The gals of our favouite show Broad City, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, came through Toronto on Saturday as part of JFL42. The show is one of the biggest breakout hits of the last year so I couldn’t pass up a chance to see my personal weirdo idols live in person. Although I knew I wasn’t going for a traditional stand-up set, they definitely took that expectation and ran with it. This was not your regular comedy set. “Loose” would be the best word. And I loved it.
Here are the top 5 “What In Heaven?” Moments From Broad City @ JFL42.
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1) The Girls Open With Move Your Body:
As any fan of Broad City knows, Abbi and Ilana love to dance. And they are quite good at it. There are no inhibitions with those two. So after opener Sabrina Jalees (who KILLED her set) introduced the gals, they ran on stage and started getting real low. Their song of choice? Why Beyonce’s Move Your Body of course. I keep telling people that they went for 8 minutes knowing full well that the song isn’t that long but holy cow it felt long. I’m not sure if that is good or bad. It was funny. And poor Abbi seemed like she legitimately injured her neck while letting loose. She even requested a chiropractor from the crowd with no luck. I guess that isn’t Broad City’s demo.
Lets just say it was a bit like this but a lil more H.A.M.
2) Abbi and Ilana Reveal Their Ideal Birth Song:
Once the gals caught their breath after the opening dance number, they moved on to a bit where they each revealed their ideal songs to soundtrack important life milestones. Besides one that involved a particular sex act that I probably need several layers of approval to talk about (okay, I’ll just say lady BJ), the funniest picks were for the first moment, their births. Ilana, as adorable and yes, freaky, as she can be picked “Le Freak” by Chic. You know, FREAK OUT! Abbi on the other hand picked “I Don’t Want To Wait” by Paula Cole, aka the Dawson’s Creek theme song which she sang like most of us do, without really know the lyrics.
3) Abbi Reveals Her Late Night Secret:
When it was Abbi’s turn for her solo bit she stood under a spotlight to reveal some embarrassing secrets about herself. I have to guess that they were probably a bit truthy. From being the baby who was born in Wal Mart that inspired the movie Where The Heart Is to the mysterious full body scar her parents won’t explain, the bit definitely skewed on the weird side. But the one that seemed plucked right from an episode of Broad City was Abbi’s secret that in the early hours of the morning she will get up, mess up her hair, apply smudged mascara and put on a nice dress. Then she will leave her apartment, run to the end of the street and walk back so it seems like she was out all night, “with a man.” I don’t know about the rest of you, but that doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility for most of us twenty-something gals.
4) Ilana Does Nicki Minaj Ordering A Sandwich:
I’m pret-ty sure this was my favourite part of the show and it was so so quick. Ilana’s solo contribution to the show was her quite popular micro-impression segment. She was hilar. From Alanis Morissette and Miley Cyrus (eerily similar) to a Jewish seal she had some killer quicky impressions. My favourite had to be her impression of Nicki Minaj ordering a sandwich at a deli in her native Queens. I have had “Pickles on the siiiide,” go over and over in my head since Saturday night. There is no way I could do it justice through type so you will just have to bombard Ilana with requests to post a clip of her doing it online. In the meantime, watch this video of Ilana dancing and lip synching to an old mixtape track of Nicki’s. When Fader showed that clip to Nicki during an interview she was shocked that Ilana knew that verse.
5) The Final Stunt:
As their big finale, the gals strapped on rollerblades and helmets and skated around the stage. Like beginner level styles, with a couple sweet attempts at jumps. It was a noble effort.
You can watch all of season one here at Much.ca and keep an eye out for the second season when it returns in January.
