everything. I don't know if I, not comments. I don't know if I look at, no, I don't think I look at everything. I don't think I could get, yeah, but I look at most, like, reviews and all that stuff. And I think it's, um, just because it's something I'm like, care so much about it. Yeah. It takes us like a fucking year to make the season.

And it's also like Google alerts. I'm like, click. You know, it's like, yeah. It was sent to me, so. Yeah, exactly. And anything negative is just going to be like, It's like, it's like, wow, we've created this conversation, and this is one reaction to what we're putting out there.

To be fair, I don't notice very much negative stuff. It's just a lot of attention. It's parsing everything. And there's this, I'm sorry, the episodes are in my head, but I laughed harder at anything and any of them when, let's just say there's some character, there's some role play, you're playing other characters. And one of you may enter a room and say,

Rape Culture sucks. Oh, my God. And I think I saw, like, Teno Tichla, on the ancient Mexican capital in my eyes. I just laughing. The second act break where she's like, pf, that I... Let's just say she's playing someone else in this room. I was just crying.

That was crying. That was a great... That episode to shoot it was insane. I was like, this is nuts. And it was also we watch it and we're like, this is what these characters think of each other. Like, what are they? Yeah.

It's like just... It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen. It's so funny. But the reason I brought that up was not only because it was super funny, But to me, it sort of encapsulates there's a joyfulness to what you guys do, and especially in these new episodes, that is not, it's not weighed down by the expectations of talking about the things you're talking about. You're approaching everything with the same attitude that the characters would and the sense

of humor that you already had. And it's exhilarated. You know, it's fun. It does not weigh down. You could, you would be, I would think you would be able to tell if you had been like, oh man, the Atlantic really, really got us last week. We better respond to that. That's not present.

No, I don't think we were ever, like, actively trying to respond to... Yeah, or even if you would, you know, allowed it to sort of slip into the bloodstream. Yeah, we still follow the fun. Chase it. As in the other improv rule. Yeah, I think we definitely follow the fun. I like check stuff out, but I also try to just not pay too much mind. It's, like, kind of a balance.

And then if I see something bad, I, like, cannot help but be like... Alana? I was going to say, do you forward it? Like that's... I don't forward it, but I'm like, dude, because I'll be, like, thinking about it. Yeah. But I'm, I like, sometimes I'm just like, I'll just be like, fuck it. And I have to just like stop feeling for it.

You could see like amazing things. And then there's one thing. Yeah. And that's good. I could. You probably will. That's my main line June, June. Yeah.

That's fascinating. So that's what I am. So any, like an egg could say one, like, you know, like a little bit ill-tempered comment at me. I'll be like, well, that guy got it. Boy, egg 7,600 figured me out. The jig is up. Really?

Ten compliments. I'm like, fooled them. Really? I feel like it's more neurotic in New York, and I feel waspier letting it brush off. I think so. Well, it's tougher. There's a New York toughness. Oh, okay. Okay. We with our horse shows, we don't understand. I guess, I guess fuck you is like very New York. Like, oh, fuck you. Fuck it. I think that's what he used to say on the Welcome to Brooklyn sign underneath it, where the change is to forget about it. Are you for real? No, that's hysterical.

They should. It also helps, like, when people are misogynistic, because it truly is like, oh, fuck you. Yeah. They're like, uh, women are. It's like, good one, dude, you know. Go jerk off, whatever. High five. High five for yourself. Yeah, exactly. That's kind of what jerking off is. But, okay, but I was talking about one kind of reaction,

which is the sort of heady, like, Twitter, internet-y reaction. The other reaction that you guys have, which has been amazing to watch in a few times I've seen it up close, which is the total fandom reaction. Now, so, you know, Abby, I hosted this panel that we did for Comedy Central last year, and a lot of comedy stars up there, a lot of popular people. I was so bummed to miss it. I'm sorry that I missed it.

All fellows. All dudes. Just a lot of... That was a little intense for me. There were a lot of bros up there. This was Key and Peel and Kroll and the workaholics dudes. It was every comedy central. And Andy Daly.

It was a full stack deck of bros and Abby. And no one got the reactions that you did. People were screaming for you and for you, Alana, in absentia. And there's an intensity to the reaction that is amazing and genuine. But like when I mentioned it to a guy I work with who is just, you know, he's the er millennial. He's like right in that 25-26 sweet spot. I think he became physically like he was uncomfortable with his body when he heard that I would be in the same room with you guys.

He was so excited. Isn't that so weird? When you get that kind of emotion coming at you other than, I mean, Alana's nodding because it's deserved. But beyond that, what is the, how do you process that? It's like a well-rounded experience where or like a dynamic experience, not well-rounded, but it's not well-rounded. It's paradoxical and bizarre.

But it's both like amazing. and I am like, yes. Like, it is amazing. And I also, personally, I feel like I get it because I'm like, I think I would feel that way if it weren't my show. I'd be like, I get these people, they get me. They're representing something so much more tangible

than anything else I see. They look like me. They sound like me, whatever. But then also on the receiving end of it, it's just like, I'm kind of like on edge. I'm like, whoa, whoa, hey, hey. Hey, we were just talking about this thing. We were just walking the other day in the East Village

and this girl like jumping. jumped out from behind us. And she didn't mean to, but she, like, screamed. We, like, screamed. We, like, screamed. And we were like, hold on. Hold on. Our, like, hearts were racing.

And we were, like, you frightened us. Like, we, yeah, but. We bleed like everyone. Yeah. It's fine. But I feel like you guys, I mean, walking around the East Village, that's, totally.

That's danger zone. Yes. You know. You definitely should move to disconnect. We've got to, we, like, hang out. You know, we work together. It's, like, it is a thing if we're, like, walking around together. It's like, well, here we go, but this is what we do, so we have to.

But it's amazing and flattering. Yeah, it's generous. And to see the range of people, too, is also the best. But you guys also do have to sort of police the boundaries of your public perform selves and who you actually are. People, like, always go to touch me and I'm like, no, don't do that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, oh, no, I was going to make a joke and then I was like, that's not good to say. No, it's not. They're like, hey! And it's like, you don't actually know who I am. I spend like 10 months making that person, you know, and you know, but like, handshake,

you know what my favorite thing is when people are like, Abbe! As they like walk by it. Or like, what up, Alana? Somebody, like, walked by me the other day and I was like, that's cool. That's like the city is like giving me a big old hug. City's alive. Or like, I love you. I'm like, I literally love you too.

Literally. Love you to. People feel like they approach us like they know us. Yeah. Which is confusing. They feel very close with your performed public selves. Which is the biggest compliment, but I'm also so, maybe I, like, repress this, but I'm also so, like, still, like, do we know each other? The way you're coming up to me feels like. Oh, yeah.

Like, someone makes eye contact. Like, we went to camp together or something, and I'm like, they're like, Abby. Quebec blood runs deep. It really does, and I don't always know, and I'm just, I don't know why. I'm just still never really expecting it, and I don't, yeah, I don't know. A friend of mine wrote a book. a while ago with the word drugs in the title, which was super fun for a while because then everywhere he went,

people would just try to get him high. And I imagine, I wonder if you guys have the same sort of thing where they assume that if you are out, you are looking, you know, perhaps. It's the same thing where like a drive-by. A drive-by is generous. They're doing that for us. Love you. I'm like, I'm taking that as fuel all day.

When people like drop us a joint, I'm like, love you. Thank you. But when they want to get high with us, it's like, this is for you and it's going to freak me out. and I don't want to do this. Yeah. So it's about finding the boundaries. Boundaries are key.

Yeah. I would imagine. In life. I wanted to ask you, I know we're talking about the new season, I wanted to, if we could hit the rewind machine for a minute. Please.

One thing that interested me is that I know you guys were, before you found the right home at Comedy Central, you guys were in development a little bit at FX. And, oh. I'm just going to cut it. No, no, no. I just wanted to, like, think out. It would be amazing.

I give a public system, I'm running to the window, bang on it. No, no. Stop it! End of the graduate. That's so funny. No.

Ending! Well, we'll do the play for it. But yeah, for real, for all. So whatever has come out about that, it does sound like it wasn't the right fit at the right time, but it also sounds like the mentality was a little bit more standard sitcom-y. Like there were more characters in a certain established way. I don't know if that's true. No.

No. We got great notes from that. Let me walk that back. Yeah. It's fine. No, no, no. I wonder where that. Oh, good.

Yeah. Wonder where we're going with that? No, I wonder where you, like, where that. that came, like, because it was almost the same. I mean, we wrote, we made adjustments to the pilot once we were with Comedy Central, because, like, they had different development people, but there was, it was, we pitched Hannibal and Gemberley. And they, there was one note that we were, like, really impressed by, which was that they were like, is this, like, the most broad city it can be?

They were pointing us to be ourselves. It just still wasn't right for them. Right. But it was great for us. It gave us a lot of benefits going there first. I think that the reason I was asking those questions is basically because, you know, Amy Poehler once said in talking about the challenge of taking the web series to the series series, she likened to like an organ donor.

Like you have to keep what was beautiful and important about it on ice and then transfer it to a host that might not be ready to accept it and watch the host. And the thing is, you know, in covering TV and being around it, TV in general works because it works a certain in the way that it has always worked. And even as the industry around it has changed and the way people watch it has changed and the audience has changed, everything has changed, the system of it being a TV show,

oh, we have to like these people, we have to spend a certain amount of time with them every week, we have to have benchmarks that we're familiar with, or even we have to have a room of writers generating the content for the season, that machinery in my mind has been pretty stodgy. So the reason I was asking about the FX show is wondering how you were able to keep the patient alive, basically bringing while maintaining the spirit that you had on the web series.

Because I feel like any time a TV show exists, this is a long question. Thank you. It's great. It's great. It's giving me the time to brew. Take your time. But anytime a TV show bubbles up with where you can tell that the voice is genuine to the creators and hasn't been tampered with or touched and you have the freshness to it,

which is what I think a lot of people were responding to from minute one of the pilot, I feel like it's a minor miracle. And I feel that about your show, but I feel that. away about the handful of others that are that give you that feeling it's just not a system that is built to preserve that sensibility i will say that this is like a weird answer but the experience with fx i think that our show would have needed to exist for them to have bought our show if that makes sense like now they would buy our show what do you mean well that the language we pitch broad city to fx now they would buy it

The language exists. Right. It exists. And I think that we were a very risky show. Yeah. And I honestly give all that credit to Comedy Central. We were complete unknowns, had never written for TV, had been in, like, web episodes, and, like, that is it. We were pitching, like, pretty much our friends to be in it, to write it.

We had Amy Polar, which was huge. But it was, like, they, like, took a risk and love the web web, web. web episodes and really pulled out what we had what we had written with FX and we reformatted it and so does that make sense like in yeah it didn't exist so it like didn't yeah in another perfect polar analogy can I say parable or paradigm because I wanted all to be peas I love the alliteration uh perfect polar parable polar polar that's she should sell that that's just her next book yeah perfect Polar Parable, Polarable, Polarable, was that FX was kind of like a, like, distant boyfriend for us, that we were like, come on, come on, huh, right?

I'm cute, right? I'm hot. I'm cool and hot and smart and cool. And he, FX was like, me. And Comedy Central was this, like, willing boyfriend that we could, like, grow, or whatever, partner or whatever, that we could, like, grow with who was, like, open to us and wanted to love us. So it worked. We didn't know each other. We didn't know ourselves.

and they didn't either maybe fully, and then we both. And really grew into who we are now. It's true, because the brand, like, we've grown together and grown into this great pair. Well, that's interesting. And I think it's not just specific to your show, but I think often the moments in TV that I talk about when real chances get taken

are when there are willing partners on both sides. When AMC is like, oh, don't they just show Godfather 2 all day? We'll try a show and we'll just, you know, that's when you get your Mad Men's and you're Breaking Bad. when USA is like, characters are no longer welcome, what should we do now? They have a show like Mr. Robot, and that becomes their brand. And similarly, Comedy Central is like, we want to try something, we're in the same place you guys are.

That's encouraging. But still, like, were there bumps? I mean, obviously there were bumps, but when you look back on the transition from, there's the transition from web series to series, and then between season one and two, you took over the room and we're running the show. When you look back over that transition, of basically taking complete ownership of the of the of the of the of the of the of the vehicle of everything um what do you look back as the learning what was the what were like the pivot points what was there

a learning curve on that or did it feel natural at that point because you were already doing something that was so um i'll go back to the first word I use so intimate feels good on the NPR mics to say intimate yeah yeah intimate I think by the time we were approaching second season it felt natural because listen I do not I think that Comedy Central was right in having us have a showrunner and experienced comedy TV writer working with us because we were so green and it just became so apparent like in the middle of season one

that we it was it's just such a specific show it's about us it's we had the web series is very different but we had we knew these characters we knew what we wanted to do and you knew what a Broad City episode felt like yeah even if other people didn't yet we learned so much that first season so much about just like how this business and how TV is produced

and so yeah I mean and like in the same way that you talk about Abby the idea of the show existing already for somebody to get it and blah blah we had to have that experience with Tammy Sager who show run the first season so so funny so prolific we needed to have that experience where we were like, oh, wait, this is the kind of show

where the creators are the showrunners, even if they're in their 20s or whatever. Yeah. And Tammy kind of took that hit for us because we needed to have that experience. I don't think we would have ran the show the way we did second season had we not went through it with Tammy in the first season. And I think it was apparent to her too. It was just, it's just a new, kind of a new thing. that intimacy

and that trust and generosity from a TV network being like, you know, cable networks are getting it now versus, what's it called network? What's two through 13 called?

Broadcast. Yeah, broadcast. It's like cable versus broadcast is really understanding that you've got to give total control over it and over to the creators and it is more about art.

You know, TV is art, you know, whatever. That's how I feel. It's new. It's kind of new. And it's funny when the idea of something having to exist for it to exist in its perfect form, but it's just like those inevitable, it was the perfect process, even if it felt lumpy. Yeah. It need all the steps, like I wouldn't regret any of them.

Same with going to FX first. Yeah. Had to have for many reasons. Still, part of the job of running a show is essentially impossible from what I understand. I mean, just in terms of the demands on you and the things that you have to be keeping track of across the board day and night. And it would seem to me that you'd have to delegate some things at certain points. And learning that has to be a skill. And I think it's hard for anyone, because who's a creator of a show, to do that, because it's their show.

I would imagine it's doubly hard for you guys because you are the face. You're in the show. You're on camera in addition to being in the writer's room and being in the production meetings. So we have a team of people that are amazing. Lily Burns, one of our executive producers who manages, like, she reworks all the schedules for, like, the whole writing period. And she coordinates with the, you know,

like there's a lot of people that are, there's a lot of legal issues and there's clearances, and there's, like, all this stuff that, especially because we are in the room day and day out, like, we need people that are, like, in the office, like, over here doing the thing. And creatively, like other producers who are writers, directors, actors,

Paul W. Downs and Lucianoi, we'll creatively pick stuff up for us and think of ideas that we're like, well, we're dealing with administrative stuff and they're still like reeling creatively and we'll think of like more jokes while we're not. I mean, it's, it like takes a village. It really does.

We have a small village of like, and I would live in like a secluded village with these people because it's, we could probably create another show together. Devon is very nice this time of year, especially. There's their horsemen. Devin Bowlinglands? Yeah, I think you could bowl. Oh my God.

Gosh, you know that, right. Yeah, he was like Devin Horace. I was like, Devin Bowling? We used Devin Bowling. No, no, no. We just not care. A little name check to the homeless. But you'll see it.

You'll see it. I'm very excited about that. That's a spoiler, but it's not. We go to Philly. Oh, yeah. That's like, that just gets me excited. But we go to the suburbs of Philly. Again, who are you talking to here?

I'm loving every second of this. Yeah. One of the things that I enjoy most about watching the show is that when you're, when you're telling certain stories, your characters are doing certain things. It's like there's this shock of the new. It's like, how much TV do we have right now? People are complaining about how much TV we have right now. And yet we never see half of the stories, three quarters of the stories that you're telling us.

In fact, it's not just a diversity issue. It's like your characters often can't afford to buy something. That is a story that is relatable to majority of the people in this country in the world, and yet TV is just abdicated. They're like, no, no, our characters, they live rent-free in the West Village, and then the trouble starts. And then they wonder why it's tough to generate stories. for nine years.

Yeah. And like real life is so funny and ridiculous. Yeah. But, but to be like, like the inventiness is like, I. We are often,

we are like so, sometimes I hate that we're like this, but then it's like pays off. Like even in our wardrobe, because this, like this past season, brands have been like more giving us, like,

yeah. They can give our costume designer clothes that we can use. They're like, we'd love to wear this. And it's like, we can't wear that. Like they would never wear that. Right.

These girls can't afford. They would never wear Stallem O'Curney sports bra. And we like still bring in our old... Yeah, they're like $90. We still bring in our old clothes. I've like looked at them and... And our old clothes are so much better than like fake wearing out new cheap clothes. We bring in like old disgusting sweats and they look funnier too.

I feel like... I know you said that it was more of a challenge writing this season, but sometimes I get the feeling that you must be like, I can't believe there's all this low-hanging... There's all this fruit here still on this tree that nobody picked. You know what I mean? There's so many types of stories. that you can tell just by just by focusing here. Andy, manline Jew, you know Mishigas.

Yeah. Endless Mishagas in New York. Yes, there is. Endless. And it's so specific. It's like the minutiaa and the, it doesn't matter like the money we make or like the, it doesn't matter if we go on the Today Show and then do a podcast with Andy. It's like there's endless.

It's endless. New York is so, you know, I don't know. I haven't lived anywhere. I mean, I'm from Long Island to New York. I'm so a provincial New Yorker. But every time we like meet up, we see each other every day. And we're like, guess what happened to me? It's like...

But that's the funniest thing. And that's what makes comedy grades, the specificity. I mean, the intimacy is half of that you guys have. But there's a way to, I feel like you can make the case that those are almost one and the same. Because when you make the, you know, there's a long runner about the ridiculousness of food co-ops. Now, I live in Brooklyn, New York. I am your audience for this show. But I have to believe that this is funny to 100,000 other, you know, 100,000.

million other people because it is a lived experience, right? So you don't, right? We don't know yet. Let's revisit that in a week. I feel like even that food co-op culture extends to whole foods. Because I'm not a part of a co-op. I've never been, but I know that, like, understand it. I won't join it.

I find it, like, it makes me want to, like, become a Republican. When I went to, like, the training meeting of it, and it freaked me out. Yeah, see, I don't think it's for me either. It just wasn't for me. I would love to, like, buy that food, but not do the work. That's what I'm saying. We were at, the one we shot in, which is, can I, we're like, yeah, which is the Fort Green co-op?

I like that you said Stella McCartney, but you were worried about publicizing it. Well, no, I'm like, did we spoil that? Like a do-go-to-the-go-there? Stella McCartney, I love Selma-Cardney, but I was saying that the girls in the show, yeah, yeah, love her, free clothing, and love-the-designs. Us personally stuff, whenever she wants to send us it. No, I think we actually. Soll McCartney listens to your podcast.

She does. Yeah. She has a lot of comments. Probably with her dad, right? She tweets to me, she's an egg. Ab, no, I think we show the sign, Fort Green. when we were in there, I was like, this is fucking great. Like, it's

like, this is a great store that's like a local place, but I'm like, I don't want to deal with, like, I can't deal with another, like, set of rules. You have to know yourself? Yeah. You know what's cool about the produce is that it was like, it was like normal sized. It wasn't like monster strawberries or like fake winter strawberries. Yeah, yeah. It was like

oh, this is like real food and it doesn't have to be like eerily gigantic, but I'm not like sweeping in a co-op. The concern about having you guys on the show is really all I want to talk about is Ashkenazi Jewry and the diaspora and then produce. But that's not generally. The African or Jewish diaspora? Well, either.

I'm big diaspora guy. Start with what you know and work outward. Speaking of that, I have to, because this is a big thing that you guys did. And I didn't see this episode. You did apparently have presidential candidate Hillary Clinton involved in a show. I know you guys are going to be asked about this in every interview, but there's good reason. Bring it on. Yeah.

What? That's my question. Yeah. So it was just like when we were blue sky. which is where we were just coming up with ideas for the season. This idea came up and it didn't actually involve her being necessary to be on. Right. It was just like involving like the idea of her.

I won't like spoil it. And so we wrote that episode because like it, you know, we every episode has like a couple through lines that we try to like weave and it really worked and we were like, this is so fucking funny. And, you know, it would be interesting if we, if she, was in it. I'm like, let's just try. Why not?

Like, we've been of that mindset since the web series. That's how we got Amy Polar involved in the first place. We just like, we're like, let's just try and see if she wants to be in that web episode. And so we just went out to her. It also helps mentioning Amy. Amy, like, plays her and knows her. Sarah Babineau, or Executive of Comedy Central, like, knew somebody in the campaign. Todd Bierman, who was directing, who directed that episode, knew somebody

else that they came in and it was just like, you just put your feelers out, you just put your resources out, and it was like a little... You took all the threads you have. Yeah. And it was a dance for a while, and then we like landed her and it was... It was nuts. I said this before. We've been fortunate enough.

We have, like, amazing guest stars, people that I would never have ever thought I would ever be in the same room with, and I'm like kissing them. You know? Yeah. It's just crazy. Life is weird. I mean, but I also get the sense that a lot of these guests... I don't kiss Hillary.

That sounded like I did. You don't work it. Get the press going. But I feel like you get guests who are excited to be in a world that they aren't usually. And like Vanessa Williams this season does something that I didn't expect, but I loved. Yes. You could get the feeling that she was like, oh, good, I can do this. Yeah.

And so, but that, but Hillary was like a different, we've never, I don't think other us have ever met anyone like that. I mean, this, her level of icon, she's like, it's like she's, it was almost unbelievable to meet her as a real person. she's such an icon and to be like, oh, I see, this is a real boss who like has like a team and a rhythm. And it like, it was inspiring in the, in a business sense actually because it was like, oh, I see how a real person becomes like an icon for a brand and for a movement. Yeah. And even just like our whole crew, I remember when she walked in, everyone was just like, is this happening right now? This is our, she's going to be on our show like.

But here's what I want to throw out there. I don't want, you know, don't spoil anything. I know you wouldn't. But I'm a Hillary guy. I like Hillary, supporting Hillary. I've always felt that she's probably secretly very funny. And a nice, I kind of believe that she is a good and probably a nice person. It doesn't matter because I want her to be president.

They don't need to be nice. But I wondered if she was able to articulate that. In the same way that Vanessa Williams is able to do the thing that we're not going to talk about on your show, I wondered if Hillary was able to use your world and your playground as a platform. for him to reveal any of that, either on or off camera. Maybe she was just like that with you guys. I think that she, I think Hillary had, in doing our show, I think she's got to be a little careful.

Sure. I've seen your show. So it was, I think, the funniest it could be within the context of our show. You know what it was? She was really funny on SNL. Chris was sketch on SNL as the bartender. She's not playing herself. She was hilarious.

And then she's like, when she's like, when she's like, like Trump, isn't he the guy who's like, yeah, you're a loser? That was hysterical. On our show, she's playing herself. Yeah. And she was like a broad city version of herself, not Kelly Ripa, just more like curb, where we're reacting to her. And she's a little bit like, eh.

So you guys are the banana ladies. Yeah. Yeah. She's the feeder. And she's, and she allows us to like banana on. Yeah. And that was cool. She was the feeder for sure.

And she's great. And she was like down to do, you know, what, we wrote and And she's more intimate. She allows herself to be intimate and warm. She's not like... That's good. Also, I don't think we'd want a president that was like,

fucking hilarious. Maybe they should become an actor. It's like, no, no. We had a president who was an actor. We've done that. We've done that. And people will just tear her down for what she isn't. So people will say she wasn't hilarious on it.

Or if she was, we don't need a president who's warm. It's like, you know what? I think she hits all the full point perfectly. This is what I'm saying. This is like a, this is what's been making. me furious in my private life, like, it's impossible. Of course, because she's a woman. Of course it's impossible. She cannot do anything. She's funny. She's not serious enough. She's serious. She's not funny enough.

And we've seen, you know, 25 years of seeing her being unable to move in any direction, normal direction, because she's not allowed to be. Yeah. And so to bring it full circle, I don't even know what I'm doing here. I'm just, I'm just, I'm lasso in, I'm lasso. I'm loving it. I am loving it. But you guys, as young women, begin your show that you run and the toilet. You are allowed to do that. You can do that. And I feel like, that's kind of exciting to be able to do that on a TV show as a fan as an audience member. Because that, I don't even know what you'd call it other than sexism, but the box that culture puts her in is an impossible one.

And anything you can do to break it down, even in a small way. She is the most perfect candidate there's ever been. Yeah. And people find ways to take that away. And I guess it makes perfect sense in the context of our world. Yeah. I mean, I realize I just went super big in terms of global political ramifications. But then went small to the toilet.

Love it. And I don't know. It's probably asking too much for you to draw connections yourself between your toilets and the podium in the Oval Office. Yeah, I'll leave that to you. The porcelain thrown in the Oval Office. Before we wrap up, I've seen those three episodes. They're great. You've teased Philly.

What's the journey? What's the journey you like people that be prepared to go on this season? It's interesting. The first three don't have what I think is the main depth of the season. Not even these plot points, but the overall arc of tone is that we allow ourselves to go deeper. And I said this the other day, we expand our emotional palette over the season. I was wondering about that. I almost guessed that we were headed in some of those directions. And you're certainly capable of it as performers and writers.

I was wondering if you were ready to take the show in that place. Yeah, and I love that it's still, it's both. It's still, I think, hilarious, but there's these, there's major plot shifts that are more, our growth within the characters' lives, so it's exciting. I mean, are you think, do you think of the characters that you play, do you think of them as, because, you know, they're different traditions, obviously vaudevillian with banana feeders,

but different traditions on, with TV sitcom characters, those that are static and those that evolve over time and, you know, deepen or have relationships. Do you think of the show as having, like, serialized arcs? Do you want to put, to slowly nudge in that direction where something that happens in one episode will pay off? And the experiences are accrued in a way? This season does that. And we've been talking about this lately, like in four season three, that we plan on both, just like we've experienced both in real life.

In real life, we've gone through this insane journey together where we started off with, like, you know, losing money doing improv, and we have this, like, great show and a business. But then some of the dynamic, a lot of the dynamic stays the same, you know, where we're like, what do we, two idiots? You know, whatever, whatever situation we're in. And it's kind of the same in the show, like it is in real life, where it's like things change, things stay the same. And that dichotomy, I think, is most amplified by the end of season three. I don't think it's ever going to be, like, become a, like, it's not, like, we're not turning into, like, far. in like serialized like right but great show by the way I love Fargo but if you watch I think

you're gonna get episodes that could be viewed totally on their own which is the first three probably but this season is the first time that if you watch them in order I think it's much more satisfying it's the most cumulatively rewarding it's been exciting and I should probably add at congratulations that it's not just this season you guys got renewed for two more yeah baby just doubling down that is that was an extravagant that was just just making it rain. Yeah. Thank you, Comedy Central.

That's a partner right there. Yeah. So you now, did that change your thinking in terms of planning character stuff, what you can and can't do? We got, we had finished. Yeah, the third season you'd finish. We were like shooting. But, yeah, it's been something we've, we have been thinking, I think, this year for the first time. Like, oh, okay, we're, what do we kind of want to happen?

Okay. Well, I'm very excited to see those seasons. I'm really grateful to both of you for coming in to talk to me. This is so lovely and pleasant. Thank you so much. And insightful, I learned stuff myself. Thank you. When we, when I do get that diaspora and organic vegetable podcast going, can I count on you guys? Of course. Because it's been a tough sell upstairs. I think you'll get it. It's about intimacy and specificity. And I feel like we've learned today that that's what matters. That is what matters.

That'd be a lot of things so much.