ILANA GLAZER — on their Hulu special 'Human Magic' and cruising for future husbands at Washington Square Park
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My dive buddy just kind of started like whacking me underwater and then he didn't know how to tell me that there's a shark so he's trying to scream shark and then eventually he just went with singing the Jaws theme tune.

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Hi, it's Jesse. Today on the show, you know them from their critically acclaimed series, Broad City, their recent film, Babes, and their latest comedy special on Hulu, Human Magic. It's Alana Glazer. My God, can you imagine fucking Gen Z, Richard Simmons? Totally. They're incredible, by the way. Yeah, they are. They're incredible. They're unstoppable. They have a light that shines beyond the room they're in. This is Dinners on Me, and I'm your host, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. ♪

Broad City, the Comedy Central scripted series starring Alana Glazer and Abby Jacobson, has got to be one of my favorite comedy series of the last decade. With its humble roots as a sketch comedy web series, it absolutely opened up the possibility of what a television show could be and also who could create it.

That show became a launching pad for Alana and Abby, its young, brilliant creators. And since its series finale, they have both been so busy making an impact in both television and film. A few months ago, I was asked to be a guest on "Dinner Time Live" with David Chang. And I was so excited when I heard that the other guest would be none other than Alana Glazer. Now, I had never met them in person, but my admiration for them ran very deep.

David Chang's show was taped live and Alana was running late, so we were getting live updates from them on their way to the set. And it seemed like I was going to have to meet Alana for the first time live on television. Now, fortunately, they arrived right before we went live, and I got to gush to them before the cameras actually turned on. But after we wrapped that show, Alana and I talked about having them on as a guest on my podcast. I was like,

I was so glad that Alana made time for me when they were in town to promote their new comedy special, "Human Magic." Get on, Tiger's just live. Hi! I was like, "Is he just popping it down in the middle of the restaurant?" And you are indeed. You're right. I brought Alana Glazer to Jitlada in L.A.'s Thai town, which I guess is technically East Hollywood, but it's a part of L.A. that makes me feel so lucky to live here. Truly, it's hard to walk a block here and not have some of the best curry of your life.

Don't let gelato's hole-in-the-wall vibes fool you. Jonathan Gold, may he rest in peace, was a regular here. It's featured in the Michelin Guide and numerous food documentaries.

Walking distance from the old UCB Theater on Sunset, it also garnered a lot of love from comedians and showbiz types. Try not to be distracted by Simpsons creator Matt Groening's illustrations, which he drew for the restaurant and adorned the walls. Gelada's spicy food and eclectic energy felt like just the vibe for my friend Alana. Okay, let's get to the conversation.

How's your day? It's been good. I actually flew in from this morning. I woke up in Vancouver this morning. You woke up in Vancouver? In Vancouver. Don't know how I got there. Yeah, shit. Oh, shit. It's one of those. No, I woke up in Vancouver because I went to go see Taylor Swift's last show on Sunday. It was really incredible. Yeah, she's so special and powerful and like a magical person.

White woman. She is a magical white woman. You know what I mean? She's just like positive and yeah. I mean, it was, I saw her in LA when she performed after 1989. I was like, oh, I like this. Cool. I like this a lot. Love. And then she started re-releasing her old music, which I fucking love that she's doing that. I love a litigious bitch. Yes. I love a litigious money-making woman. Yeah.

Who's like, oh, I wrote them. Do you know? Did you know that I have the talent? Like, damn, girl. So when she started re-releasing that stuff, I started visiting her older albums. And I was like, oh, my God. Forever you've been amazing. Cool. Yeah. Hello, guys. Hi. Are you ready to put in the order? Oh, do you? Have you looked? No, you haven't looked. What are some of your most popular dishes? I know I love the celebrity chicken, but...

If there's something I should venture out and try, what would it be? Well, green curry is gonna be always the most popular one. So basically you can't go wrong with curries or seafood. Okay. I wanted to ask, I just saw that handwritten side, "King Crab Leg Curry." What do you think?

Well, the king crab leg is basically the whole crab leg. It's going to be stir-fried with your choice of sauces. For example, the garlic sauce, if you want like salty pepper kind of thing. Okay. Or the Thai curry, which is going to be like a thicker kind of curry. Yum. Very good. That one's good. It looks really good. If I got the green curry, would you have some with me? Sure. But I'm really into that crab leg curry. Does that interest you? Do that one. Okay, cool.

A taste of curry. I'm going to have, I'm going to do the celebrity chicken. I've been thinking about it all day. Do you want a taste of my curry? I want to taste your curry. Okay, great. That sounded so wrong. Oops.

I want to taste your curry. It's tasty, I will warn you. Dankly tasty. Okay, I'm going to go with the king crab leg curry, which Jesse Tyler Ferguson said he wants to taste. And I'll do it with the Thai curry sauce. The Thai curry sauce. Is there an appetizer or something? Well, probably one of our best starter dish. I would say a salad called the crispy morning curry salad. That's what you were saying. Number 61.

Number 61 is basically deep-fried Chinese watercress with fresh human onions. Or number 21 on the white section, which is called a crying tiger. I've had that. Isn't it super spicy? Well, there's going to be a spicy sauce on the side, but the crying tiger itself is not. I do remember liking that a lot. Very good dish. What do you think?

Beef or pork? What did you say? Beef. Let's do beef. Yeah, let's do beef. May I please have sparkling water and a Diet Coke? Thanks so much. I'm going to do a sparkling water as well.

Great. Thanks, Emil. Thank you. Okay, so you woke up in Vancouver. I woke up in Vancouver. Black out. Black out. Black out. From Taylor Swift. From Taylor Swift. The baby stayed home? The baby stayed home, yeah. Daddy's night out. Daddy's night out. So sweet. We really do want to take our four-year-old to concerts in the near future. He did see the Taylor Swift movie. Loves her. You have two boys? Two boys, yeah. Delicious. I know. Yours is three and a half now, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Delicious. Yes. Uncle Elliot's here. Uncle Elliot's here showing pictures. And he eats her up, dude. But boys, the vulnerability of boys that is so rarely allowed to blossom is so beautiful. Yeah. So beautiful. These sweet little baby boys. He loves Taylor Swift. Cool. We were watching some clips of the Eros tour at home. And he was like, I want a beautiful dress. Yes.

And I was like, great. So Justin was in charge of buying the beautiful dress online. Went to Amazon.com or something and bought something and it came in the mail. What he bought Beckett was the homeliest little sack dress, like little house on the prairie. That was not what he wanted.

No. No. It has no shape. No, no. He wanted a fabulous dress, my love. He asked for a flowy dress. Okay. So it did have flow. Yeah, like a muumuu has flow. Yeah, exactly. 100%. Sure. And so it kind of just went away for a little while. But then the other day, when Justin and I, Justin was when I was married to Tom Lincoln for Halloween. No.

So he was wearing a dress with like, you know, hoop skirt underneath. Wonderful. Wonderful. Shout out to Koli Skola. Yeah. Koli Skola. Genius. Beckett out of the blue goes, where's my Taylor Swift dress? And we found the little sack dress and he's been wearing it. Oh, he enjoys it now. He now enjoys it. Oh, I love it. Yeah. He's come around with it. My kid does that too, where she's like, she says, no, no, return it. She says about everything.

Yeah, I get it. Because they also have no choice in the matter. It appears out of nowhere. So I understand them needing to come to both discover and choose a piece of clothing themselves. Yeah. So four and two? Four and two, basically. Yeah, wow. You dang did it, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. I love it so much. Yeah.

I hope. We're like in the, we don't know if we're going to have another one. To be honest, I'm hoping that we do. But if we do, it's going to be such a big ass gap because we were not like, ba-doom-boom. Like it would be. I mean, part of it is like I physically, it's pretty taxing. You talk about it in your comedy special how you thought you were going to do a C-section. Because we, my baby was at 37 weeks breached and, or breached?

Breached. ED? Breached, I think. It is breached, but it feels like it should be breached. And I had all these false alarms. And my doctor told me the most frightening tale that is also a medical procedure. I was like, are you, is this like SAW 4 or whatever the fuck? Or is this a real medical procedure where if your baby's breached, one option you have is for my doctor and her words to be.

Some other woman. Who? Where? Who is this bitch? Could be Hillary Clinton. That's right. Could be. Michelle Obama, Kamala. Could be any person. Yeah. My doctor and just some bitch will knock me out, fully anesthetize me, and squeeze the baby upside down from outside of my body while I'm out on the table.

And I was like, this is the medical procedure? And she was like, yeah, that or a scheduled C-section. And I was upset. I go home and do, like, really, really hard research. I make one Google search of spinning babies. And I found a whole school of thought called spinning babies that this brilliant medical professional had no idea about. And I...

Got in doggy style, face down, ass up for, thank you so much. Face down, ass up for 20 minutes. And the next time I went to the doctor, my baby had spun around. You had self-spun. I had self-spun. My MD OB had no clue.

about spinning babies. It's incredible. But it's possible. I love your new comedy special. Thank you so much. That story is truly magic because your body did a magic thing. That's right. Your comedy special is called Human Magic. That's right. Thank you, Jesse. It's so good. Thank you so much. It means so much to me. Well, it's obviously, it's centered on, you know, your birth experience and

And it's a great yarn. It's so relatable as well. Thank you. The fear of going into it and just all the shit you don't think about and just the brutal honesty of how fucking exhausting it is. Yeah. When you're saying that you were going to have a second and you're talking about how hard it could be on your body, are you thinking... No, I actually want it. Like, my body wants one more, but, like, I just don't know that we'll be able to do it emotionally. Like, we're so...

I don't know. We'll kind of have to see what's right for both my husband and I. I'm a very more, more, more, more person. And my husband, David's like really thoughtful and present. And I'm like, I don't have any plan. And I know that's normal. Like in our culture, it's normal to not think about it and just do it. But we were real thinkers. And the more you think about having a kid, the less it seems like a good idea to have one.

Yeah, I mean, the con list is long. Yeah. And when Justin and I were doing this, we did the same thing because we weren't sure if we wanted to do this. And there were all these cons. And, like, it was just like, wow, this column is really long. And one of the pros was we wanted Becca to have a sibling.

And that, for some reason, outweighed so many of the little minutiae on the other end. I know. I know. Not too long ago, I lost my mom. Not too long ago. I'm so sorry. Thank you. But having siblings to go through that with was, you know, gosh.

Gosh. I mean, so important. So I do think about those things. Me too. But it's like, you can't, you can't also make decisions based on who knows if like my, my sons will even be close. You don't know. You don't know. You know? And like also my, um, Oh, they fucking love each other right now. My God. It's so adorable. That's so fucking cute. But like my, my, even my OB was like, just do it. Can you just kind of, and it's like, first of all, like, no, like, are you, are you talking about like drugging him?

You know what I mean? Or do you mean like, what do you even mean? But I said to her, again, like a medical doctor, I was like, well, we really, I don't really want to like force my husband to create another child and parent another child. I really want it to be choiceful. We both have to kind of arrive at the choice because it is either life, not life or death, but life or not life. And she literally was like,

Yeah, I guess it is a big decision. They deal with it on such a high level. That's what David said, too. They're not even thinking about it that way. And David was like, every day. She just, you know, every day. She has three kids. Exactly. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Alana tells me about the crazy experience that is birthing a human and their grandfather's self-taped sketches that paved the way for their comedy career. Okay, be right back.

This episode of Dinners on Me is brought to you by Nissan. These days, it feels like the world and our lives are moving at hyperspeed. I mean, that's why I love doing this podcast. It's a chance to slow down, to truly connect with another human being, and to enjoy the feeling of actually being in the present moment.

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Hi, it's Jesse Tyler Ferguson, the host of the podcast Dinners on Me. Spring is here, and you know what that means. Longer days, backyard hangs, and of course, firing up the grill. And when I'm planning a get-together, Whole Foods Market is my secret weapon for making it both fresh and effortless. Let's start with light or fair because, you know, sometimes you want something crisp and bright after those rich winter meals. I'm

Whole Foods Market has the best seasonal veggies. Think asparagus, artichokes, and easy salad kits to throw together in just a few minutes. Pair that with some wild-caught halibut or a perfectly marinated chicken breast, and boom, you've got a meal that feels as good as it tastes.

And if you're planning on having some folks over for this barbecue, Whole Foods Market has everything from high-quality meats to the best side dishes like deli salads and charcuterie boards that instantly level up any gathering. Oh, and of course, don't forget the drinks. Their seasonal Italian sodas like Berry Blend and Orange Hibiscus are my new obsession.

So whether you're keeping it light or going full on feast, Whole Foods Market has you covered. Make Whole Foods your destination for all spring gatherings. Make Whole Foods your destination for all spring gatherings.

And we're back with more Dinners on Me. But, um, you know, like, I was talking in my special about filming a show, The After Party, for Apple TV+, with so many funny people, and that's the show I was pregnant while filming. Right. And, like, my

My titties over the course of this show were ruining continuity. That's exactly right. And my like tits are blowing up like I'm having an allergic reaction or something. It was like, it was so funny. And you were really sick. You were vomiting. Was this when you were vomiting foam? Yes. Was that another shoot? Yes, on set I was like puking foam. It was so...

scary that I called my mom and I told her I'm puking foam as though she would, you know, be really scared with me. And she was like, Oh my God, that is so funny. When I was pregnant with you every day at four 30, I puked foam. She said,

And she completely blacked it out. Just remembering it now. Completely blacked it out. I was like, this is women's fight club. What are we doing? What are we doing? We don't share these stories. We are so separated from knowing our own bodies. I got the crying tiger. I got the white rice. I got the celebrity chicken. Oh, my God. There you go. Please enjoy any of this that I have. I will. Oh, I'm about to.

Your Thai curry king crab leg. Thank you. Oh, my God. That's gorgeous. Truly gorgeous. Thank you. Wow. Thank you, guys. Enjoy. That was so intense. Can Daddy cook my crab legs for me? We cannot have you ruining your manicure. Thank you. Something that struck me that you said, and it's so true, after you bought this baby into the world, it's that thing of like, and the world is horrible. Yeah. Oh, my God. We're going through so much. I'm so sorry. This was for me. That's right.

It is so true. That's right. This was for me. This was not for you. I'm really sorry, but welcome to hell. It is so fugly out there. It is fugly. But I'm a naturally hopeful person. Me too. It took me a few weeks, you know, to get back to a hopeful place. But I do have hope in people because of the human spirit is just too fucking beautiful. Yeah. I really do think humanity will prevail. Yeah.

I agree with you. I'm an optimist. Where'd you grow up? In Albuquerque, New Mexico. Oh, right. I asked you this at David Chang. Aw. I loved it. Little New Mexico. I did. And you were in Long Island, right? Yeah. We were strong island. Yep. Did you, were you like anywhere near like Ina Garten? I just finished her memoir. We were worlds away from Ina Garten. We were more like, even the Sopranos takes place in Jersey. We were more in the Sopranos of Long Island. Yeah.

Not even Jews. Like, we were, there were not a lot of Jews where we grew up either. Oh, was it not? Nutty. But. How did, so you escaped, I mean, you would probably go into the city a lot, I imagine, as a kid. Oh, my God. And also, like, my brother Elliot was my, like, cultural guru, showing me the way to music and comedy. Four years older. Okay. Music and comedy and queerness and.

Yeah, I would just follow anything he did. What? Like, what were you going to see and what were you experiencing? I mean, first of all, when we were kids, like, we used to make sketch comedy videos hours and hours and hours. That was, like, our focus. We had a network called KRAP-TV we inherited from our grandpa, Grandpa Dave. He used to, like... Our grandpa was so funny. He used to film sketch videos, like, just for himself. There was no outlet at the time. He...

We'd throw a rag on his head. Remember Pavarotti? Yeah. Pavarottin. And he was like, pa, pa, pa, pa. Pavarottin. And he would make us watch it because that's what YouTube was, forcing your grandchildren to watch videos you film. And he was so funny. And he called it KRAP TV and then we took it over. We really thought we were doing a business deal. It was like Succession.

In a way. In a way. And then we like rebranded into GBS, Glazer Broadcasting System. We took it so seriously. That was like our main focus when we were little kids. And then...

When we got older. Then Elliot went through puberty and abandoned me. It felt like he didn't. He was developing like a healthy teenage boy. But then once I like became a teenager, which was like six months later, because I developed pretty early, as you know from the special. Yes, I did. Got big old titties when I was like nine. It was like scary. Tickle bitties. Tickle freaking bitties. I'm cracking this for you, by the way. Thank you, bitty. I just don't want to get my fingers all over your crab meat. Oh, God. Blah, blah, blah.

Blah it. Don't disrespect the vagina even in euphemisms, babe. But then, yeah, I don't know. Then we would go into the city and there was like such a new comedy scene emerging around UCB, around like literally Amy Poehler's theater and group. Like at first they started as the group from Chicago trying to make it in New York and then they opened the theater and...

It was so fun. We would take the Long Island Railroad in, and I would go to the shows that I could. I was like 15, 16. So you were, I mean, at a young age, I mean, seeing some pretty sophisticated world of comedy. And also, like, you know, with Elliot being four years older than me, I just wanted to, like, I wore his clothes. Wait, where did you two meet? No, Elliot. Oh, Elliot. I'm like, my mom's pussy? What are you talking about?

I think you're talking about your husband for a second. Your husband's name is Steve. Oh, David. David. Okay. Where'd you meet your brother? Just outside of my mother's pussy. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, but yeah, I just wanted to, you know, I always wanted to like be him so young. Yeah. My husband and I met in Washington Square Park, like a literal meet-cute.

It's like a lyric from Hair, the musical. Literally. It's actually literally a lyric. It is? Tell me about that. I was sitting on a bench, like kind of old school cruising, like literally just like sniffing out what's going on here on this hot summer day. It was the last Friday in June 2012. And like a flash of light, my husband walks by and his eyes are like

truly searing. He's like a very gentle. He's very handsome. I looked him up. He's super handsome. Biologically half Jewish, was raised Jewish and bar mitzvahed, just saying. And I was just like instantly it was like we like had this like funny giggle and I really it was crazy and I was sitting on this bench and he kept walking and I was literally like whoo-wee like catching my breath and he turned around and I was like looking at him and then

He keeps walking. And I was like, oh, my God. And then he turns around again. And he's looking at me and I'm just staring like. And he walks off again. And I'm like, one last time, three times. And then walks off. And I was like, oh, my God. Like, that was so intense. It was the East Catwalk of Washington Square Park. I'm looking north at the arch. And I just it was just so electric. I couldn't believe it. And then I call my best friend Inti.

And I was like, holy fuck. I just had this like, like just kinetic connection with this beautiful man, but a stranger. And then we were just chatting. And then David reenters my frame from east to west. And I was like, oh my God, I got to go. I got to go. I got to go. And then, um, is he circling back? Yes. He was grabbing a phone charger that he needed desperately slash testing fate, which I really appreciate because bitch, it was destined. It was fated.

And I got off the phone and I got up and I said, hello. And he said, hi. And I had just watched Beginners. You know that Ewan McGregor movie? Yeah, totally. So beautiful. And he's so beautiful in it. And like he and David really look alike. And I just didn't know what else to say. And I was like, did anybody ever tell you you look like Ewan McGregor?

And he was like, mm-hmm. Like just a dumb fucking thing to say. Conversation cul-de-sac. Yeah, yeah. I think he had heard it dozens of times that day because he really did look like him at that time. And then we talked for a while. And then I went to babysit. And I was like, I don't want to rush this. I got to go babysit. But then we were texting while I was babysitting. I was like, yeah, let's meet up.

And we met up that night. I love it. Yeah. I love him. Did you, what was the early days of dating like? Was it like casual? Did you like go deep in with him? Um, you know, I like was very, um, independent. I had just had my heart broken. I had been ghosted for the only, the only time I was ever ghosted in my life by this, um, I guess you could call him a weak man. Um,

this guy for like two or three months. And I was like, fuck this, dude. I'm over this. I'm never like falling in love again. And then so when I met David, I was really trying to keep it cash for as long as it could be.

But we were just like open and chill. But then that actually made us realize like that we had to like define our love for each other. It's interesting. Justin and I had this similar situation. I tried to keep it really casual at the beginning. And how old were you? Oh, gosh. I was in my mid 30s. Yeah, probably 36 or 37. What was the proximity to Modern Family?

Modern Family had just started. I had just done one season. Oh, my God. So it's also a thing of like, you know, like if there's a time to be single, like, first of all, I thought about it two ways. I don't want to be single during this process because I feel like it's gonna be harder to meet people that have the right intentions. Right. But also, like, what a time to like maybe fuck around a little bit. Yeah, 100%. 100%. You know? 100%. And so I told Jess I really want to keep it casual. Yeah.

And he was like, okay, that's fine. And then it got to the point where he's like, well, at some point I'm going to have to define this. Like I'm going to have to call this something. I'm not going to wait around forever. Like we can keep it casual for a little while and then it's going to have to be something. And what point was that at? That was like a few months in. And I was like, he's right. You know, it feels like...

it's time to call it something. And I took a day, and I was like, okay, we're boyfriends now. I mean, also Modern Family, it's one of the biggest shows literally in TV history. The stakes are intense. The stakes are intense. I didn't fully say it back there, that it was like, so after I got my heart broken, I was like, I'm open. I'm never doing that again. I'm never being monogamous again. And David was like, okay, I get that. So I wanted to keep it casual. But then...

when he acted on that openness, I was like, wait, what? Oh, yeah, yeah. What do you mean? Yeah. But then it was actually like, it's not exactly about the action for us. It's just that I was like, I just need to let you know that I love you. Yeah. You know? And it was like fucking five weeks in. I never would have said that. I never would have said that without...

the openness as a factor. Right. Which is like, which was like so beautiful too. You know, you think you're doing, or I thought it was for one thing, but it actually was for the true commitment. Yeah. That it highlighted it for me. It was really like ironic. Yeah. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Alana tells me about how becoming a parent changed their feelings about their own gender identity and re-watching old webisodes of Broad City. Okay. Be right back.

Now, you know I love a good brunch, whether it's a laid-back Sunday with my husband Justin and the kids or a full-on feast with a bunch of my friends. I just love it. And when it comes to putting together the perfect spread, Whole Foods Market is my go-to. They've got everything you need to make your brunch extra special. Smoked salmon? Check. Buttery flaky quiche? You bet. And don't even get me started on the fresh berries. I said don't. Seriously, don't get me started on them. Oh, you already did. Okay.

Okay, now let's talk drinks. Whole Foods Market has the best cold-pressed orange juice, bar none. It's perfect for mimosas or just sipping straight while you flip pancakes. And if you really want to impress, grab a berry chantilly cake or some warm hot cross buns to finish brunch on a sweet note. And just tell people you baked it.

Now, if you want to host but you're also short on time, like we all are, no worries. Just order Whole Foods Market Catering. From bagel and lox platters to deli salads, they've got you covered. You just have to order 48 hours in advance, pick it up, and voila, brunch is served. No one will know you got a little help from our friends over at Whole Foods. It's all about the hacks, people. It'll be our little secret. Make Whole Foods Market your destination for all spring gatherings.

You don't wake up dreaming of McDonald's fries. You wake up dreaming of McDonald's hash browns. McDonald's breakfast comes first. And we're back with more Dinners on Me. Your first comedy special, The Planet is Burning, you talked about being queer. And in your second comedy special, you talked about

being a parent. Yeah. And something that I was really struck by was that you discovered in yourself that you were non-binary through the process of having...

your child, which I just find so interesting. Can you elaborate on that at all? Yeah, it's like interesting. It's like I sort of had a language for it by the time I had my kid. And you know what it was? It was language that was giving me, making me realize this because I was like, you know, kept using gender neutral language about like pregnant parent without like claiming something yet. And actually to the point of openness, I

I was, we were in LA actually. I was filming after party and, um, you know, we were like talking about a woman, David and I, and I was like comparing myself to her that I'm like not feminine like her in the same way. And I was feeling like off about it. And like, I was wrong. And like, to be honest, David and I had, you know, like,

Sex when you're pregnant is crazy. It's so crazy and amazing. So like I was feeling myself. It wasn't even that. It was like I was feeling my like femininity and my masculinity. I was just feeling my body and my spirit. But then when I found myself like comparing myself to this just woman we were talking about and feeling off, I was like, what is it that feels off? And it did sort of just arise within me where I was like, they does sex.

Right. Interesting. There's more breathing room. Yeah. Yes. Right.

Like, I know. You know what I mean? And I feel like, I don't know, just like Jimmy Cricket. I feel like if Richard Simmons was still with us, he'd be using different pronouns. He'd be exploring that. Oh, my God. Can you imagine fucking Gen Z Richard Simmons? Yeah. Oh, totally. They're incredible, by the way. Yeah, they are. They're incredible. They're unstoppable. They have a light that shines beyond the room they're in. Yeah, like, I just, it just was like. They power the entire East Coast. Oh.

They do. Yeah, it was this sort of self-discovery that had always been there and more about language. And the reason it kind of came up somewhat publicly or whatever was during Press for Babes, this woman, I wish I had remembered her name, who was interviewing me, was like, you use gender-neutral language in babes. And I didn't even intend to talk about it necessarily, but I was like, you know what?

I'm going to share this with you because you made a very astute observation. And I appreciate it because I, I don't know. I appreciate it. Yeah. It's really interesting. David and I just refer to all kids as they just, we just happened to, and I noticed it, you know, but it's like, we just do. We call them kiddos. Yeah. Speaking of kids, I just remembered the other day. Oh my God. You're on Sesame street. Yeah. Mrs. Noodle. Sesame street. If you're out there listening, please have me back.

I switched agencies and my new agents don't know who to contact. I want to go back and do it so bad. Don't you have like Bill Irwin's number? He doesn't even want to know where his wife is. Or daughter. I don't know what the relationship was. Bill Irwin is so funny as Mr. Noodle. He's,

nuts yeah mr noodle is so watching my my sons laugh at bill erwin gives me so much joy because he's from like my world right it was such an honor to be ms noodle and i hope i get to do it again it was such an honor and it was like so interesting because it was as broad city was ending that i i did i think i did like two batches of episodes and maybe it was like

three and three or five and five or whatever. It was so interesting to go from like with Broad City, we're like, what's the funniest? What's the funniest? What's the funniest? And then to do Sesame Street, the director, she was like, oh, that's cute. Oh, that's cute. So to go for cute was such an interesting, like a different feeling. Oh, that's cute. Let's do that. That's really cute. Yeah. Oh,

What a blast. And my little baby, she calls me Mommy Noodle. And when Elmo's about to open the curtain, the other day she turned to me and went...

I think it's going to be you. I was like, ah! That was so cute. It was so much fun. There's so much stuff. I protected my kids from seeing me on TV and weird things. But I did an episode of Sesame Street where I worked with cookie monsters. We talked about the word fragile. I break his cookie jar. Or he breaks my cookie jar, actually. And.

And I show it to my kids all the time. Yeah. And they ask for it. And I love that. It's such a privilege and a blessing to have your parent in that world, in your heart as a kid. I feel so lucky. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. I love the Trinit. I absolutely love it. Speaking of Broad City, before you came here, I was like, let me go back and look at the very first webisode. Yeah.

A broad city. That was what my husband says, because he had no idea. And we had just the web series out, but had sold it to FX and they had passed. But that first episode was what made him fall in love with me. Of the web series? Of the Making Change, right? Making Change with the in-house person. So you watched the webisode. So I watched the webisode. It's so astonishing that that experiment that you had...

turned into this incredible series that ran for five seasons. First of all, do you ever go back and look at those early? I actually watched the one, the very first episode, and then I watched the second one where Abby decides she wants to get stoned again, and you're in an apartment, and you can tell there's no boom, there's no mic. It is literally my apartment at the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And the sound's like really funky. Horrible, yeah. It's very muffled, but it's still so good. And the chemistry is so great. I'm sure that must be such a highlight of your life to have created that show. Oh, it's like...

Totally defining. And not like in a, you know, of course, there's like a career defining thing, but like personally, privately defining. Working fucking hard with this woman who was equally as hungry for something. And we didn't even know what the fuck was.

You know, Elliot Page and Alia Shaka had a show at the time developing at HBO called Stitch and Bitch with Harmar Superstar, a musician. And Lucia Agnello, one of the co-creators of Hacks. You know Paul Lucia? Paul DeVitao. I'm a fan. Jen Statsky, Lucia Agnello. I'm staying at Paul Lucia's house here tonight. I'm about to go to their house. Lucia wrote Abby and I the first day that...

Making Change, the first webisode came out. And she was like, you have something. You should send this to the people who are making Stitch and Bitch so that if Elliot and Alia get this show on, you're like a writing duo for their show. That was what we thought we were going for. We did not...

even think that we were going to make the show version. And having been so obsessive about the web series, we had a microcosmic version. It was almost like student government and then entering politics and really fucking doing it and being and having this like it was making the web series was almost like our own fable of when we got to the TV show. It was like we had trained. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Well, you knew those characters. I mean, they're obviously versions of you and Abby, but it must have been so weird on the first day when you got a call sheet for Broad City. It was crazy. It was a call sheet with PAs and art directors. I can barely remember it. It was so...

it was so huge inside of us that there was like almost no space to notice the details. Like so much of it is a blur because it's almost like a shooting star going across the sky that I'm straddling and holding on to. You know what I mean? Like so wild. And it was really intense and really hard. And we were so hard on ourselves. Like, like we just kind of like, we would just be like at the office sleeping at the office to write like butt jokes. Like what are we,

What are we being so hard on ourselves about? And being paid for it. Oh, my God. Yeah. And we were young. I was 24 when we first sold the script. Yeah. And I was 27 when we started the show. It was, like, so crazy. And...

With, like, some distance and some... And you know that, like, success, and I say this with all the context of the privilege that comes with it, of course, but, like, there is, like, trauma in success. It's very sharp and, like, takes from you also. Absolutely, yeah. And, like, with the space that we've had now and, like, the space to just be friends and one of each other's best friends for the rest of our lives, to have that, like...

soft, sweet relationship now and that time since Broad City. It's like, we look back on it, it's like these, like, babies, you know? Each season, we have, like, five babies. It's like, I feel so blessed. You're so good at revealing different aspects of the female relationship. Like, I feel like Broad City talks about, you know, these...

these young people who are sort of discovering themselves and figuring out how to navigate being adults. And then with babes, which I also love so much. Thank you so much. Thank you. You're discovering, you know, being a parent and what it means to like lose connection with a friend who you, um, you know, relied so heavily on and, um, sort of learning how to be your own person. Right. Are there other like aspects of the female, like,

friendship relationship stratosphere that like are you you're like excited about exploring yeah i i i'm uh when like when i started like doing press for babes and talking about it like when i'm making something i'm just fucking making it i'm like uh i mean this is is this problematic to say i'm a central park horse with like the blinders on and i'm just i was like but i'm just like going and going and doing my thing they do i mean it's like nuts but um

But I'm just looking down and doing my thing. But then when I start to talk about it, like in this fashion, I'm like, damn, I got a theme. You know what I mean? And I do have a theme. And like, I really definitely am so inspired to offering the nuanced parts of my girlhood and womanhood and sexuality.

feminine spirit as I discover it, claim it, and then feel like, okay, I got it and release it. You know? But like friendship too, writing a show right now, I'm doing a rewrite actually of this like draft right now. That's like sex in the city with two women and two gay guys. Cause like the woman and gay guy friendship is a big deal. My first best friend is my brother, gay guy, you know, all my best friends growing up.

gay boys. Yeah. You know, and we were these little, like, I wanted to be them. You know what I mean? Yeah. And also, like, something I'm interested in is the friendship that is at the center of, like, real partnership with your romantic partner. I've just found that fascinating. I've been with my husband for 12 and a half years, and I'm like, you know, it's only in recent years that people say their spouse is their best friend. Like, really, your best friend is, like, so, so fun. And, like, I don't know. I...

Women are fucking amazing. I'm obsessed. I love when women fucking bitch. I love when women are thrilled and powerful. I love when women are angry. I just love, you know, it's just like we, at every class level, across every, you know, race and culture, women get so fucked over. And when their human spirit either ekes out or blossoms fully, it just, again, it's like a shooting star. I'm just like, damn, no.

We're amazing. I cannot wait for people to see the special. God, I'm so lucky. I guess by the time this comes out, it will, right, Angela? It would already have been, yeah. Oh, so you can check out Human Magic on Hulu right now. You can check out Human Magic on Hulu right now. Ooh. Because we recorded this in the...

Very distant past. We recorded this last year, you guys. Time travel. Time travel. Thank you for doing this. Thank you so much. I adore you. I'm so honored to be your guest. Did I crack you enough crab? Do you need more crab crapped? You cracked me enough crab. This was so good. So delicious. So good. Thank you.

This episode of Dinners on Me was recorded at Jitlada in LA's Thai town.

Next week on Dinner's on Me, you know him as gay bestie Brian on the Apple TV Plus series Shrinking, or Wilhelmina's right hand Mark St. James on ABC's Ugly Betty. It's Michael Urie. We'll get into what it's like to work opposite legend Harrison Ford on Shrinking, and why he was nervous about working with one of the biggest TV directors in the business, Jimmy Burroughs. And if you don't want to wait until next week to listen, you can download that episode right now by subscribing to Dinner's on Me Plus.

As a subscriber, not only do you get access to new episodes one week early, you'll also be able to listen completely ad-free. Just click "Try Free" at the top of the "Dinners on Me" show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial today.

Dinner's On Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and A Kid Named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Angela Vang. Sam Baer engineered this episode. Hans Del Schee composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tamika Ballance-Kolasny and Justin Mikita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week.

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