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Abbi Jacobson: Interesting. We knew that our characters' dynamic was the thing that wouldn't change—we just had to build the worlds around them, asking: What and who are we going to see from their lives on a regular basis? Basically, it was a question of how to go from making something that was three to five minutes long translate into 21 minutes. We decided that, for the most part, every episode would be the equivalent of a day. It's a good limitation to have—each episode is like an adventure.Broad City stood out to me, like everyone else, because it paints a very real picture of the world right from the get-go. You're not fucking around.
Ilana Glazer: I think that was part of the tone from the web series. We still had to learn about story arc and building a world, and that's a huge part of it. It's like the cross between "life is crap" and wonderment. The city is so gross and throws shitty things at them, and that's part of the humor, but the other side of that coin is that they love the city and it's still exciting for them to live there. They are suburban transplants, so even when the city is gnarly, they are grateful to consider themselves New Yorkers.
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Jacobson: We used a few specifics from our lives: our names, where we are from, where we went to college. They were just fun ways that we get to shout out to those places. Ilana's from Long Island, and I'm from outside Philadelphia, so why not use the specifics of those places to make the characters funnier? We know them so well. When we come up with stuff, we talk about our own lives and then heighten those situations.For instance, Ilana's job. It's like, how is she even still working there? The company she works at is based on this company called Life Booker where we both (and actually one of our directors) worked. So we heightened both the company and how we felt there—as long as we got a deal, the rest of the day was up for grabs. We flew under the radar a little bit. Ilana does just enough to make it by. That's a great example of how we use a personal experience.Presumably you then take those real-life details to the extreme.
Glazer: Yeah. When we take real detail, the height to where we take it is where we find our brand of absurdity. For us, starting in the real place is what makes it so absurd. It's funny that it's relatable after it's been blown out of proportion.Jacobson: I guess everyone has had that worst-case scenario, too. We just look at how we would feel and then heighten it.It's not just you two writing everything, right? It must be exciting working with a team.
Glazer: Yeah! We got to hire some of our closest friends and peers, which has kept the show fresh. When you have a connection with someone it really shows. On screen you can really see, I think, that we are all real friends, and I think the writing feels like it's written by people who have real connections—we literally crack up writing it.
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Jacobson: Most of the stuff that ends up on the show does so because we were hysterically laughing at it. There's so much stuff that doesn't make it on, so if something does, it really means we had a lot of fun writing it. Most of the writers have come from a performance background; they're very playful. Sometimes we act something out and the writers have to play the other characters. It's hard work, but it's so much fun that we get to work with our friends and people we admire.Do you still have time to hang out with the same friends you had pre–Broad City?
Glazer: Abbi and I each have an amazing circle of friends from home, college, and comedy, and those circles intersect more the longer we know each other. It's lovely to meet new people and new friends that you want to collaborate with, but the whole reaction to the show is really overwhelming. I cling to my old friends because of this newness. It's really relieving to have a good base. It doesn't matter what changes around you when you can be like, "Oh, hi, friends. I'm just an idiot joking around."How did you get Amy Poehler involved?
Glazer: We invited her to be in the last episode of the web series. We really hit it off and asked her if she wanted to be attached to our project. We were starting to pitch it and had written a pilot and she said yes. We didn't expect her to, but we had to ask so we could say that we had asked. We just clicked. We had a similar work value. Since then it's been incredible to have her experience and her bird's-eye view on things.When do we get more Broad City, then?
Jacobson: We start working this spring on writing the third season. I think it's going to come out the same time as the second season, like, January time.Thank God.Follow Hanna on Twitter.