On a Monday afternoon in a Williamsburg loft, 29-year-old Abbi Jacobson sits on the set of her upcoming Comedy Central sitcom “Broad City.” Her gaze shifts from her iPhone to a monitor showing the scene being filmed.
“My mom has been texting me updates about my brother,” Jacobson announces to the room of producers and writers. “My niece is going to be born today!”
“It’s almost 4:20 p.m. — what if she’s born exactly at 4:20?” another producer cracks.
“Oh, no! I hope she’s not born at 4:20,” Jacobson says, watching the time on her phone. She’s quiet for a few minutes then softly says to herself, “Phew, 4:22.”
Meanwhile, the monitor shows Jacobson’s pal and the show’s co-creator, Ilana Glazer, 26, filming a scene about being high at work.
“Broad City’s” lead characters are written by, based on and named after Jacobson and Glazer — Abbi is straight-laced, while Ilana is a party girl. The show, which premieres Jan. 22, is based on their popular Web series of the same name.
The streaming series, about the women struggling to make it in New York, grew a cult following in its three-year run. It even grabbed the attention of Amy Poehler, who is executive-producing the TV show, and Fred Armisen (“Portlandia”), who guest stars in the premiere.
“Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer have real natural chemistry because they are such good friends,” Poehler told Entertainment Weekly. “I’m always interested in true female friendships that you see on TV.”
Jacobson and Glazer, who met at Upright Citizen’s Brigade, insist the characters they play are exaggerated versions of themselves — but they don’t agree on just how much.
“It’s like 15 percent of us blown up to the full 100 percent,” Glazer says.
“You think it’s only 15 percent of us?” Jacobson asks, incredulously. “I think it’s like 80 percent us, 20 percent exaggerated.”
“I don’t know. My character goes out and parties at night. I kindof never have done that but to show my eccentricities I gotta be going 24/7,” Glazer responds.
In the show’s premiere, Ilana convinces an apprehensive Abbi to skip out of work early to go to a Lil’ Wayne concert.
The differences may be nuanced but the similarities are obvious. Glazer’s character on the show works at a discount company called “Deals, Deals, Deals,” and the duo actually both did sales for discount site Lifebooker before getting a production deal. And they keep a GoogleDocs spreadsheet of conversations they have to use (sometimes verbatim) on the show. Another similarity is they’re good friends but not roommates — hence their funny videochat convos on the show.
“That was a thing that was really important to us because a lot of New York shows forget that there are boroughs and it takes so long to get to one another,” Jacobsons says. “While we did the Web series, we video chatted because I lived in Astoria and she lived in South Slope.”
The pair says that the key to their chemistry is giving each other space — by not living together — and highlighting the contrast between them. “I think we find the differences in each other very funny,” Jacobson says.
“Plus, there’s an unconditional security there,” Glazer adds. “We’re also both scrappy, tomboy 12-year-olds while at the same time being 62-year-old men. Like the f–king ‘Odd Couple,’ for real.”
“Why both male?” Jacobson asks. “We often agree to disagree.”
Glazer nods and adds: “It’s microcosmic.”