Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer

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Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Good Hang.

Speaker 1 This is an exciting one.

Speaker 1 I'm starting this episode in Los Angeles, and then I'm getting on an airplane, and I'm flying to New York, where I go to that studio and talk to Abby Jacobson and Alana Glazer, the stars of Broad City, the

Speaker 1 just the sweetest, most wonderful, talented talented women who in many ways helped my company, Paper Kite,

Speaker 1 grow and expand into what it is today. And I cannot wait to talk to them.
We're going to talk about Broad City, the show, of course, and getting that made and what it was like to do it together.

Speaker 1 We're going to talk about female friendships. We're going to talk about, you know, life as a millennial and how it's changed and what is nostalgia.

Speaker 1 And hopefully we're going to get to all of those things. But I always like to start these episodes with people who know our guests, who have

Speaker 1 good feelings and thoughts about our guests and want to give me questions to ask the guests.

Speaker 1 And I thought no better people to ask than the women who run Paper Kite Productions, the co-heads, the co-presidents of Paper Kite.

Speaker 1 Kate Arend and Kim Lessing, who work with me every day and who are going to join me in this studio to talk about Abby and Alana. So ladies, welcome.

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Speaker 1 Jade Aaron and Kim Lessing sharing a laptop today.

Speaker 2 That's how we work. We just have the laptops.
Let's all work on our laptop.

Speaker 3 Hold on, Amy, we have to run your company one second.

Speaker 2 And send.

Speaker 4 Send.

Speaker 1 Sorry. Okay, I'm so excited to interview you guys because we are here in the studio and next door to Paper Kite offices, which you co-run.

Speaker 1 And we're talking to Abby and Alana about Broad City. And I just felt like it was such a great combo because,

Speaker 1 in many ways, you represent millennial and zillennial

Speaker 2 or Jillian. Zillennial.
So Gen Y?

Speaker 1 Jen Z.

Speaker 4 I'm so cusp.

Speaker 2 You're cuspy.

Speaker 4 It's not what Gen Z.

Speaker 5 But not what the Z.

Speaker 1 Anyway, represent like what you two represent teamwork in many ways, and I want to talk about that. But also, you know what, how important that show was to PaperKite and its growth.

Speaker 1 So before we start, tell everybody what you do here at the company. What's your job?

Speaker 5 So, Kim and I, as Amy said, we're the co-presidents of Paperkite Productions, and we are in charge of the many incredible shows and movies that Paper Kite makes.

Speaker 5 Everything from Broad City to Russian Doll, Difficult People, Harlem.

Speaker 4 Yeah, we're producers.

Speaker 3 We don't produce as a team. We actually produce separately.
And we really take on projects based on our passion for them, our availability. Like we really,

Speaker 3 we really are. We like to describe ourselves as the engines of projects, the connectors of projects.
And

Speaker 3 we really love. We really love every second of doing it.

Speaker 5 And we've both, we've been here working with Amy for 10 plus years.

Speaker 3 And we will never leave.

Speaker 2 That's right.

Speaker 3 She'll have to drag us out of here.

Speaker 2 We have the keys.

Speaker 1 Well, you do really have all the secrets.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 3 And they're bad.

Speaker 2 I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Speaker 1 But, but like, I was just trying to do the math of the timing.

Speaker 3 Oh, we both started on Broad City. Yeah.

Speaker 1 So tell me how you started on that show and like what your memories of the early Broad City days.

Speaker 3 Well, I actually started on the Comedy Central side. Right.
So I was like thrilled to get this job at Comedy Central because they were making Broad City.

Speaker 3 And then I ended up leaving Comedy Central to come work with you. And I got to work even closer to the ladies on Broad City.

Speaker 3 And it was like, I knew I was in the right place because I felt like I was making something that actually genuinely represented my life and genuinely represented the types of friendships I was having.

Speaker 5 So when I first interviewed with Amy, I had just watched season one of Broad City and I remember being like, holy shit, I've never seen queens like this on TV before.

Speaker 5 Like no one's ever existed like this on television, my age doing the kind of stuff my friends and i do saying speaking the way that we speak and my first day paper kite amy and i did notes on a season two episode and i was like is this real life like what is happening and that was your first day yeah or maybe my second but yeah i got to like send my boss at the time my notes on the cut one of the first cuts of i think i started on season three actually and she used some of them and i was like i've made it in entertainment i was like i'm in.

Speaker 2 I was like so happy.

Speaker 3 But we used to do a lot of like, are you Abby? Are you an Alana?

Speaker 2 Are you Alan?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I want to talk about it because what was so cool about, what is so cool about

Speaker 1 that show is it creates these versions of like friends.

Speaker 1 And, you know, much like, you know, back in the day, like Laverne and Shirley or even the Golden Girls or Sex in the City, like when you start being like, are you an Abby or an Alana?

Speaker 1 What it, I think underneath that is it proves like the writing is good that you've identified what a what version of you.

Speaker 3 It was such a specific friendship that it was completely and utterly universal. Like, you just that it everyone was either an Abby or an Alana.

Speaker 2 So, what are you, Kim?

Speaker 3 I'm obviously Alana because I'm like head over heels in love with Kate and always have been, and always try to touch her butt.

Speaker 4 It started with me being like, Can I

Speaker 2 teach her?

Speaker 3 I mean, I would never do that at work. That's

Speaker 3 not okay, but like when we left the office, but when we left the office, it was like on the way to the kinghouse.

Speaker 2 Yeah,

Speaker 1 in the parking lot.

Speaker 1 And so, Kate, you are an actor.

Speaker 2 I mean, she's also a deadhead. Yeah, totally.

Speaker 5 Yeah, we both love Oprah.

Speaker 2 So, that kind of stuff.

Speaker 3 And you guys have that crazy Oprah connection where you both like her.

Speaker 1 So, for people who don't know

Speaker 1 about what we do, right? So, we're a film and production company.

Speaker 1 We do all different kinds of projects, animated,

Speaker 1 unscripted. We do

Speaker 1 half hours. We do hour-long dramas.
But Broad City, we use it a lot as an example when we're talking to creators about,

Speaker 1 you know, young creators who have an idea and want to transfer it. And could you speak a little bit to how we use that as an example?

Speaker 5 We always say, like, Broad City is our North Star. And it is the North Star.
I think if you were a young female creator, in comedy in the last 10 years, that's it.

Speaker 5 Like they did the thing that everybody wished they could do that men had been doing for a long time. There was truly, like we said before, no one liked them.

Speaker 5 So we always refer to them as kind of, they're, they're enmeshed in our ethos as a company.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 3 And they have a lot of elements of things that we really resonate with, like scrappy underdogs, women who love each other, people that are like, with, have like messy edges, and also two characters that really want something.

Speaker 3 Like what I always related to about Abby and Alana is even though they were like silly and messy, they always really went after the things they wanted.

Speaker 5 Like they went after it with such yeah, and they took such good care of each other, which is such friendship is so important to us. We had a conversation day one.

Speaker 5 If there's any sense of competition or jealousy, we have to talk about it. We have to get it out because it will just sit in and fester and make it stressful and miserable.
And communication just,

Speaker 5 we were smart enough to know then that it was the thing that was going to get us through. And today, 11 years later, it's still, we're so brutally honest with each other.

Speaker 5 And then we say thank you to the other person that we can be so brutally honest honest with each other.

Speaker 1 And I feel like Abby and Alana were like that.

Speaker 2 Totally.

Speaker 3 And just the other day, for example, Kate was like, You interrupted me a thousand times. And I was like, Thank you so much for letting me know.

Speaker 2 We both cried because it was so nice.

Speaker 3 And I was like, I'm so glad you feel comfortable telling me. And she was like, I'm so glad you're going to stop.

Speaker 1 It's true. But, you know, we talk about it a lot here.
Like, you know, a workplace is,

Speaker 1 I like to say it's not a family, it's a country.

Speaker 3 And I like to say it's a family.

Speaker 2 We reject that, but that's great.

Speaker 1 And lovers are family.

Speaker 4 It's a bed full of lovers. It's a bed full of lovers who are all related.

Speaker 3 A family of lovers.

Speaker 1 It's a family that everyone borrowed money from each other.

Speaker 2 That's right.

Speaker 1 No, a workplace is a country and has, it has its own culture and language and set of rules.

Speaker 1 And so what one of the things I think that our country believes in is that in our experience, female friendships are a natural resource. They are like the most important things in our life.

Speaker 1 And for the most part, they're not like these competitive, awful, like, um,

Speaker 1 you know, experiences. They're often like the most supportive experiences.
And I feel like you're talking exactly about that, that women often come together and help each other in real time.

Speaker 3 And that help is like, you know, like rooting for other people's success never gets in the way of your own basically but that it's hard to remember that sometimes and I think a lot of work environments are not conducive like ours was easy you're our mentor like it was easy to be like let's team up you know it was a but it sometimes takes a lot of work but I think there's never a time when it's not worth it just to try to like reach out a hand and be like let's be let's be a team instead of enemies like rising tide yeah rising tide sell boats right like i think i actually think you said that once and it was the first time I'd heard it.

Speaker 5 I printed that quote, I think.

Speaker 3 I think you're right.

Speaker 1 You know, I have a laptop. Let's see who can find who said that faster.

Speaker 2 Okay. Okay.
Get to work.

Speaker 2 Hey, I can do it faster.

Speaker 2 Immediately friendship.

Speaker 1 Lifts all boats is an aphorism associated with what we know. Oh, it's attributed to John F.
Kennedy.

Speaker 2 There is no way.

Speaker 2 There is literally no way. No way.

Speaker 3 That could get so much credit he doesn't deserve.

Speaker 2 How dare you?

Speaker 2 I know you're upset.

Speaker 1 First, I'm a Catholic. There's nothing wrong with JFK.

Speaker 2 Literally so handsome. Relax.

Speaker 1 My grandmother had a picture of Jesus and JFK in his house.

Speaker 3 We had such different grandmas.

Speaker 1 So that brings me to Million Dollar Advice. We're talking about the podcast that you two are doing.

Speaker 1 It's going to be the new season is going to be launching very soon. Tell us about what that podcast is.

Speaker 5 Okay. So our show, Million Dollar Advice, Advice, is a work advice podcast where we have people call and email in and we answer their work-related questions.

Speaker 5 So it can be anything from like, how do I deal with my shitty boss to Kim's dying for a question about what to do if your coworker owes you money. I feel like there's...

Speaker 3 There's questions you guys are not asking us about like you loan someone money for something and they just haven't paid you back.

Speaker 2 How do you ask?

Speaker 3 Like, how do you ask?

Speaker 3 When's it too soon? When's it gone on too long?

Speaker 2 Right, great, good. But good question.

Speaker 5 But basically kim and i because of this amazing communication and partnership that we have we almost we're like we got to share this because we we're in on something i mean our advice is so good it's million dollars

Speaker 3 it's at minimum million dollar advice it's so good and like and we get each other through everything and so many people don't have this kind of like work friend work salary they don't have an alana to their abby and or kate to their kim right someone says right so we want to do that for people and you know our first season is like full of the types of questions we're interested in answering and we're hoping for that money question

Speaker 5 yeah so we're making more how can people send in questions million dollar advice pod at gmail.com and they can send an email you can leave a voice note whatever your fancy is and we'll get back to you and we'll figure it out if you want to call in we'll solve all your problem fix your life that's the thing it's like You're wondering, like, how do I fix my life?

Speaker 3 What do I do? It's like so easy. Email

Speaker 3 million dollar advice pod at gmail.com and it's dawn.

Speaker 2 Okay, perfect. And then I'm gonna get an airplane.

Speaker 1 I'm gonna fly to New York. That's great.

Speaker 1 What question do you think I should ask Abby and Alana?

Speaker 4 I have a good one.

Speaker 3 Okay. I think I have a really good one.
Okay.

Speaker 3 So

Speaker 3 when you make a show together, it's like having a new baby.

Speaker 2 Like you're all work all the time.

Speaker 3 And I was curious, like, what things they did to fill their friendship cup and make sure that they were still like. in love in the like staying in love during like the most the hardest longest hours

Speaker 2 great question

Speaker 1 Um, million-dollar advice. We're going to check that out.
We're going to talk about it more. Abby and Alana, we're going to see them in New York.

Speaker 1 Um, thank you guys so much for coming across the street to this studio from our offices.

Speaker 5 Thanks for having us.

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Speaker 1 You are a little raspy today because of your Broadway performances. That's right.
Congratulations. Thank you so much.
And I cannot wait to talk about it. It's very exciting.

Speaker 1 Abby and Alana are here today. My

Speaker 1 children, wives, sister,

Speaker 1 partners in crime. I'm very excited you guys are here.
Thank you for doing this.

Speaker 4 We're so excited to be here.

Speaker 1 I was thinking about our talk today. There's just so many things to talk about today.
And I was like, so excited.

Speaker 4 Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 Like, I have a paper and everything.

Speaker 1 For people that

Speaker 1 don't know, you know, Broad City was a long-running show on Comedy Central that Abby and Alana wrote and starred in and directed and produced and created.

Speaker 1 And it was and is like this really important show for a lot of people. And I was thinking about the last scene today.
What happened in the last scene?

Speaker 1 And what it, what, what were you trying to say in it? And has it lasted?

Speaker 2 That scene came

Speaker 2 as a vision to Paul W. Downs.
You remember that? That's right.

Speaker 2 He came in. We were writing.

Speaker 2 We wrote part of season five in LA in the Airbnb. And Paul came in one morning and he was like, I had a flash of the last moment.

Speaker 2 And I think this is the scene we're talking where Alana

Speaker 2 exits the subway in Union Square. And we've FaceTimed.
Yeah. Right.
And Alana's walking through the city and then the camera leaves Alana and sees the other pairs. I just got chills.
I know.

Speaker 2 And he was like, that was like the thing. And

Speaker 2 that was what we kind of had always talked about, which is just like, we're, we're one of like

Speaker 2 thousands and millions of pairs. Uh, and

Speaker 2 we had just been following us. But uh, the New York of it all was like, we were showcasing like, oh, there's, there's, these are, there's Abby Nolanas everywhere.

Speaker 4 Yes. And, you know, we end on, do you know Marie Fauston and Sydney Washington, the stand-ups?

Speaker 4 But to end on Marie and Sydney was so perfect just because they're so delicious and they're such an iconic pair of themselves. Yes.

Speaker 4 Yeah. It's so,

Speaker 4 I think what we were, you know, trying to say is that we followed Abby and Alana, but everybody's got there. Everybody's, if you're in your own life.

Speaker 4 Oh, you're having your own adventures and your parties. And New York is such a, always this like

Speaker 4 infinitely fruitful backdrop for the craziest shit to happen. I can't get over it.
I've been here 20 years. I can't get enough.

Speaker 4 I can't get enough. I know.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 what it was, and I still is, and is that

Speaker 1 what you did with that ending, I think, is you gave the show back to the people that loved it.

Speaker 1 And that's why I think that the, you know, the DNA.

Speaker 2 Cry, cry, cry.

Speaker 1 I love to get people to cry.

Speaker 1 um I think it felt um and still feels like one of the big reasons why that show sticks around is exactly what you said is people feel they are the main characters of their own story everyone is and everyone feels like they're living a life that feels

Speaker 1 very much like Abby and Alana's life like how am I piecing together a life in real time and the fact that that ending was like passing the baton it's it's very deep and it's I think it has to do a lot with what we're gonna talk talk about today in your work so for those people that don't know let's go back in time

Speaker 1 to little tiny babies Alana's 19 Wow right

Speaker 1 and Ab you're what are you you guys met what age and where did you meet how did how did you two

Speaker 1 22

Speaker 2 this is so funny that this well I knew this was happening but um wow 19 years ago my dog yeah this is actually this is crazy that I did this last week

Speaker 2 we met in ayahuasca.

Speaker 2 I did ayahuasca last week. And I went right back there.

Speaker 2 22 in here. No, but we were in an improv practice group.
Like we were both taking classes at UCB. Yeah.
I had just graduated college, moved here.

Speaker 2 You were still at NYU.

Speaker 2 You know, you take classes at UCB and then like you're like, we got to form a practice group like after school or like at night after day job our mutual friend Tim Martin I remember he was like I'm in this class with these two

Speaker 2 it's a brother and sister and they're great like can they come and practice with us and we were like yeah and Elliot and Alana came and I was like

Speaker 2 this girl's on arrested development

Speaker 2 This is crazy. Like, how does she have time to get off of arrest?

Speaker 2 It just ended. And I was like, it makes sense.
She's in New York.

Speaker 4 It makes sense. You have like a huge network show and then you go to practice groups.

Speaker 2 She's like, she's definitely. I'm going to be in my practice group in New York.

Speaker 4 Just to make sense.

Speaker 2 Well, I mean, this is a guy for your group. This is my side.
And then we go to McManus that night, which is a bar nearby, the theater. And we're sitting at the bar,

Speaker 2 you and me, and it was like other, it was only guys in the group except us. And we're talking.
We're like, where are you from? Where are you from?

Speaker 2 And I was like smitten with this person, like everyone that meets Solana. I was like, this person is unlike anyone I've ever met

Speaker 2 and not like any of my friends. And we were just like,

Speaker 2 and she was like, I'm from Long Island. I was like, whoa, like two of my best friends from college are from Long Island.
She's like, I'm from Smithtown.

Speaker 1 And I was like, so are they?

Speaker 2 And I was like, and then I said their names and you were like, I know them. And I was like, this is not the government.

Speaker 4 Oh my God. I'm literally crying.

Speaker 2 But I remember you were, I'm going to cry as well.

Speaker 1 You made Alana's crying.

Speaker 2 What's making you cry?

Speaker 4 When she said Smitten, I started crying. Oh my gosh, it's just so sweet.
And I remember, you know, dramatically falling under the bar that we know

Speaker 4 these two same people. It's like we're Jews, we're from the tri-state area.
Like, not that big.

Speaker 2 You were from like three and a half hours away.

Speaker 4 Oh, I was, I was changed that Abby knew these two people.

Speaker 1 I think what you were saying, what was underneath that is like that the universe, like, it's why it's so thrilling to look back at how things come together.

Speaker 1 Because the smallest changes in our lives go in a completely different way. And what you were noticing, like the universe was giving you some signs of familiarity, basically.

Speaker 1 Like it's, you know, if you believe in past lives, it's like, oh, we knew each other before. Like, that's the universe just like making sure you have something to talk about.

Speaker 1 So you spend five more minutes talking. So then you spend 15 minutes talking.
So then you do a show together.

Speaker 2 Right, right. Wait, real quick.
So on Friday, I was in Chelsea and I, where I was going, I'm like, confronted with McManus. Wow.
Wow.

Speaker 4 And I said McManus the first time I like almost made a joke. It's like like so rude.
But like a dumpster with bars, like, you know, nailed it in the middle.

Speaker 2 It's not in the background.

Speaker 1 Improv shows would hang out. And it was like green paper tablecloths at the time and French leather seats.

Speaker 4 Yeah, it's just like, yeah, it's like ass grooves and it's never been changed out. Like you're sitting in

Speaker 4 our ass grooves in McManus because it's never been updated.

Speaker 2 Like the people in the back were like unattainable. Like at that point, we were like up at the front looking like

Speaker 4 there was this hierarchy at UCB that we never climbed. We only climbed it outside of UCB through Broad City.
But yeah, the further back you went at McManus.

Speaker 1 Like an invisible velvet road.

Speaker 2 Yes. Yeah.
But I walked in. I went in the side door.
Wow.

Speaker 1 Like I, it's crazy.

Speaker 2 I went in and

Speaker 2 But we went there so much after that moment, but I walked in. We even shot in there.
We shot like the cocktail cold open in McMattis. We needed to shoot there.

Speaker 2 But I walked in and just remembered that moment I just said

Speaker 2 of you and I at the bar. Wow.

Speaker 1 That's a real-time travel moment. And so you meet and you're like, you're not Alia Shakwat, but I will have you two be in a scene many years later in Broad City.

Speaker 1 But you say, okay, I see something in you. I love being with you.
We like being with each other. And then you start creating.

Speaker 1 What is the, what do you remember like when that creative content stuff started?

Speaker 4 Like, you know,

Speaker 4 I think being in this improv group, it wasn't like we got so much duo time.

Speaker 4 There was something like

Speaker 4 a grit that was like a tension that was not the same, the difference between us that when rubbed together, you know, created this spark, this like difference, the differences about us that we were like, that's funny, that's funny.

Speaker 4 And I think also as women and as young women, it's

Speaker 4 you're kind of safer together. So it's, it's like, you're going to cry.

Speaker 2 Yeah. No, Abby's correct.
It's,

Speaker 4 I love it. It's so good.
Why do we get our makeup done?

Speaker 2 Your makeup done. Yeah.

Speaker 2 We're not going to get through any questions.

Speaker 4 Let's cry the entire time. And I'm going to get one on deck, tissue on love.

Speaker 2 I'm feeling sleep.

Speaker 4 But it's like, you know, I think it's so much about sameness when you're young, when you're a young woman.

Speaker 4 But we were, I think, secure enough with each other to recognize our differences and it tickled us.

Speaker 4 And beyond our sense of humor, that was both, you know, Venn diagram shared and different, it was also like our work ethic. We were like desperate to make a spreadsheet, you know? Yeah.

Speaker 4 And we're like, we had these ideas and we were like desperate to list them neatly. Yeah.
I mean,

Speaker 2 neatly. Like,

Speaker 1 I mean, that is, I think, a lot of like your, when you get out of college in that time period where you're like, I need to give myself a job. I need to be busy

Speaker 1 because I've, you know, up until now, schoolwork has kept me busy and like the course or whatever that I've been on has kept me busy. But you're like, now I have to structure my own busyness.

Speaker 1 I have to create busy things.

Speaker 4 What something that's just that's coming up for me is all three of us having worked so much in food and service, you know, and there's so much busyness in that.

Speaker 4 You know, I just texted you about Steamers Landing. You just texted me about it.

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2 What was that place you worked? Was it actually called Steamer's Landing?

Speaker 4 Like, disgusting, even if they still exist.

Speaker 2 I bet the the French fries are good, though. Steamers Landing.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 Yeah, but in Broad City, Paul and Lucia had changed it in a script to

Speaker 4 dumpers post.

Speaker 4 And I remember we were at the office and we were like first reading a script that they got back to us.

Speaker 2 I fell to my knees.

Speaker 4 Like bent over a couch, fell to my knees, dumped my face.

Speaker 1 And we're talking about Paul Downs and Lucia Agnello, who went on, are now creators of hacks and who, you know, wrote and directed and

Speaker 1 produced with you and us Broad City. So like they also have their like baby versions of this experience.

Speaker 2 That's right.

Speaker 2 Well, we, so we did this improv group for like two years before doing anything Broad City, but it was, it was the two of them actually who we made one episode of Broad City, the web series.

Speaker 2 And we were like, again, as Alana said, so organized, so organized. And it was the two of them who saw it and emailed us and loved it.

Speaker 4 The first web episode came out and they were emailed us the two mail lists.

Speaker 1 So when we when you guys were in your second season of this web series in 2011,

Speaker 1 I was down the street living in the West Village

Speaker 1 and I get a text from a Upright Citizens Brigade

Speaker 1 teacher,

Speaker 1 was it Will Hines? Yeah. And he said, hey,

Speaker 1 check out Abby and Alana. They're doing some

Speaker 1 great web series stuff and they wanted to know if you want to do it. And so I watched a bunch of your stuff and I thought it was really funny.
And it was shooting right down the street from my house.

Speaker 1 And you two asked me to come do a small bit. We were like

Speaker 1 running away. And I remember oranges fell on me at one point.
There were, I don't remember anything about the plot.

Speaker 2 What was the plot? There was barely.

Speaker 4 We were running. We were running.

Speaker 2 We were running and we were trying to get towards spoiler, a cookie.

Speaker 1 The plot was very Brad City. We were running to get a cookie.

Speaker 1 And then after that, as far as I remember, very soon after you sent me an email saying

Speaker 1 what?

Speaker 2 I remember this very well. We,

Speaker 2 that last episode of the web series, we knew we wanted it to be the last one. It was like more production value.
We like worked with this director who, it was just like bigger. And

Speaker 2 we

Speaker 2 emailed you with the cut maybe of it and said,

Speaker 2 this is our, we've been thinking and we want to go to LA and pitch this as a show. Would you ever consider being the executive producer on it?

Speaker 4 We were also like kind of excited that we were like pretty much the same height. And when we first met, and it was just like, this is funny.
You know, like,

Speaker 4 literally seeing eye to eye. And I remember being like, well, we might send it to Jonah Hill.
And we knew we were going to ask you, but we weren't going to ask you on the spot that day.

Speaker 1 I was just here to say it was a genius move to say you were going to send it to Jonah Hill.

Speaker 2 Incredible move.

Speaker 4 Girl, your face, I will never forget.

Speaker 2 She goes,

Speaker 2 she goes,

Speaker 4 that's how you did.

Speaker 2 I remember being like, whoa, whoa, whoa. What the?

Speaker 4 I remember just being like, she was like pissed immediately.

Speaker 1 Immediately, like in the race, like taking, like immediately, because I am competitive, but I remember thinking, like, no, Jonah Hill can't have broad seats. Like, so.

Speaker 4 And this was not a ploy.

Speaker 2 We really were like, I think you should check.

Speaker 4 You're like Jonah Hill.

Speaker 2 You know what I mean? Whatever.

Speaker 4 But like, you know, but I remember your expression, you know, and like, I don't know.

Speaker 1 I remember just thinking later, like, you know, it's always smart to,

Speaker 1 it's like in relationship, it's okay sometimes to be like, you're not the only one circling here, honey.

Speaker 4 I'm dating, babe.

Speaker 2 I'm dating. Yeah.

Speaker 4 You think I'm just waiting around? Yeah.

Speaker 2 I'm dating. I'm not going to.
Okay.

Speaker 2 We're open.

Speaker 1 So, so you sent me the email and I was like, let's go. We're in.
And we started developing together.

Speaker 4 Wait, can I just say one thing? Yeah.

Speaker 4 Your response to that email, I think was the biggest celebration of the entire 10 years.

Speaker 2 I remember it was, it was on,

Speaker 2 I called, I think I have chills. I called you.

Speaker 4 And I was like shooting some short and she was like upstate in the middle of the night.

Speaker 2 I was like,

Speaker 2 you clearly didn't open your email, open your email. And like, we were freaking out.
I was like, I think I had to leave a party. I left a birthday party.

Speaker 2 It was like, it was honestly that was it.

Speaker 4 Like, I remember all the other milestones, but you saying you were going to, like, that was like your hero believes in you. That was crazy.

Speaker 2 And then you went and met. Okay, you were like, well, let's meet about it.

Speaker 2 Okay, let's meet about it. We met before we met

Speaker 2 for like a good hour.

Speaker 4 We were like, okay, just to get a just to like pre-vomit, you know,

Speaker 2 and we're like, what's it gonna be? Like, it could be anything.

Speaker 4 Just in this hallway, like before we met, I was like, this forever kiddo, Amy Poehler, like, you can just picture what your parents saw you as in the doorway at eight.

Speaker 4 Like, you're always that, like, hey, you know, and like the way you just walked down the hallway to greet us. That was how you walked down the fucking street.

Speaker 4 She's like, hello, you know, like all sunshine. You're wearing these like cute sunglasses and a dress.
And it's just sunshine.

Speaker 4 And this, like, ooh, you're like, you're, you're like heart is on your sleeve and it's you at eight. And we were like, that it was surreal.
That was like really like trippy, gloopy.

Speaker 4 The whole lunch was like as though I was tripping my balls off

Speaker 2 after it as well

Speaker 2 because I remember we were like she watched every web like you came with because of the legal pad we got to make a teaser we made the teaser from the web episodes and the legal pad going through our

Speaker 4 silly little web episodes what you thought of each one and we were like huma we were like what is going on the thoughts and the

Speaker 2 i don't know real opinions and we were were at which I'm not gonna say where we were at a restaurant where we were like this is clearly Amy's favorite restaurant

Speaker 2 like you know those like sort of like saying hello to everybody

Speaker 1 George how's your wife

Speaker 4 and we're like we'll just get toast you know like we don't even know how to order

Speaker 4 yeah you know what do you get well we'll get that you know like just not even knowing how to have

Speaker 4 like be a person

Speaker 1 I mean I have just nothing but like exciting bottom of show mountain memories of it. And, you know,

Speaker 1 I, the reason, one of the many reasons why I'm so thrilled that we're talking today is like, to put it in perspective for me, Broad City made me feel like a real producer.

Speaker 1 I had been producing on parks. I had produced other things and stuff that I had done.
And, you know, we had technically produced our UCB show, even though we didn't know what that was.

Speaker 1 That was what we were doing.

Speaker 1 And our sketches at SNL. But Broad City felt like the child that made me the mother.
Like, and it, it's still, when I think about it, I feel so proud to have been

Speaker 1 along for

Speaker 1 the ride and just being in being

Speaker 1 helpful in any way. But I learned so much from watching the two of you.
I learned so much from like trying to advocate for the show. I learned so much about what kind of stuff I wanted to make.

Speaker 2 You know, fully grinding.

Speaker 2 Oh my God. god.
This is it now.

Speaker 2 It's just

Speaker 2 oh my god.

Speaker 4 And then plus the voice, it's like gonna seem so insane.

Speaker 4 But it's like, dude, like, it's just like you, I don't want to cut you off. No, no, no.

Speaker 4 But it's like, you know, I remember this one time that we had lunch or whatever, and like, you talked about the sexual politic of the show.

Speaker 2 And I was like,

Speaker 2 I remember like,

Speaker 2 then we'd be like out talking and I'd be like, well, what we're really trying to do is the sexual politic of the show.

Speaker 2 Oh my God.

Speaker 4 Can I have like a full tissue?

Speaker 2 This gross half tissue.

Speaker 1 Talk about sexual politic for a second.

Speaker 1 Very, I've said this before. Immediately what I learned, and this is why I love like the best thing about getting older is like being less and less certain about everything.

Speaker 1 If you're doing it right, you just know, you're supposed to be, you're supposed to let go of the grasp of the things you think you know.

Speaker 1 And that is what I think young people do, people younger than you do.

Speaker 1 And even just the very simple way in which you guys approached your own bodies, your own bodies in space, your own bodies in the show, the way you approached, I mean, I remember very

Speaker 1 specifically saying, you know,

Speaker 1 you know, if you don't want to get in your underwear for this, for this scene, the pilot. And the pilot, if you guys feel uncomfortable and you're like, we wrote it.

Speaker 1 We are. the ones writing that we're in our underwear.
And we're so comfortable with how the dynamic is in the scene.

Speaker 1 We're we're so like thank you good looking out but you're but you're kind of missing the point in a way and there was a lot of that for me where i watched how you two

Speaker 1 um

Speaker 1 reminded me of like what i what was like an old story or like old programming like i think it's what brad city did a lot and still does i will say on that i don't know how

Speaker 2 fully comfortable I was in those scenes.

Speaker 2 But I think that was also like, okay, over here, we wrote it. And I like loved it so much.
And I knew that, like, Abby as an actor will have to deal with that when we get to the day.

Speaker 2 And for me,

Speaker 2 that, like, I feel like that, like, Broad City was in a moment for me of like a little bit later,

Speaker 2 uh, like huge growth. Like, I feel like I grew up a little later.
I'm going to fully cry. Like, and, and in so many ways because of Alana,

Speaker 4 which is

Speaker 2 so like the Abby and Alana. That's what's happening.

Speaker 2 That's what's happening. Like, the confidence.
Like,

Speaker 4 I think, first of all, like,

Speaker 2 but the confidence, like, of that dynamic of like, like, Abby is the insecure one, and Alana's got this, like, bravado.

Speaker 2 And that's like something that I was like, learning right alongside the character because that was real. Yeah.
You know, like us being,

Speaker 2 sorry, I'm laughing. We, we are, but us being the hottest women in like any room is like, that was like not how I approached going out.

Speaker 2 And we, I would go out with Alana as a friend, and that would be like, and I don't know if that was like a fake it till you make it, but that was like the charge of like, yeah, you know, we are.

Speaker 2 And my ass is the like the hot, like my ass being a hot thing was

Speaker 2 not something I ever thought we'd focus on so much.

Speaker 4 Still up.

Speaker 2 And then I was like, I only, like, only through Alana, like that, among many other things, was like such a huge change for me.

Speaker 2 And I think, like, so like us being in our underwear, I was like, able to be like, I might not be comfortable, but like, I know this is so right. And this is so powerful and like so funny.

Speaker 1 I mean, I think that's what female friendships at their best do is they

Speaker 1 provide this. the opposite of a funhouse mirror.
Like they provide this like beautiful mirror that you get to look in and see this version of yourself that your friend sees. And you're right.

Speaker 1 It's very, it's, that's aspirational. It's kind of manifesty, but it is like you are sexy if you say so.
And you're beautiful if you feel so. And everybody is.
beautiful and sexy and in their own way.

Speaker 1 And sometimes you just can't, you have to have like a surrogate feel it for you.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And that's what you do for each other in female friendships. And that's what exactly what Abby and Alana did constantly.
It's just, and it's good for comedy, like pumping each other up is funny.

Speaker 1 Oh, it's so funny.

Speaker 4 And, you know, to the point before of what I was thinking about sexual politic, you just validated us

Speaker 4 as women, not as girls. Everybody called us girls, even the people working for us.
You know, they called the girls whatever.

Speaker 4 You called us women at such a young time where I was like, damn, I suppose we are. And then, you know,

Speaker 4 like with comedy, I mean, it's just, I just will never, it's just the fucking best. Comedy is just the fucking best.

Speaker 1 Why is it the best?

Speaker 4 Because it's like, it's um, it's this cosmic container that just lifts you up off the ground of like the systems we're rooted in and just connects people so efficiently. It's so efficient.

Speaker 4 You know, just whatever. Obviously farts are the funniest.
Someone farts.

Speaker 1 I disagree.

Speaker 2 I don't really.

Speaker 1 I'm not the biggest fart is funny fan.

Speaker 4 Like if somebody farts in a context where they're not supposed to, you don't giggle?

Speaker 1 I don't think

Speaker 1 ish. It really depends.
Like that was actually a big thing for us on the set of Parks and Rec because people would fart and I'd be like, don't fart. Just like

Speaker 2 in life? Yeah, like on some of the things that I'm talking about. I don't know.
I don't think that.

Speaker 4 That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about that.

Speaker 1 I'm talking if they accidentally fart. I feel a little codependently worried about them.

Speaker 4 No, I mean like if somebody farts as a joke to invade your space with odors, that's not cool.

Speaker 2 That's like sibling.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 4 That's like not shenanigans.

Speaker 1 They don't like that. Well, what when are five cities?

Speaker 2 Okay, so I remember a good Broad City fart. I'm meeting your parents.
It's at like your Shiva, and Bob Balavan picks me up, and we're like, and we're adding a fart there.

Speaker 2 That's what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2 Change your mind.

Speaker 4 I'm talking about professorial

Speaker 4 masterful fart comedy.

Speaker 2 That was really thoroughly thought out and intentional.

Speaker 1 But you're right. A little squeeze that comes into a little like.

Speaker 2 It's cute. It was cute.

Speaker 2 That's right. Maybe it's the cute.
The farts are cute. And also cute.
Oh, for sure.

Speaker 4 But I'm also talking about like adding a sound effect.

Speaker 2 Or when we did, just we did add the sound effect. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 We gotta be editing.

Speaker 1 I hear you. And, and, and, and what, and then just to stay in the, to get us on the air, we, you write a script, we go to FX, we try to make it at FX, they pass.

Speaker 1 And we kind of have a moment where we have to regroup.

Speaker 2 I remember just going back to what you were talking about, maybe like when you felt like producer. I remember you would be the one that would have to deliver that news to us.
I did.

Speaker 2 I learned learned a lot. Yes, that was a big thing.

Speaker 1 In real time, I was learning on the job. You know, I was like, like all of us, like you sometimes at fake tea make it, you have to kind of pretend.
And I remember thinking, right, my job here is to

Speaker 1 never let,

Speaker 1 never let anyone feel like, you know, we're not going to solve this problem.

Speaker 1 Cause that's just, you're supposed to, you're supposed to keep the ship in the water and you don't, you know, and other people can steer it, but you have to make sure it doesn't sink.

Speaker 1 And so I remember not quite knowing where we were going to go next, but feeling like I needed to make sure that you felt like we were going to go somewhere good.

Speaker 4 I think we could do that. And you did.
Yeah. I'm remembering now another lunch at a place that we never would go, but we were like, totally, we'll meet you there.
And it's going to be chill.

Speaker 4 Balthazar. Anyway.

Speaker 4 So we like me for lunch.

Speaker 4 Oh, my God. But you were like,

Speaker 4 So, you know, lucky for us, Comedy Central had wanted us, which isn't always the case. And you were like, FX is like a cold boyfriend.
You don't even want them.

Speaker 1 No. Anyway.

Speaker 4 You don't want that boyfriend anyway. And it was like,

Speaker 2 yeah, I don't.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And that time, Comedy Central, maybe to let people know,

Speaker 1 we were in such good company.

Speaker 1 Who else was on the air during that time?

Speaker 4 Kim Peale. Kim Peel.

Speaker 2 Workaholics who had a similar

Speaker 2 web to... to TV.

Speaker 1 Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer, Crowley Show,

Speaker 2 maybe Nathan for You. Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 2 Early Nathan Fielder. Yeah.

Speaker 1 It was such an incredible time.

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Speaker 1 Why do you think it's come, you know, it's like sprung back in this way right now? It must feel good to have people still come up to you and

Speaker 1 say they love it and say who they think they are.

Speaker 4 And it's also like such an uh newly as we are like becoming like

Speaker 4 literally middle-aged adults it's like such a sweet

Speaker 4 such a sweet connective thing when people talk about it when we were younger they thought we wanted they thought we improvised it we were like we work so hard to write this over and over and over again you know it's just improv it's left together and and that we're like stone like if they're meeting us on the street that we're stoned in that moment or whatever and it's like

Speaker 4 we think we're the characters from the show yeah and like like, what it is now is like, it's just reached this, like, such a warm, sweet,

Speaker 4 like, bed for connection.

Speaker 2 I don't know if you experience, I mean, when we're, we haven't for a second been like out together, but that's a whole other thing. If people are like, what are you guys doing on the street together?

Speaker 2 But, like, my wife, Jodi, like, she's like, this is unlike anything. Like, to have someone witness it, she's like, you get this,

Speaker 2 we like this wild positive affirmation like coming at you

Speaker 2 that is so rare. That is like a really, I feel very thankful all the time for that.

Speaker 1 Before we move off of the Broad City section, I do want to just for like people that are big fans, hottest day on set,

Speaker 1 coldest day on set.

Speaker 1 Any memories of like when you were very hot, very cold?

Speaker 4 Everything was so sweaty, literally sweaty.

Speaker 2 And I don't know why I was always wearing skinny jeans, so really added to it. Babe, it was the time we were Alana sent me something where like something happened and I was like

Speaker 2 You know what's going to happen when you know what's going to happen when you're 70?

Speaker 1 This is because this has now started to finally happen. Skinny jeans are going to come back around

Speaker 1 and people are going to, but people are going to be like, this is so cool. These really tight skinny jeans.
And you're going to say, you know, I used to wear it. It's wild.

Speaker 2 I was hoping.

Speaker 2 I don't know, but maybe.

Speaker 1 I mean, remember skinny jeans? I mean, what, what, I'm trying to think of like good out checkers.

Speaker 2 They're still going out. They're still, I still see people in them.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I see millennials being like, fuck you. I don't care.
I'm wearing skinny jeans. I feel organized in them.
And I'm like, get it.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Well, that's what I mean.
It just now it's like all the way around to if you're wearing skinny jeans, you're a confident person. Yeah.
You're, you know.

Speaker 2 But I also had these straight-down bags for a lot of the show. Yeah.
And I remember they would get maybe be fully soaking wet.

Speaker 2 Soft. Top and wet bangs.
Marcelo has to be like, can you dry the bangs? Yeah, bangs.

Speaker 4 That's so funny.

Speaker 1 That was so funny. And

Speaker 1 guest stars, who comes to mind is people that when you just like pops into your head is like, oh, that was a fun day. That was a good moment.

Speaker 1 That was, there's so many great people that came through the show.

Speaker 4 RuPaul just cracks me up. He was so, he was so like studying his lines and saying them to himself that I was like, damn.

Speaker 2 And I would say Kelly Rippa. I mean, just the way, just her

Speaker 2 being that version we wrote of her, was wild. She was bad Kelly Rippa.
She was

Speaker 4 too. Like, her joy was like, oh, my God.
Like, she really wanted to be there. And it was like so contagious.

Speaker 1 And do you remember Lady Gaga tweeting about the show? How important that was?

Speaker 2 Yes, we were in the writer's room.

Speaker 1 That was a season two, end of season one.

Speaker 2 She was like, oh my God, they used my song. My favorite, I think it was like my favorite show used my song.

Speaker 4 And we met her. She like asked us to come or invited us to a performance, and we like went on her bus.
And like the thing she was doing.

Speaker 2 She would go on the bus.

Speaker 4 Yeah, it was like right outside the performance or whatever. And she was so kind, being like, you remind me when I watch your show, I feel like I'm not famous and I'm young again.

Speaker 4 And like just running around the city before

Speaker 4 all of this, which you know, she was clearly grateful for, but also was clearly quite heavy.

Speaker 4 And it was so many years ago, it was like, before now, she's like such a woman.

Speaker 1 We got her song. I mean, how did we even afford her song? How did we

Speaker 4 do that? I have no idea.

Speaker 2 Paid for it, but how did we do that? I think she liked it.

Speaker 2 It was like if someone involved liked the show, someone's manager or something. I don't know.

Speaker 2 Whoopee.

Speaker 4 Whoopee came in, did he?

Speaker 2 Whoopee? BG. Wordless background role.

Speaker 4 She's a sister America.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that was wild. That was wild.

Speaker 4 And I remember like meeting her and being like, and she comes in the trailer. She is such a badass, like so herself the same.
She's exactly who you'd think she is. And,

Speaker 4 and I, like, we were just like acting totally cool. And we were also in stages that were like illegal and like an abandoned building, essentially.

Speaker 4 And I, I was like, well, she was like leaving and I was like, thanks so much. It meant so much to me.
And then I, she left and I like.

Speaker 4 immediately like turned around and wept and like cried in rubble in like bushwick rubble that we were filming in for some reason um because she was so not only did she do her show but like such a real ass bitch, such a like a comedy girl, real woman.

Speaker 2 Oh my God, Shania Twain. I think about that a lot, actually, because we, we got her to say, man, a fee like a smoothie.

Speaker 2 I think about a lot of people. So game, so game.

Speaker 2 She was like, that was like so crazy.

Speaker 2 Yeah, she did that for, I mean,

Speaker 2 you're pointing at me. You.
Oh, boy. I'm like, that should be a show.
That was the bear. We did the bear bear before the bear.

Speaker 4 You did the bear before the bear.

Speaker 2 We did the bear before the bear.

Speaker 1 You're right. And for people, there was a scene where I was in the back of the kitchen and there was a whole drama with me and Seth Morris.

Speaker 2 Another of our exes. Really, we're exes.

Speaker 1 And we just created a little bit of a thing.

Speaker 1 And you're right. You know what? The bears stole.

Speaker 1 The bears stole from Broad City.

Speaker 2 You heard it here from the crossbow. And you directed that.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I mean, what the fuck?

Speaker 2 What the fuck?

Speaker 1 So we do this thing where we talk to people about our guests before they come on. And I was really trying to think about who I wanted to talk to.

Speaker 1 And what organically came up for me was Kim Lessing and Kate Arendt, the producers, co-heads of Paper Kite, have worked together for 10 plus years.

Speaker 1 They are millennials and they started when Brad City was, I think, Kate's second or third day was we were doing notes on like episode two of Brad City.

Speaker 1 So I asked them what.

Speaker 1 they would want to know from you. And from a workplace perspective, they were curious, how did you

Speaker 1 keep your relationship, your actual

Speaker 1 intimate friendship healthy while you were working together? And like, as you've gone on to work on other things, like what, what, how do you keep your workplace healthy knowing what you know now?

Speaker 1 And how did you do it then too? What do you, how do you like to work, and what do you bring into your work to keep it healthy?

Speaker 4 As incredible as it was to make Broad City, it was like we would like always make sure to have a little time up top to connect and catch up. LOL catch up from 12 hours ago or whatever it was.

Speaker 4 But like,

Speaker 4 you know, but like, it just, it feels like so,

Speaker 4 I don't know, so human to now have dinner and just be, lately we have been like crying so much. It's been so, it's so like juicy and delicious and nutritious and sweet.

Speaker 4 But at the time it was very much slotted in. to catch up.

Speaker 4 And things would always make their way into the comedy, which is cool, but it's not the same as it being its own, just for the sake of its own beauty, you know?

Speaker 2 And I think we knew that the catching up,

Speaker 2 it was like the catching up was essential for the thing.

Speaker 2 Like we knew that like it's so derived from us. So like we had to kind of like catch up and be like, okay, that's

Speaker 2 write that down for this thing.

Speaker 1 What helped you during those times? Like what was the stuff you like,

Speaker 1 did you pick your battles? Did you?

Speaker 4 Well, I think like something also was like, I'm thinking about it too, because like there was tension, like rise and release of tension constantly.

Speaker 4 And I think like a lot of it was like boundaries and space and being like, see you later. Yeah.
And like taking the space.

Speaker 2 Well, we didn't like hang out. I think when we were doing it, we weren't like, we would see you on Monday.
We weren't like as our friends anymore.

Speaker 4 We were friends during Broad City. We couldn't.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 So it's almost like you had to put that a little bit aside, just like not like not let it atrophy, but not give it a lot of oxygen while you were doing the show.

Speaker 4 Yeah, it was very like after school club. You You know what I mean? In that it's like this thing of like slotting in 45 minutes to talk before we focus.

Speaker 4 It's like it wasn't, it is so, like, it feels so beautiful now to like just not have a

Speaker 4 task at hand, you know?

Speaker 2 But during that time, even though we weren't on the weekends, I would be like, you know, if something was happening, I'd be like, Alana, I'm going on a date. Like, what am I, what do I wait?

Speaker 2 It wasn't like, don't speak to me. Sure.
It was just like after truly like 12, 14 hours of Monday through Friday, we were like, let's not do it on.

Speaker 1 Who did you go on the date with and what did you wear?

Speaker 2 Well, I do. I honestly will remember.
I remember like, this is post-Broad City. I saw you the day before I met Joni.
Oh my God. And I was like, telling me what I'm going to wear.

Speaker 2 Your beautiful wife, Jody. Jody.
And a lot of people. Wait, tell us that story.

Speaker 1 You were going on a date with Jonathan.

Speaker 2 You were in LA and you were staying at Liz's house. And I was like, I'm going on a date.
By going on a date, it was like so deep COVID. She was like coming over to my house to the patio.

Speaker 2 And I was like, I think I'm just going to wear, like,

Speaker 2 I know what I wore. I was like, I think I'm just going to wear this sweater and like black.
I don't know. Like, we were still doing that.
And you were like, yeah, black, don't do too much.

Speaker 2 You know, totally.

Speaker 1 What you wear on a date's really important. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Because it's a lot. It says a lot.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I'm excited.
I'm not excited. I don't care.
I want to have sex. I don't want to, like, there's a ton of things happening.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And it worked because you bagged, you bagged that babe. Yep.

Speaker 2 You have a baby sweater.

Speaker 1 You bagged that babe. That babe was obsessed.

Speaker 4 And y'all are so beautiful and romantic. Like, you're such a beautiful couple.
Oh, my God. So, like, also hot.

Speaker 2 Hot. Hot as fuck.

Speaker 1 Beautiful. And, and both of you have had a very busy 10 years.
You become a mom. Both of you have gotten married.
Like, you've both done a ton of different projects that you're writing, creating.

Speaker 1 Like, there's so much that's happened. And I guess I was curious: like, like, a lot of motherhood is a big

Speaker 1 creative um

Speaker 1 uh

Speaker 1 center in a lot of your work it's you talk about it a lot on stage you made a movie about it babes you have this way in which you're like peeling that onion a lot and what's what's it brought how is it in how it is how has it expanded you and your work it just has organized everything for me appropriately.

Speaker 4 Things are just like in their right place now, like in my, in my heart. And it's been so creative.
And work also like,

Speaker 4 um,

Speaker 4 is work.

Speaker 4 It's not, uh,

Speaker 4 and it's a creative context, but it's not like how I figure out who I am. It's a part of who I am.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I just feel correctly organized.

Speaker 1 That's very cool. Ab.
What about the past? That's very cool. What about you, Ab, the past 10 years with all the different projects that you're working on and worked on?

Speaker 1 What, how has that like changed your creative? Because, I mean, I'm curious about you as a fine artist, too. I mean, you're like, you're, you come from

Speaker 2 a

Speaker 1 fine art world. Like, people don't know, people, who, for people who don't know, what, in what way do you express yourself that way?

Speaker 1 And does it always change?

Speaker 2 You don't do that much anymore.

Speaker 1 You're good at drawing, girl.

Speaker 2 I, I, thank you. Do you want me to say it? I did.

Speaker 2 You went to art school. I went to art school and I, like, I, I'm, a big, like, goal of mine would be to do, to get back into painting and do, have like a show.

Speaker 1 What do you like about painting?

Speaker 2 I think I'm in my head a lot, which I think is something that we really

Speaker 2 bonded over. Yeah.

Speaker 2 And it's very meditative for me. But like, I've painted two and a half paintings in the past two years.

Speaker 1 You should say you're the painter that makes one painter a year, and then everybody comes and watches you finish it.

Speaker 2 That's what a guy would do. I know.
No, I'm dying to do it. Like, I think it's just like,

Speaker 4 it's like

Speaker 1 I only do two and a half, yeah. And everybody's like, he's a genius, yeah, a withholding genius, right?

Speaker 2 God, he's genius, it takes me a whole year to do it, exactly.

Speaker 1 And can I ask you about Prelude?

Speaker 2 Yeah, can you talk about me? Oh my god, because I forgot I told you all about it. Oh, and you did the thing.

Speaker 1 I did the thing. Do you want to talk about it a little bit?

Speaker 2 Yeah, we're in the thick of it right now. Okay, so Prelude is this fellowship program I created with Mika Tennant, who's like my partner.

Speaker 2 And it's an eight-month program where there's 10 fellows that we select and it's early, early, early career storytellers. And so there's 10.

Speaker 2 We set them up with mentors and there's ongoing programming with, they have mentorship every month. We have programming every month that I run the programming every month.

Speaker 2 I have people come in and talk where I ask them questions. Amy

Speaker 2 kicked it off, which was like, they still talk about that. They still like cannot believe that you came.
Of course.

Speaker 2 And so I'm realizing that for me, the success is that they have confidence in themselves. And that's, that's like, that's like the best that we can, like, that would be like my goal.

Speaker 2 They all leave feeling like they have confidence and that they have, they know that like someone believes in them, which like truly, just to go back full circle, which is like what you did for us.

Speaker 2 Like, and I said this to you on the day, I'm going to cry again.

Speaker 2 When I had you, like that, you believing in us and what we were doing, like, I think is, is what what like has fueled us to do everything we've done since and I'm like if I could do that for them that is

Speaker 2 yeah that is so cool

Speaker 1 awesome it's and it really does feel kind of like I know I'm crying again everybody who's listening crying again and um I just want to ask about Good Night and Good Luck because Alana, it's very exciting.

Speaker 1 Like a Broadway debut is it's such a singular goal. Did you have it? Did you ever have that goal?

Speaker 1 Did you want to be on Broadway?

Speaker 2 Like,

Speaker 1 I am accentuating the way. Broadway.

Speaker 2 Comedians, a bunch of comedians.

Speaker 2 Talking about Broadway.

Speaker 4 It wasn't really in my, like,

Speaker 4 I didn't think about it as, especially since I had a child. It's so time-consuming.
Like,

Speaker 4 and since I've like kind of got my stand-up and touring, like, now I like get it, how to do it, how I do it. Like, so, so Broadway, like, you're so like in someone else's control.

Speaker 4 I just hadn't thought about it. Um, it was, it was such an incredible experience.

Speaker 4 You know, it reminds me of Broad City, and then also before that, the early days of comedy, you're just seeing the same people night after night after night.

Speaker 4 Um, George Clooney was the co-writer and star of

Speaker 2 how is our main performance

Speaker 4 an angel, an angel, he is an angel, he is my hero, he is my hero from like the personal human being to the public figure. He is,

Speaker 4 oh my gosh, it was such a,

Speaker 4 such a privilege to perform his writing.

Speaker 1 And, you know, Ab, we don't have to get into it, but you had a beautiful relationship in League of Their Own. What was the best takeaway of that show?

Speaker 2 Oh, I was just talking to Darcy about it. I know.
Great Darcy Carl.

Speaker 4 The most kissable.

Speaker 1 I know. And just so

Speaker 2 she is kissable.

Speaker 2 So funny because I was like, because I kissed Paul so much on Broad City. And then I was like, I guess I'm going to kiss another one of my really close friends.

Speaker 4 Because then we kiss our friends.

Speaker 2 But it also is like, I found like,

Speaker 2 I don't know. Like,

Speaker 2 I don't know. I think I'll do that forever of like, you're, I'm in love with my friends.
And like, there's already that chemistry there. Yeah.

Speaker 2 But

Speaker 2 I guess in the middle, in the middle of Broad City is when I was like, oh, wow, I think I like women too, which was like, obviously, Lilana was like very much there for me during that. Of course.

Speaker 2 And then I was like, like everything else, I want to put that in the show. Right.
And that was very much in the show with Clea,

Speaker 2 who, yeah, like that was so fun. And I was so happy that that lined up to get to have that on Broad City.

Speaker 2 It was like truly us like getting to explore what was happening to me, was happening with Abby and like differently, but the same, which was. which was incredible to be able to do that.

Speaker 2 And then on League, like I loved making that show.

Speaker 2 It was very hard in a lot of different ways. It was a period show.
It was like baseball. It was

Speaker 2 the inner workings of Amazon is not Comedy Central. That was, there was a lot more money.
And at the end of the day, I was like, I'm writing this ensemble.

Speaker 2 And everybody, like, it is just a bigger sort of like friend group.

Speaker 2 And so I was like, that, like, to expand that into like a group was like incredible. And then to get to write this love story with Darcy was like, it was a dream.

Speaker 1 We've really responded to that relationship and that story.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's been a really cool,

Speaker 2 it's kind of like on the, like on the street kind of thing. I'm like, I know what, which one you're going to say based on what you look like.

Speaker 1 And having made comedy for so long, what do you, what's your relationship to comedy now? What do you watch,

Speaker 1 read?

Speaker 1 go to like how do you make yourself laugh right now what's making you laugh who's making you laugh like what's the what's the place when the world is getting really intense that you like where do you escape

Speaker 2 i have a hard time yeah like and so i have two things uh but i like i i don't i i have a hard time finding them so i'm very interested okay so i just saw this just i just last week i saw kate burlant's new show oh wow right at the bell house

Speaker 2 i mean oh she's i haven't laughed that much

Speaker 2 uh

Speaker 2 in a in a long time.

Speaker 1 Oh, so live Kate Berlant, Rex.

Speaker 2 She's on tour, I think, right, starting now. And then the show I'm watching that I'm obsessed with that, like, Brooke told me about.
Yeah. Brooke Posh.
Brooke Posh.

Speaker 1 Instrumental

Speaker 1 in the early Brad City.

Speaker 2 Big Boys. Big singing.
Big Boys. No.
Guys. Okay, hold on.
It's Googling right now. It's so good.
It's on Hulu. It's from the UK.
Okay. It's so,

Speaker 2 and it's like the mix of like, it's so funny and really heart. Like there's heart.
It's like, it got me.

Speaker 1 Okay, so it's a, it's a sitcom. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Two boys from very different ends of the spectrum of masculinity become best friends at Brent University Fresher's Week in their first year at university.

Speaker 1 They explore, experiment, and try to discover themselves. Yeah.

Speaker 2 I never read the description.

Speaker 1 That's what it is. All right.
And Alana, what are you listening to? How do you check out or laugh?

Speaker 4 I've been really, it's like

Speaker 4 I want to see Kate's show.

Speaker 4 I really love like what my friends are making like hacks i've been i still have to catch up on season four but that's been really killing me in like a good way where i'm just like oh this is so good and so funny i'm like living i'm dying you know what i mean and also the like the last time i laughed so hard was at o' mary oh my god i just i just died i'm like starting to get into like old movies though um

Speaker 4 i just watched prince of tides

Speaker 4 okay not barbara streisan david like david like wants to watch all of Barbara's Streisand stuff because we have

Speaker 4 biographies of little, for little kid books. And we're like looking at Barbara and reading her life story.
And we're like, let's just watch the catalog.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 4 she's so stunning.

Speaker 2 She does the nails and Prince of Tides. She directed that.
She directed it. She did that.
And Nick Nulty. Like the gorgeous.

Speaker 4 Yeah. And to see, first of all, she's so hot and beautiful.

Speaker 4 And I'm like looking up in Wikipedia and doing the math. She's like 53 in it.
And she directed herself and is like, yeah, I'm fucking gorgeous and so Jewish.

Speaker 1 She said like she's psychiatry. She's 16.

Speaker 2 Would she say Prince of Toids?

Speaker 2 Would it be Toys? Toy. She would.

Speaker 2 It's just like, get it, bitch. Get it.

Speaker 2 Get it. No kidding.
She has a bio that just came out. Autobiography.

Speaker 1 And her, and you should hear her do the

Speaker 2 talk I heard about the audiobook.

Speaker 2 Yeah, she's incredible.

Speaker 1 Barbara, we know you're watching. Yeah.
And listen to Barbara, please come, please.

Speaker 4 Dude, that would be a dream. That's such a good guest.

Speaker 1 Barbara, when Tina and I did the movie Sisters, her husband, James Brolin, played our dad.

Speaker 1 And my parents visited the set one day, and my mom was like, I wonder if Barbara Streisand's ever going to come. And I was like, Mom, Barbara's not going to come visit.

Speaker 1 You know, on Long Island, the set of sisters, her husband is an actor. And she did.
And it was the day my mother was there.

Speaker 2 Yes, dude.

Speaker 1 Wow. She came to visit.
You know, just came to drop by to see her.

Speaker 2 That's the universe.

Speaker 1 Gorgeous, loving husband, James.

Speaker 2 And my mom was like, I told you.

Speaker 1 And I was like, this doesn't happen all the time.

Speaker 2 Don't get used to this. Did they have a moment?

Speaker 1 They did. I mean, they had like a little hello.
She was lovely and very, very lovely to us. And you're right.
We don't talk.

Speaker 1 Barbara, when you come on, let's talk about the things you've directed. I want to talk to you just as a director.
Like truly.

Speaker 4 It was so cool. And, you know, learning like how to light yourself as a woman in your 40s and your 50s and your 60s, just be like, just like make it soft.
Just like feel, she is like irresistible.

Speaker 4 We were just like, she is so hot.

Speaker 1 I had a broad city movement the other day that I was, that was, it felt very broad city speaking of lighting yourself as I was shooting something. And

Speaker 1 I was looking at the monitor and I said, can I just take a peek to see where you are at with lighting? And the

Speaker 1 young director of the piece said, oh, don't worry, you look great.

Speaker 1 And I was like, can I give you a little feedback? I think when women, especially my age, ask for the monitor,

Speaker 1 saying, Don't worry, you look great is not helpful.

Speaker 1 Like, it's not, it's not like we're being vain or insecure, or like we're just like trying to tweak just what, like, we would our voice or performance.

Speaker 1 Like, we kind of have a sense of like how we're going to feel comfortable and how we want to come across. Like, lighting is a big deal.
I don't think he understands. This person understands.

Speaker 1 I think he's actually

Speaker 1 trying to make me feel better.

Speaker 4 I totally get it, but it's just like

Speaker 2 lol bro.

Speaker 1 LOL bro. I mean, OMG lol bro.

Speaker 2 And then a little bit of a

Speaker 2 C, huh? Did you get to see French? Of course, of course.

Speaker 4 You just, all you do is you go like this.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, it's always, it's always, and this is very broad city. It's always like, how much in the moment do you want to like

Speaker 1 correct?

Speaker 1 And how much do you want to just like, you know, it is.

Speaker 1 I mean, I think what we're talking about today is the reason why people love the show is they feel like there's like people looking out for each other, sticking up for each other, taking care of each other.

Speaker 1 There's a community in the show, there's like a vibe. And then what that does, it allows you to do that for yourself.
Like, that's, and then you become your own advocate for yourself.

Speaker 1 That's what the characters.

Speaker 4 That's right.

Speaker 2 I had a Broad City moment on Saturday, too. I don't know if it has a big culmination like this, but I went to a premiere and I went alone.
Okay.

Speaker 2 Which is wild. And then I went to the party after.

Speaker 2 And I was like, wow. I'm going to schmooze.
And I'll know. And I, and I knew someone, and I was like, okay, we're eating, we get an invite.
And then we're going up to the bar.

Speaker 2 I was like, you know what, let's get a drink. And we go to get a drink.
And they were like,

Speaker 1 they were like, you know what?

Speaker 2 I don't want to hold the martini. I have to pee.
I'm going to go pee. And I was like, all right, well, what do you want? I'll get it.
And I get the drink. And I was like, oh, look at me at this

Speaker 2 premiere. I get the two martinis martinis and then they never came back.

Speaker 2 And so I truly was like,

Speaker 2 I was like standing with two dirty martinis and I was like,

Speaker 2 and I was like, looking like a

Speaker 2 people would come up to me. And then I told Jodie later, I was like, oh, God, like people will come up to me that I knew and then people come up to me that love Broad City.

Speaker 2 Me holding the two martinis. And I was like, I'm for the, I'm fucking Abby.
I'm a fucking Abby. And I was wearing a thing where like I kind of had to keep adjusting it.

Speaker 2 Finally, I was like, this one looks better. And I was like, started drinking.
I was like, I abandoned.

Speaker 4 And then, how many minutes would you say that you were double-fisting martinis?

Speaker 2 I would say too many.

Speaker 2 Time number. I would probably say 20.
Yo. Yeah.
Okay.

Speaker 2 No, I was like,

Speaker 2 she's going to come back here.

Speaker 2 And then I was like, this is a good martini. They made it.
Like, they made it. I didn't pay for it, but I was like, Abby, like, it was so

Speaker 2 good. They made it free.
What am I going to put in my, my, I'm going to waste some artini and then I'm watching me and I don't want them to think that I'm going to be able to get it.

Speaker 2 And then I was like,

Speaker 2 I get banned in it. And then I later was like, I'm going to leave it.

Speaker 4 In the spirit of like self-improvement, if it was 20 this time, how many minutes will you give it next time?

Speaker 2 You know, there's no world in which I'm getting the drink when someone goes to the bathroom next time. I think I'd be like,

Speaker 2 I'll see you when you get back. I'm going to get myself a drink.

Speaker 1 And Alana, have you had an Alana moment? recently? Is there something that happens where you're like, oh, this is an Alana moment?

Speaker 4 I have one that I like can't say that I'll tell you after.

Speaker 2 You can't say that. So I want to have it.
So naughty.

Speaker 2 Have you had an Abby moment?

Speaker 1 Us filling it in might be more fun. Kind of like what you were talking about with your show, like us, us filling in what your Alana moment is.

Speaker 2 Dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, babe.

Speaker 4 Yeah, yeah, let's leave it at that.

Speaker 1 Okay. Well, dot, dot, dot, it is.
I love you too. Thank you so much for doing this.

Speaker 2 I love talking about the show.

Speaker 4 I love talking about what's next. You always were.
You always will be. Not from, not, oh, Amy Poehler.
She's an icon.

Speaker 4 No, from the fucking in-the-flesh, delicious, forever eight-year-old person that you are, mother that you have always been to us, big sister, just friend. You're just incredible.
We're so grateful.

Speaker 1 Thank you for letting this eight-year-old be your producer.

Speaker 2 She did it. She did it good.
Thank you guys.

Speaker 1 Thank you, Abby and Alana. Thank you for coming and doing the pod.
It was so, so great to talk to you. And it's just a delight always to see the two of you together.

Speaker 1 And today's polar plunge is brought to you by Wayfair, here to help you make your home your happy place.

Speaker 1 So as we plunge today, I just want to remind everybody about the podcast that Kim Lessing and Kate Aaron mentioned at the top of the show.

Speaker 1 Two women who run Paper Kite Productions, the company that is my production company and that made Broad City and many other things.

Speaker 1 They have a show called Million Dollar Advice. And we would love to hear your questions about your workplace questions that they can answer.
So please send them into Million Dollar AdvicePod

Speaker 1 at gmail.com. Million Dollar AdvicePod at gmail.com.
And also head over to Wayfair.com and find something that's just your style today. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com.
Wayfair, every style, every home.

Speaker 2 Bye.

Speaker 1 You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler.
The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite.

Speaker 1 For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Aalaya Zanieris. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss Burman.
Original music by Amy Miles.

Speaker 1 This episode is brought to you by Vitamin Vitamin Water. Let's talk about Vitamin Water Zero Sugar.

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