Party time. Excellent.
On June 3, two of the most beloved women in comedy will be paying tribute to two of the most beloved men in comedy: “Broad City” stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer will be performing a reading of “Wayne’s World” in honor of the ’90s comedy film’s 25th birthday.
Glazer, 30, and Jacobson, 33, both Jewish, have been delighting comedy fans for three years as quirky best friends in New York City on the hit Comedy Central show; Season 4 is set to premiere in August.
The “Wayne’s World” reading, part of the San Francisco music and comedy festival, Colossal Cluster Fest, will be one of the spotlight events among a slew of performances from artists including MOT comedians Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman and musicians Tegan and Sara; Vince Staples and Ice Cube will headline the music side.
For the inaugural festival, Comedy Central has partnered with promotion company Superfly, which puts on Bonnaroo and Outside Lands.
The three-day music and comedy bender is being held at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza/Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, the venue chosen in part because of the city’s comedic history: legends like Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce, both Jewish, got their starts there.
Another big attraction at the festival will surely be the recreated set of Jerry Seinfeld’s famous Upper West Side apartment from the seminal “Seinfeld” sitcom. The walk-in recreation will enable attendees to burst through the front door, Kramer style, and plop on the iconic blue couch where the gang sat so often munching on Jerry’s snacks and plotting social hijinks.
Glazer and Jacobson have infused Judaism into both their show and web series (of the same name) more than once. Glazer, who was bat mitzvahed, and Jacobson, who had more of a cultural Jewish upbringing, gave Yom Kippur a shout-out in an episode of “Hack Into Broad City.” Interacting through video chat, the best buds discover a loophole for fasting. In another episode, the two arrive at their respective screens to see that they’ve both dressed up as Jewish female justices (Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Judge Judy — who Glazer calls “Yudge Yehudi”).
On their Comedy Central series, frequent references are made to the pair’s religious heritage (Glazer’s mom is played by Susie Essman) and the Jewy material is endless — and in Season 3 they devote an entire episode to mocking the popular nonprofit educational program Birthright Israel.
So as far as the reading goes our prediction is: You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll hurl. That sounds about right … eh ?