Mindy Tucker
Robinson (left) and Glazer met in a comedy club and vowed to support each other’s work.
Ilana Glazer and Phoebe Robinson are two of the funniest, most relevant voices in comedy today. And they also happen to be best friends. The pair met about 10 years ago performing at a comedy club on New York City’s Lower East Side, before either of them had made it big.
“We liked each other’s jokes and said ‘Hey, let’s keep hanging out and support each other’s comedy,’” Robinson says. “Now, almost 10 years later, we’re doing a standup tour together.”
Glazer and Robinson will be in Madison Nov. 5 for two shows at the Barrymore Theatre as part of their national Yaaas Queen Yaaas standup tour. Tickets have been selling so quickly they added late shows in several cities, including Madison. But the popularity shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s familiar with their work — Glazer co-created and co-stars with Abbi Jacobson in the brilliantly funny television series Broad City; Robinson is best known as host of the popular podcasts 2 Dope Queens and Sooo Many White Guys. And they’re involved behind the scenes in each other’s projects — Robinson has been a consultant on Broad City, and Glazer serves as executive producer for Sooo Many White Guys.
“This tour felt like a natural fit,” Glazer says. “With Broad City I haven’t been able to focus on standup, and I just miss it so much. I’m nervous about it, but thinking about doing it with Phoebe suddenly gave me no fear. If I were doing this alone I’d be freaking out.”
Glazer, a stoner-feminist demigoddess to her millennial fanbase, describes herself as a “comedy nerd through and through.” She’s known for her physical, almost slapstick approach to acting, but says she doesn’t have any specific comedy heroes. “When I was a kid, I just watched a ton of Comedy Central,” Glazer says, recalling hours spent with her brother watching South Park, Strangers with Candy and Crank Yankers. “I learned from all of them.”
This isn’t the first time Glazer has gone on the road with a friend and comedic partner. She and Jacobson did a Broad City Live standup tour in 2014, which got mixed reviews. “It felt very Broad City, in that it was scrappy, but it felt like it was kind of thrown together,” says Glazer. “But that’s life in general — you’ve kind of got to do stuff before you feel completely ready.”
Robinson worked for years as a writer before vaulting to podcast stardom with 2 Dope Queens, a comedy show that highlights women, people of color and LGBT comedians. She channeled that success into a solo spinoff, Sooo Many White Guys, which pushes back against male-dominated media by inviting non-male, non-white guests to appear along with one “token white guy” each episode. “My goal is always to ask people the questions that don’t get asked,” Robinson says. But while much of her work as a host and writer focuses on promoting social justice, she says her standup has a different vibe.
“I always want to be funny first,” she says. “And I think with that you ultimately entertain people and make them laugh, but you can also make them think, too.”
