PARTING SHOT
IT’S BEEN SAID THAT COMEDY IS HARDER THAN DRAMA, WHICH HELPS explain why so many comedians, from Steve Martin to Kristen Wiig, have aced dramatic roles. With the indie film 6 Balloons, now on Netflix, you can add Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson to the list. First-time director Marja-Lewis Ryan’s merciless look at the cost of enabling someone you love stars Jacobson as Katie, a young woman desperate to keep her backsliding addict brother Seth (Dave Franco) from relapsing again. “It was a challenge to internalize all the emotions Katie has bottled up,” says Jacobson, who gives a revelatory performance, conveying years of entrenched anxiety, often with just body language.
The weirdly sweet Broad City—back for Season 5 later this year—is based on the voracious friendship between Jacobson and co-creator Ilana Glazer. Like TV “Abbi,” Jacobson is a self-deprecating sometime illustrator who loves comedy. So while she enjoyed the challenge of a role “that really scared me,” she’ll stick to funny for the near future. As long as Donald Trump’s in charge, she says, “I need to escape.”