Ilana Glazer

Omaha, Nebraska might not make their top 10 list, but as Sophia Anderson reports, the city's recent triumphs in the entertainment scene prove it deserves recognition on the national stage.

Ilana Glazer was the second comedian to bring standup to the Steelhouse after it opened in 2023.

This September, they returned to the Omaha concert venue for another show.

Ilana Glazer is backstage.

How are we feeling tonight? [crowd cheering]

The Steelhouse has become a staple of arts and culture over the past three years, not just for downtown Omaha, but as an essential stepping stone for comedians on national and even world tours.

Welcome in San Diego, it's Jade Hindmon.

On this episode of KPBS Midday Edition, comedian Ilana Glazer on her art, motherhood, and activism.

This is KPBS Midday Edition, connecting our communities through conversation.

Fans of the sitcom Broad City might know Ilana Glazer as the character Alana Wexler, known for her passion for marijuana and deep loyalty to her best friend Abby.

But the real life Alana is so much more than that character.

They're an accomplished comedian, actor, producer, activist, and now a mom.

And now Ilana Glazer is headed to San Diego for the next stop on their current stand-up tour, Ilana Glazer Live.

They'll be performing at Balboa Theater tomorrow night, and KPBS producer Ashley Rush sat down with Alana.

Yeah.

Five college best friends played by Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, and Zoe Kravitz reunite 10 years later for a bachelorette weekend in Miami.

The celebration takes a disastrous turn when they accidentally kill a male stripper they hired for the party.

Yep.

And so he really wanted to be in a show at the time called "Broad City." I don't know if you remember "Broad City." It was an amazing Comedy Central show, so hilarious.

Ilana Glazer was, like, my hero.

Like-

We've had Ilana on this show.

And literally, the response at the time was like, "Oh, Blake was on 'Broad City'? Like, he's a legit comedian guy.

He's legit.

He's not, like, floating in." And, and it was a great response, and nobody cared that he was, like, you know, running around, like, fake naked with Ilana Glazer.

It was just all-- it just all built his credibility in that space.

Now for a quick break, but don't go away.

When we come back, Arturo tells me what he took from Broad City creators Abby Jacobson and Ilana Glazer when he was creating his own show, Alternatino.

Plus, he tells me all about shooting one of my favorite movies, The Menu, and how surreal it was to watch Ralph Fiennes and John Leguizamo improvise on set.

Okay, be right back.

Never mind.

Of course I know that because everyone tells me I look exactly like Ilana Glazer 1,000% of my time.

Wait, are you...

No.

I'm very Bible-y today.

So on the It's Open podcast with Ilana Glazer, another stupid person, she said that it's the Christian thing to do.

She's contradicting the Christians, saying to use taxpayer-funded SNAP benefits so they can buy Cool Ranch Doritos.

The rights of

Yeah, yeah.

And then, you know, just in terms of, we've talked about, you know, we are sort of very amateur comedians on the show, but there is a professional comedian, Ilana Glazer, So many of you will know from Broad City and she was a barrel of laughs, but she also really is serious about including climate in comedy.

And so, you know, it's super important, just another art form that's very direct and really, you know, really good for socials.

And she sort of talked through jokes and how important it is to sort of meet people where they're at in terms of their communication.

That's gotta be in.

Goddamn Bucks, Kyle Newall Cinder, Amblin Entertainment, Bartleby getting away with fraud, Foist, Ilana Glazer, Toots Thielemans, Mr.

Fantastic, Zack solving racism, Komedy.

First move in bed, straight for the nipple from Harlem Nights.

the gold standard.

Yeah.

I would say Ilana Glazer and Komedy stick out to me.

As-