Abbi Jacobson Didn’t Expect Hillary Clinton to Come on Her Show
|
Version 0 of 1. You and your best friend, Ilana Glazer, are the creators and stars of Comedy Central’s “Broad City,” in which you play best friends. Does it feel weird whenever you’re not working with her? We’ve managed to create this really cool working relationship where our other projects inspire each other. But this is the longest we’ve gone where we haven’t seen each other. It’s been, like, a month and a half. How did you two meet? When Ilana and I were coming up in the comedy scene, we were on an improv practice team, and I thought that she was Maeby from “Arrested Development.” After the first night of practice, we go to a bar and we’re talking about where we’re from, and it turns out she knew two of my best friends from college. And in that moment, I was just like ... this is not Maeby anymore. I would know if my friends were friends with Maeby. We really hit it off immediately; I was just like trying to become friends with Maeby, and then I thought, I’ll just stay friends with this girl. Anytime people work closely together, they have disagreements, and sometimes even butt heads. Is it ever tricky to be collaborating with your best friend? I really like the way you asked that. A lot of people ask that, and it feels very women-specific. Obviously we disagree; we’re not one brain. But in a collaborative environment, if you always agree, that’s not going to give you the best outcome. Your parents and your brother are artists, and you studied at an art school in Maryland. Was there also a lot of comedy in your home growing up? Yeah. I recently saw this home video where my brother is playing this character “Arsenio Grimley,” who is a mix of Arsenio Hall and Ed Grimley — which, clearly, is my parents’ doing, because he’s, like, 10. He’s the host, I’m every guest and then my dad is Elton John. That was a Saturday night. Your new book, “Carry This Book,” is a collection of tongue-in-cheek illustrations imagining what famous people and fictional characters keep in their bags. Where did the idea come from? I had to read Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” in high school, and the way he told the stories by going through these Vietnam vets’ bags said so much about who they were and helped you understand the characters. How did you choose which bags to draw? It was a mix of people that I really admired and people whom I wanted to poke fun at. Bernie Madoff is not a person I admire in any way. You drew a bag for Hillary Clinton, but it’s pretty sedate — there are only a few items in there. Apparently she really does carry hot sauce. The MetroCard is commenting on how she couldn’t get through the turnstile. And then there’s her BlackBerry, from that famous photo — I got to make a joke that she’s staring at Candy Crush, not having to comment on the email thing. I’m not a political comic. Clinton appeared on your show in March. Were you surprised to get her? Yeah! We wrote the episode a year before it came out. Hillary was the only person running at the time — not that we would have ever had another candidate on — but we wrote it not thinking we would ever actually get her on. Afterward, I said in some interview that it wasn’t a political statement, which was a stupid statement to make. Of course it’s a political statement! For us, it felt like we were justifying our show in a different way — it felt historic. Plus, before we shot Hillary, Amy Poehler was her stand-in. She didn’t do the impression. Were you thinking that you had to be on your best behavior? Like, everybody, put down your joints and detox for 48 hours before she shows up? Yeah. Everyone had to be background-checked. There was Secret Service. It was really intense. Do you think she did it because she watches the show herself or because someone advised her that it would help her reach a certain audience? Listen, I don’t think she and Bill are watching our show. Maybe Chelsea would? |