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2 Other Broke Girls
Comedy Central series exposes new duo to a wider audience
Pictured: Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson (photo by Linda Kallerus)
By
Michael Shashoua / Jester editor-in-chief
“Broad City” features the exploits of Abbi Jacobson and Ilana
Glazer, performers who got started at the UCB Theatre. Jacobson is
the straitlaced one and Glazer is the manic one who destroys
everything she comes into contact with, including her own plans to
earn enough money to go to a Lil Wayne concert.
The show is buoyed by a lot of cameos, including Poehler’s SNL
colleagues Fred Armisen and Rachel Dratch. Stand-up comedian
Hannibal Buress is a recurring character – a sometime hook-up of
Glazer’s – but his presence seems superfluous here as he’s mostly
inserted into scenes where he delivers dialogue that sounds a bit
like parts of his stand-up act. This is an awkward fit and a
disservice to his strengths.
More integral to the stories is John Gemberling, also of the UCB
Theatre, as the slacker boyfriend of Jacobson and Glazer’s unseen
third roommate, and who is always perched on their couch and
annoying Abby by mooching her food from the fridge. Gemberling’s
unflinching habitation of his character adds life and energy to the
show.
One can see what Jacobson and Glazer (and Poehler as producer) are
going for – bringing another flavor of the sensibility of live
improv to TV. In the first two episodes, at least, it gets about
halfway to the level the UCB TV series achieved. It’s unclear from
just two episodes whether the leads could be more dynamic and
interesting, whether they need more to play with or greater stakes
in the stories.
“Broad City” was spawned from an online series, and it’s also
possible that a bigger budget ended up stiffening the freedom and
energy that Jacobson and Glazer began with on the project.
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© 2005-2018 Michael Shashoua