- Comedy Central
Like a ridiculous number of people in Portland, I joined the elbow-bumping fray at Mississippi Studios last night to see Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer’s sold-out Broad City Live! tour stop in Portland. Jacobson and Glazer did not disappoint—they danced to Beyoncé, did impressions of animals (15 species represented!), and shared their personal playlists (ft. Paula Cole and songs about Jesus) of music for important Life Events (including hair removal and being birthed) which they sang, often quite terribly, to their enraptured audience. They also brought out their drum kits and provided pearls of quippy wisdom on all manner of topics, in what bore more resemblance to a drunken Gchat among friends than a comedy show*.
Here’s Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer of Broad City on…
The key to hair removal: “Get rid of it before anyone knows you have to get rid of it.”
Papa Roach: “Just scheming and waiting to release his next single.”
Brunch: “Deeply human.”
Dying in your sleep: “Very chill.”
An imaginary bro with an asshole for a mouth: “It makes him a better guy.”
One of the show’s highlights was Glazer’s “micro-impressions,” which are exactly what they sound like: unhinged impressions of celebrities (Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus) and/or made-up people (e.g., the above bro) that only last a few seconds. This being a Comedy Central tour stop, the show was also a chance for a lot of rampant promotion: there were Abbi and Ilana drink specials, a preview of Broad City‘s forthcoming second season, AND an exclusive first look™ at the second season, sending the strong message PLEASE WATCH OUR SHOW PLEASE. I get the money-grubbing possibilities that come with a captive audience, but given that the broads of Broad City are known primarily FOR their show, it all seemed a bit overkill.
Still, it was worth it to be there, perhaps most of all for the chance to hear Ilana Glazer refer to a crowd of adoring fans as “Ports” and “Mississippi Studes.” So chill.
*I mean this as a compliment! You did a good job, you guys!
IT WAS 17 SPECIES NOT 15
Also, there were some appropriately amped people in that crowd…. but there was also a surprising number of loud, douchey dum dums. Beyond just the quasi-heckler of the opener.
One was next to us. In a leather hat. *shudder*
I couldn’t believe that the girl next to me had no idea who Chris Gethard was in the opening vid segment. And of course, she was checking her phone throughout the set (contrary to Gethard’s spiel. What a waste of a second row seat!). I feel like some of the bits could’ve been shorter or could’ve used better timing overall. “Ports” & all the variants of “Mississippi Studes” got old so quickly that it just felt like pandering especially with the overwhelming promo vibe of the whole night vs just straight up awesome comedy. Glad I went — but….ps: Also glad to see Rory Scoval as the opener,despite the idiot who stepped on his punchline during the early show.