Ilana Glazer
Ilana Glazer defied the odds for young female comedians by co-creating the popular and critical hit sitcom Broad City with Abbi Jacobson. Glazer began taking classes at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater in 2006 while studying at NYU and performing improv and stand-up in small clubs around New York. She met Abbi Jacobson at Upright Citizen’s Brigade and the pair decided that while they would audition for established comedy groups they would also create their own web series, Broad City, to showcase their talents. After Glazer graduated NYU in 2009 the pair ran their series on YouTube from 2009–2011 and later adapted it as a live show. With the backing of Amy Poehler, Broad City debuted as a full-length sitcom on Comedy Central in 2014 and was an instant success. The raunchy and uninhibited show captures the frustrations and indignities of two twenty-somethings trying to make it in New York. Glazer has also acted in other projects both with Jacobson and alone, including her starring role in How to Follow Strangers, which won the top prize at the 2013 Lower East Side Film Festival.