There aren’t enough column inches to accommodate all the adoring words I have for comediennes (and BFFs) Ilana Glazer and Phoebe Robinson. Glazer is the co-creator and co-star of my favorite TV comedy Broad City, and Robinson hosts two of my most-listened WNYC podcasts: 2 Dope Queens and Sooo Many White Guys. Like their separate projects, the 11-city “YQY” (“Yaaas Queen Yaaas”) tour is built around their longtime friendship and signature acronym. On the tour’s youthfully styled flyer, the two hold hands, demonstrating their now-flourishing careers have become intertwined by constant mutual support. Robinson had a cameo on the very first episode of Broad City and was a consultant for the show; Glazer is the executive producer of Sooo Many White Guys.
Portland is the tour’s second-to-last stop before a Seattle finale, and by now we know the format: The two dance onto the stage, warm up the crowd, and then flip a coin to decide who performs first. While they had no trouble selling out two nights at Revolution Hall, both comics are less known for their stand-up than their successes as comedy writers, actors, and influencers.
After Glazer and Abbi Jacobson’s sketch comedy web series Broad City got picked up by Comedy Central and renewed for five seasons, Glazer got her start in film with the Hangover-esque Rough Night. Broad City fans are no doubt well acquainted with Glazer’s hilarious portrayal of sexually liberated stoner/fierce intersectional feminist Ilana Wexler, but perhaps not as many are aware of Phoebe “I like to speak in abbrevs” Robinson, who’s written a book (You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain), and teamed up with her friend Jessica Williams (The Daily Show, The Incredible Jessica James) for the geeky, stand-up focused podcast, 2 Dope Queens.
